Sony is paying approximately $460 milliion to purchase Peanuts [PDF] and its characters, including Snoopy and Charlie Brown, created by Charles M. Schulz. That’s a 41 percent stake Sony is buying from Canadian firm WildBrain. Since Sony bought 39 percent of the franchise back in 2018, this will give the company an 80 percent stake. The deal is still subject to regulatory approvals, but Peanuts will become Sony’s consolidated subsidiary once it’s closed. Schulz’s family still owns the remaining 20 percent stake in the franchise. Schulz launched the Peanuts universe in comic strips 75 years ago, back in 1950. The franchise has grown massively since then, spawning animated series, cartoon musicals and movies that made Snoopy a household name. The company said that it has focused on expanding the Peanuts IP since it bought 39 percent of the brand years ago. “With this additional ownership stake, we are thrilled to be able to further elevate the value of the ʻPEANUTSʼ brand by drawing on the Sony Groupʼs extensive global network and collective expertise,” Sony Music Entertainment Japan CEO Shunsuke Muramatsu added. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/sony-is-buying-peanuts-022341467.html?src=rss

Paris Masters 2026: Monday, November 2 to Sunday, November 8Daily start time: 5am ET / 10am GMT / 9pm AEDTUS streams: Tennis ChannelAccess your usual streaming services with NordVPNWatch Paris Masters 2026 live streams, as Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev headline the 40th anniversary of the only indoor event in the ATP 1000 series. The tournament from the Plenitude Arena in the French capital represents the best chance for players to make it to the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin later in November.Top three seeds Alcaraz, Zverev and Ben Shelton have already guaranteed their spots at the eight-man Finals, but beyond that trio it's anyone's guess. After reaching the Shanghai Masters final, Rafael Jódar is holding the final spot with Alex De Minaur his nearest rival. Novak Djokovic, who has won a record seven Paris titles, needs to reach at least the semi-finals after a second-round loss last week in Basel, while American duo Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz need to go deep to stand any chance of making it to Turin.With 2025 champion Jannik Sinner joined by Félix Auger-Aliassime and João Fonseca on the injured list, Alcaraz will look to put a third-round exit in China behind him as he continues his own return from the treatment room. Flavio Cobolli, the fifth seed, is also struggling with injury after leaving the court in tears in Vienna when withdrawing against Matteo Berrettini – his absence could mean an extra spot in Turin. Zverev, already guaranteed the year-end world number one ranking, will also want to get back to winning ways after struggling in Shanghai.There won't be a dry eye in the house when Gaël Monfils takes to the court – albeit without his racket – for the final time after one of the first-round matches. The 40-year-old Frenchman, whose separation from Elina Svitolina was recently announced, retired in October and will be honored with a special presentation to commemorate one of the most popular player on tour's superb career.The top eight seeds – Zverev, Alcaraz, US Open runner-up Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli, Arthur Fils, Frances Tiafoe and Alex De Minaur – have byes to the second round.Here's how to watch the Paris Masters 2026 tennis from anywhere, including worldwide TV channels, broadcasters and any free live streams below.Paris Masters 2026 Order of Play – Monday 2 NovemberCourt CentralFrom 5am ET / 2am PT / 10am GMT / 9pm AEDTLorenzo Musetti vs Hubert HurkaczAlejandro Tabilo vs Rafael Jodar (9)Casper Ruud vs Juan Manuel Cerundolo (Q)Not before 1pm ET / 10am PT / 6pm GMT / 7am AEDT (Tue)Denis Shapovalov vs Karen KhachanovNot before 2.30pm ET / 11.30pm PT / 7.30pm GMT / 8.30am AEDT (Tue)Ugo Humbert vs Botic van de ZandschulpCourt 1From 5am ET / 2am PT / 10am GMT / 9pm AEDTLuciano Darderi vs Rinky Hijikata (Q)Luca Van Assche vs Mariano NavoneCameron Norrie vs Matteo ArnaldiFrom 9.30am ET / 6.30am PT / 12.30pm GMT / 11.30pmKyrian Jacquet vs Tomas Machac (Q)Alex Molcan (Q) vs Titouan DroguetHow to watch Paris Masters 2026 for FREEFrance TV will show select matches from the Paris Masters for free in France. Ugo Humbert vs Botic van de Zandschulp has been selected for coverage on 2 November.Alternatively, in the United States, the Tennis Channel is the exclusive home of the Paris Masters 2026, which can be accessed directly or via 'over the top' streaming providers that offer free trials, our favorites are:YouTube TV (21 days free) - USFubo (5 days) - USAustralians can also get a free trial thanks to beIN Sports (7 days).Traveling outside your home country for the tournament? Use NordVPN to get past geo-blockers and tune in to your regular tennis live streams.Use a VPN to watch any Paris Masters 2026 streamAway from home at the moment and blocked from watching the Paris Masters 2026 on your usual subscription?You can still watch the Paris Masters 2026 live thanks to the wonders of a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The software allows your devices to appear to be back in your home country, regardless of where in the world you are, making it ideal for viewers away on vacation or on business. Our favorite is NordVPN. It's the best on the market:🟩 NordVPN – get the world's best VPNNot having a VPN is like leaving your front door wide open in a busy city – anyone can walk right in and take a peek.TechRadar regularly reviews all the biggest and best VPN providers and NordVPN is our #1 choice.