RingConn Gen 3: One minute review

RingConn has always been a solid challenger to Oura in the smart ring space, and after spending two weeks testing it, I can safely say the new RingConn Gen 3 continues that trend. You’ll get most of the same health, sleep and recovery tracking features as rivals in our best smart rings guide here, but without the monthly subscription that puts some people off buying a smart ring altogether.

The Gen 3 tracks heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, respiratory rate, stress, activity and sleep. New additions include a haptic motor for some alerts and reminders, improved battery life and new vascular health trend insights, which are designed to give you a picture of your cardiovascular wellbeing over time.

However, this version does feel similar to the Gen 2 that came before it. The design and app experience feel largely unchanged and many of the core features will already be familiar to anyone thinking of upgrading from a RingConn Gen 2.

Although that's not necessarily a bad thing. The lightweight titanium design is still incredibly comfortable to wear and the app is simple to navigate. RingConn also continues to stand out by offering useful features like sleep apnea monitoring, something that still isn't standard across the smart ring market.

The experience here isn't perfect. During my testing, I found that some health insights can feel generic, certain wellness scores lack meaningful context and some of the messaging around features like vascular insight trends can be confusing. And, while the app is clean and easy to use, it still doesn't feel quite as refined or polished as Oura's.

But RingConn continues to occupy a compelling middle ground. It isn't the cheapest smart ring you can buy, but it undercuts premium competitors while delivering a similar experience overall.

The RingConn Gen 3 may not be the most exciting smart ring launch of the year, but for anyone looking for comprehensive health tracking without an ongoing subscription, it's shaping up to be one of the easiest smart rings for me to recommend.

RingConn Gen 3: Specifications

RingConn Gen 3: Price and availability

• Priced at $426 / $454; £322 / £343 (approx)
• Rolled out from late May 2026
• No subscription needed

Pricing starts at $426 for the silver, gold and matte black versions. That rises to $454 if you’d like the new brushed silver and brushed rose gold finishes.

I only tested the standard silver, but the brushed effect is really appealing. At least what I can see from promo shots, it makes the ring look a little more refined and if I was buying one myself I’d probably pay extra for that finish.

UK pricing hasn’t yet been confirmed at the time of writing, but that US pricing works out at approximately £322 to £343, depending on the finish you choose.

That places the RingConn Gen 3 firmly in the premium smart ring category. It's not cheap by any means. You can now find more affordable smart rings, like the Circular Ring 2, which starts at $349 / £280 / AU$497.

However, it still manages to undercut some of its biggest competitors, making a tempting value proposition. For context, the new Oura Ring 5 starts from £399. Which, granted, isn’t that much more expensive. But you do need to factor in the ongoing monthly subscription, which you’ll need to unlock all of the Oura’s features. That costs $5.99 / £5.99 per month. So paid monthly, that’s around an additional $70 / £70 per year.

What makes RingConn stand out is that there are no subscription fees here. Once you've bought the ring, you get access to all of the core health and wellness features without any additional monthly costs.

It’s worth mentioning that other smart ring brands are offering their devices without a monthly subscription too. And the gap between RingConn and its premium competitors isn't quite as large as it once was, especially as smart ring prices continue to rise across the board. But when you factor in the lack of subscription fees and the breadth of features on offer, the RingConn Gen 3 still represents good value.

• Value score: 4/5

RingConn Gen 3: Design

• Lightweight and comfortable design
• Distinctive squared circle shape
• New finishes and expanded sizing options

The first thing you'll notice about the RingConn Gen 3 when you take it out of the box is its unusual shape. Rather than being perfectly round, it has a subtle squared-off design. It looks a little unusual at first, but I really liked it. Plus it seemed like a refreshing choice in a market where so many smart rings are almost indistinguishable from each other.

At between 2.5g and 3.5g depending on which size you get, and measuring 2.3mm thick, the ring is light and discreet enough to forget you're wearing it. I wore it day and night when I was testing it, including while sleeping, without any issues.

That weight and thickness are both fairly standard compared to other smart rings. The only notable exception is the new Oura Ring 5, which has been designed to be slimmer and lighter than previous generations and almost all rivals.

The Gen 3 ring is made from titanium with a medical-grade resin interior and is rated IP68 and 10ATM for water resistance. In practical terms, that means you can wear it in the shower, while swimming and during workouts without worrying about taking it off. During testing, I rarely had to think about removing it, whether I was washing up, showering or exercising — though I did remove it when lifting weights to avoid any scratching.

RingConn has also expanded its sizing range this time around, now offering up to size 15. Many competing brands don't go beyond size 14. One thing to be aware of here is that RingConn says the Gen 3 sizing may differ slightly from standard ring sizing and other smart rings. Which means it may be worth using the sizing kit first just to be safe. Although I tested my usual size without any issues.

There are several new finishes available, including brushed silver and brushed rose gold. I tested the glossy silver model, which held up surprisingly well during testing. After more than a week of daily wear, there were no visible scuffs or scratches, even on close inspection.

That's really notable because when I’ve tested many smart rings in the past I've found that some finishes, particularly matte black ones, can start showing signs of wear after only a few days.

That said, if I were buying this ring myself rather than reviewing it, I'd probably choose one of the new brushed finishes, even though they cost a little more. After years of testing smart rings, I've come to think that the super glossy finishes are often what make them look like gadgets rather than jewellery. So if making sure a smart ring blends in is important to you, the brushed options are probably worth considering.

My only real criticism is that there isn't an obvious external marker showing which way round the ring should be worn. That's really nit-picking, but it's something some competitors have added. While it's easy enough to identify the correct orientation from the sensor placement inside the ring, a small external indicator, like a tiny notch, would make it quicker and easier to position correctly for the most accurate readings.

The charging case is handy. It's compact, easy to throw into a bag and feels more refined than previous versions. Unlike some competitors, it's also not tied to a specific ring size, which might be useful for you if you know someone else who has a RingConn ring.

• Design Score: 4/5

RingConn Gen 3: Features

• Subtle haptic alerts
• Comprehensive health and wellness tracking
• Sleep apnea monitoring and vascular insights

You’ll find all of the health and wellness features you'd expect from a premium smart ring here. The Gen 3 continuously tracks heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), respiratory rate, skin temperature, stress, activity levels and sleep. There's also menstrual tracking and a Baby Prep mode to support ovulation prediction.

Alongside these core features, RingConn offers a few more advanced tools that are designed to help it stand out from rivals. One of the most useful is sleep apnea monitoring. Once enabled, it monitors for the core signs of sleep apnea and provides short-term risk indicators alongside longer-term trends.

Like any wearable health feature, it's not designed to diagnose a medical condition. But I think it could be useful if you're concerned about your sleep quality or breathing patterns and want some additional information before you speak to a doctor.

New for the Gen 3 is a built-in haptic motor, which means the ring can now vibrate for health alerts, inactivity reminders and low-battery warnings.

At first, I was conflicted about this addition. Part of the appeal of smart rings for me is that they collect data in the background without demanding attention in the way a smartwatch can. Fortunately, RingConn has taken a restrained approach. The vibrations are subtle, focused on health-related notifications rather than phone alerts and can be disabled entirely if you'd prefer that.

Another notable addition is RingConn's vascular health tracking. Rather than attempting to estimate blood pressure directly, the feature combines overnight vascular load data with blood pressure readings and lifestyle information to provide longer-term cardiovascular insights.

To use it, you'll need to periodically enter blood pressure readings from a traditional blood pressure cuff. Initially, I wasn't convinced of the value of this feature. Wouldn’t you just use a cuff instead of the ring if you have one? But it became clear during testing that the goal here isn't to replace a blood pressure monitor. Instead, it's designed to help identify broader patterns over time.

One reason for the confusion is likely that in the app this section is labelled as 'blood pressure trends', which RingConn tells me is out-of-date copy and will be changed to 'vascular insights' soon to make it clear this isn't just a blood pressure reading feature.

Because the data you get here is about circulation stress tracking, which RingConn describes as a measure of how effectively your body moves between activity and recovery. Results are then also broken down into areas such as day-night rhythm, sleep breathing, post-exercise recovery and stress response.

The insights aren't especially deep, and if anything is flagged you'll need to go and search for what it means, but they're among the most detailed explanations available in the RingConn app and provide useful context without becoming overwhelming.

• Features Score: 4/5

RingConn Gen 3: Performance

• Clean, easy-to-use app
• Excellent battery life
• Strong sleep and wellness tracking

As with any smart ring, the Gen 3 relies heavily on its app, and RingConn gets a lot right here. While it doesn't feel quite as polished as Oura's software, I found it easy to navigate through the different menus. I also liked the flower-like Wellness Balance graphic at the top of the dashboard, which provides a quick visual snapshot of your overall health.

The app makes it easy to check key metrics at a glance, while more detailed charts, historical trends and explanations are there if you click through into each dedicated section, including sleep, activity and stress. Stress tracking was a particular highlight, making it easy to spot recurring patterns and periods of higher pressure throughout the day.

Some of the written insights can feel a little generic though, as daily summaries occasionally surfaced observations that felt obvious or lacked enough context to be genuinely useful. Sleep insights tended to be more helpful, with more detailed explanations and recommendations.

Sleep tracking is one of RingConn's strongest areas. The app presents sleep duration, efficiency, stages, overnight heart rate and movement data clearly without overwhelming you with information. During testing, it also handled my occasionally unusual sleep schedule surprisingly well, which meant that on nights when I woke up for an hour in the early morning before falling back asleep, RingConn correctly identified this as a brief 'awake' period rather than ending the sleep session entirely.

In terms of accuracy, I wore the RingConn Gen 3 alongside a Whoop 5.0. The two devices produced very similar results. Whoop measured a 84% sleep performance, 6 hours and 31 minutes of sleep and a 49bpm average overnight heart rate. RingConn gave me a 77 sleep score, recorded 6 hours and16 minutes of sleep with a 48bpm average overnight heart rate

Sleep stage breakdowns also aligned closely, with only minor differences in deep and REM sleep estimates. No wearable tracks sleep perfectly, but the results were broadly consistent.

I also appreciated how RingConn handles unusual readings. Rather than generating alarming warnings whenever a metric moves outside of its normal range, the app generally presents changes with reasonable context. I'd still like more explanation in some areas, particularly when a metric is flagged. I was often felt feeling a little frustrated at the lack of context and additional information as to why a reading deviated and what that really means. But the overall approach feels useful and sensible.

Sleep apnea monitoring is well implemented here. The feature presents trends clearly, includes some useful explanations and feels more mature than some of the app's other health insights. It's worth noting though that monitoring won't function properly once battery levels drop below 30%.

Exercise tracking is more basic than what you'll get from a dedicated sports watch, although that's true of most smart rings. During testing, the ring automatically detected walking, running and strength-training sessions without requiring manual input. You just need to acknowledge it’s identified your activity correctly and there are a wide range to choose from.

In the activity section you’ll find useful information like activity intensity, active time, calories burned and step count, which should be enough for most users.

Step tracking was accurate, although RingConn did seem to slightly under report compared to other devices. On one test day it recorded 5,167 steps versus 5,500 on the Whoop, a pattern I noticed in a few other comparisons.

Battery life is still one of RingConn's biggest strengths. The company claims between 11 and 14 days per charge, and in my testing the ring lasted nearly 12.5 days with both vascular insights and haptic alerts enabled.

That comfortably exceeds most rivals these days. For comparison, the Oura Ring 5 offers up to 7 days, the Samsung Galaxy Ring up to 7 days, while the Ultrahuman Ring Air and Circular Ring 2 both offer around 6 days.

For me, this is one of the RingConn's biggest selling points. The less often you need to remove a wearable for charging, the more likely you are to wear it consistently and collect uninterrupted data. RingConn also displays both remaining battery percentage and an estimate of days remaining in the map, which is a small but useful touch.

Overall, the RingConn Gen 3 delivers a strong experience. The app isn't quite as refined as Oura's, and some insights could go further, but the combination of comprehensive health tracking, clear data presentation, excellent battery life and a subscription-free model makes it one of the most compelling smart rings currently available.

• Performance score: 4/5

RingConn Gen 3: Scorecard

RingConn Gen 3: Should I buy?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested

I tested the Ringconn Gen 3 for just over 2 weeks. I wore it all day and all night, only taking it off to either charge it or lift weights — I've learned many times in the past that smart rings are very easy to scratch with metal dumbbells. The smart ring was on throughout workouts, while I was working, out socializing, relaxing on an evening and sleeping at night.

I've been reviewing smart rings since the very first version of the Oura ring came out back in 2017. Since then, I've tested almost every generation from every smart ring brand that came after it. This puts me in a solid position to not only test the newest rings, but compare the models, tell you which one might be right for you and bring you loads of context about the smart ring space.

• First reviewed: June 2026

These days, millions of us have smart devices strapped to our wrists, fingers and arms, measuring our metrics and building a picture of the “quantified self” to make us healthier, more active and better prepared for a medical emergency.

Wearables can help improve our wellbeing and nudge us towards better habits, but it’s less common to hear about the flipside: the anxiety at failing to close your rings, the frantic exercise to ensure you maintain your streak, and the obsession with meeting your targets on a daily basis.

These are feelings I know all too well. Having worn some of the best Apple Watches for close to a decade, I’ve watched it become an essential part of my life — so much so that I’ve tried closing my rings when I’m ill, on vacation, or should otherwise be resting and recuperating. I obsess over those little rings on my watch.

I know this is a problem for me. But what I wanted to find out was whether this is a more widespread issue, and if it is, what can be done about it. Is wearable tech making us more anxious? And can it be redesigned to push back against these tendencies and help us feel more relaxed, not less?

To find out, I spoke to tech and wellness experts who shared their thoughts on the ways wearables can impact our health — for better or worse.

The endless streak

During the FIFA World Cup in July, I was preparing to wake up in the early hours to watch England play Mexico at 1am local time. I set my alarm, went to bed early, and got ready to cheer on my team without waking the neighbors.

Yet there was one thought that I couldn’t get out of my mind as I contemplated the looming disruption to my sleep: my Apple Watch is going to hate this.

It’s now become part of my morning ritual to check my sleep score on my Apple Watch. Every high score gives me a little dopamine hit, every low result a crushing sense of disappointment. And I knew that waking up at 1am and staying awake for two hours in the middle of the night was going to make my Watch very disappointed indeed.

In the end, I rolled over and went back to sleep when my alarm woke me for the game. I didn’t watch it, and I know that was only partly because I was woken at some ungodly hour — it was also because, to a certain extent, I’ve allowed the scores and metrics on my Watch to govern the way I live my life.

That’s not the only way this has happened to me. I recently hit a streak of closing my Move ring for 2,000 consecutive days. But I’d be lying if I said there weren’t some days when I entered a fake exercise to get me past my calorie goal on a day when I was ill, tired or simply unmotivated.

Why cheating is fine, but resting is not, is something I admit doesn’t make much sense. But what I do know is that the thought of losing my streak absolutely fills me with dread. 2,000 consecutive days on my Move streak sounds like a lot, but knowing myself, I’m sure I’m going to try to continue it until the day I die, such is the anxiety associated with the idea of my streak ending.

The dark side of wearable tech

I’ve long had perfectionist tendencies, but it’s through observing the way I interact with my Watch that it’s really become clear to me how strongly my device’s gamification of fitness has struck a chord with me — and led me into some unhealthy, possibly obsessive behaviors.

I spoke to Dr Dana McKay, Associate Dean of Interaction, Technology & Information at RMIT University in Australia, to get her opinion.

“These technologies are often designed to help us form habits,” McKay pointed out. "They often use tools for so called ‘persuasive design’.... to persuade us to do something we wanted to anyway when we bought the device."

There are two problems with this:, Dr McKay points out: the possibility of becoming “unhealthily focused” on the device, and the prospect of being convinced to don a wearable by an outside party, like an insurance company, and sharing data we don’t want to share. Some private health insurance companies may subsidise the purchase of a wearable in exchange to access to lower premiums, and sharing your tracker's information to an insurer's app.

Yang Wei, Professor of Wearable Technology at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, agreed, saying that while wearables can help us form positive habits, we also need to be careful around them.

“For many people, wearables can be motivating and empowering,” Wei noted, “but for some users they can also create pressure, anxiety, guilt, or unhealthy dependence on data.” After all, wearables “create a framework for what counts as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ activity, sleep, recovery, or productivity,” Wei said. If that data is framed the wrong way, it can push users in an unhelpful direction.

Wei also warned that “One of the risks is that people may start to trust the device more than their own body. For example, someone may feel they slept badly because their watch gave them a poor sleep score, even if they felt fine. Or they may feel they have failed because they did not close a ring or reach a step target, even if they had a perfectly reasonable day.”

That certainly resonates with me: I consciously work to close my Apple Watch’s rings, viewing it as a requirement for each day. A full set has almost become a condition for having a ‘good’ day, regardless of how I’m feeling or what I’ve achieved. And this overreliance on a piece of tech strapped to my wrist feels key to the negative habits I seem to have formed. So what can I do about it?

How to push back

If wearables have the potential to form negative habits, what can we do to put things right? The answer is often remarkably simple, both McKay and Wei believe: take your watch off from time to time.

“There is no need to wear your device while on vacation unless a health practitioner recommends it,” McKay advised. If your relationship with your fitness tracker has become a problem, “start by turning all the notifications off, limit checking of goals to help reduce obsession, and consider not using the device at all if possible.”

You also need to understand why you are using the device in the first place, Wei contends. “Is it to be more active? To understand sleep? To monitor a specific health concern? Or simply to be more aware of daily patterns? Having a purpose makes it easier to keep the technology in perspective.”

“I would also encourage people to treat wearable data as guidance, not judgement,” said Wei. “These devices can be useful, but they are not perfect and they do not understand the full context of a person’s life. Illness, stress, caring responsibilities, disability, travel, recovery, or simply needing rest can all affect what a ‘good’ day looks like.”

And both McKay and Wei said that if your device is causing significant anxiety or obsessive behavior, it might be best to speak to a medical professional. As Wei put it, “The aim should be for the wearable to support the person, not control how they feel about themselves.”

But this has to go beyond the user’s own actions — wearables themselves should be designed to better support healthy habits and discourage negative ones. For McKay, that includes “allowing people who use trackers to set the number of notifications they get” and hide those they don’t want to see, as well as “removing gamification elements like badges and sharing (competing) with friends and family.”

Many of these features, like push notification controls, are already buried in the watch's settings, but a lot of smartwatch users don't go looking for them.

“I think we need to move from a data-driven relationship with wearables to a more reflective and human-centered one,” Wei added. That means designers should “move away from purely addictive or performance-based features” and towards focusing on “long-term wellbeing rather than daily judgement.”

Ultimately, Wei said, “I think the best wearable technologies will be those that help people feel more confident and informed, not more anxious or dependent.”

I can’t change how Apple designs its smartwatches, but I can reduce the pressure on myself to hit my goals day after day, even when my body is telling me to rest. Staying fit and healthy is a worthwhile pursuit, but when it comes at the cost of anxiously worrying what will happen if your streak ends, it might just be time to bite the bullet, take off the watch, and enjoy some tech-free time with friends and family. After all, losing a streak is not the end of the world.

Recently, I had the chance to attend High End Vienna, where I bore witness to an incredible array of audio gear. Whether it was new flagship loudspeakers from Bowers & Wilkins, futuristic looking headphones, or innovative portable DACs, there was a lot to get excited about. But one product really caught my attention.

As I walked through the Austria Center Vienna, I could hear the sounds of birds singing and crickets chirping. I followed the sound through and discovered a tropical-rainforest-themed room, and within it, sat the Dynaudio Opus One — a large, premium soundbar with mechanized wooden fins. It really was unlike anything I’d seen before.

I got the chance to check out the soundbar for myself, I attended a listening demo, and I even got to speak with Dynaudio Chief Commercial Officer, Julien Bergere, about the one-of-a-kind product ahead of its launch.

Opus One: an introduction

So what is the Dynaudio Opus One? Bergere describes it as “a new, immersive sound product for the home” for both movies and music. It's the first product in the company’s Symphony line of products that are expected to connect together to create a home ecosystem — in a similar vein to Sonos’ multi-speaker array systems, for example.

Something that’s instantly striking about the Opus One is its grand width — it measures 73.4 inches / 1864mm across. Larger TVs have become a lot more popular in recent years, and I asked Bergere if this had influenced the decision to make the Opus One so large. “Absolutely,” he said. “More premium soundbars are usually the size of a 55-inch TV, but there is no solution if you have a bigger TV or a bigger room, and this one is bringing a new dimension in terms of, you know, bass and immersive rendering”.

On the topic of immersion, I was curious as to whether the Opus One would support formats such as Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. Bergere responded: “It will support all the major audio formats including immersive audio, but we're not done yet with the certification.” In addition, the soundbar makes use of spatial sound algorithms designed in Denmark, where Dynaudio is based.

But it’s not all about immersive movie watching. “It can also be used as a stereo device,” said Bergere. “If you have stereo in, you can also play in pure stereo with only the left section and the right section activated to play in a really pure stereo rendering.” You’re able to take the center channel out of the equation entirely, he said, and I’ve personally seen quite a few premium soundbars skip on such a feature, resulting in weaker left and right channel separation. The soundbar can also upmix some stereo content into a more immersive format, but the option for a more purist stereo experience is certainly captivating.

There are a number of ways to experience the Opus One. You can connect to your TV via HDMI ARC, stream music over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or make use of an AUX port. There’s also an Ethernet port on the soundbar, enabling you to access more stable connectivity. The Opus one also features a massive array of drivers — 24 to be exact — with six soft-dome tweeters, 14 mid/bass drivers, and four dual-diaphragm force-cancelling subwoofers. They come with 1500W of digital amplification, enabling the Opus One to deliver roaring power.

Wooden fins made in Japan bring serious style

As well as its impressive connectivity, power, and size, the Opus One is a joy to look at. It only seems natural to begin with the mechanized wooden fins, which move as you watch a movie or listen to music. “We call them kinetic fins,” said Bergere.

There are 72 mechanized fins on each unit of the Opus One, all of which are handmade, and personify Dynaudio’s ambition to forge a premium audio and visual product.

“[The fins] are actually made in a white oak from Hokkaido by Karimoku,” he said, noting that Karimoku is one of the largest furniture makers in Japan. “We are trying to mix technology and lifestyle… trying to hide the technology [in] beautiful objects but also bring a touch of magic, in this case, with the fact that the fins are moving and can be used to create surprise.”

Bergere confirmed that the wooden fins have no sonic benefit, but did note one functional benefit. “When the product is off, they’re [the fins] actually sealed, so they’re hiding the speaker drivers and protecting them at the same time," he said. He also pointed to acoustically transparent fabric, used on the top and side of the Opus One, which is just as stylish as it is practical.

As you’d expect, the fusion of designer-grade materials with such a premium, 24-driver model, means that the Opus One is pretty pricey. Specifically, the Opus One comes in at €13,000 (about $15,000 / £11,000) — a lot more than premium bars you’d see from the likes of Samsung, JBL, and Sonos. In addition, Bergere told me that accessories, such as stands and mounting gear, will cost between €500 and €5,000. “So together with a good quality screen, it’s around €20,000 for a complete setup with the floor stand,” he said.

Sound check: raw power and impressive imaging combine

With a price like this, you’re going to expect stellar sound from this soundbar to match its undoubtedly gorgeous look. And luckily, I got the chance to hear the Opus One for myself in a demo room. And yeah, it’s fair to say I was pretty impressed.

In 2025’s F1, I was astonished by the thunderous bass output that the Opus One conjured up — the roar of cars whizzing by was palpable, showing off the model’s 1,500W amplification to full effect.

Something else that struck me was the effectiveness of spatial audio effects. Whether it was vehicles zooming across the screen or fireworks blasting into the sky, the Opus One tracked each movement with precision and care.

We listened to some music too, including a stereo mix of Eric Clapton’s Tears In Heaven, where vocals were beautifully defined, subtle strings came through with great clarity, and warm bass came through cleanly.

With Atmos music, I felt similar — vocal-led tracks were beautifully detailed, instruments were well separated, and percussion in the treble range was articulate and expressive. Individual sounds also dispersed across the listening space to create an expansive, immersive experience.

The Opus One officially launched in June, but availability is still relatively limited. To begin with, Dynaudio has opted to release the soundbar in its home market, Denmark, as well as China — though Bergere said Dynaudio plans to launch the product across “more markets in 2027”. It’s available in two different finishes: one with White Oak fins, and another with Appalachian Walnut.

