news,technology

Nova Act AI agent is designed to control a web browser with simple functionsIt scored 94% on ScreenSpot Web Text, outperforming OpenAI and AnthropicIt comprises five models – Nova Micro, Lite, Pro, Canvas and Reel

Amazon has launched a new AI agent designed to control a web browser and perform simple browsing tasks autonomously.Currently available in research preview, Amazon says Nova Act is part of its efforts to deliver “real-world value” for all types of customers, including shoppers, sellers and advertisers – not just enterprises.US-based customers with an Amazon account can start using the platform immediately, even though it’s not a full release, by visiting nova.amazon.com, where it can automate simple tasks like ordering food, making reservations, filling out forms or selecting calendar dates.

Amazon Nova Act models and online service

Nova Act is accompanied by Nova Act SDK, which enables developers to build their own browser-based AI agents using the same technology.“nova.amazon.com puts the power of Amazon’s frontier intelligence into the hands of every developer and tech enthusiast, making it easier than ever to explore the capabilities of Amazon Nova,” said Rohit Prasad, SVP of Amazon Artificial General Intelligence.Three separate models have been launched to support the tool and SDK with text generation capabilities – Nova Micro, Lite, and Pro – as well as a fourth for image generation (Nova Canvas) and a fifth for video generation (Nova Reel).The company noted agents are still in their “early stage[s]” and that their usefulness will only grow as developments continue to roll out.Moreover, Amazon’s internal tests demonstrate how Nova Act outperformed key rivals, including Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet (90%) and OpenAI’s CUA (88%) on the ScreenSpot Web Text benchmark, designed to test how the models interact with text on screen. Nova Act scored an impressive 94%.It’s also possible that Nova Act could play a key role in the company’s upcoming Alexa+ upgrade, which improves the utility of the company’s popular voice assistant with AI.We tried to access the site from the UK, but were greeted with the following message: “Thank you for your interest in Amazon Nova. At this time, we are only accepting customers in the US.”It’s unclear when Amazon will roll the online service out more broadly.

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Apple debuted iOS 18 at WWDC 2024, and the feature-packed software update is now available to download on all iOS 18-compatible devices.Now in its fifth iteration (known officially as iOS 18.4), iOS 18 brings Apple Intelligence to the best iPhones (i.e. the iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro, and some iPhone 15 models), and for everyone else, significant upgrades to core iPhone apps including Mail, Messages, Photos, and Maps.Below, we've detailed the iOS 18 release date(s), key iOS 18 features, and a list of iOS-compatible devices. Here's how to download iOS 18 if you haven't already.

Latest newsiOS 18.4 is now rolling out to compatible devices, bringing upgrades to Apple Intelligence, Apple Music, and the Photos app.

Cut to the chase

What is it? The latest major iOS releaseWhen did it come out? September 16, 2024How much does it cost? It's a free upgrade

iOS 18: release date

Apple announced iOS 18 at WWDC 2024 (Image credit: Apple)

iOS 18 began rolling out to compatible devices on September 16, 2024, though the software update was actually announced way back at WWDC 2024 on June 10, 2024.Between June and September, Apple released a steady stream of iOS 18 betas, giving both developers and users the chance to try out some of the best iOS 18 features well in advance of their arrival.In the months since its initial release, Apple has rolled out four iterative iOS 18 updates: iOS 18.1 (on October 28), iOS 18.2 (on December 11), iOS 18.3 (on January 28), and iOS 18.4 (on March 31).

iOS 18: features

Below, we've detailed the biggest and best iOS 18 features. For the full list of confirmed features, check out as Apple's dedicated iOS 18 features PDF.

Apple Intelligence

A selection of things Apple Intelligence can do (Image credit: Apple)

Rather than debuting with iOS 18 proper, Apple Intelligence came to the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPhone 16 line as part of iOS 18.1, which didn't arrive (in the US, at least) until October 28. The AI-packed toolset then debuted on UK devices in iOS 18.2, and in iOS 18.3, Apple removed the need to manually enable Apple Intelligence on compatible devices (i.e. it's now available by default).You'll find a full list of Apple Intelligence features in our dedicated Apple Intelligence hub, but as a general rundown, the toolset includes a smarter Siri, text summarization, writing assistance, and generative image creation.

Redesigned Photos app

(Image credit: Apple)

iOS 18 brings the "biggest-ever redesign" to the iPhone's Photos app. Essentially, it's been unified into a single view, comprising a photo grid and a dates grid, to better help you find the photo you're looking for. You're able to filter photos by categories, too, like screenshots and groups.There's also a new 'Recovered' album feature in iOS 18, which houses any photos or videos that aren't in your main photo gallery. According to Apple, this reduces the risk of database corruption or issues with third-party apps.

Advanced Home Screen customization

(Image credit: Apple)

iOS 18 grants users the ability to rearrange app icons and widgets. For the first time, you're able to position apps at the bottom or side of the screen, freeing up real estate for the wallpaper behind them. You're also able to trigger a new dark mode for app icons in iOS 18, as well as add color tints.

Control Center upgrades

(Image credit: Apple)

Like the Home Screen, Control Center has also been upgraded in iOS 18. You're now able to separate the Control Center into distinct function groups, like Media and Home, and you can resize Control Center widgets, too.For the first time on iPhone, iOS 18 also allows you to edit which Control Center widgets appear on the Lock Screen.

Messages upgrades

Image 1 of 2iOS 18 introduces the ability to schedule messages (Image credit: Apple)Image 2 of 2You'll be able to send messages via satellite in iOS 18 (Image credit: Apple)

iOS 18 lets you react to messages using any emoji, and you're also able to schedule messages to send at a convenient time in the future. Apple has added new text formatting to the Messages app, too, so you're able to underline, strikethrough and bold your messages, as well as add new text formatting like ripple effects.The Messages app also supports the RCS standard in iOS 18. This should facilitate a richer messaging experience when you're communicating with someone who doesn't own an Apple device.Oh, and Apple has also expanded the satellite capabilities of compatible iPhones to let you send messages via satellite when cellular and Wi-Fi connections aren’t available. Neat!

A new Passwords app

The new Passwords app in action on macOS Sequoia (Image credit: Apple)

iOS 18 brings with it a new, default iPhone app: Passwords. As the name suggests, Passwords acts as a one-stop shop for all your precious passwords, passkeys, and verification codes. As well as being a digital storage vault, the app will also alert you if you're using weak passwords, or if your details have been involved in a data breach.Naturally, all of the information inside the Passwords app is protected by end-to-end encryption, and, of course, you're able to lock it behind Touch or Face ID authentication.

Mail categorization

(Image credit: Shutterstock / sdx15)

iOS 18.2 leveraged the power of Apple's new-and-improved on-device processing to categorize emails into four folders: Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. In this version of iOS 18, the Mail app can provide easy-to-read digests, too, helping you to quickly scan for what’s important in the moment.For a rundown of the new system, read our guide on how to turn off Mail categories on iPhone, or customize them to your needs.

Wallet upgrades

iOS 18 adds a new 'tap to cash' feature to the Wallet app (Image credit: Apple)

The Wallet app has been upgraded with a new 'tap to cash' feature in iOS 18, which should help make paying friends easier. Certain event tickets will also now feature a more dynamic design.

Apple News+ recipes

(Image credit: Apple)

iOS 18.4 added a new Food section to Apple News+, which features content on healthy eating, restaurants, and recipes.The Recipe Catalog allows users to save recipes for later, and a follow-along Cooking mode makes putting them into practice a piece of cake.

A dedicated Vision Pro app

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

iOS 18.4 also brought a dedicated Vision Pro app to iPhone, giving Vision Pro users the ability to check for new spatial content and get quick information about their headset. The app will automatically install for those with a Vision Pro headset registered to their Apple Account.

Ambient Music from the Control Center

(Image credit: Future)

iOS 18.4 introduced a dedicated Ambient Music feature to iPhone, and oddly, it's part of the Control Center, not Apple Music.Users can access four different ambient music playlists from their iPhone's drop-down menu, specifically Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing.For those not in the know, ambient music is a form of relaxed, slow music that aims to be enjoyable to listen to without focus – think woodwinds, strings, synthesizers, and a lack of percussion.

ID-authenticated app locks

iOS 18 introduces optional Face ID authentication for all iPhone apps – not just Notes and banking apps. You're also able to hide apps in a new Hidden Apps folder.

An upgrade for Power Reserve

Although not announced by Apple, the first iOS 18 beta revealed that the iPhone 15's Power Reserve feature (which lets you access cards and locate your iPhone when the battery is otherwise out of juice) also now displays the time, so we can only assume that this upgrade has made it to the final iOS 18 build, too.

Math in any text field

You might not ever need to use a calculator with iOS 18, because if you enter a math problem in any text field, the operating system will solve it for you.