✅ 70% Off Today✅ 3 Extra Months Free✅ Unlocks Tennis ChannelGet NordVPN and stream Paris Masters 2026 action from anywhere today.View DealIt's really straightforward to use a VPN to watch the Paris Masters 2026.1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is one of our favorites.2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For example, if you want to watch the Tennis Channel stream, select 'US' from the listed countries.3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to Tennis Channel's website and tune into Paris Masters 2026.How to watch Paris Masters 2026 live streams in the USIn the US, Paris Masters 2026 is being shown on the Tennis Channel. A Tennis Channel subscription then costs $109.99 per year or $11.99 per month. New subscribers can get their first year for $77 for a limited time.Looking for an 'over the top' streaming option that carries hundreds of other channels? The Tennis Channel is also available on YouTube TV, Sling TV and Fubo. As we've mentioned above, both YouTube TV and Fubo come with free-trial options.The Tennis Channel is also available on Sling TV (with its Sport Extra add-on).Outside the US for this tournament? Use NordVPN to unlock your stream of Paris Masters 2026.How to watch Paris Masters 2026 live streams in the UKSky Sports is broadcasting the Paris Masters 2026 in the UK. Specifically on the Sky Sports Tennis, Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Main Event channels.Prices start at £22/month at present. However, fans can also watch using a NOW Sports 24-hour pass, which costs £14.99. Not in the UK right now? Use NordVPN to access your usual tennis streams.How to watch Paris Masters 2026 live streams in Australia(Image credit: free)In Australia, the Paris Masters 2026 is exclusive to beIN Sports, which offers new users a 7-day FREE trial. You can add beIN Sports to most pre-existing TV packages, or you can sign up as a separate subscription. It costs AU$16.99 month or AU$169.99 if you pay for a year up front, once that week-long trial ends.In addition to the Paris Masters and other tennis tournaments, beIN Sports has the rights to loads of soccer and other sports, including La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Carabao Cup and EFL Championship football and rugby.Not in Australia right now? You can simply use a VPN like NordVPN to watch all the action on beIN Sports as if you were back home. How to watch Paris Masters 2026 live streams in Canada(Image credit: Other)Tennis fans in Canada can live stream the Paris Masters 2026 on the TSN network of channels.If you don't have cable, the TSN Plus streaming service costs CA$24.99 a month.Outside Canada while the Paris Masters is on? Simply use a VPN to watch from abroad.How to watch Paris Masters 2026 live streams in New ZealandDisney+, which carries ESPN content is the Paris Masters 2026 TV rights holder in New Zealand. For the men's tournament, you can access Disney+ with a Standard subscription that costs from NZ$16.99 a month, with ads. Ad-free tiers are available at an extra cost.Missing the tournament due to work commitments abroad? NordVPN will give you access to your home streaming service.How to watch Paris Masters 2026 live streams anywhere elseIn the Middle East, beIN Sports has the tennis live streams. In Africa Canal+ and SuperSport are the places to go, depending on your country.In India and the subcontinent, it's Fancode, while Youku in China and UNEXT in Japan are the most prominent broadcasters in Asia.A handy list of broadcasters from all around the world is provided by tournament organizers here.Away from home at the moment? Don't forget NordVPN will give you access to your regular streaming service.Paris Masters 2026 Q&AWho are the Paris Masters 2026 seeds?Paris Masters 2026 seedsMen1. Alexander Zverev2. Carlos Alcaraz3. Ben Shelton4. Daniil Medvedev5. Flavio Cobolli6. Arthur Fils7. Frances Tiafoe8. Alex de Minaur9. Rafael Jódar 10. Novak Djokovic11. Taylor Fritz12. Tommy Paul13. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina14. Jakub Menšík15. Brandon Nakashima16. Learner TienWho are the recent Paris Masters champions?Recent Paris Masters champions2025 – Jannik Sinner2024 – Alexander Zverev2023 – Novak Djokovic2022 – Holger Rune2021 – Novak Djokovic2020 – Daniil Medvedev2019 – Novak Djokovic2018 – Karen Khachanov2017 – Jack Sock2016 – Andy MurrayWhat is the Paris Masters 2026 schedule?Schedule2-3 November: First round 3-4 November: Second round 5 November: Last 166 November: Quarter-finals7 November: Semi-finals8 November: FinalWe 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.