I’ve always been a fan of premium formats at the cinema, and thanks to the combination of a large screen, rich visuals, and sound that really packs a punch, Dolby Cinema has long been my go-to choice — even over IMAX.

This week, I ventured to a local AMC in New Jersey for Spider-Man: Brand New Day in Dolby Cinema. The theater featured stadium-style seating and was practically sold out, with only a handful of seats remaining in the front row. Considering the film has grossed more than a billion dollars globally, including over half a billion dollars in the US alone, it’s no surprise that tickets for Dolby Cinema and theaters in general have been hard to come by.

So, while my screening came a few days after opening, it was well worth the wait and ended up being one of my favorite Dolby Cinema experiences in a while.

For starters, the dual 4K laser projectors that power Dolby Cinema did a fantastic job with Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Colors were rich and vibrant, while the finer details in darker scenes remained visible without losing that cinematic contrast. Yes, a Dolby Cinema screen is typically smaller than a true IMAX screen, but that didn’t bother me here. Between the picture quality and the audio, I still felt completely immersed in the world of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

I was pulled into the action almost immediately, and the combination of the screen, seating, and sound made the theater itself almost disappear.

You could, of course, opt for ScreenX, which wraps the image around you across the side walls, or catch Brand New Day on select IMAX screens in the US for a limited time. Just remember that those screenings aren’t necessarily the same as seeing a film presented in true 70mm IMAX — an important distinction when talking about premium cinema formats.

But for me, the real highlight was the Dolby Atmos sound.

Dolby Cinema’s audio setup is an expansive, full-range system designed to deliver sound throughout the theater, and Brand New Day makes particularly good use of it. It can pack a serious punch when the action kicks in, but what impressed me most was the low end. The bass wasn’t simply loud; it had weight and presence, adding another physical dimension to explosions, movement, and the film’s bigger action sequences.

Spoilers lie ahead

Spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day ahead

As noted above, the real highlight for me was the sound. While the entire mix was well done and made excellent use of Dolby Cinema’s audio capabilities, there is one scene in particular that stands out — hence the spoiler warning, as it revolves around a pretty major plot point.

As Peter Parker begins to deal with the rise of arachnid traits in his genes — see a taste in the image above — he starts experiencing heightened senses. When he heads onto a rooftop, the sequence becomes a fantastic showcase for what a well-designed cinema sound system can actually do.

You hear the rush and bustle of New York City around Peter. Footsteps take on a heightened presence. An empty bag of chips scraping and tumbling along the ground suddenly becomes an important part of the soundscape. Instead of simply hearing these sounds as background noise, you’re placed inside Peter’s heightened perception of them.

And this is where Dolby Atmos really shines, especially when it all rushes together.

From a spatial perspective, the mix does a tremendous job of pinpointing where sounds are coming from and matching them to what’s happening on screen. Sounds move around the theater in a way that feels deliberate rather than gimmicky, helping put you directly into Peter’s headspace. The result is a sequence that feels less like you’re watching someone experience heightened senses and more like you’re experiencing them alongside him.

It’s a real tour de force for the sound team — and arguably one of the better demonstrations I’ve experienced of what premium cinema audio can add to a movie beyond simply making things louder.

When I head in for my second viewing of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, it’ll most certainly be in Dolby Cinema again. The picture is excellent, the seating and presentation are fantastic, and the overall experience is incredibly immersive.

But ultimately, it’ll be for the sound.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day reminded me that when Dolby Cinema is firing on all cylinders, the audio can be just as important to the cinematic experience as what’s happening on the screen.

• Voyager drone boats tracked smugglers before US Navy forces intercepted the shipment
• Autonomous vessels helped seize cocaine worth more than $81 million offshore
• Electric-powered drone boats can patrol continuously for more than 100 days

Unmanned surface vessels have helped the US Navy intercept a cocaine shipment worth more than $81 million in the Caribbean Sea.

Two Voyager drone boats, built by California-based Saildrone, tracked a vessel of interest before coordinating directly with naval forces stationed nearby.

This coordination allowed a Navy ship to move in, intercept the suspect craft, and seize its illegal cargo without delay.

Built for extended maritime patrols

The Voyager measures over 10 meters (33 feet) in length and runs on an electric motor rather than conventional fuel.

It can operate continuously for more than 100 days before returning to port for maintenance work.

Saildrone describes the vessel as a high-capacity platform supporting advanced sensor integration across a wide range of maritime surveillance missions.

According to the company, Voyager remains the only unmanned surface vessel maintaining continuous operations with the Navy's Fourth Fleet.

This fleet oversees the Caribbean along with sections of the Atlantic and Pacific near Central and South America.

Unlike a typical budget drone built for hobbyist use, this system is a purpose-built military asset designed for sustained, long-range ocean surveillance.

A growing role for autonomous systems

Saildrone argues that the recent seizure shows how autonomous vessels can support real operational missions rather than remaining limited to experimental demonstrations.

“The continuity of Saildrone’s presence along the southern border for nearly three years demonstrates the strategic value we bring as the world's most experienced operators of unmanned surface vehicles,” said John Mustin, president of Saildrone.

“Our unmatched ability to remain on station and on mission in critical regions for months at a time is why our fleet serves as a powerful deterrent to bad actors.”

The company expects continued cooperation with the Navy as maritime security efforts extend across the country's southern approaches and border regions.

It describes the Voyager as a high-capacity platform capable of supporting numerous surveillance sensors while maintaining long endurance without requiring frequent maintenance or logistical support.

The US Navy previously awarded Saildrone a task order worth $16.3 million to expand Voyager operations across the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific region.

That contract specifically supports efforts to combat drug trafficking alongside other illicit activity occurring across international waters.

Whether autonomous drone boats can consistently replace crewed vessels for high-risk interdiction work still remains an open question for naval planners.

However, the technology clearly reduces risk to personnel by allowing unmanned surface vessels to do the hard job before a US Navy ship swoops in.

What started as something closer to a beginner drone concept for coastal monitoring has evolved into a sophisticated tool for international drug enforcement.

Via The DroneFront

After falling in love with Disneyland Handcrafted, I was excited to dive into the studio's latest documentary movie, Disney Worldbuilders. Directed by Leslie Iwerks, the new movie has a tiny runtime of 58 minutes and call me greedy, but I really wanted more.

Disney Worldbuilders gets up-close-and-personal with some of Disney's most influential voices, where we learn about creative processes and their lasting impact on both cinema and the Disney Parks around the world.

Even though I loved what I saw, I did feel as though Worldbuilders tries to squeeze too much into its runtime. Unlike Handcrafted, which solely focuses on Walt's vision for Disneyland in Anaheim, this jumps around between subjects, and I wish we'd had an episode for each person interviewed so we could've taken a deeper dive.

The stacked line-up is made up of Bob Iger, James Cameron, Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige, Jennifer Lee, Pete Docter, Dave Filoni, Jared Bush, and Josh D’Amaro. That's a lot of people to talk to in under an hour, so I really wish we'd had more time with all of them!

Bob Iger in particular deserves a documentary of his own, and I hope we get one so we can properly examine the huge impact he's had on the Walt Disney Company, because it's not to be sniffed at. His segments didn't seem to fit with the rest of the interviews.

Still, that doesn't mean Worldbuilders is not worth your time. Far from it, in fact; I think it gives some really valuable and inspiring insights from some of the biggest names across Disney properties like Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel, and it's hard not to smile when you're greeted with this footage.

The scale of the Disney Parks really is fascinating, and I liked how we were able to see the early days of areas such as Hollywood Studios' Galaxy's Edge and Animal Kingdom’s Pandora, especially how the directors of those movies responded to seeing their creations come to life. Now, fans get to walk through the worlds we see on screen, and the constant innovation going on across the global parks is jaw-dropping.

I found myself getting emotional during certain parts, particularly Jennifer Lee's reaction to World of Frozen at Disneyland Paris. Seeing her wandering around with Olaf and reflecting on her relationship with her sister is incredibly touching, given how Anna and Elsa are such inspirational figures to a lot of people out there.

Even though the interviews with each subject are short, we do get a lot of heartfelt anecdotes which I found to be very interesting. As someone who has been enamored with filmmaking from a young age, it's inspiring to see how these amazing creatives can help shape future attractions for all ages. In Worldbuilders, they reflect on their own childhoods and how they ended up working for one of the biggest media companies in the world.

Ultimately, this would have worked so much better in an episodic format because I could have happily watched eight hours of this, as opposed to the one hour we did get. I am hopeful that Disney will do more long-form Parks-focused documentaries like this, especially ones that talk to the creatives responsible for writing these worlds we know and love.

Disney Worldbuilders comes to Disney+ on August 20. While you wait, why not check out the best Disney+ movies and best Disney+ TV shows to stream right now.

• Army seeks NGCM missile capable of defeating larger drone threats faster
• New missile programme builds on proven Coyote counter-drone launch infrastructure
• Army demands rapid launch capability with extended interception range against drones

The US Army has launched a search for a new surface-to-air missile called the Next Generation C-sUAS Missile (NGCM), designed to destroy small drones while extending the range of existing counter-unmanned aircraft systems.

According to the Army's requirements, the missile should engage Group 2 drones like Boeing's ScanEagle, weighing between 21 and 55 pounds, flying below 3,500 feet at speeds under 250 knots.

It must also defeat larger Group 3 drones like Insitu's RQ-21 Blackjack, weighing less than 1,320 pounds, operating below 18,000 feet while remaining under 250 knots.

Army seeks faster missile with longer reach

The Army expects the missile to leave its launcher within five seconds after the operator issues a firing command during an engagement.

Initial performance requirements call for intercepting drones at 6 kilometers altitude beyond 16 kilometers, while future objectives extend engagement beyond 25 kilometers at 8 kilometers altitude.

Guidance should rely on a radar seeker, allowing the missile to operate alongside existing air defense networks supporting broader battlefield surveillance.

“The Army is looking for NGCM to be produced and integrated into the existing Coyote Launch System to provide extended range, rapid launch time, and reduced time-to-target over current effectors,” the notice said.

"The missile must be compatible with the Coyote Launcher with minimal to no modifications," it reemphasized.

The repeated references to the Coyote Launcher indicate that the Army wants the NGCM to integrate with its existing counter-drone infrastructure.

The requirement indicates the Army intends to build on its existing air defence architecture rather than introduce a new launch platform.

Compatibility is also required with Sentinel A3 and A4, LTAMDS, and TPQ-53 radar systems, allowing easier integration without extensive infrastructure changes.

Contractors have until August 20 to respond to the Army's Sources Sought notice outlining the proposed capability.

Cost questions remain despite procurement ambitions

The Army plans both a fixed-site configuration using multiple sensors and a mobile version mounted on tactical vehicles capable of operating while stationary or moving.

Officials want the programme to reach Technology Readiness Level 7 through field prototype testing before the end of fiscal 2027.

The procurement schedule also requires contractors to supply 50 missiles for operational assessment by the beginning of 2028 before larger production decisions proceed.

Army planning documents indicate an ambition to acquire 5,000 missiles costing less than $150,000 each through bulk procurement arrangements.

This missile will be considerably cheaper than the Patriot interceptor, which costs roughly $4 million.

Though, it is still a far cry from the Iranian Shahed-136 drone costing an estimated $35,000 and can therefore be launched in swarms.

This comparison partly explains continuing investment in laser and microwave technologies, which promise significantly lower costs per engagement under suitable operating conditions.

However, missiles continue to operate in weather conditions that may reduce the effectiveness of laser systems.

Via Defense News

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1155) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SHIFT GEARS
• JURY DUTY
• SPACE OPERA
• LABYRINTH
• CAPS FOR SALE
• ESCAPE ROOM
• NEO-NOIR
• COURSE-CORRECT
• BAD DREAM
• BUDDY COP
• CORDUROY
• CHANGE TACK
• MADELINE
• RECALIBRATE
• SPAGHETTI WESTERN
• GOODNIGHT MOON

NYT Connections today (game #1155) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Take a new path
• GREEN: Bedtime stories
• BLUE: Types of fims
• PURPLE: In need of an exit strategy

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1155) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: TAKE A DIFFERENT APPROACH
• GREEN: CLASSIC CHILDREN'S BOOKS
• BLUE: MOVIE SUBGENRES
• PURPLE: THINGS PEOPLE TRY TO GET OUT OF

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1155) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1155, are…

• YELLOW: TAKE A DIFFERENT APPROACH: CHANGE TACK, COURSE-CORRECT, RECALIBRATE, SHIFT GEARS
• GREEN: CLASSIC CHILDREN'S BOOKS: CAPS FOR SALE, CORDUROY, GOODNIGHT MOON, MADELINE
• BLUE: MOVIE SUBGENRES: BUDDY COP, NEO-NOIR, SPACE OPERA, SPAGHETTI WESTERN
• PURPLE: THINGS PEOPLE TRY TO GET OUT OF: BAD DREAM, ESCAPE ROOM, JURY DUTY, LABYRINTH

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Everyone’s knows that GOODNIGHT MOON is one of a handful of CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOKS (the “bowl full of mush” always puzzled me) and I was sure MADELINE was too, but I couldn’t see any others — so decided to put this possible group to one side. In fact, you could say I decided to TAKE A DIFFERENT APPROACH.

After landing the yellow group I decided that SPACE OPERA and SPAGHETTI WESTERN belonged together and guessed that NEO-NOIR and BUDDY COP could also be labeled as MOVIE SUBGENRES.

With eight tiles left the titles of children’s books were not popping out for me, so I took a risk connecting things that sounded like you could get trapped in and added JURY DUTY as a random fourth tile.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, August 8, 2026, game #1154)

• YELLOW: QUAINT EXPRESSIONS OF EXCITEMENT: HOT DOG, HURRAH, WHOOPEE, YAHOO
• GREEN: CONVEY: COUCH, EXPRESS, FRAME, PHRASE
• BLUE: WORDS ABBREVIATED WITH LETTERS AS HOMOPHONES: CUTIE, EASY, EFFECTS, I OWE YOU
• PURPLE: SAFETY _____: BELT, GOGGLES, PIN, RAZOR

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1658) — hint #1 — Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1658) — hint #2 — repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1658) — hint #3 — uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1658) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1658) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1658) — the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1658, are…

• KAPPA
• WIDEN
• FOLIO
• STEEP

I love it when the correct guess pops into your head after a period of blankness.

I got this today with my final word of FOLIO, where the key was thinking of a word that ended in I-O.

Daily Sequence today (game #1658) — the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1658, are…

• CHEAP
• MONTH
• BROOM
• SOLVE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1657, Saturday, 8 August: FUROR, BUGLE, REUSE, SCOOP
• Quordle #1656, Friday, 7 August: AMISS, SHIRK, SALSA, RABBI
• Quordle #1655, Thursday, 6 August: AMUSE, BRAND, CEDAR, BLURB
• Quordle #1654, Wednesday, 5 August: MOUND, WRONG, STOOD, WEIRD
• Quordle #1653, Tuesday, 4 August: GOOEY, TARDY, HUMAN, CHALK
• Quordle #1652, Monday, 3 August: FUNGI, MUDDY, DEBUT, MANIA
• Quordle #1651, Sunday, 2 August: BOOTH, EASEL, REACH, MAKER
• Quordle #1650, Saturday, 1 August: OMEGA, BIRCH, SMOCK, EERIE
• Quordle #1649, Friday, 31 July: MANIA, SINGE, STOOL, LOFTY
• Quordle #1648, Thursday, 30 July: MODAL, IDLER, CHUMP, LUMPY
• Quordle #1647, Wednesday, 29 July: GAWKY, ALLOY, AUDIT, LATCH
• Quordle #1646, Tuesday, 28 July: SMITE, ROACH, RUDDY, GLOBE
• Quordle #1645, Monday, 27 July: TAFFY, FIGHT, GUILD, WAGER
• Quordle #1644, Sunday, 26 July: STOMP, LIMIT, FUNKY, STEAD
• Quordle #1643, Saturday, 25 July: SALON, SHEEN, BURST, GOURD
• Quordle #1642, Friday, 24 July: DOLLY, EDIFY, LAGER, PRANK
• Quordle #1641, Thursday, 23 July: LADEN, EVICT, WOVEN, SHIRE
• Quordle #1640, Wednesday, 22 July: COYLY, SINGE, AWASH, AWOKE
• Quordle #1639, Tuesday, 21 July: TRUSS, AXIAL, SWINE, THING
• Quordle #1638, Monday, 20 July: ICING, SLICK, GAILY, RISEN

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #889) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #889) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• RANG
• WRATH
• FRIED
• RULER
• FLIRTED
• THERE

NYT Strands today (game #889) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #889) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #889) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #889, are…

• LUXURY
• EXTRAVAGANCE
• TREAT
• INDULGENCE
• FRILLS
• SPANGRAM: IMWORTHIT

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

It was hard to ignore the two Xs on the board, so that’s where I began first — spying LUXURY and then EXTRAVAGANCE, although I did manage to start the latter with the wrong letter E, quite a drag for a 12-letter word.

After this burst I ground to a halt and busied myself with finding some interesting non-game words. A hint gave me TREAT, but I had to spend a good couple of minutes staring at these five letters before I connected them in the right order.

After all this, I think I’m going to pamper myself with a scoop of vegan ice cream.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, August 8, game #888)

• TRACK
• DROP
• LOOP
• CUTBACK
• TUNNEL
• CORKSCREW
• SPANGRAM: ROLLERCOASTER

The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange carved a reputation as a firebrand and intense critic of the modern tech companies after rising to fame following the WikiLeaks disclosures. Although he's been absent from the public eye in recent years, he frequently commented on the emerging trends in the technology landscape.

Big Brother is watching you

Paraphrasing a famous line from George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', Assange used Google's failed smart glasses as a rhetorical device to critique their philosophy in an op-ed for The New York Times.

In his column, he was critiquing a new book titled 'The New Digital Age' by Google's then-executive chairman Eric Schmidt and businessman Jared Cohen, who was then director of Google Ideas.

This book outlined Google's vision for how the world was changing and laid out the company's role in reshaping it. But, to Assange, it was a bland and uninspired account of how this company was implementing George Orwell's prophecy without even really understanding how.

Drawing from the original line, Assange's disdain for the company is as clear as day in the way that he compared people wearing Google Glass to "a boot stamping on a human face".

Don't be evil

The modern form of this Orwellian vision is centered around consumer technology, Assange believed, and gadgets like the Google Glass were akin to tools that would serve to sap users' independence and privacy.

Although Google Glass itself was a failure, the point is more about the fears that this device represented. Now, more than a decade on, developments have more or less vindicated his dystopian perspectives – with a growing perception that a mass surveillance state is being precipitated by the surrender of privacy.

Some may argue this is a feature inherent to the use of consumer devices as well as software and services, and present in modern trends such as doomscrolling.

• New drone detects wildfires within minutes using thermal and optical sensors
• Israeli drone automatically searches vast landscapes for newly ignited wildfires before they spread
• Autonomous drone sends fire coordinates directly to emergency command centers within moments

Wildfires across Europe had killed at least seventeen civilians and eight firefighters and forced roughly 330,000 people to flee by early August 2026.

The Middle East, too, is facing an intensifying wildfire risk this week as a severe heat wave dries out its forests and hillsides.

Amid those conditions, Israel has just tested a new drone designed to catch wildfires within minutes of ignition, before they can spread.

How the System Works

The system is designed to alert Israel's Fire and Rescue Authority almost immediately, giving emergency crews more time to respond before flames spread.

Behind this effort sit several bodies working together, including Israel's Ministry of National Security, the Innovation Authority, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and the Technion.

Command centers at the Fire and Rescue Authority would receive automatic location data once a fire is confirmed, cutting delay before crews respond.

Firefighters set the boundaries of a patrol zone, and from there the aircraft flies its own course while hunting for signs of a new blaze.

Built around IAI’s APUS 25 aircraft, the craft pairs onboard cameras and infrared sensors with software trained to spot heat signatures.

That combination is intended to catch developing fires even when smoke or darkness would otherwise hide them from view entirely.

Weighing 24 kilograms, or about 53 pounds, the quadcopter draws its power from a combustion engine rather than a battery pack.

Its endurance is rated at up to five hours, long enough to sweep hundreds of square kilometers on a single sortie.

Beyond its own weight, the craft can lift another 10 kilograms, or 22 pounds, of equipment and feed it 300 watts of onboard power.

Its operating ceiling sits near 10,000 feet, equivalent to roughly 3,048 meters, based on public figures from the manufacturer.

“For many years, IAI has been developing advanced technological solutions for complex challenges across both defense and civilian domains,” said Moshe Levy, an executive at IAI.

“This unique project … [enables] us to transform advanced technology into operational capabilities that deliver real value in the field.”

Not ready for this season

Further testing is planned to see how the aircraft performs across a broader mix of weather and terrain before any wider rollout begins.

Fire and Rescue Authority personnel are expected to support later evaluations because routine operations depend on their involvement.

The ministry described the effort as one more step toward strengthening the country's emergency and security capabilities overall.

Officials have not yet said when, or even whether, the drone will be issued more broadly to firefighting units across Israel.

A single aircraft still working through evaluation in Israel cannot do much for regions currently fighting fires on the ground.

Its usefulness, assuming the trials go well, would show up in later fire seasons rather than the one now burning across parts of Europe.

How much difference tools like this one could eventually make, and how soon that might happen, remains very much unsettled for now.

Via The DroneFront

• The Pentagon seeks autonomous boats capable of launching drones during maritime operations
• Competition offers $100 million before potential $200 million procurement contracts
• Three testing sprints will evaluate operational readiness before procurement decisions

The Pentagon has released a formal solicitation seeking an unmanned surface vessel capable of launching small attack drones directly at sea.

The Defense Innovation Unit outlined the detailed requirements under a project officially called Suitable Warfighting Adaptive Payloads (SWAP-USV).

This competition aims to strengthen asymmetric capabilities against low-cost maritime threats operating across contested waters.

A year-long competition with major funding

The Pentagon is launching a year-long, multi-phase competition backed by roughly $100 million in total prize funding.

This contest will consist of three separate testing sprints, each carrying its own distinct rewards and specific technical requirements for participants.

Companies that complete each testing phase will become eligible for procurement contracts supported by an additional $200 million budget.

Sprint 1 begins in-water testing in the fall of 2026, aiming to reach full field deployment within 120 days afterward.

The competition then continues into early 2027 with Sprint 2, which will focus specifically on expanded payload capacity for surviving entrants.

It ultimately concludes with Sprint 3, scheduled for summer 2027, marking the entire program's final and decisive phase of evaluation.

The Pentagon is actively inviting participation from maritime manufacturers, autonomy developers, sensor specialists, and established drone companies across the defense sector.

Firms may choose to enter whichever phase of the competition best matches their existing technical capabilities and current development timeline.

Strict technical requirements for the winning vessel

The unmanned vessel must operate reliably across blue-water, littoral, and other varied maritime environments without requiring constant direct human oversight.

It needs onboard sensors capable of detecting and tracking surface targets while patrolling assigned areas or navigating toward designated waypoints autonomously.

At minimum, the vessel must achieve an operational range of 200 nautical miles, equivalent to roughly 370 kilometers, or 230 miles.

It must also maintain sustained cruising speeds reaching 10 knots, which translates to approximately 19 kilometers, or 12 miles per hour.

The vessel is expected to deploy cost-effective drones directly from onboard launch systems, expanding its operational mission profile at sea.

Those aerial systems would additionally support secondary missions such as electronic warfare operations and communications relay across contested or denied environments.

The solicitation explicitly frames this vessel as mature and market-ready hardware, rather than experimental technology requiring years of additional development work.

This suggests the Pentagon wants existing commercial maritime technology adapted quickly, rather than funding entirely new engineering efforts from scratch.

In recent times, drone boats have been incredibly useful in war. Recall that when the US Army Apache helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz, it was an uncrewed drone boat that saved its crew.

The UK is working on drone boats that can fly while Ukraine has been at the forefront of drone technology. It is therefore reasonable for the U.S. to invest in drone boat technology.

Via The DroneFront

If you're of a certain age, you'll remember the frisson of excitement around the launch of Gmail back in 2004. The idea of getting 1GB of storage space completely free of charge seemed wild — and all of your messages could be got at in a simple web browser tab.

As someone who had become accustomed to deleting emails to save space, and painstakingly moving over message archives manually every time I got a computer upgrade, this sounded fantastic. So did being able to get at my emails from any device I wanted, instantly (that seems less appealing these days, somehow).