Choose your Home hub

If you have multiple devices that could serve as a Home hub, then one iOS 18 feature you'll likely really appreciate is the ability to select which you want to use as your Home hub, so you can make sure the best, fastest option is selected.

Shoot videos without pausing audio

Previously, if you used the video camera mode on an iPhone, it would pause any music, podcasts, or other audio that was playing. But with iOS 18, you can record video without pausing your audio. This is a small change, but a welcome one.

iOS 18: Compatibility

Apple Intelligence features will be limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

Apple has confirmed that any iPhone newer than the iPhone XS is compatible with iOS 18 and its subsequent iterations (in other words, any iPhone with the A12 Bionic chipset or newer). Incidentally, that’s also the same device requirements as iOS 17.It's worth noting, though, that Apple Intelligence features are limited to the iPhone 16 line, along with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.Below, we've detailed the full list of iOS 18-compatible iPhones. For more information, including confirmed iPadOS 18 compatibility, check out our dedicated iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 compatibility explainer.

iPhone 16eiPhone 16iPhone 16 PlusiPhone 16 ProiPhone 16 Pro MaxiPhone 15iPhone 15 PlusiPhone 15 ProiPhone 15 Pro MaxiPhone 14iPhone 14 PlusiPhone 14 ProiPhone 14 Pro MaxiPhone 13iPhone 13 miniiPhone 13 ProiPhone 13 Pro MaxiPhone 12iPhone 12 miniiPhone 12 ProiPhone 12 Pro MaxiPhone 11iPhone 11 ProiPhone 11 Pro MaxiPhone XSiPhone XS MaxiPhone XRiPhone SE (2nd generation)iPhone SE (3rd generation)

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For World Backup Day 2025, TechRadar Pro wanted to know the most popular backup methods amongst our readers, so we sent out a poll on our WhatsApp channel (which you can find here if you want to vote in any future polls).We asked ‘How do you keep your files safe?’ and the results might surprise you.The most popular response amongst our 2,000 voters was an online backup option, with over 1,100 respondents (65%) choosing to secure their files digitally. This could mean Apple Cloud, Microsoft OneDrive, IDrive, Google Photos, or any of the many digital options available.Only 20% of respondents (340 people) choose to backup their files using physical storage like hard drives, USB drives, or memory cards. Worryingly though, 15% of our readers don’t backup their files -that's over 250 people whose files are unprotected. If that’s you, check out our recommendations for the best ways to backup photos so you can make sure your memories are safe.

Which is best for you?

Considering physical storage gives you the utmost privacy, these results are a little surprising. SD cards don’t require a third party to handle your files, and don’t incur subscription fees, or even require an internet connection, so for any privacy conscious users out there, this is probably your best option.Cloud storage is perhaps the most hassle-free option, as you can access your files from anywhere, and can share your files easily, and collaboration systems are built in, so you can edit documents in real time alongside colleagues.Perhaps most importantly, many cloud storage solutions come with end-to-end encryption, making them super secure, and can be backed up across multiple servers - meaning you can recover them if anything goes wrong.However, if you’re keeping up with Apple’s privacy row with the UK Government, then you’ll know that end-to-end encryption isn’t guaranteed for cloud storage, so choose your platform wisely.Everyone has precious memories and photos that they want to keep safe, and World Backup Day is a great chance to make sure your pictures are secure.There are plenty of options, and whether you use Cloud storage solutions, USB flash drives, external hard drives, SD cards, or you print out your photos directly, backing up your files is always important.

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Sony has finally revealed Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse's release dateThe highly-anticipated movie will arrive in theaters worldwide in June 2027Five first-look images were also unveiled at CinemaCon 2025

It's finally happened. Over four months after we thought we'd get an exciting release update on Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, our wish has been granted.During its CinemaCon 2025 presentation last night (March 31), Sony Pictures announced the third and final entry in Miles Morales' animated film trilogy will be released on June 4, 2027. The confirmation was later revealed on numerous social media channels, including the official Spider-Verse X/Twitter account.

Spider-Man: Beyond the #SpiderVerse is coming exclusively to theatres June 4, 2027. 🕸️ pic.twitter.com/JE1XKqZYqPApril 1, 2025

The aforementioned tweet also revealed a first-look image at the film series' new Prowler. Indeed, the Spider-Man villain, who'll be an alternate reality's version of Miles in this movie, will be a secondary antagonist in Beyond the Spider-Verse, with The Spot taking on chief villain duties as he did last time.Prowler 2.0 was introduced in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's final few minutes and, as mentioned, is a multiversal variant of this film series' protagonist. If you need to remind yourself what happened in that film – and seeing as it's been almost two years since that movie came out, I wouldn't blame you if you did – be sure to read my Across the Spider-Verse ending explained piece.But I digress. Sony also revealed four other official stills from the Marvel-adjacent movie at CinemaCon 2025. That quartet, which you can see below, shows Miles battling Prowler 2.0 and, in what's sure to be a highly emotional moment, reuniting with Gwen Stacey/Spider-Gwen.

Spider-Man: Beyond the #SpiderVerse is coming exclusively to theatres June 4, 2027. 🕸️ pic.twitter.com/X4Y96n6dauApril 1, 2025

Speaking on stage during Sony's presentation, producer Phil Lord suggested (per Variety) that fans will want to prepare themselves for a potentially devastating end to the highly-rated animated movie trilogy, too.After a behind-doors video teaser was shown to attendees, Lord revealed Miles will be on the run at the start of the flick, which immediately picks up after the previous movie's final scene, before adding: "Gwen and his other friends may or may not be enough to help him save [his] family."

Feeding fans a web of lies

Across the Spider-Verse's sequel was supposed to arrive last March (Image credit: Sony Pictures)

Though I am reassured that Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will eventually be released in theaters, there's no denying that we were seemingly told more than a little white lie about its development and original launch plan.When Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was first announced, Lord and fellow producer Chris Miller informed us that it would effectively be a two-part movie event.The wait for Beyond the Spider-Verse, i.e. the new title bestowed on the previously named Across the Spider-Verse Part II, wouldn't be a long one, either. In fact, the trilogy's final installment was initially penciled in to make its theatrical debut in March 2024 – just nine months after its predecessor had swung into cinemas worldwide.

Spider-Gwen will return alongside Miles Morales in Beyond the Spider-Verse (Image credit: Sony Pictures)

As the months passed, though, it became clear that Beyond the Spider-Verse wouldn't meet its original release date.A damning report from Vulture suggested that the film's art and animation departments had been subjected to poor working conditions during Across the Spider-Verse's development, with many forced to work long hours and weekends to finish it. Speculation that Lord and Miller were difficult to work with also circulated online. The 2023 Hollywood strikes impacted the flick's seemingly near-ending development cycle, too, but not before Beyond the Spider-Verse was removed from Sony's forthcoming film slate in mid-2023, which suggested its development wasn't going entirely to plan.With Sony confirming who would direct Beyond the Spider-Verse last December, it finally seemed like there was light at the end of the tunnel. With the threequel now on track to arrive in mid-2027, I'm crossing my fingers that its production issues are a thing of the past.I'm also hoping, though, that the film series' chief creative team isn't working its employees to the bone. Four years is a long time to wait for the conclusion to one of the best animated trilogies of all time, but I'd be prepared to wait even longer if it means nobody is forced to crunch to get it out of the door.

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Marvel Unlimited monthly subscription: was $9.99 per month now $4.99 at MarvelThe ultimate digital comics subscription for Marvel fans is offering new and returning customers 50% off their first month, which is much cheaper than a streaming subscription to watch all the best superhero movies. To gain access to a library of more than 30,000 comics, use the code 'SPIDEY50' at checkout. You're able to use the Marvel Unlimited app on all iOS and Android devices, including the web, too. But, be quick – the deal expires on May 5!View Deal

A launch date for the Galaxy S25 Edge may have been revealedApril 15 could be the date the phone goes on saleWe saw a glimpse of the handset at the Unpacked event in January

Three months ago, Samsung first teased us with a glimpse of the super-thin Galaxy S25 Edge phone, and it seems that in the coming days we're going to get all the details on this phone – and get the opportunity to actually go out and buy it.According to tipster @chunvn8888 (via GSMArena), the phone will indeed be officially released sometime in April. The other Samsung Galaxy S25 phones all went on sale shortly after their grand unveiling back in January of course.A separate report in NieuweMobiel.NL (via SamMobile) goes even further, identifying Tuesday, April 15 as the big day – either the day when Samsung reveals everything about the handset, or the day it goes on sale, or both.We could be just a couple of weeks away from getting our hands on this intriguing new device then, but is it going to be worth the wait? Here are five reasons we think it will be.

1. It'll be very thin

In case you haven't heard, thin phones are having a moment, with the Oppo Find N5 the thinnest foldable to date and the iPhone 17 Air due before the end of the year. The Galaxy S25 Edge is rumored to measure just 5.84 mm front to back, so considerably thinner in relative terms than the 7.2 mm thickness of the standard Galaxy S25 handset.