Lego has four new Fortnite sets coming soonThe Mecha Team Leader set lands on August 1There are three smaller Fortnite sets dropping on June 1

Lego is continuing its gaming collabs with four brand-new Fortnite sets – with the clear best of the bunch being a 2,503-piece recreation of the Mecha Team Leader.Long-time Fortnite fans will recognise this Power Rangers Megazord-esque titan from arguably the best live event of Chapter 1, The Final Showdown, which saw the Mecha Team leader face off against the monster of Polar Peak. And now you can recreate that clash yourself in real life (though you’ll need to provide your own stand-in for the thawed monster).The set does sit on the pricier end of things – it’ll cost $249.99 / £209.99 from Lego.com when it releases on August 1, 2025 – but once complete, the finished design will stand just over 45cm / 17.5-inches tall.

(Image credit: Future / Lego / Fortnite)

You’ll also get a minifigure version of the Mecha Team Leader (complete with a sign showing support for its mech), as well as digital bonus items: 2 Mecha Team Leader and 2 Mecha Team Shadow Outfits, which are redeemable in Fortnite and Lego Fortnite.Just remember to be a bit more careful than its monstrous foe when removing your creation’s left arm if you try to recreate the robot’s iconic No Sweat emote.

Where we buildin' boys?

(Image credit: Lego / Epic Games)

If you’re after sets that are a little cheaper – and releasing sooner – the other three have you covered.The $22.99 / £17.99 Peely & Sparkplug’s Camp is just 250 pieces, but includes some essential Fortnite elements – including a Peely minifig, and a minifig scale Supply Llama. You’ll also get a Sparkplug minifigure alongside a redeemable code for a Sparkplug Outfit for the Lego Fortnite game.Next is the Durrr Burger Restaurant – a familiar in-game location that you can build IRL with this 546-piece set for $64.99 / £54.99.Alongside the restaurant’s storefront and some decoration, you’ll get a few minifigs, including the Beach Bomber and Beef Boss, as well as a redeemable code to get a bonus Beef Boss Outfit in Lego Fortnite.

(Image credit: Lego / Epic Games)

Lastly, you’ve got a set that might appeal to non-Fontite players in the $109.99 / £89.99, 1,084-piece Klombo set.I say that it might have more general appeal because Klombo’s design is that of a terrifying yet cute dinosaur-like beast that your minifigures can ride around. You’ll also get the awesome-looking Oro minifigure for a duo that would be right at home in a bunch of different non-Fortnite Lego worlds.Though Fortnite fans will still appreciate this build. Not only for the Klombo and Oro figures, but also the Island Adventure Peely minifig that they can also unlock in the Lego Fortnite game using a code.All three of these sets are available on Lego.com starting June 1 and could make the perfect gift for any Fortnite and LEGO fans you know.