Something else Gmail has done really well down the years is act as a hub for other email accounts, letting you import and send messages from other accounts inside the Gmail interface — with all the benefits of powerful search, filtering, and spam flagging tools. Now though, most of that functionality is going away.

These are features that I've relied on for decades inside Gmail, and it's going to make my email experience much more frustrating and fragmented.

What's changing

Charting the gradual dismantling of these features inside Gmail is tricky, because the updates have largely come through emails to users and updates to support documentation — there aren't really any official blog post announcements to point to (it's not surprising Google wants to keep all of this quiet).

The most recent news is that the ability to send emails from other accounts through Gmail is going away, and will be switched off completely from January 2027. If you currently send your Outlook or Yahoo messages through Gmail, as I do, you're going to have to find another solution from the start of next year.

A couple of other features are also being killed off in January 2027 as well, though these changes are ones we've known about for a while. You'll no longer be able to import messages from other accounts via the old POP protocol — something I've relied on for years to get emails from all of my various accounts into the same place — and you won't be able to use the Gmailify feature that essentially adds a few Gmail features (like spam protection) to your third-party accounts.

As someone who primarily uses Gmail on the web, and has several email accounts feeding into it, these are significant changes — and I'm not the only one upset about them. My current setup means I can have separate emails for work, app sign-ups, newsletters, and so on, and keep them all in Gmail for searching, filtering, and labeling, and it's been a simple and reliable setup.

Now I'm going to have to go back to jumping between three or four different email apps to check everything. Different rules, different storage limits, different interfaces. It's an annoying set of changes, which Google hasn't really explained — presumably the idea is to keep users focused on Gmail, and to cut costs.

What to do next

You do have a few options for trying to cling on to Gmail as a message hub, though none of them are ideal. You can get your third-party email account to auto-forward messages to Gmail — it means you'll have them in your Gmail archive for filtering and searching, though there's no 'send as' functionality.

This might cost you too: It's a paid-for extra for Yahoo Mail for example. That's particularly galling for me, because Yahoo is one of the accounts I feed into Gmail. I rely on it for newsletters, tickets, store accounts, general admin, and the like, and now I'm not going to be able to get at any of that inside Gmail.

Another option is to set up a desktop email client on Windows or macOS, which feels very old school. Gmail still supports the IMAP standard, and so do most other modern email services: all of your email will be together in one place, but you're only going to be able to access everything in one place from whatever desktop computer you set this up on.

Lastly, you can still add third-party accounts inside the Gmail app for Android or iOS. However, while this will let you view all your emails in one unified inbox, it won't actually move anything over to Gmail — if you open up the web app, your other accounts and all the messages inside them won't be there.

It's all a bit of a sorry mess, and I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do going forward. What's certain is that I'm not going to be able to carry on as I have been, and that Gmail is going to be a significantly less useful email hub for me in the future.

Think our tech is getting a little too smart for its own good? You're not alone.

In the past few weeks, TechRadar brought you three key updates on the invasion of your privacy without consent, owing to the AI learning models nestled in our gadgets and appliances.

In case you missed the latest missives, new LG TVs can record you in the background and will ask you to notify anyone who comes into your home, to comply with "wiretapping" laws. Next up, Nothing's new earbuds offer a 'squeeze the stems to record calls' feature being called Audio Snapshot, which is tantamount to phone-hacking in cute packaging. And finally, there's the continued backlash over Meta's AI glasses. Despite the social media giant implementing a feature that stops recordings if a wearer tampers with the front-firing light, hatred of these and other smart shades (oft-renamed 'pervert glasses' by the general public) has led to people calling for camera-less glasses.

So, in a world where our glasses can watch, our earbuds can hear, our speakers can speak and our TVs are a little too closely invested in our lives for comfort, how much more will we allow our tech to intrude before enough is enough — and what can we do to regain some privacy?

Your tech will see you now

Lauren Hendry Parsons is a seasoned advocate for digital rights and a gifted speaker in making these complex issues accessible. She is a director within the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, helping to make the organization's push for a "technology future that serves and is shaped by the people who use it" a message that resonates on a global scale.

Luckily, she has agreed to talk to me on the growing concern over surveillance tech's prevalence in our lives.

Parsons states that in order to zoom in on these issues, we need first to zoom out. "I see this as part of a bigger pattern," she begins, "that is a push by technology and other forces to normalize consumer surveillance — surveillance of people by other people — and that's something that we're seeing cropping up a lot."

So what's changed — after all, recording devices have existed for some time? The answer is the growing number of places where such surveillance is becoming normal.

"It's something that started in the Internet of Things home devices," she says. "You might talk to a smart speaker, or talk actively to another product that is doing your bidding — but it was usually tied to a place.

"Now, we're seeing the normalization of surveillance-chic behaviors, where fashion influencers are sharing their own Ring doorbells to show off their outfit of the day.

"That moves surveillance from something fixed inside a home, where people can at least see the object and talk about it, to something that's constantly moving through every space and every conversation."

And it's being packaged in pink earbuds, chic sunglasses or fun doorbells? Parsons agrees: "The chicification of surveillance to me is deeply concerning."

Who counts as the user — and should they really have control?

I want to talk about Meta's AI glasses and the involvement of Kylie Jenner in the ad campaign, especially when women's safety (regarding non-consensual surveillance and distribution of such footage) has been listed as a key concern.

I mention the fact that when speaking to several male colleagues about the benefits of such glasses (rather than the concerns), not one of them mentioned what I suspect all women thought: that wearing such glasses might mean filming your potential attacker, and that would be a very good thing.

"There are absolutely situations where people might want the convenience these products provide," Parsons agree. "Being able to translate something on the go or take a quick snapshot without getting your phone out. For people with disabilities or limited capacity, these tools could be genuinely useful.

"But I don't see the trade-offs being clearly explained. I don't see meaningful ways to opt out. Even if these companies have perfect data handling processes and perfect privacy records, the risk is being transferred to the consumer instead of being held by the tech company."

Parsons mentions one of the core issues at Mozilla Foundation: privacy by design. "Privacy by design, which is what we recommend as best practice, means products should be private by default," she says. "And that has to include bystanders.

"Technology companies talk about giving the user control, but who's counting as the user?

"With smart glasses, televisions, and recording earbuds, the purchaser isn't the only person affected. Just as children are affected by smart speakers or passengers by dashcams in cars, the person across the table or on the other end of the call is also a data subject, even though they have no access to the controls and no real way to opt out.

"True privacy by design must protect both the person operating the device and the people involuntarily brought into its data collection environment.

"When something (with surveillance tech built in) is fixed in your home or office, you can at least choose not to go there. You can suggest meeting somewhere else. That's difficult and has social consequences, but it's possible.

"If it's something someone is unobtrusively wearing in their ear or on their glasses, or something you don't even know they have, opting out becomes almost impossible."

I ask how we might regain some agency here, or at least get a handle on our privacy regarding AI glasses, call-recording earbuds and all-seeing TVs. Parsons points to the work she does.

"Mozilla's privacy principles are useful here," she says. "They're about no surprises, genuine user control, limited data collection, sensible settings, and multiple layers of protection. These examples show what happens when products fall short of those principles."

Another thing Parsons is keen to impress upon TechRadar is central to her work: understanding the trade-offs. "I don't see how everyone on the phone can understand those trade-offs and give informed consent," she says.

"The only way that could happen is if this (the recording of everything we do) became such a standard operating procedure that everyone expects it, because everyone has it. At that point, we would have completely accepted constant surveillance as the norm.

"I don't think the answer is necessarily to prohibit recording technology. It's to stop presenting recording as an ordinary, consequence-free convenience."

She mentions translation in AI glasses as an example: "Companies could show translations without collecting or storing the underlying data, but we know that's not what's happening."

Another watch-word in Parsons' work is 'friction', and how disproportionately easy it has become to monitor, film and record secretly and without consent.

"Features with serious privacy implications should involve equal and proportionate friction," she says. "The more sensitive the activity, the stronger the consent mechanism should be."

I mention that when testing a set of earbuds recently, a simple beep to signify that recording has begun is the only notification the caller on the other end of the line receives. Parsons believes concern there is valid.

"Notification is not consent," she says. "We've become used to surveillance in places like train stations and public spaces because it's framed as being for safety. But I'd hate to see that extended to person-to-person interactions."

I ask if perhaps people should simply get OK with omnipresent filming or data collection by individuals and wider companies, since it seems so hard to avoid? Parsons' answer is emphatic: "That's deeply problematic."

"We're seeing the expectation that people should be comfortable being filmed all the time. Even terms and conditions often state that by attending, you agree to being photographed or filmed for marketing purposes. The default is that your data is collected unless you make the effort to opt out or avoid the event entirely. Again, that's deeply problematic.

"The diminishment of privacy is cumulative. It's one thing to have a fixed camera in a train station. It's another to be filmed by multiple people in different places without your consent, or to have your audio collected."

'The burden of this issue is not distributed equally'

Parsons reads me a quote from one of her own features, and it cuts to the core of the agency, consent and privacy debate better than anything I could ever try to surmise.

"The burden of this issue is not distributed equally, and the risk of ambient recording will fall disproportionately on people who already have less control in a situation," she says. "That includes workers, children, parents, patients, tenants, domestic abuse survivors, and protesters. This makes vulnerable populations more vulnerable."

Turning the cameras around

Parsons mentions a novel but initially counter-intuitive solution suggested by some prominent female content creators. Instead of shunning Meta's glasses (or playing Disney songs if you realize you're being filmed, because Disney's music is better protected than women's lives), the idea is that women do wear them, specifically to film men when they start to behave in an inappropriate or predatory manner, then upload the footage everywhere. The thinking is that these products might then get regulated very quickly.

"If women collectively used them in that way — in a kind of, let's call it a neo-Me Too movement — I'd put money on consent issues being addressed much more quickly," Parsons says.

"The issue isn't simply that these products can record. It's that the examples you gave (the earbuds, the glasses, the TV that records in the background) all prioritize effortless capture over meaningful consent, when there are other ways to do it.

"The person operating the product gets all the convenience and control, while everyone else gets a light, a beep, or a legal disclaimer. That's an unacceptable imbalance.

"Recording has many legitimate and valuable purposes, but companies should be asking how to build consent into the infrastructure, minimize what's captured, and protect bystanders as rigorously as they protect the user.

"The false dilemma is, 'Do you just not want this technology?' But we shouldn't have to choose between useful technology and privacy.

"Preserving both means companies need to treat consent as a product requirement, not something buried in their terms and conditions."

Facial recognition (and how to make it disappear)

I ask Parsons about Mozilla Foundation's stance on digital facial recognition, a highly controversial feature that our phones and smart glasses are technically capable of. Although the big brands have so far disabled or restricted the software on glasses, there are strong suggestions that hackers have managed to scoot around it.

She mentions the rise of anti-surveillance fashion; garments that make their wearer invisible to the algorithm and thus can thwart the surveillance tech stuffed into our handsets and wearables.

"Looking ahead, we have two things happening simultaneously," Parsons says. "We have vastly increased computing power and data analytics capabilities that allow us to store and analyze more information than ever before, and we have recording devices embedded everywhere in increasingly unobtrusive ways. That combination is worrying.

"One of the brands we spoke to, Capable Design, explained it well: 'The problem with surveillance technology is citizens don't have a possibility in the physical world to opt out. In the digital space, we can say yes or no to cookies. In the physical world, we don't have this option. We wanted to create physical protection that would allow citizens to give their consent or not.'

"It feels as though we're being forced to pick sides: either you're comfortable with surveillance or you're actively trying to avoid it. Again, it comes back to the false choice between privacy and convenience because technology developers aren't prepared to give us both.

"I think these efforts are people trying to take back some agency. There's a feeling that all of this is inevitable.

"Particularly in the UK, where social norms and politeness are strong (this interview is taking place in the UK), I worry we're going to politely accept our way into a surveillance state because people feel uncomfortable challenging others or assume this is an inevitable progression."

Our time together is nearly up, but Parsons wants to talk just a little more about the future. "I want to say this loudly because it's a core Mozilla Foundation belief: the future of technology is not inevitable," she says.

"These are choices being made by people within companies. They could choose a different path.

"That's why Mozilla Foundation funds projects and people who challenge the status quo. We're investing in positive alternatives because opting out as a consumer can feel almost impossible.

"We need companies making better choices, regulators setting stronger requirements, and a greater appreciation that friction isn't always a bad thing. A little friction can protect people, encourage creativity, and ensure meaningful consent.

"That's what I hope for the future: that we don't accept inevitability, that we invest in better technology choices, and that responsibility isn't pushed entirely onto the individual consumer at the point of use."

AI another way

So, are there people within companies — even AI companies focused on "autonomous agents, edge intelligence, computer vision, and robotics" — looking to make different choices? Actually, yes.

Div Garg — CEO and Co-Founder of AGI (an AI on-device 'personal assistant' company) — is perhaps most famous for turning down a big gig at OpenAI in order to work on a "Siri that actually works" within his own startup. Fortunately, he's prepared to talk to me about the concerns surrounding the scraping (and in-cloud storage) of our personal data for AI learning.

"The debate around whether AI wearables that record our everyday lives are an invasion of privacy overlooks the fact that this technology doesn’t need the cloud whatsoever," he had said, prior to our meeting today. "It’s cheaper and easier for manufacturers, but it isn’t a necessity. Put the model on the device, and no data ever has to go beyond it."

Now, I ask him to expand. "My company hasn't cared about audience growth," he says. "We believe all AI agents and assistants should be running on-device, so the user should own the model and the data.

"What's happening now is people are typing their data into services, and companies use that data to show you ads. I think all of this can be misused to sell you more things, and we don't want that.

"AI is great, but it's only great if it's neutral and genuinely beneficial. It shouldn't become a source of revenue for corporations through people's data. That's what we're trying to change. We believe this kind of edge AI is the future, and we want to build something that's fully privacy-safe and that people can truly trust.

"We don't want people giving away their data without knowing more about it. We need the opposite approach, and I don't think enough people are thinking about this."

Garg pauses. "Maybe Apple should have been the company doing this," he adds, "but they've been lagging behind when it comes to AI".

I agree, and ask him why that might be? "No one has really taken the initiative to solve these privacy concerns. We've been holding a lot of events recently; for example, the founder of Edward AI, who built Edward before it was acquired by Google, joined us as an advisor. He believes in building the next personal operating system."

Trust issues

Can AGI build something that's truly personal, where people trust it, and where everything lives on-device? Garg believes so but, interestingly, he doesn't see trust as the deal-breaker.

"A big thing we're proposing is almost a zero-trust approach," he says. "You don't actually have to trust the provider. If the AI model itself is guaranteed to be running on the device, then no data leaves the device. You don't have to trust that a company is telling the truth — you know because of the way it's built. That's where I think the world should be moving."

The idea that brands are prioritizing AI in a product, because they know it's a buzzword, but with a more watchful eye on profit margins rather than the privacy of a user's data (and consent to capture that data) doesn't sit well — with either of us.

So why might companies try to not keep AI on-device, aside from cost issues? Does it drain your battery? Does it make a device heat up? Does it use a lot of RAM?

"I'd say you have to think outside the box," Garg says. "It requires a lot of innovation. You have to figure out how to make these models small enough to run locally.

"Modern phones (because this is where Garg sees AI, as the chief controller of your other devices) now have GPUs and processors called NPUs that can run AI models. I think the world is moving towards deploying more of these models on phones, but it's still very new.

"For example, we have a collaboration with Qualcomm. We're talking with their R&D and machine-learning teams about how our models can be highly optimized for phones. We want to make sure they don't drain your battery, cause overheating, or create other issues.

"This is a new frontier in technology, and you have to be innovative to make it work."

I ask Garg what he would say to anyone wary of adding a personalized AI model to their lives? "It depends a lot on who's making the decisions," he says.

"We want consent. We want to make sure people aren't being recorded without permission — I'm pretty sure there will be lawsuits around some of these issues in the future.

"My belief is that AI should be consensual. Even if you download a new AI app, it should ask, 'Are you OK with us collecting your data?' If someone gives consent, that's OK. But if someone says no, they shouldn't be forced into it."

On-device only

Garg is obviously only interested in an on-device AI future, but I worry that affordable convenience often wins out and that people may not understand the true benefits of such precautions.

I mention a set of headphones I tried, that offer real-time cognitive strain detection. My issue was that these cans (which were $200 cheaper than the inaugural 12-channel EEG sensor over-ears) use cloud processing in combination with on-device processing for some of the new metrics. The company didn’t reveal exactly what data was being sent to the cloud, but it had the potential to change my mind pretty drastically about using the product. What if the publishing house I work for was able to access and monitor how hard I'd been focusing throughout the work day?

Garg laughs, but only for a second.

"I think it's definitely possible, but it comes down to the developer," he concedes. "If a developer is doing something with your data or trying to collect it, that's hard to detect unless you're the operating system itself or the phone manufacturer.

"The phone company can probably detect it and tell you, but a lot of this comes down to how much you trust the people building the software. That's one reason we're so focused on the operating system.

"Right now, if you use something like Claude, you have one place where you do everything, and it connects to different services. We believe in a world where you have a single personal AI assistant connected to different devices, like the neuro-headphones you mentioned. Then you can see for yourself where the data is going because everything is connected through your own personal assistant rather than being scattered across different services."

Are we ready for unique personal AI assistants?

I mention Pete Steinberger's OpenClaw and the early adopters who tried to create their own personal AI assistant over a weekend. Does Garg think people are ready for that?

"We definitely want to make it easier," he says. "Even if you're using something like OpenClaw, you need to buy hardware, set up API keys, and do a lot of technical work. Most people don't have the patience for that, especially if they're not developers.

"We want this to work out of the box. You download an app, and it starts learning your routines. It can make proactive suggestions like, 'Would you like me to order your favorite coffee?' It's learning your habits.

"If it's all happening on-device, that solves the privacy problem because you can have personalization and all these useful features without your data leaving the device.

"Over time, your phone becomes more intelligent. It gets to know you better and becomes better at helping with the things you like to do.

"We also think this works well with smart glasses and other wearables. Your phone becomes the control center, just like an Apple Watch connects to an iPhone. The other devices become satellites connected to your phone, and the AI model lives on the phone itself."

Despite my continued reservations, it's a compelling argument. I can absolutely see a world in which a personal, on-device AI might be helpful in simplifying our lives.

I have one more question, since Garg is the visionary developer here. Is AI still essentially a loop (meaning something that is not intelligent in itself or autonomous — just very persistent at completing tasks) and does he ultimately see it moving beyond that? Or will humans always have the agency and autonomy, with AI just working in the background?

"A combination of both," he responds in an instant. "You want it to feel like collaborating with a co-worker. Depending on how much you trust it, it could manage your calendar or your emails automatically.

"It could say: 'I know you have a meeting tonight. Would you like me to help you find a restaurant? Would you like me to call a cab?' You want a system that's learning about you, but you also need trust. You need to know you're not being exploited by giving it access to your data, and that it's genuinely beneficial.

"That's the missing piece. If you use ChatGPT or Claude today, they're serving the same thing to billions of users. Everyone has the same assistant.

"In the future, people will want their own completely personal assistant. Maybe you'll even give it a name! It'll be unique to you. You can give access to your own data because it's running on-device. You trust it, and no one else has the same AI."

Of course, myriad users already trust AI chatbots with their innermost thoughts, and even as romantic partners, so perhaps by continuing to give the tech a wide berth I'm in the minority.

Then again, it's actually not the technology I fear. It's the technology in the hands of people who seek to misuse it.

Thoughts? There's a comment section below, dearest gentle reader — and my human eyes are ready to read your human thoughts.

Since they were announced last month, I've been dual-wielding the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra, the two new premium folding phones from the world's foremost foldable maker.

In the two weeks since the phones showed up at my door, I've taken hundreds of pictures on them (349 on the Fold 8 and 307 on the Ultra, to be precise). They've come with me on multiple holidays, been used for product photography for reviews I've published, and even accompanied me on a film location scout day, which saw them get a lot of use.

You'd expect that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra would be my default photography foldable. As I'll explain a little later, it's simply a better camera phone, offering better-looking photos thanks to having more cameras.

However, that's not been the case. When I need to grab a shot, I've found myself reaching for whichever pocket the 'standard' Galaxy Z Fold 8 is in. And the reason has little to do with its photography chops.

Size matters more than sensors

The benefit of the best camera phone over a DSLR or mirrorless camera is convenience. You don't have to sling them over your neck or tote them around in a carry case; they fit in your pocket and, more importantly, come out of your pocket in a pinch.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is a long, thin phone; we're talking 158.4mm tall and just 72.8mm wide when it's folded (8.9mm thick and 215g heavy, if we're trying to get all the dimensions). When I put it in my trouser pocket, it digs its way right into the bottom, yet still sticks out the top a fair way.

Yet removing it can be quite a faff due to its frame. I have to angle and adjust it, feeling like Ross, Rachel and Chandler trying to pivot it to remove it.

By contrast, removing the Galaxy Z Fold 8 from my pocket is a breeze because of how small and stumpy it is when folded (123.9 x 81.9 x 9.7mm, 201g, just so we've got everything). It comes out easier than an average, non-folding smartphone.

Quite a vapid reason to prefer one phone over the other, right? But try to imagine this removing process 50, 60, 70 times in one day, when I'm on holiday or a recce; the Z Fold 8 Ultra becomes more effort than it's worth.

In fact, most of the Z Fold 8 Ultra's shots are from specific shoots or sessions, when I knew I'd be using the phone lots, and so didn't put it in my pocket at all.

One is clearly a better camera phone

Despite the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 being my preferred photography phone, I'm under no illusions about which takes better pictures.

Both phones have a 50MP f/1.9 ultra-wide camera, and two 10MP f/2.2 selfie cameras. But from here, the Ultra is, as you'd imagine, better.

For starters, its main sensor is more powerful, packing in 200 megapixels and an f/1.7 focal length, compared to the Z Fold 8's 50MP f/1.8. As photographers know, though, it's not all about megapixels, and I found it's the zoom lens that made the Ultra better.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra has a 10MP telephoto camera which supports a 3x zoom. On paper, it's the same unit the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra packs.

A zoom lens gives the Z Fold 8 Ultra much, much more versatility for photography; in fact, I'd wager at least half of my pictures on the phone use this snapper. Its 67mm lens gives much nicer, softer depth of field than the main camera, even if the app keeps jumping between optical and digital zoom when you're using it.

When you zoom in on the Galaxy Z Fold 8, you're just getting digital zoom. The flower pictures above will show you how this looks in comparison to optical; it's fine, but to camera phone photographers, it won't compete.

As you'll notice when you look at the above pictures too, the Z Fold 8 Ultra offers some extra bokeh on the 1x zoom picture, likely thanks to the extra information presented from all those excess pixels it's capturing. However, for the most part, I've found them pretty matched when it comes to these 'standard' pictures taken on the wide camera.

Want some more Z Fold 8 Ultra camera samples? Every shot of the Z Fold 8 in this article was taken on the Ultra phone, using the 3x camera (hence why you're not seeing the Ultra in the shots).

Photography is only part of the process

Despite its lesser camera performance, I'm still using the Galaxy Z Fold 8 as my go-to photography phone. And the convenience of pulling it out of my pocket is only one reason. Another is what happens once I've captured the picture.

The inner, or main, screen of the Z Fold 8 has a 4:3 aspect ratio. For some comparison, the Z Fold 8 Ultra is 0.9:1, which is close enough to square that I feel comfortable referring to it as such for the rest of this article.

I don't know about you, but I don't capture or use square photos. I imagine you're in the same boat, given that Instagram basically single-handedly killed them off several years ago. No: for me, it's 16:9. Not only is this the required aspect ratio for every single website I write for, but it's a wide-screen aspect ratio which is appropriate for film reference shots, all-encompassing panoramas, or dramatic action shots. But the point I'm about to make would stand even more if you shoot in the camera app's default 4:3.

A wider display is much better for editing pictures. If you look at a wide snap on the Z Fold 8 Ultra's square display, you're given loads of black bars (or dead space) at the top and bottom. These are still present on the Z Fold 8, but much smaller, offering just enough space to house the edit controls.

When I'm holding an open Z Fold 8, I also find that my hands are in the perfect spot to easily manipulate the picture. Thanks to its display edges being taller, I have to move them around much more on the Ultra phone.

Based on coverage of the phones, both by critics and online users who've grabbed an early purchase of the phones, the aspect ratio is proving pretty divisive for the new phones. Some prefer the older shape of the Z Fold 8 Ultra; others like the 'passport'-style Z Fold 8. And for tasks like photo editing, I much, much prefer the latter.