2. Durability will be a priority

Worried about this ultra-slender smartphone bending and breaking while you're using it? Let us assuage your fears: in our exclusive chat with Samsung's Mobile Experience (MX) VP of Product and Marketing in the UK, Annika Bizon, we were told that durability was a "really important" consideration for the engineers who put this device together.

The Galaxy S25 Edge on show (Image credit: Future)

3. It's going to be packed with power

Thin phones can mean compromised phones when it comes to performance, as there's less room for powerful components and the cooling that goes with them – but based on the leaked benchmarks we've seen, and the recent rumors about a high-end cooling solution, we're confident that the Galaxy S25 Edge will keep up with other 2025 flagships.

4. Premium materials are rumored

Another rumor we've come across regarding the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is that it's going to make use of a titanium frame and a 2K display. Those are both signs that Samsung isn't going to be skimping when it comes to the materials used to make this phone – and it could even rival the Galaxy S25 Ultra in terms of its premium feel.

5. It'll have plenty of AI on board

No surprises here, and nothing different to the rest of the Samsung Galaxy S25 series, but the Galaxy S25 Edge model is going to come running the full suite of Galaxy AI tools. We've also heard it's going to match the other phones in the series with six months of free access to Gemini Advanced, giving you access to the best AI models and features from Google.

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Microsoft has delivered a clutch of new AI features to Copilot+ PCsMany of these are gracing AMD and Intel-powered laptops for the first timeThey include live captions and image generation capabilities for both the Paint and Photos apps

Microsoft has just brought in a bunch of new features for Copilot+ PCs, many of which are coming to laptops with AMD and Intel processors for the first time.Of course, Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon (Arm-based) chips have been around for a good deal longer, and are usually first in line to get new AI features, but they come to all devices eventually.And The Verge noticed that Microsoft has announced this is now the case with system-wide live captions, which are debuting with both AMD Ryzen AI 300 CPUs and Intel Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) processors.Live captioning provides subtitled translations in English in real time for audio or video playing via any medium on your Copilot+ PC. Over 40 languages are now supported for live captions in English. On top of that, Snapdragon X Copilot+ PCs are getting support for Simplified Chinese (with 27 languages), and that will eventually come to AMD and Intel machines, too.Owners of Copilot+ PCs with AMD and Intel CPUs have also witnessed the arrival of Cocreator in Paint. This is an AI assistant within the app that you can give instructions to – using either text prompts, rough sketches, or a combination of both – in order for it to generate images.In addition to that, the Photos app is getting Image Creator, a trick in a similar vein that allows for, well, creating images based purely on text prompts in this case. Photos is also being graced with a Restyle Image feature which lets you alter an existing image and turn it into, say, an oil painting or pencil sketch.While there’s not much new for Snapdragon Copilot+ PCs here, save for the addition of the Chinese language support with live captions, there is one fresh ability, and that’s an improvement for Voice Access.Microsoft says that users will be able to “communicate with their PCs using more descriptive and flexible language,” meaning you can issue voice commands in natural language, and Windows 11 will (hopefully) understand them. As opposed to having to stick to strict keywords and syntax, which has been the case with these voice commands so far.Eventually, that functionality will also come to AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs as well, and Microsoft notes that this will be later this year.

(Image credit: Future)

Analysis: Arrival timeframes – and lack of Recall

If you want access to these features now, you may still have to be a little patient. In some cases, there may be a gradual rollout of the capabilities, so not everyone will get them at the same time.If you’ve already grabbed the Windows 11 preview update for March, you may have some of this new stuff right out of the gate – or it’ll be delivered in the April update, the full cumulative update due in a week (or at least some of it will – depending on the exact rollout progress of each ability).In short, hang tight, grab the next Windows update, and then keep your fingers crossed. Do also bear in mind that with the AI features for Paint and Photos, you’ll also need to ensure you have the latest versions of those apps from the Microsoft Store.If you’re really keen to get these in super-quick fashion, you can always turn on the slider to ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available,’ which is found in Windows Updates (in the Settings app).However, bear in mind that this will pipe through preview updates to your PC, and I wouldn’t recommend doing so. Officially, the preview (optional) updates that arrive at the end of the month are still in testing, so things are more likely to go awry with any update like this. For that reason, I’d advise applying the finished updates and being patient as the best course of action to take.Clearly, though, if you want to get AI features first on Copilot+ PCs, it’s a Snapdragon device that you want to own – the wait can be substantially longer for devices with AMD or Intel CPUs.Of course, there’s a notable AI feature that’s still missing from release versions of Windows 11 on any Copilot+ PC, one which remains seemingly stuck in testing. Namely Recall, the supercharged version of Windows search that relies on leveraging regularly taken screenshots of the activity on your PC.This has long been a controversial feature, of course, in terms of privacy and security worries. Microsoft launched Recall last year, and then pulled it, evidently surprised by the backlash. Recall went back into testing, finally, at the tail end of last year, but continued to hit problems.We’ve seen some fine-tuning of Recall in testing last month, so it’s not like there’s no activity around the feature – but the lack of any mention of it in this latest ‘Copilot+ PC experiences’ update from Microsoft doesn’t exactly bode well about the ability arriving anytime soon.Could it eventually end up being canned? Well, given the weighty level of importance Microsoft has attached to it, that seems unlikely – but it’s easy to start to have doubts about whether it will ever launch, at least in its current incarnation.To be fair to Microsoft, though, if ever there was a feature that needed time and care to get it right, this is it. Although there appeared to be little understanding of that when Recall was first revealed.

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Users report VMware Workstation automatic updates are brokenThe error was caused by a URL redirectWe don’t know if it was intentional, but users should be on their guard

VMware Workstation’s automatic update feature is reportedly broken due to Broadcom’s redirection of the download URL to a generic support page.A Bleeping Computer report notes the program attempts to connect to softwareupdate.broadcom.com/cds for updates, but the URL is redirecting to support.broadcom.com, causing certification errors.For now, users are just receiving an error message, and it’s unclear whether Broadcom is working on a fix for its VMware Workstation product.

Broadcom has redirected an automatic update URL

“A certificate error occurred while connecting to the update server. Check your Internet settings or contact your system administrator,” the error reads.Although the VMware Workstation automatic update mechanism no longer works, users can still manually download and install updates from Broadcom’s website, however the change has frustrated users who received no prior warning. It’s unclear if the change is intentional.Moreover, VMware Workstation continues to function, but users who fail to manually install updates could expose themselves to bugs and other vulnerabilities.One user noted that the issue started on March 24, and also affects VMware Fusion Pro. Another user replied: “A post from a Broadcom employee over in the Fusion community indicates that they have changed the software update infrastructure for their products.”Another wrote: “Broadcom, which now manages VMware products, has reportedly discontinued the in-product update feature for VMware Workstation Pro.”In the months and years following its acquisition of VMware, Broadcom has built itself a history of upsetting customers with major changes to the product portfolio and pricing strategy.TechRadar Pro has asked the company whether it intended to end automatic updates, but we did not receive an immediate response. Any updates will be posted here.

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AI has emerged as the priority for executives globally, with a staggering 97% of CEO's pursuing investment in AI tools. This shows no signs of slowing down, as PwC projects that AI-related spending will inject $15.7 trillion into the global economy by 2030. This has sparked a push for operational efficiency as organizations - driven by competitive pressure - look to implement AI across all possible applications.However, in network operations, the current approach to AI adoption has fallen short of expectations. This has led to growing skepticism, entering what Gartner calls a "trough of disillusionment" where technical, operational and ethical challenges are raising concerns about its long-term effectiveness.

The networking challenge for AI

Although traditional network management systems, enhanced by AI, handle tasks like intelligent traffic routing well, broader AI adoption in networking is hampered by significant challenges. For the typical operator, the network operations landscape tends to be a maze of legacy systems and fragmented data sources requiring consolidating and rationalizing, so inheriting an environment where AI solutions struggle to gain meaningful traction.Despite AI's impressive capacity to analyze large amounts of data, its difficulty in seamlessly integrating with existing network architectures limits its reliability for mission-critical operations. For example, in telecommunications, simple misconfigurations can take down vast networks and hit critical customer services particularly hard. In a sector that had a lot of growth when nascent operational solutions were being developed and data quality wasn’t always implemented, there is a lot of pause on the use of Broad AI solutions.This mismatch suggests that conventional networking approaches and human oversight will remain essential components of network management for the foreseeable future.