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Generic AI tools promise to solve every problem under the sun, from running enterprise CRM to analysing why your cat isn't drinking enough water during a heatwave. And when you try to use one tool with no defined role for every task, results are disappointing and erode trust in technology. Multiply that pattern across hundreds of employees, and you get tokenmaxxing: prompt after prompt, refining AI output until something usable comes out.Some organizations, by instinct, default to blaming the employees for tokenmaxxing, or double down on training on ‘responsible use of AI’. Tokenmaxxing is a symptom of capable people having to create solutions in an environment that lacks clear shape, scope, guardrails - and ways to analyze spend and outcomes. Locking it down is not the solutionTraditional procurement systems were designed for traditional business software cycles. If building an enterprise system takes years, it’s not a big deal if procuring the right vendor takes years, too. Routing AI through procurement to evaluate all options and keep the spend predictable initially felt to organizations like a safe and responsible choice. But software creation is very different today than it was even 5 years ago. Standard IT procurement still takes months, while opening a public LLM chatbot and asking it to generate a landing page is a matter of five seconds.Policies tend to live their happy lives somewhere in the corporate portals, unbothered and forgotten unless an incident calls for a formal investigation. And when the approved systems are slow or restrictive, employees find workarounds. They turn to unvetted shadow AI tools for daily tasks and put proprietary corporate data into public models. Look at the app prototypes that come out of it: the bad code is one problem, but the interfaces are off-brand, ignore corporate design systems and WCAG 2.2 accessibility rules, and lack basic authentication patterns.Restricting AI use for employees in reality means they pay the £18 monthly subscription out of pocket and still use it. It moves the spend somewhere finance can't see it, at least not immediately and not until it’s too late, adding a data governance problem on top.The other consequence is harder to put on a balance sheet. A company where only engineers can create software moves at the speed of engineering's queue, but opening options up to a wider group - product management, analysts, marketers - means a company can speed up innovation while having greater visibility into it.The cost of ungoverned buildingThe pressure is already on. Teneo's Vision 2026 survey of more than 350 public company CEOs and 400 institutional investors found that 53% of investors expect to see a positive ROI on new AI initiatives in six months or less, while only 16% of large-cap CEOs believe they can deliver on that timeline. The same CEOs report that fewer than half of their current AI projects are ROI-positive. Investors want returns on a clock that executives don't think they can meet.Volume is not the problem. Goldman Sachs Research forecasts that token consumption will multiply 24 times, to 120 quadrillion tokens per month, between 2026 and 2030, while semiconductor providers are already delivering 60% to 70% annual declines in cost per token. Tokens are getting cheaper, and we are going to use far more of them. But who - or what - uses tokens is going to change. Organizations are building and deploying AI agents who act on their own. And agentic AI burns far more tokens than good old human prompting, because the queries repeat in sequence: a chatbot request multiplied by 20, or even 50, running unattended. Send an agent to work on an unscoped problem, and it will keep going long after a human would have stopped to ask whether this was worth it.A lot of those tokens go into prototypes that never get to see the real world. Prototyping and sifting through ideas is how software evolves, but building with no eye on production drains resources. Gartner found that at least 50% of generative AI projects were abandoned after proof of concept by the end of 2025, citing poor data quality, inadequate risk controls, escalating costs, or unclear business value. If a prototype works in isolation but has to be scrapped because engineering would need to rebuild it from scratch, that's pure waste.Then organizations have to pay the bill twice - for inflated tokens and lost engineering hours. When teams build with generic LLMs and no guardrails, senior engineers spend hours cleaning up the output. That deepens the trust gap in technical teams. Stack Overflow's 2025 developer survey found that 46% of developers distrust the accuracy of AI output. "Almost right" (but not quite) AI answers are the biggest frustration for 66% of developers, while 45% report that debugging AI-generated code is more time-consuming. Access for everyone, accountability from everyoneThe speed of code generation isn't the problem. Lowering the technology barrier for non-engineers produces better software, software shaped by the people who understand the business need. AI building is an edge, and an edge works best when everyone has it.But alongside democratized access to technology, we need new ways to think about accountability for how you use it and the associated costs. Modern corporate culture can promote unnecessary complexity in how we think and speak about our work. Being able to explain in simple words how you spent your day is a useful exercise, and we should apply the same thinking to AI spend. So, stated plainly: tokens should be used for a job somebody actually needed. In turn, the user needs to be able to explain, beyond the buzzwords, what the purpose was behind a particular token spend. To work, rather than become another source of corporate frustration, this accountability needs to be part of the environment offered. One way to start is to retire the do-everything chat box as the default. Instead, organizations should start thinking about how to give people task-specific agent workflows tailored to their roles, and build execution limits into the software environment. This way, non-technical staff get brand guidelines, fonts, security rules, and components pre-coded into the environment, so the apps they build are compliant and production-ready by default. They don’t need to file separate requests because the shape of the environment already includes the right guardrails on security and spend.What it looks like when it worksBounded workflows pay off in ways you can measure. In a recent mid-sized company implementation, a 3-person data analytics team built an agent that analyses data across all their systems; it saved each of them 12 to 13 hours of manual work a week. Three analysts now produce what once took a team ten times their size, and their daily job also got way more interesting. They spend their time on high-value strategy instead of gathering data by hand.That agent has a clearly scoped job and executes it in line with pre-defined parameters - it is not a chat box with a company credit card.Bringing together abundance and accountingUncontrolled AI costs and falling trust in technology have the same solution, and it is not rationing of tokens. Tokens will be getting ever cheaper, and their abundance is the point of this technology.The answer is in defining and understanding the scope of AI. Give everyone the tool but make it purpose-specific from the start rather than a generic catch-all. Every company I talk to can tell me what it spent on AI last quarter, but when I ask what they wanted to get in return, the answer is murky. This lack of understanding of what job AI should do for an organization is the problem, and the surprising bill is only its symptom. The first step is for the organization to articulate, in the plainest words possible, what the tools are for before the tokens start moving.Store your data in the cloud with the best cloud storage.This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