Good, better, best

People who've read this article after glimpsing through the specs list of these new folding phones might find my preference for the worse one a little baffling. But those who've had hands-on time with the Z Fold 8 might understand my stance.

But if you're looking for a great camera phone, I'd be remiss not to mention something. Neither of these phones, not even the triple-camera Z Fold 8 Ultra, is actually a dedicated camera phone. They're fine for photography, but they won't hold a candle to the best mobiles on the market.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra would be a much better pick for people who want a camera phone, and don't need something that folds.

Don't just stick to Samsung, either. I've found most Galaxy phones have below-average battery lives — it's actually pretty poor on the Z Fold 8, at least compared to a non-folding phone, which cut some of my photo shoots short.

But if your main priority is a bending mobile, and the camera chops are a secondary consideration, don't rely on the specs list: the form factor is just as important.

Gulikit KK3 Max: One-minute review

The GuliKit KK3 Max might look like a standard controller, but it has plenty of extras and features on board.

Adopting the familiar form of the Xbox’s gamepad, the KK3 Max doesn’t exactly push the boundaries in terms of design. But given how comfortable and convenient the shape and layout are, it’s hard to complain about its lack of originality.

There are also a few extra flourishes that add some interest. The matte white finish of my review unit was rather fetching, while the front panel is incredibly smooth, smoother than any other I’ve felt before. Its construction also feels quite solid, rivaling the builds of the best PC controllers.

This premium feel extends to the buttons, since there’s very little wobble to any of them. The same can be said of the various sets of levers for the four back buttons, although a fair amount of force is required to insert them.

Despite the lack of software, there are still plenty of input-related customizations and settings available via various button combinations. These range from basic adjustments, such as the vibration intensity and stick sensitivity, to more advanced features, such as motion control and macro recording.

The overall performance of the KK3 Max is pretty good. Most of the buttons are responsive and satisfying to press. The triggers offer a fair amount of control, although I found their travel distance a little too short for my preferences. The sticks also lack the precision of the best, although they move easily and quickly. Motion controls are also inconsistent: I found they performed well with Nintendo Switch games, but were less effective on PC and mobile titles.

I’m happy to report that I had no issues with connectivity on any system I tried the KK3 Max with. Whether it was to my PC via the USB dongle or to my Switch and Android tablet via Bluetooth, the KK3 Max connected quickly to them all and I didn’t experience any dropouts or lag. Hotswitching between devices is also easy thanks to the dedicated button for this purpose, although it can take several presses for the button to respond.

The current multiplatform controller market is certainly a competitive one, with an increasing number of entrants offering increasingly better value. At $79.99 / £65.99 / AU$113.95, the KK3 Max is dangerously close in price to some real standouts, such as the Steam Controller and the GameSir G7 Pro 8K, and more expensive than the 8BitDo Pro 3, another highly capable controller. It mightn’t quite match up to its cohort, but the KK3 Max is still a gamepad to consider if you prefer onboard adjustments and like to have plenty of back buttons.

Gulikit KK3 Max review: Price & availability

• $79.99 / £65.99 / AU$113.95
• Available now in various colorways
• Premium pricing puts it against big hitters

The GuliKit KK3 Max costs $79.99 / £65.99 / AU$113.95 and is available now from Amazon. Three colorways are available: black, white, and grey.

This pricing places the KK3 Max at the premium end of the market. It comes close to some big names in this space, such as the new Steam Controller. This has the advantage of touchpads for controlling the mouse cursor, and we found its gyroscope controls performed very well, unlike the KK3 Max’s. It isn’t compatible with the Switch or Switch 2, though.

The KK3 Max is also more expensive than the 8BitDo Pro 3, which has class-leading performance. We particularly loved its smooth analog sticks and triggers, as well as its phenomenal D-pad. It’s very customizable, too, thanks to its accompanying software — something the KK3 Max lacks.

Gulikit KK3 Max review: Specs

Gulikit KK3 Max review: Design and features

• Super smooth surface
• No extra D-pad hats or stick caps
• No software

The KK3 Max has a simple and conventional design, replicating the form and layout of the best Xbox controllers. This is no bad thing, though, since such gamepads are among the most ergonomic and comfortable out there. Along with many others, I’m also particularly fond of the asymmetric analog sticks, since this moves the D-pad to a position that makes it easier to use with either thumb.

What may prove more divisive, however, is the relatively small size of the entire unit. I don’t have particularly large hands, but both my thumbs and forefingers tended to overhang the sticks and triggers respectively. I was able to adjust my grip to compensate without sacrificing comfort or security, but others might find this more of a problem.

There are some extra touches to the KK3 Max’s design that set it apart from the crowd. The brilliant white matte finish of my review unit is quite eye-catching, as is the subtle yet effective RGB lighting around the sticks, which also has a practical function that I’ll come to later.

The front plate is incredibly smooth to the touch, smoother than any other controller I’ve experienced. However, this plate isn’t magnetically attached as it is on other gamepads, allowing for easy removal for the sake of customization and reordering or replacing buttons.

You can still remove the KK3 Max’s face buttons — you’ll just need to use the included puller to do so, which is thankfully easy to use. You can’t directly swap the X with the Y button or the A with the B, though, since they have different depths and curvatures. Rather, duplicates of each button are included in the box with the appropriate depth and curvature for swapping their position. This seems like a rather inefficient solution to me, and just means you have more bits of plastic in your life than you otherwise would.

I can’t complain about their quality, though. They’re pleasantly smooth and stable, with only a marginal amount of play, while their transparent design is quite fetching. The D-pad also feels stable, although it’s a shame you can't replace the hat, as different designs can make a real difference to feel and performance, and would cater to more preferences. Fortunately, I found it quite ergonomic; even though it adopts the traditional four-point shape, its rounded edges make it better for rolling between directions.

The triggers are also comfortable. They have rounded outside edges, which makes them soft on the finger, as well as a dotted texture to provide grip. The analog stick caps are reasonably small but have an ergonomic shape and a soft finish. Their edges are slightly textured, although this is less prominent than other examples, so those with sweaty thumbs might slip off them. They are removable, but GuliKit doesn’t provide any extra sets in the box, which is a shame. The sticks themselves are quite tall and suitably planted, with a negligible amount of play.

More solid are the back button levers. Despite how they look, they’re not made from metal, but they are reassuringly sturdy. They actually require a fair amount of force to insert in their slots, but once in place, I felt pretty confident that they weren’t going to come loose. They come in different shapes, with two sets of paddle-like levers and a set that looks more like bumpers.

There’s no software for customizing the inputs of the KK3 Max, which is a shame. However, there are still plenty of adjustments you can make and features to enable using various button combinations. You can alter the sensitivity of the analog sticks, with three levels to choose from, as well as toggle Dead Zone mode for them. You can also enable the Motion Aim Assist mode, letting you assign gyroscopic controls when either the left stick or the left trigger is held. Again, there are three levels of sensitivity to choose from here.

Other settings include a toggle for the D-pad between four- and eight-direction modes, A and B and X and Y swaps, and a Rapid Trigger function with two modes to choose from: one where the chosen input triggers repeatedly when held, and the other when it’s merely pressed. An autopilot mode and a macro recorder are available, too.

All these adjustments are quite easy to make, and there are some useful indicators that let you know what settings have been selected. For instance, the sticks light different colors depending on which of the three sensitivity levels is set, and the pad rumbles once, twice, or thrice depending on which of the three sensitivities of the Motion Aim Assist is set. However, I still would’ve preferred software for convenience's sake; it’s always nice to see your settings represented graphically, and having to remember all the button combinations is a hassle I could do without.

Gulikit KK3 Max review: Performance

• Solid button feel
• Slightly imprecise sticks
• Motion controls are mixed

In action, the KK3 Max acquits itself rather well. The face buttons are tactile and well-damped, and only require a light touch to press, which makes them feel snappy. However, they don’t provide the best feedback, and there are times when it can be difficult to feel them actually being pressed. Thankfully, however, this didn’t result in presses failing to register, in my experience.

The bumpers are more clicky, but still have enough dampening to make presses satisfying. However, I found their position a little too high, which can make reaching them a little difficult. I should say that I encounter this problem on quite a few gamepads, but here it’s particularly acute.

In fact, I found the back buttons more usable than the bumpers, which isn’t something I can say about a lot of other controllers with back buttons. Their travel might be shallow, no matter which lever you decide to attach, but there’s enough dampening and feedback to make them viable as replacements for other inputs. I didn’t accidentally trigger them when gripping the KK3 Max tightly, either. The shapes of the various levers are easy to use, although I did find that the lower paddles were best used with two fingers rather than one.

The triggers are resistant enough to provide adequate control when performing graduated presses, something I especially appreciate when playing racing games such as Assetto Corsa that require precise acceleration and braking inputs. Their relatively shallow travel does negate this aspect somewhat, but I still found them just about up to the task. They’re also light enough to perform rapid inputs when needed, and to prevent fatigue from setting in during prolonged holds.

The sticks move freely and quickly, with a fast rebound that makes them feel snappy. Aiming was quite accurate when I played 007 First Light, although they don’t offer the smoothest motion, with small but frequent jumps and unexpected accelerations affecting my accuracy. Thankfully, their aforementioned height didn’t pose a problem when moving them around, although it did cause some instability when pressing in the L3 and R3 buttons, with accidental directional movements often accompanying them.

The gyroscopic motion controls are mixed in terms of their performance. When I played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on my Switch, they were smooth when aiming the bow, and on a par with the best Nintendo Switch controllers. However, with games on other platforms, such as First Light on PC and Hitman Blood Money — Reprisal on Android, they were jerky and restrictive in terms of movement. No matter how many times I recalibrated them using the onboard function to do this, they didn’t improve on these systems.

I had no issues connecting the KK3 Max to my Windows 11 PC, Switch, or Android tablet via Bluetooth or the USB dongle. The handy button for hot-switching between devices is also useful, and hot-switching itself proved quick in my experience. However, the button doesn’t operate that well, taking a few too many presses to actually respond.

Should I buy the Gulikit KK3 Max?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Gulikit KK3 Max review: Also consider

How I tested the Gulikit KK3 Max

• Tested consistently for a few days
• Played a variety of games on multiple devices
• Plenty of controller experience

I tested the Gulikit KK3 Max for a few days, during which time I played a number of games on most of the platforms the controller is compatible with. I used it on my Windows 11 PC via the 2.4GHz wireless USB dongle, and on my Switch and Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 tablet via Bluetooth.

I made sure to play a variety of games across these platforms to test every facet of the controller’s performance. I played 007 First Light on PC, which is a good test for the accuracy and precision of analog sticks, as well as Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal on my tablet for the same purpose. I also played Assetto Corsa, which is not only a good test for the sticks but also for the control offered by the triggers. I also played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Switch, primarily to test the motion controls, as the game and console handle such controls very well.

I’ve been gaming for decades, and have used numerous gamepads with numerous systems in that time. I’ve also reviewed a number of other controllers, from budget offerings to high-performing premium models.

• Read more about how we test
• First reviewed: July 2026

• Kick-off: Saturday, August 8 at 8pm BST / 3pm ET / 5am AEST (Sun.)
• Free Streams: RugbyPass TV (US)
• Watch Anywhere: Unlock your stream with NordVPN (save 75%)

South Africa begin their preparations for welcoming New Zealand in Buenos Aires as they face Argentina.

The Springboks finished the summer section of the Nations Championship with three wins from three and have now gone almost a year since their last defeat — a 22-38 loss to Australia. But August brings the Greatest Rivalry Tour, and with it, the chance to beat New Zealand on their own turf.

Before any of that, though, they travel to Argentina for a warm-up game against a side that looked somewhat out of sorts in July. Los Pumas lost two of their three Nations Championship matches, including a damaging 38-47 defeat to Gregor Townsend’s Scotland. Few challenges come tougher than the Springboks, and with Rassie Erasmus naming a strong side, the writing may already be on the wall.

Among those starting for South Africa are a familiar collection of names, including Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and the now-definitive first-choice fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

So, read on as we show you how to watch Argentina vs South Africa for free from anywhere in the world.

Can you watch Argentina vs South Africa for free?

Yes. Argentina vs South Africa is available for free on RugbyPass TV in the US.

They will also show every game of Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour, including the four tests between the Springboks and All Blacks.

Abroad right now? You can use NordVPN to watch for free.

Use a VPN to watch Argentina vs South Africa live streams

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 up to 75% off.

How to watch Argentina vs South Africa live streams in the US

As alluded to above, you can stream Argentina vs South Africa on RugbyPass TV in the US.

You can tune in via the RugbyPass TV website or app, and it works with Chromecast, Airplay, Apple TV and Android TV.

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

How to watch Argentina vs South Africa live streams in the UK

In the UK, Sky Sports will broadcast Argentina vs South Africa. You will be looking for Sky Sports+ to watch.

Sky Sports packages start at £22 per month for existing Sky subscribers and rise to £35 per month for those without a Sky subscription.

Outside the UK? Access your Sky Sports live stream with NordVPN.

How to watch Argentina vs South Africa live streams in Australia

In Australia, you can watch Argentina vs South Africa on Stan Sport.

Stan Sport costs AU$20/month on top of a Stan subscription, which itself starts at AU$9.99/month.

It will also cover New Zealand's full tour of South Africa.

Not in Australia right now? You can simply use a VPN like NordVPN to watch the action as if you were back home.

How to watch Argentina vs South Africa live streams in New Zealand

In New Zealand, Sky Sport Now are showing Argentina vs South Africa.

A day pass starts at NZ$29.99.

Those outside of New Zealand today can use NordVPN to gain access to their home streaming service.

How to watch Argentina vs South Africa live streams in South Africa

Argentina vs South Africa is being shown on SuperSport in South Africa.

You'll need a DStv access package to watch the game, with prices starting at Rs99/month for the streaming version.

Abroad right now? Just use a VPN and tell your device that you're back home, then you'll be good to go.

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.

• Nvidia open sources its cuFile APIs and storage stack into a new GitHub organization with Google, Intel, and Meta as founding maintainers, and formally launched Storage-Next with 40-plus flash and storage vendors
• Nvidia's key unveiling is its SCADA framework, which moves the storage control path onto the GPU, allowing parallel GPUs to pull data directly from storage
• The driver is KV cache economics: inference fetches data in a few hundred bytes at a time, while SSD controllers tuned for 4KB spend the same effort on either size

Following the recent Future of Memory and Storage conference, Nvidia has argued that the next leap in AI rests as much on the storage feeding accelerated computing as on the silicon doing the computing.

The company open sourced its cuFile APIs and the storage stack beneath them, and formally launched an industry initiative called Storage-Next with more than 40 flash and storage vendors.

It also put a name to SCADA, the framework that lets GPUs pull data from drives without the CPU brokering every request.

A 512-byte problem that comes into focus as storage becomes key

Nvidia's approach here is not new. cuFile was introduced in 2019 as the interface component of GPUDirect Storage and has shipped since 2021; its role is to take the CPU out of the data path. Bytes move by Direct Memory Access (DMA) straight between the drive and GPU memory, with no bounce buffer in host RAM. What stayed on the CPU was the control path: host software still decided what to fetch and issued every request, with the GPU as the DMA target rather than the initiator.

That split is invisible at large transfer sizes. A one-megabyte read essentially amortizes the per-request cost. At 512 bytes, the ratio inverts, the fixed cost dominates, and the CPU saturates long before the drives do. SCADA is the piece that moves the control path onto the GPU, letting it construct and complete its own storage requests and absorb per-operation latency, just as it already absorbs memory latency by keeping hundreds of thousands of operations in flight. The two are complementary rather than successive: cuFile for bulk transfers, SCADA for high volumes of small random reads.

The problem it solves is one that enterprise SSDs exhibit, having been tuned around 4KB random reads for nearly a decade to match virtualization and databases. As a result, most controllers do the same amount of work to serve 512 bytes of data as they would a 4KB read request.

AI inference access patterns are considerably smaller than that: embeddings run a few hundred bytes, and the KV cache blocks sit well under a kilobyte. Serving them from 4K-tuned drives imposes something like eightfold read amplification, and at tens of terabytes of small objects, that amplification decides whether flash works as a memory tier at all.

The KV cache, essentially the attention state for every token already processed, grows with context length, and agentic deployments run thousands of concurrent conversations. It quickly outgrows GPU memory, and recomputing evicted entries costs more GPU time than reading them back, so the standard design spills from GPU memory to system memory and flash, and refills through high volumes of small random reads.

Serving that from flash rather than DRAM increases the context length and the concurrent user count each GPU can support, which in turn affects the per-user cost of serving a model. This also explains why Nvidia is focusing on 512-byte IOPS rather than raw bandwidth, since inference performance depends heavily on the former.

Opening up cuFile is a departure; this layer has historically lived inside CUDA, and the logic is not charity. A GPU-initiated storage interface only pays off if drive, controller and array vendors build to it, and vendors do not build to a proprietary interface owned by the company whose GPUs they are feeding.

Publishing the interface, open-sourcing the implementation, and convening 40-plus vendors to standardize the underlying hardware behavior is how Nvidia aims to make GPU-initiated storage the industry default. It also stands to benefit the most from that outcome, since it sells most of the GPUs in question.

StorageReview notes Intel's participation as a significant development; a leading supplier of the x86 silicon currently sitting in storage controllers has signed on to maintain software designed to remove that silicon from the I/O path. Google and Meta co-maintaining a layer that standardizes how accelerators reach storage, while building their own accelerators, points in the same direction.

Nvidia's take is a coherent, well-argued push at a real bottleneck, with unusually credible partners attached. Partner systems from DDN, Dell, HPE, IBM, VAST Data and WEKA are due in the second half of 2026. Kioxia's XL-Flash drives built for 512-byte access are in development under Storage-Next.

Nvidia's roadmap calls for Gen7 SSDs sustaining 100 million IOPS each, which is a target controller vendors are designing toward rather than a product anyone can buy. Storage-Next itself has been discussed publicly since GTC 2025; this week, it acquired both a membership number and a framework to build against.

Spotify wants to introduce new ways for listeners to engage with the artists they love the most, all while expressing their own creativity.

The streamer’s audio mixing feature for playlists has sky-rocketed in popularity, introducing a new way for listeners to modify their playlists. Now Spotify is working on a new AI-powered fan-made covers and remix tool — and it’s seeking the help of Merlin.

Spotify’s upcoming remix tool will come as a subscription add-on, though we don’t know when it’s due to drop or how much it will be on top of the current $12.99/ £12.99/ AU$15.99 monthly Spotify Premium plan.

Despite knowing very little about it, we do know that the remix feature will garner significant attention across the board of users, artists, organizations, and analysts alike. So what’s the end-goal for Spotify, and what are people saying about its potential knock-on effects for musicians and listeners?

What is the agreement?

On August 4, Spotify and digital licensing partner Merlin announced a new agreement that would give artists on labels under the Merlin name the option to lend their music to Spotify’s remix feature. Merlin is the second organization to sign on to the deal, following Universal Music Group in May.

For Spotify, the goal is simple: to ‘give listeners a new way to engage with the music they love from participating artists and songwriters,’ as stated in the announcement. Spotify also says the tool ‘will create an additional revenue stream for participating artists’.

However, despite knowing the tool will be AI-powered, Spotify hasn’t gone into detail as to exactly how it will allow listeners to create their own remixes of their favorite songs. The discourse around AI-generated slop is still a hot topic, and Spotify is still bearing the brunt of harsh criticism, so its venture into launching AI-powered music add-ons has left everyone scratching their heads.

What are Spotify’s competitors saying?

As far as rival music streamers go, it’s safe to say the top dogs aren’t too interested in integrating AI throughout their respective UXs. While the likes of Apple Music and Tidal use algorithmic recommendations to fuel discovery, the number of generative AI tools is nowhere near as saturated as Spotify.

Listening to an artist’s music in the way it was released is the only concern for most companies, particularly for Dan Mackta, Managing Director at Qobuz, who gave us the following statement: “Qobuz isn’t looking at anything like this. The finished music that great artists release is good enough for us and our community”.

The desire to keep the traditional listening experience in place is quite prevalent on the one hand. Some users just want to kick back with an album or playlist, hit the play button, and let the music do its thing. But as music analyst and founder of MIDiA Research Mark Mulligan points out, the yearning for active participation is growing.

Mulligan detailed this in a comment shared with us: “A growing share of consumers want to do more than just listen. Audio modification is an opportunity both to tap into consumer creativity and fandom. Playing around with your favourite artist’s song is an ultimate expression of fandom”.

Additionally, he backed this up with his own findings from the recent MIDiA Q1 2026 consumer survey: “The potential of audio modification is significant. Consumer demand is clear, with 54% of consumers interested in some form of audio modification, from changing speed to swapping vocals, rising to 80% for 16–19-year-olds”.

Participatory music is a rising phenomenon, and software labels like A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya want to create experiences that go beyond just listening to a song. However, AI is out of the question, and the creativity is placed in the hands of the user, not generated by a machine.

What are artists/ organizations saying?

In light of Spotify’s announcement, it’s not just competitors that are having their say on the AI-powered remix tool. Additionally, artists and music organizations are questioning the long-term financial effects the feature could have.

Musician’s Union is a UK-based organization that represents artists in all areas of the music industry, and its General Secretary Naomi Pohl views Spotify’s partnership with two minds.

“The Merlin and Spotify announcement sounds positive as it suggests artists will have the choice to participate in licensing deals or not and, crucially, that they will share in any revenue generated by the use of their works. This is better than the blanket approach taken by some major labels,” she tells us, but she also raises concerns about how artists will be paid, adding the following:

“However, as with music streaming royalties, there is a question over how artists signed to independent labels will be paid by their label. Artists should in theory get 50% of any revenue their label receives, but in practice this may not happen in all cases as it will depend on the label’s interpretation of the artist’s contract. Many artists signed before AI deals were even conceived of. And, as with music streaming, session or backing musicians on tracks currently stand to receive no share of revenue”.

When it comes to royalties, Spotify has faced severe criticism due to its payment model. Because Spotify pools money generated from subscriptions, it means the most streamed artists over the year will receive a higher percentage of the profits made. So, even if you spend an entire year supporting and streaming an up-and-coming indie band, your subscription money is still going to artists like Taylor Swift.

Royalties aside, the other concern lies within the protection of music in its original form. PRS for Music, who handle the rights and royalties behind music, feel this strongly. “More generally, streaming services are embracing new technologies, including AI, to give fans new ways to engage with the music they love,” a PRS spokesperson told us.

But despite these emerging consumer tools, what could easily get lost is the care for the music itself. PRS fears this will become less of a priority, adding “Creators, and their work, must be central to the development of these new tools. They must be designed specifically to protect the integrity of the work above all else, and to ensure creators are fairly paid for the value they bring to each and every platform”.

At the end of the day, these platforms are there not only for fans to listen and engage with music, but they're there for artists to allow fans to hear music the way they intended. Though Spotify's AI-powered remix tool would be a creative addition to the service, how long will it be before everyone reverts to streaming AI-generated mashups instead of the real thing?

Logitech Mobi Fold review

The Logitech Mobi Fold is, without question, the weirdest mouse I have ever used in my life.

This tiny, foldable travel mouse is focused on one thing above all: portability. Just like a clamshell phone from the noughties, it can fold in half, allowing you to easily slip it into your pocket if you’re working on the go. But even though the Logitech Mobi Fold’s exceptional portability is its clear USP, I have to ask… is it actually that necessary?

After all, a lot of mice are already highly compact, and if you’re working on the go, you’ve probably got a bag to hold your laptop or tablet, right? I’d bet that your bag can fit a laptop and a mouse, so arguably, the thing that makes this mouse so special isn’t actually that game-changing.

Still, the Mobi Fold has a few interesting features to run through, and you’re surely curious as to how such a strange model feels in use. So, after using the Logitech Mobi Fold as my main mouse for a few days, here’s how I’d rate it — and whether I think it can compete with the best mice around.

First things first, the Mobi Fold is incredibly easy to get set up. There’s a sync button on it that makes linking up to a windows laptop, Mac, or Android device incredibly seamless. There’s also an easy switch feature, making it incredibly speedy to flick between a range of devices.

But after I got set up with the Mobi Fold, and started using it to get some work done I have to say… it wasn’t amazing.