Navigating operational roadblocks

Among the technical difficulties of AI adoption, organizations looking to develop their own applications continue to face significant operational and financial barriers to effective deployment. One bottleneck is talent, particularly in specialized development roles. This shortage has reached peak levels, with 60% of IT decision-makers identifying AI expertise as their most severe skills deficit – a gap that continues to widen as demand outpaces the available talent pool.While larger organizations have more immediate access to the capital and in-house skills to build and train AI applications, smaller ones often lack the resources to invest in the necessary IT infrastructure, software and specialized skills, making AI adoption a considerable challenge.Furthermore, many of the tangible gains AI will deliver, are largely internal. This means it’s increasingly difficult for organizations to get around the overhead that comes with deploying AI since they cannot reasonably pass this on to customers. Additionally, current use cases are not at the stage where they are delivering the widespread transformations people have come to associate with AI and typically deal with narrow AI applications solving backend processes like optimizing controlled automation routines and data flow efficiency.As such, businesses need to carefully set their expectations as to whether AI will provide a measurable return on investment (ROI) before committing to widespread adoption.

The value of AI in network operations

It's important to highlight that AI has demonstrated value in network operations, moving beyond basic network monitoring to become a tool for operators. By sifting through vast amounts of network data, AI systems uncover hidden patterns and potential trouble spots before they impact service. This helps teams shift from reactive to proactive optimization, ultimately delivering more reliable performance.AI automation also plays an important role in taking on the heavy lifting of day-to-day operations. For example, intelligently optimizing data flow by ensuring efficient bandwidth allocation and traffic routing. Additionally, detecting anomalies and triggering predefined responses, reducing the need for manual intervention. By strategically deploying AI for specific tasks that complement current workflows, organizations can boost their network performance while maintaining human oversight of critical decisions.Looking to the future, AI will be vital in shaping next-generation networks. As networking and cybersecurity become more closely linked, we are likely to see a market shift towards single-vendor frameworks. This is important because as we undergo this shift, AI’s natural ability to automate responses and provide predictive analysis will help converge network management under a single pane of glass.As more adaptive networks become a necessity, this will help systems keep up with demand, predict failures before they occur and coordinate resources with minimal human oversight.

One step at a time

AI presents promising opportunities for network operations. While it excels at automating intricate processes, enhancing efficiency and anticipating issues, its real value lies in transforming the networks of the future.However, Broad AI solutions utilizing full autonomy remains impractical due to AI’s current limitations in managing complex, high-risk scenarios from multiple disparate data sets. Additionally, the significant costs associated with delivering the right environment for AI to flourish calls for a carefully planned strategy.The conversation shouldn’t be about AI replacing humans, it should be about giving them sophisticated tools that enhance their current capabilities. Therefore, we should see AI adoption as a gradual, long-term endeavor solving clear use cases rather than a rapid transformation.There are some strong use cases now, but patience and intelligent planning will pave the way to broader transformation later down the line. Exercise patience, think practically and reap the benefits.

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Code in a Google app teardown points to an "inactivity reboot" featureThis sounds very similar to a security tool available on iPhonesIt's not active yet but will likely launch as part of Android 16

Late last year, Apple added a security feature to iPhones that should make it harder for thieves to use stolen phones – and which also caused issues for law enforcement, and now the same feature could be coming to Android.The feature in question is known as “inactivity reboot”, and on iPhone it means the device will automatically reboot after three days of inactivity.On Android, it could be exactly the same, with Android Authority having found a reference to “inactivity reboot” in a teardown of the Google Play Services app. As well as sharing a name with Apple’s feature, it seemingly functions the same, with the code string mentioning that this would restart a device if it remains locked for three days.

The Google Pixel 9 could soon be harder for thieves to unlock (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Blocking biometrics

The reason for doing this is that both iPhones and Androids are more secure after a reboot, as biometrics (like face and fingerprint scanners) are inactive, and instead you need to enter your PIN or password to unlock the phone.The assumption – presumably – is that a device that is switched on but hasn’t been unlocked in several days may be in the hands of a thief, who has so far failed to unlock it. So if they don’t manage within three days, it will suddenly get a lot harder for them to do so.This feature isn’t active on Android yet, and while it’s clearly something Google is exploring it’s always possible this won’t make it to public release, but there’s a good chance we’ll see it in Android 16.More specifically, through its digging, Android Authority has found that this is probably part of Advanced Protection Mode, which is a more wide-ranging security feature that we already know is likely coming to Android 16.As well as probably including inactivity reboot, this mode can do things like blocking sideloading, disabling 2G connections, and enabling Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) for apps, which is a feature that protects against memory safety bugs.So it seems Google could be putting a major focus on security with its next Android release, and you shouldn’t have to wait too long to get these features, as Android 16 is expected to land in the second quarter of this year – meaning sometime between now and the end of June.

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AI will enhance low-code and no-code solutions, not replace them, report claimsApp Builder report says most leaders have seen cost and time savings with low-/no-codeCompanies should continue to support developer upskilling

Low-code and no-code tools remain crucial and will continue to live on in an AI-enhanced era, new research has claimed.Despite artificial intelligence’s promise to boost coding efficiency and accessibility, tech leaders see AI as enhancing low- and no-code tools, rather than replacing them.A report from App Builder revealed nearly all (95%) companies have used low- and no-code tools in the past year for software development, highlighting their prevalence for firms everywhere.

Low-code and no-code tools are here to stay

Three in four (76%) tech leaders envision AI making their existing tools more efficient, with even more (84%) confirming that AI will not replace their reliance on low-code and no-code solutions.“As AI converges with low-code and no-code, we’ll see an entirely new paradigm emerge that will change how apps are built, who can build them and how fast it can happen,” said Jason Beres, SVP of Developer Tools at Infragistics, the company behind App Builder.Almost every (98%) tech leader has reported development time savings with low- and no-code solutions, with almost four in five (78%) companies saving up to 50% of development time. A further two in three (67%) say they’ve reduced their costs by up to 30%, with one in ten more than halving their costs thanks to simpler tools.The report noted that companies are increasingly focused on building custom apps – a lack of resources and a global skills shortage make low- and no-code solutions particularly useful in this realm.Beres added companies should not only focus on automating app development to improve efficiency, productivity and collaboration, but they should also continue to invest in upskilling to ensure their workers are prepared to handle emerging technologies and shifting demands.

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There have been more than 100 reports of AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D chips dying since launchThe majority of failures have occurred on ASRock motherboardsThe cause of the issue has yet to be diagnosed

Despite being one of the best processors on the market for PC gamers, AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D has been having a rough time since its launch in November last year. Reports of chip-killing burnouts have been steadily mounting, with more than 100 cases now reported.Thanks to the heroic work of Reddit user natty_overlord, a detailed compilation of CPU failure reports is available for all to peruse, and currently shows a total of 108 reports of dead 9800X3Ds. Most reports show the chip dying after only a few weeks or even days of use, with no apparent issues showing up before the moment of demise.Luckily, most affected users have been able to RMA their CPUs for either a refund or a replacement without issue, and considering the thousands of Ryzen 9000 chips that have been sold, it's not a serious problem. Still, that many failed chips is a bit concerning, especially when we still have essentially zero idea what's causing these premature deaths.

Mysterious origins

Okay, there might be some clues to be gleaned from natty_overlord's report, so we're not totally in the dark here. Of the 108 currently-reported cases of Ryzen 9800X3D failure, a whopping 86 of them involved ASRock motherboards. 13 reports were from users with Asus boards, five from MSI, and one from Gigabyte.So, is ASRock responsible? It's possible that the Taiwanese motherboard maker bears part of the blame here; natty_overlord also documented 10 other Ryzen 9000 chip failures (including the 9900X and 9600X), all of which occurred on ASRock mobos. Still, multiple failures on Asus and MSI motherboards would appear to indicate that ASRock isn't solely at fault.There doesn't seem to be any one chipset that's suffering from these issues, either. The majority of 9800X3D failures were split between X870 and B850 motherboards, with a smaller (but not insignificant) number on X670 and B650 models. In short, there's no way of knowing what's causing these failures, although AMD is no doubt investigating.

What you should do

Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do to protect yourself from this mysterious chip-killing bug, short of simply not having an ASRock motherboard, perhaps, given the heavy weighting of failure reports for ASRock hardware. If you've been considering buying a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, it might be worth holding off for the time being.The good news is that if your PC is affected, most reports seem to have been satisfactorily resolved via an RMA process, either directly to AMD or to the retailer in cases involving pre-built PCs.Naturally, I'll continue to monitor this story and will follow up with any fresh details that emerge. I've reached out to AMD for comment, but I suspect I won't get any meaty info there; 108 isn't a small number of dead chips, but it's not such a large amount that Team Red really needs to worry that something is seriously amiss.