If you’re anything like me, your Google Chrome browser currently has more tabs open than a small startup’s entire IT department.You know things have gotten bad when you’ve got so many tabs squeezed into the toolbar that the page icons have turned into tiny, unrecognizable pixelated blobs. Still, overusing tabs is a hard habit to break.What’s even worse is trying to switch between tabs when you need to compare information across two different pages. That usually turns into a slow, frustrating process of hunting down the exact tab you need among the dozens you’ve got open, then remembering where it was when you want to switch back.Sure, you can open tabs in a new window and toggle between them using a keyboard shortcut, but that’s a clunky workaround at best.How to use Split View TabsYou may not realize it, but there’s now a much neater way to solve this problem, thanks to a November update to Google Chrome. Chrome has quietly added Split View tabs, a feature that lets you look at two open tabs side by side in the same browser window, with each tab occupying half the screen.If that sounds familiar, it’s because it works a lot like Split View on devices like the iPad, where two apps can share the screen at once.To use Split View in Chrome, simply right-click on an open tab in your toolbar. In the menu that appears, you’ll see a new option called Split View with Current Tab.If you don’t see this option, you’ll need to update Chrome. Head to the three-dots menu, then go to Settings > About Chrome to make sure you’re running the latest version.Once you activate Split View with the current tab, both tabs are displayed on screen at the same time, and you can interact with either one as normal.Right-click on an open tab to get this menu. (Image credit: Google)Managing Split ViewsTo manage your Split View layout, click the Arrange Split View icon that appears at the top left of the toolbar. This opens a small menu with several options:Separate Views – returns everything to how it was before you enabled Split View.Close Left View / Close Right View – These options do exactly what they sound like, closing the selected tab entirely.Reverse Views – A surprisingly handy option that swaps the position of the two tabs on screen.Once you get used to Split View, browsing suddenly feels far less chaotic. Comparing documents, cross-checking sources, or filling out forms while referencing another page becomes faster and more natural. It’s one of those small features that doesn’t sound exciting on paper, but once you start using it, it’s very hard to go back to juggling tabs the old way.A new icon appears to use to manage your Split View tabs. (Image credit: Google )Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.