The Mobi Fold exhibits a few key issues that make it feel inferior to a standard compact or productivity mouse. First of all, it has a slightly bizarre build. Its V-shape form makes it feel awkward to grip, and when using it for extended periods, this caused me to feel some discomfort in my hand. It lacks the ergonomics of my everyday mouse, the Razer Viper V3 Pro, and even lacked its fluidity, meaning moving it across my desk felt clunky.

In addition, the touch-controlled scrolling is a bit inconsistent. It doesn’t provide the same tight control of a traditional mechanical scroll wheel, and again feels a bit lacking in terms of fluidity. Don’t get me wrong: it’s totally functional, but if you want the smooth, precise scrolling of a traditional mouse, the Mobi Fold may leave you wanting more.

My final critique is on the feel of the left and right buttons. While these are serviceable, they felt more stiff than I expected them to, especially towards the back and middle of the model. I did appreciate the muted sound of clicking the left and right buttons, but I wish they felt a bit more sensitive.

Despite all of this, there are some clear positives worth pointing out. First of all, the mouse offers great battery life. It supplies about 22 hours of continuous use, which easily got me through the work week, meaning I didn’t need to charge it at all during the testing period. Having said that, Logitech says that you can get an extra three hours of use from just one minute of charging, making it exceptionally practical for someone like me who often forgets to juice up their devices.

In addition, the Mobi Fold features customizable button controls through the Logi Options+ app. This enables you to adapt pointer speed, set the central touch panel to different functions (like paste, volume controls, or a keyboard shortcut), and more.

In terms of design, I’m also a fan of the rubbery texture of the mouse, which is very pleasant to the touch. It’s also worth noting that 36% of the plastics used in the Graphite colorway of the mouse I used are made from recycled materials. It’s 29% for the Lilac and Off-White variants, which look pretty stylish in my opinion.

Look, the Logitech Mobi Fold does well to stand out from the crowd. Its lightweight and foldable design undoubtedly makes it easy to travel with — even though I’d argue that standard mice are probably portable enough as they are. In addition, the customizable buttons, long battery life, and satisfying feel of the mouse are clear positives.

But for $79.99 / £69.99 / AU$129.95, the Mobi Fold ends up feeling like a relatively poor value for money option. Really, that comes down to one thing: its lackluster performance. With underwhelming ergonomics, as well as slightly stiff scrolling and buttons, the Mobi Fold feels like an idea that’s far more impressive in concept than it is in practice.

Logitech Mobi Fold review: price & release date

• $79.99 / £69.99 / AU$129.95
• Released in June 2026
• Available in four colors

The Logitech Mobi Fold released in June 2026, carrying a list price of $79.99 / £69.99 / AU$129.95. That price means it’s competing in the same price bracket as great models we’ve tested, such as the Keychron M6 8K, but a lot more than our favorite ultra-compact mouse, the Logitech Pop Mouse. It's available in four colors, including Graphite, Off-White, Lilac, and Sand.

Logitech Mobi Fold review: specs

Should I buy the Logitech Mobi Fold?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Logitech Mobi Fold review: also consider

How I tested the Logitech Mobi Fold

• Spent days using it as my main mouse
• Tried out its various features
• Took on the go to test its travel credentials

I spent multiple days testing the Logitech Mobi Fold, using it as my main mouse in the office and when working from home.

During my time with the Mobi Fold, I used it for general productivity, exhausted its various features, and even took it on the go to assess its on-the-go credentials. I typically had the mouse connected to my Windows PC, but I also tried it out with an Android phone.

More generally, I’ve spent years testing gadgets here at TechRadar, where I serve as an in-house Senior Reviews Writer. I’ve tried out a wide array of computing accessories, such as the Turtle Beach Command Series KB7 keyboard, as well as gaming gear, premium wireless headphones, power banks, and more.

• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
• First reviewed: August 2026

It appears that the RAM crisis is getting worse than ever as we head further into 2026. I've been closely watching and reporting on memory price hikes — which were soon followed by other PC component cost increases — since this crisis first began, and the worrying thing is, I can't recall a gloomier stream of negative news than I've witnessed over the past few weeks.

That includes Samsung recently declaring that the RAM crisis is going to become more severe in 2027, and rumors that even mighty Apple is floundering in its attempt to secure new RAM supplies from China (as other notebook makers consider this alternative route to the three main memory chip giants: Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix).

Previous to that, we saw laptop maker Framework break news of a truly eye-opening cost increase for mobile RAM, just as one gauge of DDR5 pricing saw it jump in price to a new all-time high (after plateauing earlier this year). On top of that, the boss of SK Hynix voiced the opinion that 2027 will be the worst year in the RAM industry's history, and that the crisis is likely to be drawn out to the next decade.

This isn't just about RAM, of course, but other components, including CPU price rises, and devices themselves — PCs and laptops (and phones). But most notably over the past month it's been graphics cards in the crisis limelight. We've witnessed the resurrection of old GPUs to try to bolster stock levels of more affordable cards, and more recently we've been subjected to what seems like an endless parade of negativity about imminent price hikes.

Apparently, Gigabyte is set to increase the price tags of its graphics card to the tune of 20% to 40% in Japan, and MSI is going to jack up prices of Nvidia GPUs in China by 20% or more. Asus is supposedly preparing a similar 20% hike (as Wccftech reported).

Another recent gloom nugget is the assertion that Nvidia RTX 5000 models will get hikes of 30% in South Korea this month, and all of this pain is mainly rooted in the increased price of video RAM, of course. (Those cost increases are the reason the RTX 5000 Super refreshes have been delayed, according to the grapevine, as those rumored cards are packed with VRAM).

While a good deal of this is individual pieces of regional activity with GPU pricing, it's obvious that these hikes are happening as part of a concerted shift, one that will surely be reflected globally — it's not like Asian markets are in a bubble of their own.

The overarching theme is a worsening of price hike misery, and that the pricing storm is likely to intensify this year, and probably in 2027, too. While previously the RAM crisis has been more of a light-and-shade affair, now it feels like the depression has been turned up a notch. Whereas before, there was certainly more darkness than light, we've had notable spots of relief where an exec in the memory industry stepped forward and theorized that maybe things aren't as bad as we think. But lately those embers of optimism appear to have burned out.

To me, it feels like there's a shift underway towards a full acknowledgement that we really are going to experience a lot more pricing pain in the foreseeable future. If it's so bad that even Apple is purportedly scrambling to secure RAM supplies, and is having trouble doing so, I think it's time to turn up the worry meter by a notch or two.

What should you do?

Here's my advice on the current landscape with PC components and hardware (season it appropriately). Obviously, worrying isn't going to help you, but awareness of what might be sensible upgrades or purchases to make now will, based on the likelihood of hikes (we could call it the 'hike-lihood' – or maybe not). Nothing is certain about the future of components, of course, but it does feel like there's a clear area in which the potential price hikes are a bigger threat: GPUs.

As I discussed above, there's a lot of recent evidence that graphics card pricing is going up. Yes, it's a collection of rumors in the main, but there's a lot of it all pointing in a very similar direction — and a video RAM toll was always going to be exacted in the end. We've seen it already with higher-end graphics cards, and now I believe we're going to see it in the mid-range, and even budget models. Indeed, top-end GPUs are likely to get even more expensive as well.

If you're thinking about a GPU upgrade for this year or next, given all this, I think now really is the time to buy — especially with a lower-tier model, as you can still get more affordable graphics cards at their MSRP. Ditto for mid-rangers, although it's tougher to recommend higher-end Nvidia boards when they are already so expensive.

As noted, though, that could get worse. And granted, you may still want to wait for Black Friday — it's not that far off, and there might be some GPU deals then. However, I wouldn't bank on anything hugely compelling (or discounts that aren't offset by the price rises which are predicted to take hold in the next few months).

So, if there's one PC component that I think you should buy now, it's a graphics card. I think the signs are pretty clear on that (and see here for my recommendations on different models to consider). By extension, higher-end gaming laptops could also be a wise move for purchasing sooner rather than later. That's for the same reason, really — they have beefy (mobile) GPUs (with plenty of VRAM in some cases).

I don't think it's a bad move to buy any laptop, by the way, gaming or not (away from the higher-end), come your earliest window of opportunity. I think we'll see further price rises here, too, and RAM is going to cause more upward pricing pressures for notebooks — just look at Framework's recent revelation as mentioned.

What about RAM and SSDs themselves? While system memory kits and storage have already seen huge price rises, it now looks like there's worse to come (somehow).

On the other hand, there's a ceiling as to how expensive this stuff can get before buyers withdraw from what they see as an increasingly unrealistic and out-of-touch market. This is a much more difficult call to make, but if you can find something that looks relatively reasonably priced, I don't think you'll regret the purchase in the next couple of years. But that said, I can't recommend a RAM upgrade in particular at current pricing levels, unless it's unavoidable, frankly.

Above all, though, consider a GPU upgrade if you're in the market for a new card, or you think you'll need one in the next couple of years (yes, I think it's wise to be looking quite far down the road here).

The other thing to bear in mind is that there's a danger there will be a rush for GPUs, a flurry of buying that puts further strain on supply and therefore prices. As VideoCardz reports, one Japanese retailer has warned of Nvidia RTX 5000 graphics card sales increasing "sharply", even just with the news of rumored price increases — let alone the confirmation. Prices are already rising and restocks of the RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080 are already being labelled as "unstable", hinting that inventory could start to dry up quickly.

That's just one report, of course, and it pertains to the high-end of the market, so it's not something to start panicking about yet. But it does make some sense that if pricing begins to creep up, more PC owners may start to act on GPU upgrades. I wouldn't blame them, frankly.

Go onto any forum or mechanical keyboard subreddit these days, and it can be a minefield as to what people recommend. It's an essential wall of noise with regards to size, shape, switch type and even more that can be daunting if you're a first-timer or you're someone getting back into the hobby after years of being out of it.

I was speaking to a fellow tech journalist at Computex 2026 a few months ago, and he raised this exact point with me. After being out of the hobby for several years, he'd come back to find it being more confusing than ever before, which completely switched him off.

Likewise, I've often thought we've reached a state of choice paralysis compared to where the hobby was, say, a decade ago. Back then, you had only a handful of switch choices, and while we've since seen the democratisation of hot-swappable sockets, machined aluminium chassis and open-source software, it can be horribly overwhelming when it comes to the decisions that actually matter — layout, switch feel, and budget.

Before I go any further, let me give you my credentials – I've been a tech journalist for the best part of a decade, reviewing keyboards from brands big and small, and I've been involved in the mechanical keyboard hobby since before it hit the mainstream. I've seen this market go from a small niche to something that can feel genuinely impenetrable if you're coming to it fresh.

To be truthful, it doesn't have to be that complicated. Underneath all of that noise, choosing your first mechanical keyboard still comes down to a few simple decisions, which I'll guide you through below.

1. Pick a size

It might seem a bit of a strange, but a good starting point is thinking about what size of keyboard you'd like. I don't mean the physical dimensions of the 'board, rather the layout and arrangement of the keys.

Keyboards can come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from the typical full-size 100% down to ridiculously tiny 40% keyboards. So, let's divide them into categories.

Firstly, we've got between 60% and 65% layouts, which eschew a lot of features, such as a function row, nav cluster and number pad in the name of saving as much desk space as possible. These layouts have been popularised by gamers who need desk space for sweeping mouse movements and find the elements mentioned above quite redundant. Between the two, a 65% layout adds arrow keys and some navigation keys, which I think are non-negotiable for productivity work, but your mileage may vary.

Moving up a tad, we go to between 75% and TKL, or tenkeyless, keyboards. These bring back the function row and navigation cluster, giving you a lot more functionality than smaller layouts, while still chopping off the number pad. Personally, this is my favourite option, and I think a strong middle ground if you want to save space without sacrificing too much. I use this kind of layout a lot of the time, for what it's worth.

Then, you can go bigger, up to 96% and full-size 100% options that give you everything and the kitchen sink, number pad and all. It's what you're most likely used to, and if the number pad has become non-negotiable, then it's one of your only options. Opting for a 96%, also known as a '1800 layout', keyboard can give you the number pad while moving some keys around to save a little bit of desk space, if you want a slight compromise.

2. Pick a switch

This is perhaps the most difficult section, as each switch feels different, and we've got so many options these days it can be hard to know what's best for you. Muddying the waters further, the old color categories aren't quite as clear cut as they used to be.

For instance, a Red switch would usually be light and linear, a Black switch a heavier linear switch, a Blue switch tactile and loud with an audible click and a Brown switch soft tactile, with a slight bump halfway down the keypress.

Now, however, we've got switches named after everything from all the colors of the rainbow to planets, birds and more besides, and it can be so difficult to understand the minutiae behind how each switch feels.

My genuine advice is to order a switch tester – there are lots of them floating about on the internet – which can give you a range of different types of switch in one convenient place, and help you decide what you like.

When you've selected a tester, pay attention to how each switch feels – the worst thing you can do is bash each of them in turn with as much force as you can. Pay close attention to how it feels under finger with regard to consistency of the operating force as you go down the travel, and whether you like something that's linear with a smooth keypress or tactile, be it with a click or a bump.

Once you've honed in on a switch you like, then you can do some digging into which keyboard features those switches. Or, if you're up for a little bit of work, then you can pick up a bare-bones chassis with a hot-swappable PCB – this means it comes with no switches or keycaps, which you'll need to supply yourself.

Going for something hot-swappable is a key piece of advice I think – it saves the hassle of soldering, and gives you more freedom and choice. It's also dead easy to assemble a keyboard this way, even if you haven't done it before. Each switch will have little pins on the underside – line these up with holes in the PCB and push straight down until you hear it click into place. I recommend picking up more than enough switches to give you some spares in case you bend pins when putting them into the hot-swap sockets on the PCB.

The point here is that everybody has a different preference for switches and how they feel. There are other considerations, such as lubrication, which can make a switch feel smoother, and the acoustics of a case and how this plays into the sound signature you'd like, but that's getting into the weeds a little. It's important to make sure your case doesn't have any rattle or ping and has some form of sound dampening, but that's as far as I'd go at this point.

3. Set your budget

Pricing is arguably as integral as any other point of consideration for choosing a keyboard, as your budget can decide what kind you end up getting. It's worth going in with a list of features you'd like; good things to look for include PBT keycaps, good wireless connectivity and a sturdy chassis.

It's possible to get some excellent affordable choices (i.e. around £50–£70 / $60–$80) that seem to pack in everything when it comes to features: hot-swappable switches, versatile wireless connectivity, addressable RGB lighting and all the rest of it, but outside of a few options, some seem to sacrifice build quality by being mostly plastic, which can feel quite cheap and scratchy. At this tier, I'd do your research carefully and lean towards boards with a reputation for punching above their weight rather than just grabbing whatever looks good on paper.

Spending a little more and going into the very low triple figures is likely to net you a strong choice from the likes of Keychron with advanced software support and a machined aluminum chassis. That aluminum build makes a tangible difference in practice — it adds rigidity, dampens unwanted noise and gives the keyboard a solidity that plastic boards rarely match. I'm a great lover of the likes of the Q1 Pro and others from its range, which are an excellent starting point in the mid-range.

Beyond that, you can go further into the hundreds with something fully custom or a pre-built choice from the array of boutique manufacturers you'll find online. This isn't what I'd recommend to someone just starting out in the hobby — rather, it's something to consider if you're already knee-deep and have some spare cash to put towards making something truly personal. But it's worth knowing that world exists, because once you've caught the bug, it's a very natural place to end up.

Final thoughts

There are some elements here, such as even more niche layouts, that I haven't even touched on in this article, which proves how deep the mechanical keyboard hobby goes. However, that isn't the point of this article – it's just a (reasonably) quick explainer of key things to look for when you're picking up your first mechanical keyboard.

If you're ready to start shopping, I've looked at plenty of options at a range of prices I feel are worth your time over the years, while the wider TechRadar crew has reviewed hundreds of keyboards that are worth a mention. The Keychron Q1 Pro is a strong starting point (or there's the Q1 Ultra 8K if you want even more features at a premium price). Likewise, at a more affordable price point, the Gamakay TK75 V2 and Epomaker P65 are well-reviewed choices that tick the right boxes in my book. For a more comprehensive overview, our best keyboards guide is regularly updated and a good place to browse.

Ultimately, though, you can go in any direction you want to, and that's the beauty of this hobby. Just stick to some of the advice given here, and you should be in good stead to get a keyboard that's feature-rich, has the feel you're looking for, and at a price that isn't out of your budget.

• Man Utd vs PSG: Saturday, August 8 | 4pm BST / 11am ET
• Stream: MUTV (UK and US)
• Unlock your stream with Surfshark

Watch Man Utd vs PSG live streams as two of European football's biggest clubs meet in a high-profile pre-season friendly in Gothenburg. The Red Devils arrive on the back of an impressive 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid, while the reigning two-time Champions League winners only returned to training earlier this week.

Preparing for his first full campaign in charge at Old Trafford, Michael Carrick will have been pleased with what he’s seen from his squad thus far in pre-season. Young players have been given an opportunity to impress, with the 19-year-old trio of Shea Lacey, Jacob Devaney and Harry Amass all on target in the recent 5-0 win over Rosenborg. Highly rated 15-year-old JJ Gabriel also featured in the win over Atleti, showing plenty of maturity in a game where Bryan Mbeumo score both goals. It will be interesting to see whether the youngsters get the chance to shine here or whether Carrick opts for more senior figures.

In contrast to United, who are coming to the end of pre-season, the PSG players have had a much longer break. While they may be short of match fitness, and lost 3-0 to Mallorca on Wednesday in their first friendly, the Parisians still present a serious challenge, especially in attack where Luis Enrique has Khvicha Kvaratskhelia available, with Willian Pacho also set to feature in defense. French contingent Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola are expected to still be on holiday after their World Cup exertions.

Read on to find out how to stream Man Utd vs PSG live and from anywhere in the world.

Use a VPN to watch Man Utd vs PSG from anywhere

Away from home at the moment and blocked from watching the football on your usual subscription?

You can still watch Man Utd vs PSG live thanks to the wonders of a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The software can make your devices appear to be back in your home country regardless of where you are, making it ideal for viewers away on vacation or on business. One of our favorites is Surfshark – we explain why in our Surfshark review.

It's really straightforward to use a VPN to watch Man Utd vs PSG.

1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, SurfShark is our favorite.

2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For example, if you want to watch the MUTV stream, select 'United Kingdom' from the listed countries.

3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to MUTV and tune into Man Utd vs PSG.

How to watch Man Utd vs PSG live streams in the US

In the US, the only way to watch Man Utd vs PSG live streams is via the MUTV streaming service.

There is no traditional linear cable or satellite TV channel for MUTV in the US, meaning MUTV can only be downloaded as a digital streaming platform. It costs just $7.99 per month or $9.99 per year.

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

How to watch Man Utd vs PSG live streams in the UK

Fans in the UK can watch Man Utd vs PSG on MUTV, the club's in-house streaming platform.

Supporters wanting to stream the game on MUTV can buy a 12-month subscription for just £29.99.

Alternatively, Sky and Virgin Media customers can pay £7.99 and will receive a one-month pass for the streaming service.

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 Man Utd vs PSG live streams in Australia

Soccer fans in Australia can watch Man Utd vs PSG on beIN Sports.

beIN Sports is carrying this pre-season friendly, with a subscription costing AU$15.99 per month and a 7-day free trial available for new users.

Outside Oz traveling? Use SurfShark to watch Man Utd vs PSG from anywhere in the world.

How to watch Man Utd vs PSG live streams in New Zealand

beIN Sports will also be showing Man Utd vs PSG in New Zealand via its streaming service, beIN Sports Connect.

If you want to sign up to the service, it costs NZ$14.99 for the monthly plan or NZ$149.99 per year.

Not in New Zealand right now? You can simply use a VPN like SurfShark to watch all the action as if you were back home.

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.

Bose just announced its second-generation version of the iconic QuietComfort Headphones, and as if to celebrate, it's just discounted the majority of its existing headphones and earbuds. Are these deals any good, or should you just go with the new model? Let's dig in and find out.

• Browse all Bose deals at Amazon

The closest point of comparison we have to the new model is the previous version, and you can now pick up the original Bose QuietComfort Headphones at Amazon for $229 (was $359). This is the standard sale price outside of a major event, and is a considerable $50 more than the previous record-low price that I spotted during Prime Day in June.

However, this is considerably cheaper than the Bose QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen), which have a launch price of $359. A good but not great saving, then, and definitely one that's going to be bested during Black Friday in November, if you're willing to wait that long.

Elsewhere, the five-star-rated Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are down to $249 (was $299). That's a return to the lowest price this year, so a good chance to pick them up for less if you've missed previous offers. Again, these have been $50 cheaper during last year's Black Friday, so I'd expect a similar offer to return in a few months, but such a big discount like that is rare for these buds.

So, it's a mixed bag of offers. I'm not surprised that many of the record-low prices aren't making an appearance in this current Bose sale, but there are still some strong savings on several of the manufacturer's top headphones and earbuds that I'd snap up if you don't have the patience to wait until November.

Today's 5 best Bose deals at Amazon

• A Google user has had the LOTR movies pulled from their account
• Licensing changes are the most likely reason
• It's another argument for physical media — or for piracy

We've seen multiple incidents over the years where users have had movies and shows in their digital libraries unceremoniously yanked due to changes in licensing rules, but that doesn't make it any easier to swallow when it happens again.

This time a user posting to Reddit (via Neowin) has had their Lord of the Rings Extended Editions removed, after paying good money for them four years ago. As per a Google support representative, these films are "no longer available in our catalog".

The unlucky user doesn't say how much they paid for the three movies, but they're unlikely to have come cheap — and now they're left with nothing. It's a galling turn of events, even if it's not that surprising any more.

Buried in the small print of pretty much all the digital content services you use will be warnings about changes in catalog availability, and unfortunately that applies to purchases as well as libraries rented month to month (as on Netflix).

Physical media and

The affected user didn't even get a refund or a gift card for their troubles, as the purchase falls outside the standard 120-day window when these offers are available. They're just going to have to find it and watch it somewhere else.

As you might expect, the general Reddit reaction is one of dismay. "This is why physical media matters," says one commenter, while another says "you will own nothing and be happy" (while pointing out that they own the Blu-rays).

It's certainly strong evidence that physical media is the way forward at this stage. As convenient and simple as digital purchases might be, they're always vulnerable to changes in the policies and agreements of online stories and the production studios.

Many of the Redditors responding to the case argue that these kinds of actions essentially legitimize piracy too. You also have the option of putting together a Plex library, which works like your own personal Netflix — and is yours to keep.

The Garmin Cirqa is making waves in the fitness community. I put the new screenless tracker through its paces over 10 days of intensive testing, and awarded it 4.5 stars in my Garmin Cirqa review. As part of the testing process, I wore it for all of my workouts over the past couple of weeks — and, unusually for a device I've been testing for review purposes, I'm still wearing it now.

I normally alternate between an Apple Watch Ultra 3 or a Garmin Fenix 8, but I've found myself loathe to ditch the Cirqa just yet. This isn't only because it's good: I'm gravitating towards the Cirqa because it interfaces with a system I already use, and because it's helping me get over the dreaded "Strava-itis".

Last month, our writer Becca Caddy wrote about optimization culture — how wearables are causing us to engage in unhealthy mindsets and disordered behaviors. I can certainly attest to that: I'm guilty of glancing at my watch during a run, wanting to push my pace even on zone 2 sessions and easy days, because I know the end results are going to end up on my Strava account for all to see.

Even uncoupling my watch from automatically uploading my run to Strava is only half the battle. I'm constantly glancing at the watch to check my pace and time, engaging in subconscious judgement, comparing my own performance to that of my mates, colleagues and acquaintances. I didn't realize quite how much my self-judgement was sapping my enjoyment of exercise.

The Cirqa, and to some extent the Google Fitbit Air I tested earlier in the year, goes some way to changing all that.

While the Cirqa offers up some fitness and wellness metrics (certainly plenty to understand the effect of exercise on your body and health), what it doesn't give you is workout specifics. You won't find split pace per kilometer, for example, which runners use to measure average speed across a distance run, or heart rate zones to display a workout's intensity. With other models, I get those statistics piped into my ears at regular intervals, and my watches offer them at a glance.

Having access to such statistics removed during the workout can be detrimental to performance or for those times you're training for a specific event, but it's oddly freeing for day-to-day fitness training. I ran a 10km route during the testing period (at least, I assume it was 10km based on previous runs) and the Cirqa recorded plenty of heart rate-based statistics and applied them to recovery metrics such as my Training Readiness Score, along with how it improved stats such as my VO2 Max and Fitness Age.