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Square Enix has launched a new Final Fantasy 9 websiteThe website has been made to commemorate the game's 25th anniversaryFans are now wondering if we'll see a remake announcement soon

Final Fantasy 9 fans are now hoping for a Nintendo Switch 2 remake as the PS1 classic gets a 25th-anniversary website.The Squaresoft-developed RPG (role-playing game) was initially released on the original PlayStation on July 7, 2000, meaning its 25th anniversary is just a few short months away. As a result, an official website has been prepared to commemorate the occasion.The website, translated from Japanese by IGN, states that "various projects, including merchandise and collaborations to commemorate the 25th anniversary" are on the way.A news section on the website shows that several plushies, books, soundtracks, and memorabilia are being prepared for Final Fantasy 9's 25th anniversary. There is no hard confirmation of a commemorative game or remake as of yet, but that hasn't stopped fans of the RPG from speculating on sites like Reddit.Plus, the big Nintendo Switch 2 Direct presentation is happening tomorrow (April 2), leading folks to believe a confirmation of a Final Fantasy 9 remake for the upcoming console could be a real possibility.Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail, the popular MMORPG's (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) latest expansion, also has a main story that's heavily inspired by Final Fantasy 9. In a vacuum, that admittedly doesn't mean much, as FF14 has routinely paid homage to the series' legacy through various pieces of content. But it does at least show that Square Enix and developer Creative Studio 3 both have Final Fantasy 9 on the brain.

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Samsung Galaxy Watch users are complaining of resetting issuesGalaxy Watch 7 and Ultra users appear to be affectedUsers say their watches go through a forced reset that requires setting up the watch again

A slew of Samsung Galaxy Watch users are reporting that their Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra models keep encountering a forced-reset issue that requires them to setup their devices again.I was first alerted to the issue by reader Spike, who reached out to me about a problem with their Samsung Galaxy Watch 7. Since the last update, they and other users have noticed the Watch 7 randomly disconnecting from the phone it's paired with, such that the Samsung Galaxy Wearable app won't recognize the watch, requiring a factory reset to re-pair."For me this happens about once a week," Spike told me. "I contacted Samsung who wanted me to send my watch in, but I'm pretty certain it's a software issue since a lot of people on the forum are having the same issue."

Samsung Galaxy Watch reset issue

A Samsung Community forum scoured by TechRadar does indeed reveal an extensive thread of users who seem to be suffering from this issue."For no apparent reason, my watch keeps doing a forced reset," the original poster said. "I then have to go through the whole process of setting it up again," they added, even mentioning that the latest hiccup completely changed some watch settings.Other users chimed in to say that they've been experiencing the same issue. "Me too. 3 times now in under 2 weeks," one user replied.The thread is titled '"Galaxy Watch 7/Ultra resetting', which seems to indicate that this problem is affecting Samsung's two best Android smartwatches; it's unclear if it extends to any other models.The precise nature of the issue and its extent are little murky, but users are definitely reporting persistent forced resets on their Galaxy Watches, often multiple times a week. At least some of the time, this requires users to go through the setup process to reconnect the watch.We've reached out to Samsung regarding the problem, but this is definitely a developing issue, and one that appears to be fairly prevalent.The Samsung forum post has 24 likes and over 300 replies from similarly affected users. Samsung also recently confirmed that some of its watches were not tracking sleep properly, and recommended a fix to users.

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I’m sidestepping the desperate attempts at April 1 shenanigans and focusing on the imminent Nintendo Direct broadcast, which is likely to confirm rumors and sink others.

The last few Switch 1 games have been revealed, meaning tomorrow’s Nintendo Direct: Switch 2 presentation, kicking off at 9AM ET / 6AM PT will be all about the new console — no distractions. (Although, I’d be cool with a Silksong release date, finally.)

We already know the Switch 2 will be a bigger console, with a bigger screen and Joy-Cons. There also may be some sort-of-mouse functionality baked into the controllers this time, but Nintendo’s focus is on tech specs — and the games. What does the company have cooking?

— Mat Smith

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The Light Phone III doesn’t have apps or internet, but still costs $799

$599 if you pre-order.

Light Phone

The company behind several minimalist handsets has just released the Light Phone III. It may be the perfect device for folks who brag about giving up smartphones and have the money to experiment with stripped-down phones that are the ultimate step back from modern convenience. Whoops, sorry, I let my mask slip there. Hey, at least there’s no AI nonsense.

There is a cool, crisp B&W OLED display, new for this third iteration, instead of e-ink paper. There’s still no internet, no apps, no email. There is, however, a place for your podcasts and a simple camera with a physical button. There’s also a Maps app, powered by Here, but it’s private, so there’s no info shared on where you’re trying to get to. Privacy like that, however, costs a heady $799, unless you can get the pre-order price of $599 at launch, with estimated delivery in July.

Continue reading.

xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, just purchased X, Elon Musk’s social media company

Confused? You should be.

Yes, xAI has purchased X, according to a post shared by Musk. Besides their owner and similar names, the companies are already connected through xAI’s chatbot, Grok, so it makes some sense. The biggest surprise may be that X is still valued at $33 billion — according to Musk and his companies, at least. X, once Twitter, was acquired by Musk in 2022 for $43 billion. xAI, like many leading AI companies, has been raising money as often and as quickly as possible. Combining the two companies may ease some of the debt Musk took on.

The companies’ futures are “intertwined,” according to Musk. Financially, now, that’s very true.

Continue reading.

iOS 18.4 is available now

It adds new emoji, Apple News+ Food and priority notifications.

iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4 include a new Apple News+ Food section in the News app that collects recipes and food-oriented articles, including exclusive recipes for Apple News+ subscribers. The updates also introduce new emoji, AI-sorted Priority Notifications in the Notification Center and a new Ambient Music tool in the Control Center.

After a bit of a delay, Apple Intelligence will be available in the European Union for the first time on iPhone and iPad. The suite of AI features will now also work in several new languages “including French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese (simplified) — as well as localized English for Singapore and India.”

Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-111414827.html?src=rss

Amazon has launched early access to Alexa+ for selected users, but a few features are missing Not all the features showcased at its February launch event will be available straight away, and will instead be rolled out in parts over the next few monthsWhile Alexa+ is only available on Echo Show 8, 10, 15 and 21, we expect it to come to more Echo devices as more features become available

When Amazon announced its new AI-enhanced Alexa+ voice assistant, we were beyond excited to finally see Amazon’s answer to ChatGPT and Apple Intelligence come to life. In our live blog we speculated a March 31 roll, and it seems as though we were correct as Alexa+ has started rolling out to selected users in the US on certain Echo devices, but it wouldn’t be a major launch without a few catches.During Amazon’s devices event in February, the company took pride in boasting Alexa+’s revamped voice and AI capabilities, but a report from The Washington Post has identified that Alexa+ is missing a number of handy features. They’ll be unveiled in waves over the next few months, but it does feel like a broken promise in some ways.

During Amazon's devices event in February, Panos Panay demonstrated a handful of new features but not all of them are available in Alexa+'s early access. (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

What’s missing from Alexa+?

Amazon promised an array of new features for Alexa+ that provided a more interactive and personal experience with the voice assistant, most notably its ability to offer food recommendations and place orders through Grubhub based on what you’re craving. This feature has the potential to be a saving grace for indecisive foodies out there, but it has been delayed until further notice.Other useful generative features have gone missing from Alexa+’s early access, including its ability to brainstorm gift ideas when the pressures of gift-buying get too intense, and its storytime mode feature for kids has also been pushed back. The Post has also spotted that Alexa+ lacks the ability to visually identify family members around your home - both of which were demonstrated at its launch event - and the web version for Alexa+ is also unavailable for now.As per The Post’s initial report, Amazon has declared that these features are missing from Alexa+ simply because they “don’t yet meet Amazon’s standards for public release”. It’s reassuring to know that Amazon has plans to bulk up Alexa+’s features, but you’ll just have to remain patient for a few more months.

So, what can Alexa+ do at the moment?

Despite the missing features, Alexa+’s early launch isn’t totally lackluster. Since it started rolling out yesterday (March 31) Alexa+ can order you an Uber, search for particular products, and draft emails. While you’ll have to wait a little longer for Grubhub integration with Alexa+, you can still use the voice assistant to give you advice on what to cook.Alexa+ can be accessed for a monthly subscription fee of $19.99, but Amazon Prime members will have full access for free.

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Now Brief has been found on the latest One UI 7 betaThere's no user interface so the fetaure can't be used properlyIts presence suggetss it may come to older phones with One UI 7

For many, the best new Samsung Galaxy S25 feature is Now Brief, but for a while it appeared the feature would remain exclusive to only Samsung’s latest phone release even as One UI 1 rolls out to other phones. Thankfully, it seems like a few older phones will get Now Brief after all.Now Brief is a handy AI tool that gets you prepped for the day ahead with useful info like what events you have today, what journey times are like so you can avoid being late, how well rested you are based on data from your smartwatch, and if coupons in your digital wallet are close to expiring.It’ll even give you different briefings based on when you check (with morning, afternoon and evening briefings focusing on different information), and our own Senior Writer AI John-Anthony Disotto calling Now Brief “precisely the kind of first-party functionality that I think will make a real difference to users’ lives and, in turn, showcase the true power of AI.”