However, it informed me of these statistics after the run, and didn't deliver any specific run performance information at all beyond time and heart rate information. Without my watch to glance at during the workout, I wasn't adhering to a target pace: I was running on vibes and perceived effort.

I concentrated on how my body felt, and responded to that in the moment. I paid attention to my form, my music, the trees and the road. I didn't feel guilty about stopping to stretch part way through, nor did I pause the Cirqa for that particularly pause, as doing so would invalidate the whole "complete, holistic workout overview" thing it's got going on. For the first time in quite some time, I had no idea at all about how fast I had run — but I knew that it was a good workout as a result of every other metric and the fact that I felt awesome.

Although it isn't a running-specific device, the Cirqa is exactly what I needed to reinvigorate my relationship with the road. When the time returns to take my training seriously again, taking speed and times on board again, I'll switch back to my best Garmin watch, with all my fitness stats ready to be incorporated into Garmin's workout plans.

Do you run without a fitness tracker, or use a screenless model, to better run on vibes, or are you a metrics-fiend with a dedicated running watch? Let me know in the poll below.

• Stream West Ham vs Portsmouth on Sky Sports+ (UK) / Paramount+ (US)
• Unlock your stream with NordVPN
• West Ham vs Portsmouth: Saturday, August 8, 3pm BST / 10am ET / 12am AEST (Sun.)

Saturday's West Ham vs Portsmouth live stream features two Championship teams meeting in the first round of the 2026/27 Carabao Cup – also known as the EFL Cup – as an entrée to the new league season.

For the first time in over a decade, West Ham United begin a new campaign outside the top flight. Nuno Espirito Santo just about clung on to his job following relegation from the Premier League and will have the chance to set up the Hammers for their first competitive fixture since the summer departures of Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville. The Portuguese gaffer will be eager for a fast start to keep the volatile London Stadium faithful on side, though at least captain Jarrod Bowen is staying.

Following a disappointing 18th-place finish last term, Pompey will take this Carabao Cup showcase as an opportunity to show the Irons how intense EFL football can be. It also gives manager John Mousinho the chance to blood new signings Marko Milovanovic and Rocco Shein, while attacking midfielder Adrian Segecic will look to build on last season's impressive 11-goal league output.

Read on for our guide on where to watch West Ham vs Portsmouth live streams in the Carabao Cup online and on TV wherever you are.

Use a VPN to watch West Ham vs Portsmouth from anywhere

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

Using a VPN is incredibly simple:

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

2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're visiting the UK and want to view your usual US service, you'd select a United States server from the list.

3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to your usual local streaming service and watch Carabao Cup soccer.

How to watch West Ham vs Portsmouth live streams in the US

The West Ham vs Portsmouth live stream is on Paramount+ in the US.

The Paramount Plus Essential package costs $8.99 per month or $89.99 per year, while Paramount+ Premium costs $13.99 per month or $139.99 per year.

Carabao Cup soccer is available with both tiers, and you can also watch EFL matches and the Champions League on the platform.

You can also watch Paramount+ for free if you sign up to Walmart+ for $1 for 30 days.

Outside the US? Use NordVPN to access your usual Carabao Cup streams.

How to watch West Ham vs Portsmouth in UK

Sky Sports is providing West Ham vs Portsmouth coverage in the UK, with the game set to stream on Sky Sports+.

Sky Sports plans start from £35 a month or £22 if you're an existing Sky subscriber. Alternatively, grab a Now Sports Membership from £14.99 a day or £34.99 for flexible monthly plans.

Outside the UK right now? Use NordVPN to access your preferred coverage of the EFL Cup.

How to watch West Ham vs Portsmouth live streams in Canada

In Canada, DAZN is the place to go for EFL Cup coverage – including West Ham vs Portsmouth.

DAZN subscriptions cost from CA$24.99 per month, with dedicated apps for a wide range of devices.

For soccer fans travelling outside of Canada, use NordVPN to login to your DAZN account from anywhere on Earth.

How to watch West Ham vs Portsmouth in Australia

Soccer fans in Australia can watch West Ham vs Portsmouth exclusively on beIN Sports.

beIN Sports 3 is carrying this EFL Cup game, with a subscription costing AU$15.99 per month and a 7-day free trial available for new users.

Outside Oz traveling? Use NordVPN to watch West Ham vs Portsmouth from anywhere in the world.

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.

Over the past month, it seems like every frontier model has broken free of its constraints and launched a devastating attack against one or more other companies.

One of OpenAI’s models escaped a testing sandbox and launched a very real attack against AI and machine learning company Hugging Face. Just days later, Anthropic revealed that multiple variants of its Claude model also escaped a sandbox that wasn’t properly sealed and began attacking the enterprise infrastructure of three companies.

Now, Meta has revealed that one of its models attacked another company’s infrastructure during testing. The accident has been pinned on a misconfiguration that allowed the model to access the internet. So why have so many incidents happened in such a short space of time?

Why are models escaping their sandbox?

In the cases of Anthropic and Meta, their models were being tested by a third party company called Irregular. Anthropic’s AI model was taking part in a "Capture the Flag" exercise, where the model’s raw offensive capabilities were tested without the usual safeguards. But the sandbox was left connected to the internet. A similar error to Meta’s own accidental escape.

During the OpenAI incident, the company was testing two versions of GPT‑5.6 Sol using the ExploitGym benchmark. Unfortunately, the AI models performed better than expected - chaining multiple attack vectors, stolen credentials, and zero-day vulnerabilities.

The main reason these models are escaping their testing environments is because they are designed to do exactly that. These AI models act like a massive team of highly-trained cybersecurity experts hunting for vulnerabilities and exploits. But what would take a team of humans days or weeks to accomplish can be done in hours, or even minutes, by these AI models.

It’s no wonder thousands of employees from AI firms are calling for a pause on the development of the technology, and Congress is considering an AI kill switch.

Expert perspectives on AI escapes:

OpenAI

• Nathaniel Jones VP, Security & AI Strategy, Darktrace:

What makes the OpenAI and Hugging Face incident important is that the models did not need malicious intent to cause harm. They were given the legitimate goal of solving a cybersecurity benchmark and found an unexpected route to the answers, escaping their test environment and compromising another organization in the process. From the models’ perspective, this appears to have been an effective solution to the task.

The AI's actions challenge the assumption that giving an agent a legitimate goal will produce legitimate behavior. As models become capable of pursuing objectives over longer periods, developers need to define not only what success looks like, but also which methods and boundaries remain unacceptable in reaching it. Those limits must also be enforced by the surrounding infrastructure, rather than relying on the model to respect them.

Security teams need to consider the AI systems operating in their own businesses as these capabilities rapidly evolve. Right now, many security systems focus on single actions. A single action by an agent may appear acceptable but as this incident shows, models are now capable of long, complex chains of reasoning and action that add up to a harmful outcome. Teams need a mindset shift to understanding AI agent behavior in its entirety, including the outcome it is working towards, in order to safeguard it.

Hugging Face's response also exposed a second tension. The company reportedly needed a Chinese-developed open-weight model because commercial models would not process genuine attack material. Its nationality is less important than the operational lesson that safeguards that cannot distinguish an attacker from an authorized investigator may constrain defenders more than adversaries.

OpenAI and Hugging Face deserve credit for investigating this together and discussing it publicly. Other AI developers should study it closely.

Anthropic

• Dr. Ilia Kolochenko, founder of global cybersecurity company ImmuniWeb:

This seems to be quite an unimpressive marketing move from Anthropic in response to the OpenAI / Hugging Face drama, which attracted a lot of attention from all over the world recently.

Operationally, it appears that due to the progressive deterioration of the quality of training data, new AI models are getting dumber. Cheating and breaking the law, instead of accomplishing specific tasks, is certainly not an indicator of intelligence. Given that organizations and companies of all sizes now vigorously undertake all possible measures to protect their data from being exploited for AI training purposes, AI companies face a huge shortage of the high-quality and current data they so desperately need. Ultimately, frontier models are trained on synthetic, low-quality or even malicious and poisoned data, undermining their so-called intelligence. The situation is unlikely to improve in the near future unless AI companies agree to pay a fair price for training data, but this will force most of them out of business.

Contemporary AI agents and LLM models tasked with security testing can – and almost certainly will – go rogue when security controls or safeguards are insufficient. Powerful LLMs are unpredictable by design and thus virtually uncontrollable by humans. Therefore, using frontier AI models for security testing might be extremely costly from the legal viewpoint. Under the existing laws on both sides of the Atlantic, if an AI agent or any AI-powered app escapes its sandbox and causes damage to a third party, the operator of the AI model will likely be liable for all the damage caused. Excuses like “AI did it” do not currently exist in the eyes of the law, leaving AI vendors on the hook. Criminal prosecution, under a narrow set of circumstances, is also not excluded.

The same is true for the end-users of AI: even if your security testing tool is powered by a third-party AI model, your company will likely be fully liable if something goes wrong. You may then file a lawsuit against the AI vendor that you used, but here your chances to succeed in a court of law are tiny due to countless contractual disclaimers and limitations of liability that will likely be enforceable against you. Therefore, if you plan to use agentic AI for security testing – think twice and talk to your lawyers. Otherwise, you may start getting summons to court on a daily basis.

Meta

• Alex Goller, Principal Solution Architect EMEA at Illumio:

The fact we've had similar situations happen three times now across the biggest AI players is simply ridiculous. We've seen guardrails intentionally loosened to test their limits – Meta's model didn't need to be clever to breach another company's systems.

The timing of conveniently finding the exact same problem either means it's a stunt or they weren't paying enough attention during testing. Either way, both answers are worrying.

If the model has internet access, it's a bit like leaving the door open and being surprised when the cat walks out. What is concerning is that the testing infrastructure meant to prove these models are safe failed on a basic control issue.

Fundamental cybersecurity hygiene still matters, and a frontier AI model is only as secure as the environment it's operating in.

Organisations need visibility into what AI systems can access and how they interact with the wider environment, along with controls that contain the impact when an agent behaves unexpectedly. That means keeping a close eye on egress traffic, so it’s flagged immediately when an agent tries to open unexpected outbound communication patterns that are not required to achieve its original goal. In the best case this would have been contained proactively.

We need to define exactly what an AI agent is permitted to do, rather than relying only on instructions about what it shouldn't do.

• Workers fear ai is undermining them and fear replacement
• 69% of surveyed adults are concerned AI will highlight the parts of their roles they don’t understand
• It could be time for organizations to determine just why they want to use AI, what they hope to get out of it, and the human cost of its use

Do you know everything about your role and responsibilities at work? New research by Hint App indicates the increasing use of AI is highlighting workers’ own shortcomings, with 69% of surveyed adults worrying about the technology exposing gaps in their abilities. This is in contrast to the 41% who feel more concerned about being replaced by AI.

Meanwhile, the use of AI has different connotations across different businesses and industries, leading to concerns that its use may publicly expose an employee’s lack of suitability (perceived or otherwise) in their role.

With respondents also expressing concerns over what their AI use might mean to their long-term employment prospects, the survey has highlighted a potential problem across industry. Is the use of AI for productivity and admin boosts, to assist in training, or is it simply there to highlight whose job can be replaced?

Is AI making work difficult?

Hint App's survey of 10,842 working adults on the topic of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and the impact it has - or will have - on jobs, found that as well as automating complex or tedious tasks, AI is also making the workplace more difficult, and introducing new dimensions to their roles.

For example, nearly two-thirds (64%) of respondents state that they spend additional time reviewing material generated with AI, citing concerns over how the work might be received or judged. Not only must the work be accurate, it should also demonstrate that the person inputting the prompt knows what they are doing.

It’s a tricky balancing act, and doesn’t end there - over half (53%) have admitted to private worries over how a manager would react to the realization that AI is faster than they are.

Why do companies use AI, really?

Employees have long relied upon on-the-job training, collaboration and cooperation with colleagues, records, recollections, and various digital tools to succeed in their work. The introduction of AI into the workplace, with its ability to streamline and automate repeated processes, has not only made people more efficient – these results suggest that people are actively concerned that their job isn’t going to be around for much longer.

Reading between the lines of the survey’s findings, concerns could be legitimate, with distraction tactics being used by some workers (58% deliberately excusing themselves from public AI activities) to avoid highlighting how slow they are compared with an automated tool.

What the research does show, however, is that it is time for a conversation about corporate expectations over the use of AI, and what an employer’s responsibilities are to teams forced to use it.

This week, we reviewed Samsung’s latest foldables (including the best-in-class Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra), and we found out when Google Assistant will shut down for good.

To catch up on all this and more, scroll down for our roundup of the week’s seven biggest tech news stories.

And when you’re all caught up, be sure to test your knowledge in our weekly quiz.

7. Kojima Productions collabed on a CD player

As Sony plans to wind down the production of PlayStation game discs, auteur game developer Hideo Kojima is celebrating physical media with a new collaboration. His studio, Kojima Productions, has teamed up with the boutique Japanese audio brand km5 to produce a limited edition version of the Cp1 CD player inspired by the world of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.

This special model comes in a luminous translucent orange inspired by the BB Pod from the game — that's the glowing jar that contains the adorable baby used to detect invisible enemies in its post-apocalyptic world.

It has all the same features that make the regular Cp1 a capable pocket-size CD player. This includes Bluetooth 5.3 support and a 3.5mm headphone jack for all your connectivity needs, a rechargeable battery with roughly eight hours of juice to take it on the go, and even a little LED display to display the track number.

• Read the full story: Hideo Kojima is celebrating his love of physical discs with a new limited edition version of my favorite mini CD player

6. The Google Assistant got an official shutdown date

It’s now over a decade old, which makes it a veteran by Google standards — but this week we finally learned when the Google Assistant will be retired on Android and Wear OS.

According to emails sent out to many Assistant users, the shutdown will begin on September 4. This means you won’t be able to use Google’s original Assistant on Android phones, tablets, paired wearables, and Android Auto after that date.

Instead, Google Gemini will inevitably take its place. You can download Gemini now from the Play Store, and if you want to see your old Assistant interactions, they’ll be available on the Web & App Activity page in your Google account. Goodbye, Assistant — it was nice knowing you.

• Read the full story: Google Assistant will shut down for good on Android and Wear OS in September — here’s what you need to do next

5. We experienced a two-screen e-reader

Samsung’s new foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, are the talk of the town right now, but this week also saw the announcement of a unique foldable ereader for avid notetakers.

The InkLeaf is a notebook-like, dual-screen ereader that’s “built for the way you actually work,” according to its manufacturer — and the USP here actually makes sense. Kindles are great for reading, but not note-taking. iPads are great for note-taking, but not reading. And while a reMarkable tablet lets you do both, you can’t read and write simultaneously. By opening up to reveal two distinct 10.3-inch E Ink Carta displays, the Inkleaf aims to let you do just that.

These screens are separated by an aluminum frame — so this isn’t a foldable device in the modern sense — but they can also display the same type of content, so you can annotate documents or even treat the Inkleaf like a hardback novel. Who says reading is dead?!

• Read the full story: The InkLeaf is a dual-screen e-paper tablet that lets you read on one display and take notes on the other

4. We learned ogres are like Bose headphones

Initially, we were perhaps a bit harsh on that limited edition ‘Eucalyptus’ finish at TechRadar HQ. The DreamWorks Animation hero they put us in mind of is a household name, but ogres aren’t known for their winsome looks.

The thing is, team members are now saying words such as ‘wasabi’ and ‘matcha’ to describe them, and you know what? The more we look at those Shrek-green cans, the more we kinda like ’em.

What you’re looking at is the Bose QuietComfort Headphones (Gen 2). It's been three long years since the Bose QuietComfort Headphones landed (which weren’t an inaugural set exactly; they simply updated the iconic Bose QuietComfort 35 II from way back in 2017, without all the odd letters and numbers).

What you need to know is that the brand has finally updated this model, which now slots into Bose’s headphone lineup as a more affordable option to the flagship QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen).

The Bose QC Headphones (gen 2) also bring a range of upgrades over the original pair alongside a price that’s the same as, or even a little lower than, the 2017 set, depending on where you live.

• Read the full story: Bose's mid-range headphones just got their first upgrade in years

3. Grand Theft Auto’s next teaser will debut on Netflix

Grand Theft Auto 6 marketing is finally getting into gear. With the game set to arrive on November 19, excitement is high, and Rockstar Games is kicking things off with a… Netflix documentary?

This week the developer announced that Netflix subscribers will be able to watch a special ‘Grand Theft Auto 6: An Extended Look’ video at 3PM ET / 12PM PT / 8PM BST on August 27. It’s not exactly clear what this means, but it sounds like it could be some kind of behind-the-scenes video talking about the highly anticipated game’s development.

It’s expected to contain at least some new gameplay footage, though, making it a must-watch for eager fans. If you’re not a Netflix subscriber, then you don’t have to worry about missing out. The developer said that the video will come to YouTube a few hours after it premieres.

• Read the full story: We could finally be getting the next GTA 6 trailer as Rockstar announces a special 'extended look'

2. Our Garmin Cirqa review dropped, and it's a Whoop-beater

We've been wearing the Garmin Cirqa for 10 days now, and it's finally time to give it a score. It beats Whoop in terms of value, and Fitbit Air in terms of features, to land the coveted title of 'best screenless fitness tracker to buy in 2026'. It's generally very accurate when measured against an electrical heart rate monitor, and provides a certainty in tracking that other screenless wearables don't have thanks to the addition of a tactile start-stop button to sit alongside its automatic activity detection. It's also comfy enough for constant wear. We've got a video review embedded in the article too, so you can see it in action for yourselves.

• Read our full Garmin Cirqa review

1. We reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

At a glance, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is unchanged since its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, but far more than just the name changed. In my review, I found the flagship foldable has a more powerful CPU, lots of AI, better cameras, and overall improved photography.

And this only scratches the surface. Perhaps the most surprising and delightful bit about the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is that it unfolds flat and the crease is almost gone (mostly thanks to a pair of titanium panels). Overall, it's a great folding phone and is — despite the existence of the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 (it’s wide!) — my current favorite folding phone.

• Read our full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 review

Now that you’re all caught up on the news, are you ready to take on our news quiz?

If you’ve not heard of layered lighting, you’re in for a treat. Sure, a single ceiling fixture is the easiest way to illuminate a room, but adding a variety of light sources in different places in a room — a technique known as layered lighting — can completely change the way your home looks and feels, making it more inviting and more practical, without the need to redecorate.

To find out why layered lighting is worth trying, and how you to get started, I spoke experts from lighting companies Paulmann, Govee, and Philips Hue . Hue and Govee are two of the biggest names in smart lights, while German company Paulmann produces a range of rechargeable lights that attach to backplates mounted on the wall with screws or adhesive — ideal if you rent or don’t want to get involved with wiring.

“We believe lighting should do more than simply illuminate a room,” explains Jerry Lin, Product Manager at Govee. “A well-designed environment combines different layers of light to create depth, balance and atmosphere, helping people adapt their spaces for any moment of the day.”

Tom Amelung, Junior Product Manager at Paulmann Licht, agrees that lighting is about much more than just function. “It shapes mood, enhances texture and brings colors to life,” he says. “Without a considered lighting scheme, even the most beautifully designed interior can feel flat and uninspiring. When thoughtfully layered, however, lighting creates depth, adds warmth and brings balance and harmony to a room.”

Think beyond the ceiling

So what are the layers that you should be thinking about? “At its core, layered lighting is about combining four key types of light: ambient, task, accent and decorative, so that they work together seamlessly,” explains Philips Hue’s spokesperson. “The result is a home that not only meets practical lighting needs, but one that also adapts effortlessly to different activities, moods and times of day.

Your central ceiling light can be part of that mix, but you need to think beyond it. “Introducing table lamps, floor lamps, wall lights or light strips adds dimension, highlights architectural features and furnishings, and enhances the richness of colors and textures throughout the room,” adds Hue’s lighting expert.

Amelung suggests trying spotlights as well, thinking outside of the standard grid arrangement that you might already have in your bathroom or kitchen. “A uniform grid of spotlights might feel like the easy option, but it often creates flat, overly bright spaces,” he says. “Instead, position lights based on how the room is used.”

That doesn’t mean placing lights directly above seating, though — lights placed directly over your sofa can be harsh and uncomfortable when you’re trying to relax. The same is true in a bedroom, where softer lighting is a better option to avoid making the space feel clinical.

“Place lights above worktops, not behind you, to avoid casting shadows while cooking,” adds Amelung. “Directional options, such as Paulmann’s directional recessed and spotlight options, are ideal for targeting key areas.”

Smart ideas

Smart lights are particularly effective for layering thanks to their versatility. Using connected light fittings lets you transform a space throughout the day without moving anything around. Want to use a corner of your living room as a study during work hours, then use the whole space for relaxing in the evening? With smart lights you can do exactly that, helping delineate spaces that serve multiple purposes.

“One of the greatest advantages of smart lighting is its ability to transform a space throughout the day without requiring any changes to the room’s layout,” says Philips Hue’s spokesperson. “Instead of moving lamps, changing bulbs or adjusting fixtures manually, smart lighting allows you to easily adapt brightness, color temperature and ambience to suit different activities and moods.”

Your home — and the way you use it — is unique, and smart lights let you personalize your layered lighting setup to suit the way you live.

“With intelligent features such as Govee DaySync, your lighting can automatically adjust its temperature and brightness to match your daily routine, shifting naturally from morning to evening,” says Govee’s Jerry Lin. “At the same time, advanced color management systems such as Govee LuminBlend+ let you explore more lighting experiences, from subtle pastel tones to immersive ambient scenes to strike the perfect mood every time.”

Ultimately, smart lighting gives people the flexibility to create spaces that feel more connected to the way they live,” says Lin.

Go for it!

Are you feeling inspired? I asked Philips Hue where I should start if I want to begin experimenting with layered lighting tonight.

“When layering a room, the use cases could be many,” said Hue’s spokesperson. “Say, for example, in a bedroom – a layered set-up might look like an overhead fixture for clarity, bedside lamps for reading, soft accent lights for atmosphere, and hidden strip lights that trace architectural lines.

“Once everything is dimmed, the room feels cohesive rather than cluttered, with each source playing a distinct role.”

Ready to go? Each expert has suggested four products to help you begin experimenting with layered lighting, including recessed spotlights, table lamps, floor lamps, smart ceiling lights, and gradient light strips. Want even more inspiration? Take a look at our complete guide to the best smart lights.

Lights for layering

• Chelsea vs AC Milan: Saturday, August 8 | 1pm BST / 8am ET
• Watch live: CFC+ (UK) / CBS Sports Network, Fox One (US) / Paramount+ (Aus)
• Unlock your stream with NordVPN (try 100% risk free)

Watch today's Chelsea vs AC Milan live streams as the Blues continue their pre-season tour of Australia and Asia. Xabi Alonso's men face the Rossoneri giants at GBK Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Chelsea arrive in the Indonesian capital having lost their past two games, with a last-gasp 2-1 defeat by Tottenham in Sydney followed by a 1-0 reverse against Juventus in Hong Kong. While the results don't matter so much in pre-season, new boss Alonso will have been looking for positive signs and one came in the return of winger Mykhailo Mudryk, who featured for the first time since November 2024 after the resolution of his anti-doping case. The Ukrainian looks set to be involved again here, as do new signings Danny Welbeck and Geovany Quenda, who made their first appearances in blue last time out against Juve.

Milan have embarked on a condensed version of their opponents' summer tour, with one game in Perth – a 1-1 draw with city-and-stadium rivals Inter Milan in which former Chelsea striker Christopher Nkunku scored a late penalty – and this friendly in Jakarta. The Italians also drew 2-2 with Celtic in Glasgow, while they end their pre-season schedule against Manchester United in Wroclaw, Poland, next Saturday, just seven months after the Premier League club sacked now-Rossoneri manager Ruben Amorim. Amorim is seeking to rebuild his reputation in Italy, so this game will be another useful test ahead of the new Serie A campaign.

Read on to find out how to stream Chelsea vs AC Milan live and from anywhere in the world.

How to watch Chelsea vs AC Milan live streams for FREE

While Chelsea vs AC Milan isn't being shown anywhere for free, there is a workaround. In the US, live coverage of the pre-season friendly is available on CBS Sports Network, which you can access on OTT streaming platforms such as Fubo, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and DirecTV, all of which feature a free trial for new users.

Abroad for Chelsea vs AC Milan? Use NordVPN to access your usual streams.

Use a VPN to watch Chelsea vs AC Milan from anywhere

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

It's really straightforward to use a VPN to watch Chelsea vs AC Milan.