Unfortunately the feature has been absent from the One UI 7 software betas currently available for older devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S24, Galaxy S23, Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 phones.This has led many to believe it wouldn’t be unlocked for these phones, but it turns out Now Brief is hidden in the One UI beta after all.That’s according to @MEMETCAN88 who managed to access the hidden function on an S24 running the latest One UI 7 beta (via SamMobile, who confirmed it’s also available on other devices).

Breaking. Now brief feature is available in s24 series. Oneui 7 beta 6 is also hidden but I've uncovered with activity launcher.@tarunvats33 @SamMobiles @theonecid @UniverseIce pic.twitter.com/uvLoHZOJAuMarch 31, 2025

It didn’t work completely however, with the hidden Now Brief lacking the necessary user interface to function properly.So, what does this mean? Well the optimistic amongst us are hoping it means that Now Brief will make it to older devices. However, given the full release is set to begin on April 7, it may be a feature that isn’t released for a few update cycles.The more pessimistic look is that Samsung has hidden this feature because it may have thought about releasing Now Brief but ultimately decided to keep it exclusive to its new phones – and it was easier to hide Now Brief than completely remove it from One UI 7.We’ll have to wait and see what’s announced as One UI 7 arrives on older phones and in following updates, but there’s still a chance the best Samsung Galaxy S25 feature will make its way to older phones – and we're seriously hoping it does.

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A Nintendo Switch 2 trade-in deal at GameStop has seemingly leakedThe deal is offering buyers up to $175 toward the new consoleBuyers can trade in the original Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED for money off

GameStop's Nintendo Switch 2 trade-in deal has seemingly leaked, offering big discounts for buyers who already own a Switch.The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Showcase airs tomorrow on April 2 and is expected to finally unveil a new in-depth look at the console, along with the long-awaited release date, pricing, and pre-orders details.However, it seems that another leak has broken ahead of the event, and this time, it's a big money-saving offer at GameStop.As spotted by X / Twitter user MikeOdysseyYT (via 9meters) GameStop's trade-in deal reveals that it will be offering three different discounts when buyers exchange their original Switch, Switch Lite, or Switch OLED for the Switch 2.Trading in the OLED will get you $175 toward your Switch 2 reservation, the original Switch (V1 or V2) $125, and the Switch Lite $100.

Here is @gamestop's Switch 2 trade in deal. What you get as credit when you trade in your console. Let's say Switch 2 is $399.00, plus 6.5% tax(FL) Comes out to $424.93. If you trade in an OLED, you would pay $249.93 for your new Switch 2. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/hUIXNc94BXMarch 31, 2025

We don't know how much the Switch 2 will cost just yet, but these offers are brilliant if you're looking to save money on the upcoming console.According to Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa, the company is aware of rising inflation but has said the console will be in line with the "affordable prices customers expect".TechRadar Gaming predicts that the Switch 2 will cost around $399.99 / £349.99 / AU$699.95, which is more expensive than the original Switch that launched in 2017 and started at $259.99 / £259.99 / AUD$435.

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Creatives in the UK are once again speaking out against AI developers accessing copyrighted material. The Society of Authors have published an open letter calling for UK Secretary of State Lisa Nandy to hold Meta accountable for possible copyright infringement regarding its LLM, Llama 3. Signatories of the letter include successful British authors Richard Osman, Kazuo Ishiguro, Val McDermid and Sarah Waters.

A March 20 article in The Atlantic served as the letter's impetus. It reported that Meta had used LibGen, a pirated collection of over 7.5 million books, to train its AI models. Anyone on the internet over the last few weeks has likely seen videos of distraught authors learning that their work is available on the database (and potentially used by Meta without their permission). A lawsuit in the US alleges Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg approved the use of LibGen's data to train its AI. The lawsuit's plaintiffs include writers Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates.

"These cases are shining a light on the unscrupulous behaviour exhibited by global tech companies which seemingly exploit copyright-protected material, safe in the knowledge that they will not be held to account," the Society of Authors' letter stated. "This must change, and global tech companies must now be held accountable and pay for the use they make of authors’ works."

The authors implore Nandy to bring Meta senior executives before Parliament and make them commit to respecting copyrights and compensating authors for any previous infringements.

"Authors are almost powerless given the enormous cost and complexities of pursuing litigation against corporate defendants with such deep pockets," the letter continued. "We call upon you and the UK Government to take all action available to ensure that the rights, interests and livelihoods of authors are adequately protected. Failure to act without further delay will unquestionably have a catastrophic and irreversible impact on all UK authors given that from development through to output, creators’ rights are being systematically and repeatedly ignored."

Artists across the creative industries have also recently protested the UK government's December 2024 proposal to change copyright law. The shift would provide AI developers with a copyright exemption and require creatives to "opt out" or allow access to their materials.

In February, over 1,000 musicians released an album called Is This What We Want?, with 12 songs spelling out, "The British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies." It coincided with the UK News Media Association's Make It Fair campaign calling on the government to support creative industries and compensate those individuals if allowing AI to train on their work.

That same week creatives, from Paul McCartney to Helen Fielding, also shared an open letter against the proposal. Published in The Times, it stated, "There is no moral or economic argument for stealing our copyright. Taking it away will devastate the industry and steal the future of the next generation."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/british-authors-want-meta-to-answer-for-alleged-copyright-infringement-114501800.html?src=rss

ChatGPT 4o's impressive image generation is now available for freeIt's fantastic for editing images as well as generating new onesThere's a daily limit for free users which can be quite infuriating

ChatGPT's viral 4o image generation features are now available to everyone for free, albeit with some limits that can make the new AI tool a little infuriating.Announced by OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, on X, the new native image generation has taken the world by storm thanks to its impressive ability to create images far better than Dall-E (the previous model used by ChatGPT) ever could.You might've seen the controversy surrounding the image generation tool's blatant copy of Studio Ghibli-style anime over the last week, but if not we've covered the drama at length here.In this article, I'm going to show you three ways to use ChatGPT 4o's image generation that aren't following the anime recreation trend.Why only three you might ask? Well, unfortunately, the daily limit for free users is only three image generations, so it only felt fitting to limit the ideas just like OpenAI has limited the use of the tool.

chatgpt image gen now rolled out to all free users!April 1, 2025

1. Change the background

Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Future / ChatGPT)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Future / ChatGPT)

ChatGPT's image generation is very impressive when it comes to replacing the background of your images. In the first example above, I uploaded an image of my French Bulldog, Kermit, and asked 4o to "change the background to the beach."Like magic, Kermit was now on the beach, although you can tell there have been slight modifications to his likeness. For example, in the original photo, he had a pimple under his mouth, which is now completely removed.ChatGPT 4o's image generation is very good at determining the outline of a subject and creating a realistic background to match. While I've not yet tried Galaxy AI's version of background editing, from my testing with ChatGPT I can't imagine a better AI background editor is available for free on the market.After taking Kermit to the beach, I thought I'd try recreating his namesake's iconic opening scene of the 1979 Muppet Movie. In the movie, Kermit the Frog sits on a log in a swamp playing the banjo.While Kermit the Dog can't play the banjo, ChatGPT managed to take the source material and edit the background so Kermit was indeed on a log in a swamp. Pretty cool!

2. Use a reference to generate a new image

(Image credit: Future / ChatGPT)

ChatGPT 4o's image generation is also very good at using a source image to create anything you can imagine.After feeding the AI tool multiple images of my dog, I asked "Can you imagine a french bulldog riding a skateboard while dressed as a frog?"After waiting about 20 seconds, yes the image generation can be pretty slow, I had an excellent image of a French Bulldog that looks like my boy Kermit, in a frog costume riding a skateboard.Eagle-eyed readers will notice his back paws only have three digits, but I guess ChatGPT thought the dog costume should mimic an amphibian rather than have enough space to be comfortable for the mammal inside.Unfortunately for ChatGPT, a frog has 18 toes altogether... 10 at the back and eight at the front.

3. Change the mood

(Image credit: Future / ChatGPT)

Last but not least, I decided to upload an image of Kermit in a cow costume. Why is he wearing a cow costume? You might ask. Well, for the purpose of this article I needed an image where he's clearly a bit miffed.You see I live in Scotland so Kermit needs a fleece to keep himself warm in the winter. Unfortunately for him, he hates wearing a fleece. That said, ChatGPT's new image generation tools can help with that, so I asked AI to "Make this dog happy."The result here is bizarre because it takes everything from the previous image and recreates it perfectly, just with a smiling dog with its tongue out.I would argue a French Bulldog always looks miserable, and a tongue sticking out like this would actually imply it's thirsty. But AI deems this a happy dog, and to be fair, it has doesn't a very good job a recreating the image with the mood tweaks I asked for.

Try ChatGPT image generation yourself

So there you have it, ChatGPT's image generation is now free for everyone to try and it's capable of some fantastic photo editing.The image limitations are pretty annoying, however, as I was only able to generate three images without loading up my paid ChatGPT Plus work account.I also experienced upload limitations, where ChatGPT stopped allowing me to add source material to edit after providing two images.So it's worth noting ChatGPT image generation is very powerful, but on the free tier you'll need to be patient as you'll quickly reach a daily limit.

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The Garmin Vivoactive 6 has been officially revealedIt looks very similar to the Vivoactive 5, but some specs changes offer improvementsIt comes after heavy criticism by Garmin users over the new Conenct+ premium tier

Garmin has revealed the Garmin Vivoactive 6, an affordable smartwatch with a new smart alarm functionality and access to features from more premium Garmin watches, such as Running Dynamics – priced at £279.99 (around $360 / AU$580).Garmin’s Vivoactive line is full of sporty, value-orientated watches pitched at the Apple Watch crowd, and the Garmin Vivoactive 5 sits pretty as our current ‘best value’ pick on our list of the best Garmin watches available right now. The Vivoactive 6 watch looks very similar to the Garmin Vivoactive 5, with a plastic casing, aluminum bezel, two buttons instead of the usual five-button configuration found on more premium Garmins, AMOLED screen and silicon strap.Just like the Vivoactive 5, the Vivoactive 6 sports up to 11 days of battery life. It shares the dimensions and 1.2-inch screen with the Vivoactive 5, although it has made some changes.A ‘smart alarm’ that can wake you up at the optimum time for a sleep phase (a feature we have wanted on Garmins for years) has been included, a feature all new to Garmin, along with daily suggested walking workouts, just like its running ones. As mentioned above, the Vivoactive 6 also has access to Garmin’s advanced Running Dynamics metrics, which the Vivoactive 5 didn't have.According to a Garmin press release, users 'can also download a robust selection of step-by-step workouts for strength, HIIT, yoga, Pilates, mobility and more through Garmin Connect.'They can also access Garmin Coach running and strength training plans—several of which adapt daily based on performance, recovery and health metrics to help users prepare for their next race, train for a milestone or improve overall fitness.'A wheelchair mode that tracks pushes has also been included, one of the best modes introduced on the Vivoactive 5. It's available in four admittedly snappy-looking color combos: Black/Slate, Bone/Lunar Gold, Jasper Green and Pink Dawn.

Analysis: Garmin is moving the news cycle on

The Garmin Vivoactive 5 (Image credit: Future)

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 seems like a great watch, especially for one cheaper than many of its contemporaries from Apple and Samsung. After all, we loved the Vivoactive 5, and there's no indication this is anything other than an improvement, albeit an iterative one.However, I can't help feeling the timeline for this launch has been pushed up. Until now, the news cycle has been dominated by the backlash against Garmin for releasing Garmin Connect+, a premium tier with AI features on top of the already-free Garmin Connect app.Users have taken to social media and flooded it with complaints, begrudging paying for a very expensive watch only to have new features locked behind an additional subscription. Justifiably or not, they fear new features being introduced to Connect+ at the expense of the app’s free version, until subscription becomes almost mandatory to get the most out of your watch.A well-reviewed new budget device from Garmin would move the news cycle on a bit, although user ire is likely to remain.

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AirPods Max USB-C's lossless update is available nowYou'll need iOS 18.4 to get the update to your MaxInstructions for checking the update are below

Apple has announced that the lossless audio update to AirPods Max with USB-C launches today, alongside the release of iOS 18.4 for iPhone.Apple revealed that the AirPods Max update with lossless and latency-free Personalized Spatial Audio was coming previously, but without an exact date – and here it is.This is the first totally lossless audio support ever for a pair of AirPods, and it provides 24-bit 48 kHz lossless support over USB-C, with a promise that this also brings the latency down to effectively zero, making it great for audio production or gaming.(The original AirPods Max were lossless-ish, with support for cabled connections, but via an active cable that took analog signal, converted it to digital, then converted it back to analog in the headphones, so too much conversion to be truly lossless.)Apple says you can connect to a Mac, iPhone or iPad to get lossless audio, but we'll check whether it works with all other USB-C sources too.Apple has also finally launched its own 3.5mm to USB-C cable, too, to enable the AirPods Max with USB-C to work with analogue audio output (making them work with airplane entertainment systems at last).

(Image credit: Future)

How to make sure you've got the update

AirPods updates should be automatic, though Apple recently explained for the first time how to kick AirPods updates into gear if you need to.You'll need iOS 18.4 on your iPhone, and then follow these steps:

Put your AirPods Max in Bluetooth range of your iPhone, iPad or Mac, which must be connected to Wi-FiPut your AirPods Max on to chargeWait 30 minutesCheck if you have the new update

To check if you have the update, put your AirPods on, open the Settings app, tap on your AirPods Max, then scroll to the bottom and check to see if Version reads '7E99'.AirPods Max with USB-C still rank among the best wireless headphones despite their age, thanks to strong sound quality (even at their high price) and tons of unique features for Apple users, including Personalized Spatial Audio, auto-switching between Apple devices, and Find My support.We actually had to remove them from our list of the best travel headphones since the USB-C version arrived, though, due to their lack of wired input for airplane journeys. This update means we might finally add them back in.

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ChatGPT's built-in image generation feature is now available to everyone. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said last week that the company is delaying its rollout to free tier "for a while," because the tool was way more popular than they had expected. But the company made the feature available to free users over the weekend, allowing them to generate images from within ChatGPT and without having to switch to OpenAI's DALL-E generator. Prior to its rollout to the free tier, the tool was only available to Plus, Pro and Team subscribers.

Altman previously said that free users will get a limit of three images per day. Based on our experience trying it out, some accounts are limited to just one a day. Those who find themselves able to generate more than one will still have to wait anywhere between a few minutes and a few hours. One of the tool's most popular uses that we've seen so far is the creation of Ghibli-style images using real-life photos. Users simply have to upload the photo they want to use and then instruct ChatGPT in natural language to create a Ghibli-style version of it. The trend had raised concerns, yet again, about the legality of using copyrighted work as training data for artificial intelligence. It also resurfaced the reaction of Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli's founder, upon being shown AI-generated animation years ago. "I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself," the director said.

In a tweet, Altman said that the tool could still exhibit erratic behavior and could refuse some generations that should be allowed. OpenAI is still fixing the issue. The company also told TechCrunch that it "takes action" if a generated image violates company guidelines, though it didn't exactly detail about what those actions are.

Creating and customizing images is as simple as chatting using GPT‑4o—just describe what you need, including any specifics like aspect ratio, exact colors using hex codes, or a transparent background. pic.twitter.com/fnen1aDjNZ— OpenAI (@OpenAI) March 25, 2025

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openais-built-in-image-generator-for-chatgpt-is-now-available-to-free-users-120003146.html?src=rss

Apple may not bring iOS 19 to the iPhone XR, XS or XS MaxThis leak contradicts previous reports on the software updateThe 7th-gen iPad apparently also isn't getting iPadOS 19

Back in December, a leak promised that owners of the iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max would be getting iOS 19 alongside the rest of the iPhone range. But a new leak from a pretty reliable source now says that isn't true.This leak comes via 9to5Mac, whose source – an anonymous, private account on X with a good track record in breaking Apple software stories – says that the XR, XS and XS Max won't be invited to the iOS 19 party.The new leak also appears to confirm that the seventh-generation iPad, launched in 2019, won't be able to get an iPadOS 19 upgrade either.

What iPhones are getting the iOS 19 upgrade?

The iPhone XS Max may be left behind by the iOS 19 update (Image credit: TechRadar)

Nothing's official until Apple announces it at WWDC 2025, which we now know will start on June 9. But if the latest leak is correct, then the oldest iPhone that iOS 19 will support is the iPhone 11. Of the iPhone SE phones, both the second and generation versions will get the upgrade.If Apple sticks to its usual timeframe we should see a developer beta of iOS 19 in June, with various public betas before a final release alongside the iPhone 17 in September 2025.Details of the iOS 19 upgrades haven't been released yet, but of course the leaks have already started. We're expecting to see a visual redesign that allies iOS and iPadOS more closely with visionOS, a new camera app, and maybe even a version of Siri that works more reliably.It's an important update for Apple: iOS 18 was launched with heavy emphasis on Apple Intelligence, and some of the most talked-about features have been delayed significantly. That means iOS 19 needs to do more than make promises of future fun; it needs to actually deliver.

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Microsoft used Security Copilot to scan open source bootloaders for vulnerabilitiesIt discovered 20 new flaws in just a short timeMicrosoft says the AI tool saved the company at least a week of work

Microsoft has revealed more on how its latest AI tools are proving useful spotting code vulnerabilities and more.The company has published a new blog post detailing how it used Security Copilot (its AI-powered cybersecurity tool) to find almost two dozen vulnerabilities in different open-source bootloaders.In total, Microsoft found 11 flaws in GRUB2, and nine more in U-Boot and Barebox.