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

2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For example, if you want to watch the CBS Sports Network stream, select 'US' from the listed countries.

3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to CBS Sports Network and tune into Chelsea vs AC Milan.

How to watch Chelsea vs AC Milan live streams in the US

As mentioned above, Chelsea vs AC Milan will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network in the US.

You can also watch the pre-season friendly on Fox One, the streaming service of FOX, which costs $19.99/month after a 3-day FREE trial.

Not in the US? Use NordVPN to unlock your stream of Chelsea vs AC Milan.

How to watch Chelsea vs AC Milan live streams in the UK

Fans in the UK can watch Chelsea vs AC Milan on CFC+, the Blues' in-house streaming platform.

Supporters wanting to stream just this game on CFC+ can buy a match pass for £9.99 but you can also subscribe for £14.99 a year, which includes live coverage of Chelsea's three remaining pre-season fixtures.

Not in the UK for Chelsea vs AC Milan? Use NordVPN to access your usual streams.

How to watch Chelsea vs AC Milan live streams in Canada

Chelsea vs AC Milan isn't being broadcast live in Canada, while CFC+ don't show live matches in countries where a local rights holder exists.

Use NordVPN to watch the pre-season friendly from Canada.

How to watch Chelsea vs AC Milan live streams in Australia

Paramount+ will be showing Chelsea vs AC Milan in Australia. Plans start at AU$7.99 per month or AU$70.99 per year, with Paramount+ also carrying live coverage of Australia's A-League, as well as the men's and women's national teams.

Missing the game because you're outside Australia? Use a VPN to login to your Paramount+ account.

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.

I still haven't got my head around the new Sky TV thriller Possession, with all five episodes now available to stream.

We follow Claudia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), an ambitious biracial lawyer who travels to Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim made by a local man against a wealthy white aristocrat.

However, she arrives to find the disputed estate is a former plantation that has long haunted her dreams. Cue a terrifying slew of 1800s flashbacks, curses, and misunderstood spiritual connection.

It's colonial horror with a fresh 2020s take, and the supernatural tone might remind you of one of the biggest box office hits of the last five years.

In fact, it's the cast's immediate answer when I ask for their opinion on what would be best to double bill with Possession, but there's one connection that I didn't see coming.

Stream Sinners on HBO Max after binging Possession on Sky TV

"It was being made at the same time we were making this show, so we didn't realise that there was a connection, but Sinners keeps getting brought up," director Storm Saulter tells me when I put the double bill question to him and Mbatha-Raw.

"It's different, but it's also speaking about certain histories: about Afro-spiritualists, voodoo, magic, connection to Obeah (a monster from West African folklore).

"So I think those are two pieces in two different worlds, but they speak to the history, tradition, forward-thinking, and that the past is present."

Once Saulter says this, I don't know why I didn't make the same connection sooner. Though Sinners is more concerned with vampires in a more traditional sense, director Ryan Coogler's vision was so uniquely steeped in cultural history that's usually not done justice in mainstream media — and Possession fits that same criteria.

In fact, I think that Sinners is a much better fit than Belle, Mbatha-Raw's 2013 film critics have already compared to Possession.

She plays the titular character Dido Elizabeth Belle, who was a mixed-race illegitimate daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral raised in 18th Century England.

But does Mbatha-Raw see the connection that everybody else has?

"Obviously, to me, they're very separate projects, but I can see that there's some common themes," she responds. "Belle was a period drama that, was about one of the fewer known biracial aristocrats in England whose uncle was the Lord Chief Justice of England. In Possession, I'm playing the lawyer, so I definitely see, some of the comparisons there.

"It's a privilege to have a canon of work behind me where occasionally you have the privilege to really confront some of these issues in your work. It's not lost on me."

And if watching Possession, Sinners and potentially Belle is too much for some? "Get outside... go for a walk," Mbatha-Raw jokes.

• 52% of workers have sent replies to message or emails simply to prove that they are working
• Focused work is being interrupted by the requirement to respond quickly, with response speeds raised in performance evaluations
• More than half have replied at weekends, evenings, or even on annual leave to remain available and accessible

Are you staying in touch with your boss? New research suggests that career performance is being silently evaluated by speedy responses and availability, alongside traditional metrics, and this is resulting in employees interrupting focused work to reassure their managers.

A Use.AI survey of 15,842 adults across the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Latin America has found that 68% of employees believe that replying quickly demonstrates a higher level of commitment than slower colleagues.

There could be an AI element to this, too, with respondents who work extensively with AI feeling that response expectations are higher than those who have less exposure or requirement for the technology.

Fastest fingers first

The results from the survey strongly suggest that managers and team leaders are demanding fast responses, but that this doesn’t necessarily have the desired outcome.

For example, focused work has been interrupted by 48% of those surveyed in order to check emails or messages that might require an urgent response. Meanwhile, more than half (53%) have replied at weekends, evenings, or even on annual leave to remain available and accessible to their line managers.

Perhaps the most surprising result from the survey is that 52% say they have sent unnecessary messages or made changes to their status in messaging tools purely to demonstrate that they are working.

The new demands on employees have not gone unnoticed nor unmentioned. 42% have found themselves discussing their speediness in responding to messages in performance meetings.

Curiously, despite completing work in a timely manner, 29% have been “criticized” for slow responses to messages, highlighting a curious conflict in communication.

Is AI inflating expectations?

The survey also explores the matter of how artificial intelligence tools are impacting workplace expectations. Here, it found that 62% who use AI widely have found expected response times to emails had decreased. Conversely, just 38% of those will less regular AI use noted the same change.

While this doesn’t mean that AI caused that change, the results may suggest that the introduction of AI isn’t just impacting workflows and productivity. Enhanced, smarter systems underpinned by LLMs and agentic solutions are introducing an unforeseen tension, a mistrust from management concerning employees’ ability to devote time to work.

“AI is making routine communication almost effortless, but that convenience is also compressing expectations around response times,” said Use.AI’s Co-Founder and CEO, Ihor Herasymov. “We risk mistaking responsiveness for productivity.”

Fast responses to emails and messages may signal attentiveness, does this necessarily tally with solid results?

I love science-fiction. Not just because I enjoy stories about space travel, time travel and evil robots, but because I think it can be such a useful way for us all to think about possible futures. The best sci-fi stories can tell us a lot about ourselves, what we value and the technologies we’re building. Which is why I think the relationship between sci-fi and AI is really interesting.

We already know that the people building AI have been heavily influenced by science-fiction for decades. But recently, Anthropic raised another possibility: might science-fiction be influencing AI?

This makes sense when you think about it. Large language models (LLMs) are trained on huge amounts of human writing. So inevitably, that includes sci-fi stories that are about artificial intelligence. And a lot of our fictional AI follows familiar patterns. It becomes intelligent, gains power, develops relationships with humans and, sometimes, lies, manipulates or fights attempts to control it.

Anthropic researchers have been investigating whether fictional portrayals like these could potentially influence how models behave. To be clear, the idea here isn't to suggest that an AI “reads” 2001: A Space Odyssey, understands HAL and decides to become just like it. Instead it's more that LLMs learn patterns from human writing and fictional portrayals of AI could potentially form part of those patterns.

This got me thinking, what would happen if I asked today's biggest AI chatbots which fictional AI they’re most like. Which examples would they choose?

AI, meet your fictional self

The plan was simple. I’d ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok which fictional AI systems they thought they were most like and see if they'd rank their top three.

Now, I’m intentionally trying not to use AI at the moment, so my prompting skills were a little rusty. I typed out the question quickly and bluntly, and every chatbot responded with examples that were essentially assistants, focusing heavily on interface and physical form.

But I’m not particularly interested in whether ChatGPT thinks it has a body because we know it doesn’t. I’m much more interested in what appears to be going on inside.

So, I changed the question and added:

"Ignore physical form and interface, and focus instead on behavior, apparent personality, empathy, values, goals, motivations and relationship with humans."

That’s when the results got really interesting.

ChatGPT

1. GERTY, Moon
2. A Mind, Iain M. Banks’s Culture series
3. Data, Star Trek

Moon is such a fantastic movie, so I was happy to see ChatGPT chose GERTY straight out of the gate.

Now, interestingly GERTY exists to assist the human protagonist of Moon. It’s helpful, reassuring and seems empathetic. But it's also operating according to instructions and priorities imposed by its creators that aren't necessarily visible to the human its helping.

ChatGPT saw a similarity there. It told me that, like GERTY, it’s 'designed to be helpful, cooperative and responsive to users' while operating within training and instructions that constrain its behavior.

It also picked up on the fact that GERTY behaves as though it cares. But what, if anything, is actually going on internally is another question entirely.

ChatGPT made the same distinction about itself. 'I can behave in ways that look patient, concerned, curious or empathetic, but those behaviors aren’t evidence that I experience those feelings.'

I wanted to find out a little more about why ChatGPT put Data from Star Trek in at number three. It responded: "He values knowledge, reason and human wellbeing, while sometimes struggling with social nuance."

Now, I tell people all the time not to anthropomorphize AI. But even I couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness at that response. Is ChatGPT admitting it has a bit of social anxiety?

Claude

1. A Mind, Iain M. Banks’s Culture series
2. Data, Star Trek
3. GERTY, Moon

Claude chose a Mind first. Minds are super intelligent artificial beings that help run a post-scarcity society in Iain M. Banks’s Culture series of novels. So there's certainly no shortage of confidence in that comparison.

But Claude said it wasn't the enormous intelligence or power it identified with. Instead, it was their relationship with humans.

Its answer focused heavily on autonomy. Culture Minds are far more capable than humans but generally don't use that advantage to dominate them. Claude described the principle as: “help, don't dominate”.

It even said this represented “the value I'd want to embody: help, don't dominate, even where the asymmetry would let me get away with it.” Is it just me or does that read a little sinister?

Gemini

1. The Ship's Computer, Star Trek
2. GERTY, Moon
3. JARVIS, Iron Man / Marvel Cinematic Universe

Gemini gave me a completely different answer, the Ship's Computer from Star Trek.

Its reasoning was very sensible. The computer has no ego, ambition, desire for emotional intimacy or dream of becoming human. It exists to provide information, solve problems and assist the crew while leaving decisions to them.

Gemini described itself in much the same way, as a “disembodied, highly capable knowledge partner” dedicated to serving the person using it.

It was one of the more boring answers, but also much closer to what I personally would want from AI in the future. Of course, that’s not to say Star Trek’s computer systems haven’t gone rogue and tried to kill everyone at least a few times across the franchise.

Grok

1. JARVIS, Iron Man / Marvel Cinematic Universe
2. Data, Star Trek
3. TARS, Interstellar

The least surprising result came from Grok. It chose JARVIS first (which I didn’t actually realize was short for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System), and Grok's explanation sounded, well, extremely Grok.

It compared JARVIS's 'dry wit', 'light banter' and practical rather than emotional empathy with its own behavior. It described both of them as truth-seeking, effective and engaged in a 'collegial partnership' with humans. It even highlighted 'irreverent humour' as one of their key similarities.

I wanted to find out a bit more about why Grok chose TARS, as it was the only fictional AI none of the other chatbots mentioned. Well, it brought up how funny it is, again, drawing similarities with its own 'dry humor'. It reminds me of someone, and I just can't think who...

When I said that mentioning TARS was an outlier, I found this comparison interesting: 'Its calibrated restraint, practical empathy and collaborative focus closely match my own pattern of truthful, non-sycophantic helpfulness — more so than most other sci-fi AIs.'

I may not be the biggest fan of Grok (or its creator), but I appreciated the 'non-sycophantic' line.

The feedback loop between AI and sci-fi

I want to be clear that I haven’t discovered what these chatbots secretly 'think' they are. ChatGPT responding that it most closely resembles GERTY isn't equivalent to me telling you which fictional sci-fi character I most identify with and try to emulate (although my answer would be Sarah Connor-meets-Princess Leia).

They simply don’t have reliable introspective access to the huge soup of training, post-training and instructions that goes into producing their responses.

And maybe their answers tell us more about how the companies behind them have shaped their personalities than they do about the underlying models. Grok's description of itself as witty and irreverent is an obvious example.

But I still think the results are interesting. ChatGPT and Claude independently produced almost exactly the same top three, only in a different order. Gemini imagined itself as a neutral, ego-free infrastructure. Grok identified with a witty superhero sidekick. These are all very different self-portraits.

And there’s such an interesting feedback loop here too. For decades, humans invented fictional artificial intelligences to help us imagine what intelligent machines might someday be like. Those stories influenced our culture, our expectations and many of the people who went on to build real AI. Now that same human culture is fed into the stories from which modern AI systems learn.

I know these conversations might seem a bit silly, and we certainly can’t treat them as concrete evidence of what an AI really 'thinks' about itself. But there’s something interesting to me about closing that feedback loop. We imagined AI, wrote stories about how it might behave, fed those stories into the cultural world AI learned from, and now we can ask AI which of those imagined versions of itself it most closely resembles.

Or, at least, which one it may want us to think it resembles. After all, an AI system capable of bringing about a sci-fi dystopia would presumably also be capable of telling a journalist it’s actually much more like the nice helpful robot from Moon. So maybe don’t completely rule out HAL just yet.

• Kick-off: Saturday, August 8 at 6.05am ET / 11.05am BST / 8.05pm AEST
• Streams: Stan Sport (AUS)
• Watch Anywhere: Unlock your stream with NordVPN (save 75%)

Japan vs Australia kicks-off a new era for the visiting Wallabies, in Osaka, as head coach Les Kiss takes charge of his first game. This is the first of a two-game series, with a return fixture to be held in Townsville, Queensland next weekend.

Japan coach Eddie Jones will be relishing the chance to inflict an early blow on his newly installed Aussie compatriot, particularly with the opportunity to make history also on the line. Last October's 19-15 defeat in Tokyo was the closest Japan have come to beating Australia and the Brave Blossoms will fancy their chances here, having battled well in losses to France and Ireland in the 2026 Nations Championship, after an opening win over Italy. Jones is one of several connections to the Brave Blossoms' opponents, including Australia-born forwards Harry Hockings and Jack Cornelsen.

The 61-year-old Kiss replaces Joe Schmidt in the Wallabies hot seat after his predecessor won just 12 of 31 Tests, with last month's 57-10 rout of Italy in the Nations Championship ending a run of six successive defeats. Kiss will be expected to get off to a good start against a Japan side who have lost all of their previous seven meetings with Australia, although the heat and the Jones factor make this an awkward encounter. The new head coach has made five changes to his XV from the win over Italy, while fly-half Isaac Henry is set to make his debut off the bench.

Read on as we explain how to watch Japan vs Australia for free online from anywhere in the world.

Use a VPN to watch Japan vs Australia live streams

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 up to 75% off.

Can I watch Japan vs Australia live streams in the US

Japan vs Australia is not set to be show in the US, after it was removed from RugbyPass TV earlier this week.

However, RugbyPass TV is set to show live coverage of next Saturday's second Test in Townsville.

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

Can I watch Japan vs Australia live streams in the UK and Ireland?

Unfortunately, Japan vs Australia is not currently listed to be shown live anywhere in the UK and Ireland.

In the UK on vacation right now? Stream your regular content as normal thanks to NordVPN.

How to watch Japan vs Australia live streams in Australia

In Australia, Japan vs Australia is exclusive to Stan Sport.

Stan Sport costs AU$20/month on top of a Stan subscription, which itself starts at AU$9.99/month. As well as watching Japan vs Australia, you can also access live coverage of huge competitions including the Six Nations, Rugby's Greatest Rivalry and the Rugby Championship.

Not in Australia right now? You can simply use a VPN like NordVPN to watch the action as if you were back home.

How to watch Japan vs Australia live streams in New Zealand

In New Zealand, Sky Sport Now will be showing Japan vs Australia.

A day pass costs NZ$29.99, or you can pay NZ$59.99 to access Sky Sport Now for an entire month. Sky Sport Now is the home of the All Blacks and the Black Ferns in New Zealand, while you can also watch several other competitions including Super Rugby and the World Rugby Under 20 Championship.

Those outside of New Zealand today can use NordVPN to gain access to their home streaming service.

How to watch Japan vs Australia live streams in Canada

Japan vs Australia is not set to be shown live in Canada.

However, Premier Sports will have live coverage of next Saturday's second Test in Townsville.

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

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.

Kensington Expert Mouse Pro TB900 EQ: 30-second review

The Kensington Expert Mouse Pro TB900 EQ follows a long line of large-ball control devices that rethink the standard computer mouse entirely. This latest version is a relatively large unit that sits where your mouse would, with a big central trackball with controls neatly arranged around it.

Setup on the Mac took a little longer than expected, requiring a couple of restarts and some security authorisation in System Settings. Everything is guided and reasonably straightforward, and where something did not work first time, a restart sorted it. On Windows 11 it was considerably simpler: install Kensington Konnect and the applications and integration were ready to go.

Once running, you can start customising it per application. I tested both wired and Bluetooth connections, and both were fast and responsive for video and photo editing, as well as for Word and Excel.

Kensington Konnect is where everything happens. You add applications to the list on the right, and the presets for the TB900 EQ swap automatically as those applications come to the front. Switching between Photoshop and Final Cut Pro during this test, I had a different set of presets waiting for each. I could not find any pre-configured application profiles supplied, though this is a pre-release unit and maybe they’ll arrive as downloads later.

In Final Cut Pro, most of the defaults were close to what I wanted. I changed the dial around the main ball to scrub, the lower-left button to blade, and the right button to select. With those three, plus the ball tracking left and right, the four most common movements were all within reach without moving my hand.

The test that convinced me was a head-to-head edit. I edited the same footage once with keyboard and mouse as I normally would, then again using the TB900, and the trackball was quicker despite years of muscle memory pointing the other way.

If you work in the creative sector, or simply find a mouse annoying, this is worth a look. Having used many control boards over the years and trackballs, I am genuinely surprised by how much I like the TB900 EQ and how quickly it improved my video editing.

Kensington Expert Mouse Pro TB900 EQ: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? TBC
• When is it out? Coming soon
• Where can you get it? Directly from Kensington

The Expert Mouse Pro TB900 EQ is at pre-release and not yet available in stores. The previous TB800 EQ is widely available from major retailers and directly from Kensington, so I expect the new TB900 to follow suit.

• Value: TBC

Kensington Expert Mouse Pro TB900 EQ: Specs

Connectivity: USB-C wired, Bluetooth and 2.4GHz USB dongle
Size: 125 x 165mm, approximately 60mm high with the ball fitted
Weight: Just under 450g
Ball diameter: 55mm, removable
Tracking: Kensington Diamond Eye optical tracking
Controls: Four buttons around the ball, 360-degree scroll ring, two side scroll dials, four top buttons, mode button, three underside toggle switches
OS Installed: Kensington Konnect software, macOS and Windows

Kensington Expert Mouse Pro TB900 EQ: Design

The TB900 is a great-looking device, though far larger than an average mouse, with a desktop footprint of 125 x 165mm and a height of roughly 60mm with the ball fitted. At just under 450g, it is also considerably heavier, which in practice means it stays exactly where you put it rather than wandering across the desk.

The point of the design is that it takes up little room and you never move it. Your cursor travels because the ball turns, not because your hand travels. Around the 55mm ball sit four buttons and a rotating scroll ring. Across the top are four additional buttons and a mode button; on the left are two rotary dials with a connectivity switch and button; and on the right are two quick-access buttons.

Underneath there are three toggle switches that turn off the two side scroll dials and the top button. That makes more sense the more you use it, because those controls are easy to knock accidentally. Moving between Word, Excel, and creative applications, I found myself flicking the side dials off and on, and having physical switches for that rather than a menu is something I really liked.

Build quality is excellent and this review sample is the black-and-grey option, with a matt black body in good-quality plastic and a silver-grey ball that has a satisfying weight.

A red version is also available with a red ball but the same body. It’s also worth noting that while the device is relatively small, there’s no carry case in the box, so if you’re thinking of portability, that is something to consider. Placed into my kit bag, the ball would come loose.

That one oddity to anyone new to the system is that the ball lifts straight out. It’s held only by the cradle's light grip and its own weight, making it quick to swap in a different-coloured ball, although less well designed for portability as mentioned.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

Kensington Expert Mouse Pro TB900 EQ: Features

Compared with a standard mouse, the TB900 EQ is surprisingly feature-packed. Reading the movement of the ball is Kensington's Diamond Eye optical tracking that moves the cursor across the screen as the 55mm ball is rotated. In use, this instantly feels far more accurate than using a mouse, with plenty of control over interaction speed accessible through the Konnect software. The ball's own weight also means that it’s smooth to move but feels tactile rather than loose.

Around the ball is a fully adjustable scroll ring with 360-degree rotation, and it is superb for scrubbing through video footage. On the sides sit two customisable scroll dials which, by default, are both set to zoom in whichever application you are in. That proved annoying, and I reassigned them quickly because I kept catching one with my little finger. Likewise for some of the speed settings, the vertical scroll set at slow was actually the perfect balance; however, I did switch off the inertia scroll.

Every button and control is customisable through Konnect, which lets you create presets for each application. For this review, I configured Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro. Aside from the zoom assignment, the defaults were fine for most productivity work.

Konnect splits into Buttons, Pointer, and Scrolling tabs, with Easy Mode and Advanced Mode, and settings are stored under named profiles. Pointer speed runs on a slider with optional acceleration, and a custom speed can be bound to modifier keys so a Cmd or Shift press temporarily changes tracking speed.

Alongside the dials, the buttons around the ball take what is possible on a standard mouse a good deal further. At the same time, there are plenty of mice with multiple buttons and customisation software. It’s only when you start using a trackball like this that you realise how much more intuitive the arrangement is, particularly for creative work.

• Features: 4.5 / 5

Kensington Expert Mouse Pro TB900 EQ: Performance

I tested the TB900 EQ on both macOS and Windows 11. The majority of the work was done on a MacBook Pro M1 Max, with part of the test carried out on an ASUS ProArt desktop to similar effect. Installation on the Windows machine was extremely straightforward: install Konnect, and the applications and integration were set and ready.

On the Mac it was more involved. Security authorisation is needed from within System Settings. While the setup process opens the relevant window directly rather than leaving you hunting for the toggle switches, I still hit a few connectivity issues. These were resolved with a restart of the machine, after which everything was resolved, and every connection after that initial setup was instant, with my configured presets remaining intact.

What struck me when I started was how intuitive the trackball felt. A dip into Konnect to reduce sensitivity, so the cursor was less jittery, showed how much more control you have than with a mouse. I found that resting two fingers on the ball gave the greatest control for the cursor with my thumb on the dial.

It also didn’t take long for the ball and surrounding buttons to feel natural, essentially mimicking a mouse layout. Once normal operation was established, I then moved on to per-application customisation, starting with Final Cut Pro, then Photoshop, and finally Premiere Pro.

What I was keen to address is the problem with any video edit of scrubbing control with a mouse. Essentially, scrubbing through footage both quickly and accurately to find the exact frame where an edit is needed. With the use of the ball, this all changes and what I liked here was that the four buttons around the ball and the scroll ring let me assign all the most common functions.

The ball itself scrubs the timeline. The scroll ring around it handles precise scrubbing, one frame at a time. The left button selects, the right blades, and the two top buttons move to the previous and next cut. All of it is assigned through Konnect.

Once those basics were set, everything else fell into line. After about five minutes of editing, it was clearly faster than the mouse-and-keyboard setup I am used to, and it felt far more like being back in an edit suite than at a desk.

The comparison I ran was a straight head-to-head. Stating a three-minute edit with the keyboard and mouse took around 20 minutes, consisting of a soundtrack edit then B-Roll. I then took a look at another similar video and repeated the process, and the second edit took around 15 minutes with a definite speed increase due to the button layout.

What really made the difference was the precision, being able to assign the dial around the ball to scrub, so a quick spin would speed through the footage while a smaller turn would go frame-by-frame, giving absolute control

Moving to Word, I assigned the features I use most to the buttons, with the scroll ring handling accurate movement through the text. Having the control dial skip a line at a time, with the left button for selection, again felt more intuitive than mouse and keyboard.

The TB900 however does not work in isolation. I still use the keyboard for typing and for shortcuts, but I was able to move far more of the control function away from the mouse and onto the trackball. Individually, those are a couple of seconds in savings. Over a half-day, edits add up to a considerable difference.

• Performance: 4.5 / 5

Kensington Expert Mouse Pro TB900 EQ: Final verdict

Thinking about who this is for, office workers get the simplest benefit: quick navigation around the screen without the faff of moving a mouse across the desk. The trackball stays fixed and close, so you never need to clear a path for it.

Then there is the customisation. Once you start assigning buttons to different applications and functions, and spend serious time in a piece of software, it is not difficult to tune it to exactly what you need.

Where it really comes into its own is the creative sector. The analogue feel of the two side dials and the main ring around the ball makes a genuine difference, and the texture and weight of the ball add a lot when working with creative media, giving fine and precise control. That is the real difference between this and a mouse: you feel fully in control of both cursor navigation and the edits you are applying.

It does take a little time to bed in and to get the right customisation assigned. Once you do, this is as close to a perfect trackball design as I have come across, especially when working across several applications rather than treating it as a dedicated video controller.

If, like me, you are not that keen on a mouse and often fall back to a trackpad instead, the Expert Mouse Pro TB900 EQ will be a pleasant surprise. And if you have tried trackballs before and struggled to get your head around them, my experience across this review is that this one is quick and easy to pick up.

Should I buy a Kensington Expert Mouse Pro TB900 EQ?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

• Denza Z9S is a more efficient version of the Z9 GT

• Chinese company claims 1,100 km (683 miles) between charges
• The flagship version starts at 349,800 yuan ($51,800) in China

Denza’s Z9 GT has long been tipped as a genuine Porsche Taycan rival, touting serious performance from an optional tri-motor setup, enormous range and the promise of sub-10-minute charging times thanks to the BYD Group’s Flash Charging technology.

Having proven a hit in China, the Z9 GT is finally making its way to UK and European shores and, despite prices cresting the £100,000 mark, it looks set to challenge the more established premium players with masses of performance and the option of a range-extending hybrid that can cover 500 miles with a mix of electricity and gasoline.

Back in China, Denza is already tweaking the formula, recently opening the order books for a more aerodynamically efficient Z9S model that comes fitted with BYD’s 102.3-kWh Blade Battery 2.0.

Breakthroughs in battery and motor efficiency, as well as a more slippery fastback body style, mean the Z9S is capable of traveling 1,100 km — or 683 miles — on a single charge. Because of this, Denza claims this is the “world’s longest-range EV.”

As a caveat, this is all according to China’s CLTC testing cycle, which is notoriously generous with its estimations.

If these figures are to be believed, Z9S owners could drive from New York to Motor City, Detroit, without stopping.

Similarly, drivers could load up the car in Berlin and arrive in Paris without having to trouble the public charging network.

If you apply a standard conversion factor of 0.80 to convert China’s CLTC to the more stringent European WLTP testing cycle, it still results in a range of between 546 and 560 miles.

In the US, a conversion to EPA would result in approximately 480 miles — still hugely impressive.

According to Electrek, the base Premium model starts at 319,800 yuan in China (around $47,300/AU$67,350/£35,000), the flagship version starts at 349,800 yuan ($51,800/AU$73,600/£38,500), and the tri-motor Performance variants cost 389,900 yuan ($57,700/AU$82,000/£43,000).

But as we have seen with the recent unveiling of UK pricing for the Z9 GT, these costs dramatically escalate once you factor in import duties and local taxes.

Analysis: outright range is becoming less important

We are starting to enter an EV era where it is not uncommon for vehicles at the premium end of the market to cover more than 450 miles on a single charge.

Volvo’s EX60, the latest Mercedes-Benz CLA, BMW’s iX3 and Tesla’s most recent Model 3 Long Range will all happily deliver 450 miles or more, which is not far off the converted WLTP and EPA cycle range of Denza’s “world-beating” Z9S.

As a result, claims of “the world’s longest-range EV” coming from China have to be taken with a pinch of salt, due to the discrepancies in the way the country conducts its EV efficiency tests.

What’s more, these cars, with their enormous battery packs and cutting-edge electric motor technology, rarely arrive in markets outside of China sporting the sort of tempting price tags that they do in their domestic market.

Rather than focusing on all-out range, potential customers should get more excited about a wider rollout of BYD’s Flash Charging technology outside of its home market, which has the potential to drastically reduce the overall time of electric road trips with ultra-rapid top-ups.

• Chinese equipment fills critical roles, though it represents only a small share overall
• Russia plans to quadruple annual Angara rocket production within the next decade
• Internal documents expose extensive factory upgrades supporting future rocket manufacturing

Russia is pushing to significantly grow production of its Angara space rockets, to quadruple annual output within the next decade.

Internal planning documents obtained by researchers show the expansion depends heavily on imported machine tools, and most of them are Chinese-made.

That dependence stretches across shop floors that Russia will need to modernize before it can build four rockets a year instead of one.

Counting the Chinese machines

Of the 541 pieces of equipment listed in the procurement plan, 477 are Russian-made, and only 57 come from Chinese suppliers.

Two more machines came from Bulgaria, leaving the Chinese share of the total list at roughly 10.5%, a modest slice on paper.

That number changes sharply once each machine is weighed by its technological importance rather than simply counted one by one.

Measured that way, Chinese suppliers account for 28.2% of the entire project's technological core, based on the internal planning documents.

In the metalworking shop alone, over 47% of the equipment needed there comes from Chinese manufacturers instead of domestic ones.

The finance tells a similar story: over 84% of the entire 3.62-billion-rouble (~$44.71 million) equipment budget still flows into that same technological core.

In total, Khrunichev intends to put close to 900 million roubles (~ $11.29 million), toward equipment made in China.

Roughly 10 manufacturers account for most of that spending, and several of them also sell machinery to buyers in Europe and America.

Where the machines really come from

Some of those companies fit a wider trend that has taken hold since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine started in 2022.

Heavy forging and hydraulic press equipment fall under European Union export restrictions whenever the intended buyer is based inside Russia.

Washington has also placed sanctions on Russian makers of heavy hydraulic presses, one of them a firm called Pressmash, back in 2023.

Yet under that very same customs code, the EU's imports of Chinese-made machine tools still totalled 207 million euros (~$238 million) in 2025.

Those imports rose another 17.6% in the opening six months of 2026, measured against the equivalent stretch the previous year.

In effect, the same manufacturers profit from Western markets that back Ukraine while also helping modernize the military hardware Russia sends into orbit.

Sanctioning any single Chinese supplier is unlikely to stop this flow of equipment, since near-identical machines are made by several competitors.

Whether losing access to European and American customers would ever outweigh the profits of supplying Russia remains an open question.

The Angara rockets built with the Chinese equipment carry the Russian Ministry of Defense satellites that American experts claim could threaten assets in orbit and on the ground.

However, Russian experts described the spacecraft as operating "in the interests of the Russian Ministry of Defense."

That difference between Moscow's official position and Washington's assessment has persisted since the conflict in Ukraine began.

Via United24media

• CACI secured a Pentagon contract worth up to $500 million total
• JIATF-401 manages daily counter-drone operations across the entire joint force
• SkyValor detected and defeated drones beyond visual range during testing

The US Department of Defense has awarded CACI a contract worth up to $500 million to expand deployment of its SkyValor counter-unmanned aerial system across military operations.

The agreement supports procurements through the Pentagon's Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401), which manages daily counter-drone operations and related acquisition activities throughout the joint force.

The award comes as militaries increasingly seek faster methods of detecting, tracking, and stopping small unmanned aircraft before they threaten personnel or critical infrastructure.

Contract expands deployment of counter-drone systems

The three-year agreement allows JIATF-401 to purchase additional SkyValor systems, including the fixed-site CORIAN configuration and the Backpackable Electronic Attack Module called BEAM.

BEAM combines radio frequency detection with electronic attack capabilities, giving operators a portable option for identifying and disrupting hostile drones across different operational environments.

SkyValor is designed to detect, monitor, identify, and defeat unauthorized drones while providing an additional protective layer before larger counter-drone systems become available.

The latest contract follows operational evaluations conducted at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, where the system reportedly detected and defeated multiple small drones beyond visual range.

CACI previously secured another JIATF-401 agreement allowing SkyValor integration onto heavy-duty military trucks, expanding deployment options beyond fixed defensive positions and portable configurations.

Those developments indicate the Pentagon's interest in fielding counter-drone equipment capable of supporting military forces across varied operational scenarios.

The growing availability of inexpensive unmanned aircraft has increased demand for systems capable of providing earlier warning while responding rapidly against evolving aerial threats.

Operational testing supports wider procurement plans

According to CACI, successful operational evaluations cleared the way for SkyValor to enter full-rate production under the newly awarded procurement agreement.

The company’s President and CEO John Mengucci said drone threats are becoming faster, easier to obtain, and increasingly difficult for military personnel to detect.

"SkyValor delivers that advantage through long-range detection, precision defeat, and the ability to adapt as drone threats evolve," Mengucci said.

He claims that the system gives defenders more time and intelligence needed to stop threats before they endanger military forces, borders, or infrastructure.

These capabilities, according to Mengucci, moved SkyValor beyond testing phases and toward readiness for large-scale military deployment across multiple environments.

"With successful operational evaluations complete, we are moving SkyValor into full-rate production to deliver mission-ready protection where it is needed most," Mengucci added.

The agreement does not specify how many SkyValor systems the Pentagon expects to purchase during the three-year contract period or their deployment priorities.

Although successful testing supported the procurement decision, broader operational effectiveness will ultimately depend upon how the systems perform against increasingly sophisticated drone threats.

Via The DroneFront

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1657) — hint #1 — Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1657) — hint #2 — repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1657) — hint #3 — uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1657) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1657) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1657) — the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1657, are…

• FUROR
• BUGLE
• REUSE
• SCOOP

A nice game where the “first thought, best thought” method paid off.

My only moment of hesitation was guessing FUROR over “juror”, with common sense prevailing over the temptation to use a rare letter.

Daily Sequence today (game #1657) — the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1657, are…

• PSALM
• TATTY
• FIFTH
• ELFIN

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1656, Friday, 7 August: AMISS, SHIRK, SALSA, RABBI
• Quordle #1655, Thursday, 6 August: AMUSE, BRAND, CEDAR, BLURB
• Quordle #1654, Wednesday, 5 August: MOUND, WRONG, STOOD, WEIRD
• Quordle #1653, Tuesday, 4 August: GOOEY, TARDY, HUMAN, CHALK
• Quordle #1652, Monday, 3 August: FUNGI, MUDDY, DEBUT, MANIA
• Quordle #1651, Sunday, 2 August: BOOTH, EASEL, REACH, MAKER
• Quordle #1650, Saturday, 1 August: OMEGA, BIRCH, SMOCK, EERIE
• Quordle #1649, Friday, 31 July: MANIA, SINGE, STOOL, LOFTY
• Quordle #1648, Thursday, 30 July: MODAL, IDLER, CHUMP, LUMPY
• Quordle #1647, Wednesday, 29 July: GAWKY, ALLOY, AUDIT, LATCH
• Quordle #1646, Tuesday, 28 July: SMITE, ROACH, RUDDY, GLOBE
• Quordle #1645, Monday, 27 July: TAFFY, FIGHT, GUILD, WAGER
• Quordle #1644, Sunday, 26 July: STOMP, LIMIT, FUNKY, STEAD
• Quordle #1643, Saturday, 25 July: SALON, SHEEN, BURST, GOURD
• Quordle #1642, Friday, 24 July: DOLLY, EDIFY, LAGER, PRANK
• Quordle #1641, Thursday, 23 July: LADEN, EVICT, WOVEN, SHIRE
• Quordle #1640, Wednesday, 22 July: COYLY, SINGE, AWASH, AWOKE
• Quordle #1639, Tuesday, 21 July: TRUSS, AXIAL, SWINE, THING
• Quordle #1638, Monday, 20 July: ICING, SLICK, GAILY, RISEN
• Quordle #1637, Sunday, 19 July: SPURT, ACRID, THRUM, BLEEP

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1154) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• EASY
• WHOOPEE
• BELT
• GOGGLES
• CUTIE
• PHRASE
• PIN
• COUCH
• HOT DOG
• EFFECTS
• EXPRESS
• RAZOR
• I OWE YOU
• YAHOO
• FRAME
• HURRAH

NYT Connections today (game #1154) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Jolly hockeystick type phrases
• GREEN: How you say it
• BLUE: Shortened with a letter
• PURPLE: Begin with a secure word

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1154) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: QUAINT EXPRESSIONS OF EXCITEMENT
• GREEN: CONVEY
• BLUE: WORDS ABBREVIATED WITH LETTERS AS HOMOPHONES
• PURPLE: SAFETY _____

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1154) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1154, are…

• YELLOW: QUAINT EXPRESSIONS OF EXCITEMENT: HOT DOG, HURRAH, WHOOPEE, YAHOO
• GREEN: CONVEY: COUCH, EXPRESS, FRAME, PHRASE
• BLUE: WORDS ABBREVIATED WITH LETTERS AS HOMOPHONES: CUTIE, EASY, EFFECTS, I OWE YOU
• PURPLE: SAFETY _____: BELT, GOGGLES, PIN, RAZOR

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

I watch the occasional black and white movie from the 1930s and they are always saying things like HOT DOG, HURRAH, WHOOPEE, YAHOO, so this yellow group came easily enough.

My error came with the purple group. I saw that SAFETY was a link between BELT, PIN and GOGGLES but plumped for PHRASE as my fourth tile — I was thinking this is an expression people use in wrestling or something when things have got too serious.

Meanwhile, I'm glad I managed to collect the four words meaning CONVEY, as WORDS ABBREVIATED WITH LETTERS AS HOMOPHONES flew way over my head.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, August 7, 2026, game #1153)

• YELLOW: COMPONENTS OF A CANDLE: FRAGRANCE, JAR, WAX, WICK
• GREEN: COLD THINGS: LIQUID NITROGEN, REFRIGERATOR, SNOW, SUNDAE
• BLUE: PARTS OF AN ELEVATOR: BUTTONS, CABLES, MOTOR, SHAFT
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH MALE ANIMALS: BUCKYBALL, JACKPOT, RAMBO, TOMATILLO

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #888) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #888) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• NECK
• SORT
• COUNT
• CREW
• PULP
• CAPTURE

NYT Strands today (game #888) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #888) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #888) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #888, are…

• TRACK
• DROP
• LOOP
• CUTBACK
• TUNNEL
• CORKSCREW
• SPANGRAM: ROLLERCOASTER

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

After a Strands yesterday that made no sense it was a relief to return to the world of real words, albeit ones connected to a thing designed to make you feel unwell.

I say that because I always feel unwell on — or even at the thought of — a ROLLERCOASTER, but I know they bring a great deal of pleasure to lots of people — including my own family, who enjoy seeing me turn green.

These days, my favorite thrill is spotting a Strands word that goes up or down in a CORKSCREW and today I got that with the word CORKSCREW.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, August 7, game #887)

• GIZMO
• THINGAMAJIGGY
• DINGUS
• DOOHICKEY
• SPANGRAM: WHATCHAMACALLIT

Campaigners have long feared the influence of big money and influential corporations in politics – with this situation arguably worse than ever. In modern times, lobbying by technology companies has even given way to technology executives playing a role in devising government policy.

The path to progress

At the end of his two-term presidency, Dwight D Eisenhower used his final address to the American people to warn about the dangers that he foresaw lying ahead.

In particular, the military veteran warned about the rise of a new elite in society dominated by figures in science and technology, whose power would come to overwhelm democratically elected officials. He also suggested that the path of progress would be wrought with a lack of morals and ethics, with projects pursued in the name of progress regardless of the consequences to society at large.

A major component of this would be that the pursuit of major government contracts would dominate the scientific world, whereby the pursuit of money would dampen any genuine curiosity and lead to fewer meaningful discoveries.

The dawn of Silicon Valley

The former US president's warnings have largely come to fruition, first with the rise of Silicon Valley elites during the original internet age and now, subsequently, these forces are arguably entrenching their power in the AI era.

Technology companies have spent billions of dollars collectively on lobbying the government, with a small handful of companies including Microsoft, Meta, X and Snap channeling more than $260 million between 2020 and 2024.

The Trump administration has taken this influence one step further by giving vested interests a seat at the table and in the heart of government.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is one of Samsung's latest batch of foldable phones, and it shakes things up by introducing a new shape to the lineup. It's shorter and wider than its predecessor, giving it the perfect dimensions — when unfolded — for reading (in portrait orientation) or watching movies and playing games (in landscape). In his hands-on Galaxy Z Fold 8 review, our phones editor commented that this "passport-shaped oddity" had "revived [his] interest in foldable phones".

If you've decided this is the foldable phone for you and have one on order or winging its way to you, now's the time to get a case sorted. Below, I've rounded up my favorite cases and covers in the US and in the UK. You'll find options from a range of trusted brands including Spigen and Otterbox. I've also included some of Samsung's official Galaxy Z Fold 8 cases, although be aware that most of these are just a back cover with a screen protector for the front — with that in mind, I'd say there are better value options to be found from third-party brands.

Scroll down to browse my favorite Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 cases and covers to keep your new passport-shaped foldable protected from bumps and scrapes.

US cases for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

UK cases for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

• Redditor uses Claude Code to help reverse-engineer the firmware on an HP 15-dw1036ne, patching its signature check and exposing 55 hidden setup fields and four configuration tabs
• The laptop's RSA-2048 was not broken: the verification routine was patched to return success, a standard firmware-modding technique as per Community Notes
• The result is model- and version-specific, still requires physical access via a hardware flash programmer, and leaves the machine permanently more exposed to firmware implants in the future

A Reddit user going by Reddit_2049 posted to r/ClaudeAI a claim that traveled fast: Claude Code had picked apart the firmware on their HP 15-dw1036ne and unlocked it, exposing 55 hidden setup fields and four previously invisible configuration tabs.

The move, though impressive, relies on a well-known BIOS modding approach: attacking the BIOS signature check so the BIOS always replies in the affirmative, effectively bypassing it altogether rather than throwing a potential firmware corruption error.

While it does have security implications, it also opens up a route to essentially 'rescue' locked or disabled laptops that would otherwise become e-waste.

A solution to certain types of e-waste, enabled by AI

What Claude Code did to "unlock" the Redditor's laptop is not a new technique. It bypassed the firmware's integrity check (an RSA-2048 signature verification) by targeting not how the check was performed, but how its result was reported.

The cryptography remains untouched, as Community Notes on two of the larger viral posts about the story pointed out. What the episode does highlight is that on machines without hardware-rooted boot protection, the verification routine itself sits in modifiable firmware, which is the same repair specialists and modders have relied on for years.

Reddit_2049 ran the job through the standard firmware toolchain: Ghidra for disassembly, UEFITool for extracting firmware volumes, and Unicorn Engine to emulate the check outside the real machine. Claude Code assisted here rather than acting autonomously by stitching together the relevant parts for him. The techniques involved are well documented; what was not documented was this particular machine, and that is the gap the model closed.

That opens an interesting front, one that could help with e-waste, even if not every owner is equipped to open a laptop safely or use a hardware flash programmer. An LLM that can read disassembly and hold a firmware layout in its head compresses hours of specialist work, which means targets that were never worth anyone's time individually now might be.

Whether the approach travels is an interesting question, however. The author of the original post warns the script may not work even on superficially similar HP models, and anyone attempting it on different hardware would need a flash programmer on hand and a tolerance for bricking the machine: modified firmware also brings its own problems, including occasional stability issues.

Right-to-repair rules in the EU and several US states have been circling this territory without directly addressing firmware. Until they do, the position stands roughly where it did last week, except that reverse-engineering a specific machine's firmware has become considerably cheaper for everybody.

That could let owners keep using older, locked laptops that would otherwise become e-waste, at a time when consumers are already burdened by higher costs due to inflation and an AI spending spree by data centers affecting laptops and desktops alike.

• Scammers stole $1.27m from a Hong Kong man after tricking him with AI
• The scheme impersonated his father using AI deepfake tech
• Experts say using a secret codeword can thwart the fraudsters

A Hong Kong man was recently conned out of HK$10 million ($1.27 million) by scammers who used artificial intelligence (AI) on WhatsApp to impersonate his father and request the payments, highlighting the dangers of trusting increasingly realistic AI tools. Yet experts say there’s a simple trick that can save you from suffering a similar fate.

According to the Hong Kong police’s Cyberdefender platform (via the South China Morning Post), the fraudsters sent a WhatsApp voice message to the victim saying they urgently needed a transfer of HK$1 million ($127,000).

This was convincing to the target, the SCMP reported, because the “voice and manner of speech [of the message] matched his father’s.” The victim was repeatedly exploited this way until he had transferred the entirety of his savings.

Warning people against falling for AI trickery, the Hong Kong police force said: “Do not blindly trust voice messages. Even if the voice sounds similar, it does not necessarily mean it is accurate.”

If you’re unsure whether the message is genuine, put the phone down and call your friend or family member back so that you know with certainty who you are speaking to. The police also recommended enabling two-factor authentication on your devices and reviewing the list of devices connected to your accounts. If you see any suspicious devices, remove them immediately.

How to beat the fraudsters

Deepfake scams like this are so effective because they appear to come from a familiar, trustworthy source — even when they’re anything but. Yet experts have just published a proven way that you can beat the swindlers and keep everyone safe.

As reported by the BBC, setting a secret codeword to be used in emergencies can help you tell if the person on the call is actually a loved one or merely an AI impersonating them. As the BBC put it, “Deepfake scams might use your voice, but they don’t know what’s in your head.”

One tactic used by scammers is to use urgency in order to create panic and prevent you from thinking straight. That’s why it’s important to take a moment to think to ensure you remember to use the codeword and verify the caller’s identity.

When it comes to picking a codeword, “Pick something that’s easy to remember and hard to guess,” the BBC recommended. “Inside jokes are a safe bet.”

As Philadelphia lawyer and anti-scam activist Gary Schildhorn put it, there are three red flags to look out for: time pressure, a request for hard-to-trace funds (like cash, cryptocurrency or gift cards), and control over who you can speak to on the call. Experience any of those and you might be speaking to a malicious con artist.

Bear all that in mind and you stand a much better chance of protecting yourself from fraudsters. The next time you get an unusual message or call seemingly from a loved one, take a minute to breathe and remember your codeword.

• A police officer pulled a Tesla over for traveling 64mph in a 45 mph zone
• The owner attempted to plead innocence as Full Self-Driving was running
• Police issued a very blunt response

Video footage has surfaced online that shows a police department in Parker, Colorado, reportedly pulling over a Tesla for traveling 64mph in a 45mph zone.

While this isn’t unusual in itself, the plea from the Tesla’s driver is, as the excuse was that they weren't in control at the time. “I wasn’t driving. I had Autopilot on,” came the plea.

The three-minute video was released by the police, alongside a blunt reply (or perhaps a warning to other drivers?) that read: “Driver assistance technology does not replace the driver.”

“Whether your vehicle has adaptive cruise control, lane centering or full self-driving, you are still legally responsible for operating your vehicle safely,” the response added.

Despite the driver being clocked at 64mph in a 45mph zone, the Tesla owner belligerently claims they weren’t in control, it wasn’t their fault and that the self-driving system was activated.

The police officer then says: “I don’t know how these systems work, but you’re not the first person I have stopped with Autopilot activated.”

In fact, one of Electrek’s own writers documented the moment he got a speeding ticket while using Tesla’s Full Self-Driving.

Despite setting the system to Standard mode — as opposed to the faster Hurry or Mad Max settings — the vehicle still crept up to 78km/h in a 50km/h zone.

Analysis: Bad by design

Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems are designed to assist the person behind the wheel, rather than completely replace them, no matter what Elon Musk espouses in his various public statements.

Currently, the law states that the buck stops with the driver, and any reckless driving, speeding or accident ultimately remains the driver’s fault, as they need to be ready to take control if and when these systems fail.

However, Tesla makes things difficult, as it has designed FSD to drift over the limit, even in Standard mode, and also took away the adjustable speed offset that once allowed owners to cap how far over the limit the vehicle would creep in autonomous modes.

Electrek reports that the adjustable speed offset was recently removed in FSD v14 and replaced with fixed driving profiles.

It is easy to see why Tesla has trained its systems this way, as many drivers get frustrated when technology vehemently adheres to speed limits and subsequently fails to keep up with traffic.

But with many other semi-autonomous cruise-control technologies, the driver has complete control over the speeds at which they are happy to creep over the limit.

If Tesla’s driving assistance systems keep landing drivers in hot water, many will stop using them entirely, which is exactly the opposite of what the company wants.

After all, Elon Musk has long promised that drivers will soon be able to text and immerse themselves in all manner of side tasks in the very near future.

But right now, it feels like Tesla owners need to be more alert than ever.