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Remote code execution risks

GRUB2 (GRand Unified Bootloader version 2) is a bootloader used in Linux and other Unix-like operating systems to manage the boot process and load the operating system.U-Boot (Das U-Boot) and Barebox, on the other hand, are bootloaders primarily used in embedded systems. U-Boot is a widely adopted bootloader supporting various architectures, while Barebox is an alternative designed for faster boot times and easier maintenance.The vulnerabilities span from integer and buffer overflows, to side-channel attacks and out-of-bounds read vulnerabilities.Some of the flaws could be used to execute arbitrary code, Microsoft said, whereas others would need physical access to the vulnerable device, or would need the device to be infected with malware beforehand."While threat actors would likely require physical device access to exploit the U-boot or Barebox vulnerabilities, in the case of GRUB2, the vulnerabilities could further be exploited to bypass Secure Boot and install stealthy bootkits or potentially bypass other security mechanisms, such as BitLocker," Microsoft said."The implications of installing such bootkits are significant, as this can grant threat actors complete control over the device, allowing them to control the boot process and operating system, compromise additional devices on the network, and pursue other malicious activities.""Furthermore, it could result in persistent malware that remains intact even after an operating system reinstallation or a hard drive replacement."All of the flaws now have a CVE assigned, and their severity is mostly “medium”, with one being rated “high” - 7.8/10.

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Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan discusses the company’s future at its Vision conferenceSpinning off non-core assets and adding more engineers are a priorityTan wants to listen to customers, but “it won’t happen overnight”

Intel's new CEO and successor to Pat Gelsinger, Lip-Bu Tan, has announced plans to spin off non-core units to address the company’s recent struggles.Tan emphasized there would be no quick fix, adding that his first week as CEO meeting with customers uncovered that Intel had fallen short of their expectations.“Please be brutally honest with us,” he said at the chipmaker’s Vision event in Las Vegas.

Lip-Bu Tan announces long-term plans for Intel

Tan also revealed how Intel could become leaner, with more direct involvement from engineers after it lost its once dominant market position to rivals like Nvidia and AMD.On the AI chip front, the company severely lags behind Nvidia, which has spent some time as the world’s most valuable company with a market cap of more than $3 trillion.“We lost quite a bit of talent,” Tan said as he discussed plans to recruit more engineers and give them the “freedom to innovate from within” (via Reuters).The CEO also wants to be more responsive to customer needs – creating custom semiconductors tailored to client specifications will be one such way.At the event, Tan also indicated plans to spin off Intel’s non-core assets to focus on core operational strategies – there are no current plans to split Intel’s product and manufacturing units.Intel stock rose in the days between the announcement and Tan’s appointment but has gradually faded again. Shares also fell 1.2% after he made these remarks at this week’s Vision conference, spelling out further uncertainty and a potential drop in confidence.“It won't happen overnight, but I know we can get there,” he added.

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SpaceX has successfully launched the Fram2 private crewed mission on March 31 at 9:46 PM Eastern time on top of a Falcon 9 rocket. Fram2 is the first human spaceflight to explore the Earth's polar regions, which are not visible to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The crew will observe the Earth's poles through a panoramic cupola attachment from an altitude of 430 km (267 miles). SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule can fly from the North to the South Pole in around 46 minutes and Fram2 is a three-to-five day mission, so it's expected to provide scientists with a healthy amount of footage capturing the polar regions. In fact, SpaceX has already released the mission's first views of the Earth's poles from space.

First views of Earth's polar regions from Dragon pic.twitter.com/3taP34zCeN— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 1, 2025

The crew will observe unusual light emissions resembling auroras in the regions, including STEVEs, which appear as purple and green light ribbons in the night sky. They will also conduct 22 experiments designed to better understand human health in space for the sake of long-duration missions in the future. The crew will capture the first human X-rays in space, study exercises meant to preserve muscle and bone mass, explore sleep and stress patterns using wearable tech, monitor their glucose and observe the female crew members' hormonal health. They also won't get the typical medical and mobility assistance upon landing to see how they re-acclimate to gravity on their own, and they will get an MRI immediately after they arrive. NASA called Fram2's launch a "significant step" in humanity's understanding of how our bodies will fare in outer space.

pic.twitter.com/SYngaLWghI— NASA (@NASA) April 1, 2025

Chun Wang, a Chinese-born cryptocurrency investor who now lives in Norway, paid for the trip and is one of the astronauts currently on board. Jannicke Mikkelsen, a filmmaker working on technology for movies shot in remote and hazardous environments, serves as the mission's vehicle commander. Rabea Rogge, a robotics researcher from Norway, is the pilot. Finally, Eric Philips, a professional polar adventurer and guide, is the mission's medical officer. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/spacex-launches-fram2-the-first-crewed-spaceflight-to-explore-earths-polar-regions-130006166.html?src=rss

One of The Last of Us games is reportedly getting a PS5 special edition release soonIt'll cost $109.99 or €119.99 and be available as a physical editionThe special edition could be a bundle containing both The Last of Us Part 1 and The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered

A new physical edition of The Last of Us is reportedly being released for the PlayStation 5.That's according to reliable leaker 'Billbil-kun' at Dealabs, who reports that a "PS5 special edition" will be announced soon, but there's no indication as to what game it will be (via Eurogamer).It's said that the special edition will cost $109.99 or €119.99 and will be "available in physical form on PS5 very soon".There are no more details other than pricing, and Billbil-kun asks, "Could it be for Part 1, Part 2, or something entirely new?"Following the release of The Last of Us Part 1 and The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered on the PS5 - the latter of which is getting a PC launch this week - it would make sense for this new special edition to be a bundle containing both games, especially considering the pricing - especially given season 2 of the HBO series is starting this month too."Everything seems to indicate that the officialisation of this edition, as well as the opening of pre-orders, would take place very soon, in a time window that we estimate within two months," said Billbil-kun.We can cast any ideas about a Last of Us Part 3 aside for now since Naughty Dog is currently developing its new game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.Described as a new sci-fi franchise, the game was announced last year and is set to launch on PS5. There's no release date just yet, but according to a recent report, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet won't launch until after 2026.It could release in 2027 at the earliest, which means that a cross-gen launch for the PS5 and PS6 is a possibility.

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When we reviewed the iPhone 16 Pro last year, Apple Intelligence was barely available. Since then, the iPhone 16 series has benefitted from several new features, apps and improvements. Some (or most) of them were Apple Intelligence features that were teased back at WWDC 2024, months before the iPhone 16 Pro launched.

AI features weren't the only changes this time around, with the iPhone 16 getting an entirely new button. The so-called Camera Control wasn’t just a simple app shortcut, but an elaborate multifunction button that offered a haptic half-press and the ability to swipe across to adjust camera settings and options.

Managing Editor Cherlynn Low said we were still ”waiting on Apple Intelligence” in our initial review. Now, as we hit iOS 18.4, was it worth the wait?

iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence so far

Mat Smith for Engadget

Apple Intelligence was late, arriving as part of iOS 18.1 back in October 2024. Initial generative AI features included writing tools like proofreading and rewriting, as well as text summaries and live transcription for phone calls and voice notes in the Notes app. A few months later, iOS 18.2 gave us the Apple Intelligence features that made most of the headlines when first announced at WWDC. That included ChatGPT integration, AI image generation in Image Playgrounds and Genmoji.

Starting with iOS 18.1, one of the most controversial Apple Intelligence features is actually my favorite: Notification Summaries. It’s a good attempt at taming the wild west of countless group chats across multiple messaging apps, calendar reminders, Substack pings and everything else.

You don't need to update every individual app for Notification Summaries to kick in. As soon as iOS 18.1 landed, my messy WhatsApp chats were streamlined. I thought it cute when my iPhone told me a friend had laughed at my comment, and suggested where we could meet and a date. That was distilled from a ten-message barrage they’d sent.

Mat Smith for Engadget

It’s not perfect, though. Apple had to clarify that notification summaries are AI-generated, and make that clearer beyond a small Apple Intelligence icon. This was after the BBC complained about multiple summaries that twisted the content of some of its headlines. I’ve also had notification summaries that incorrectly guessed the subject of a sentence or entire topic of a thread, but on the whole, it’s a useful utilization of AI smarts.

There are more natural language hooks across most of iOS 18, too. You can now search for images in the Photos app with descriptions, dates, location and more. Those natural-language smarts take on a different function with writing tools, courtesy of Apple Intelligence. Even though I’m not a particularly clean writer (hey, Cher), these writing tools are not all that useful. I haven’t used them much beyond quick email responses to work requests and events, but the ability to proofread, rewrite or check tone may prove useful to some.

The writing tools also work inside the Voice Memos app, which can now transcribe conversations, meetings and more. Here, it helps make things more concise, with options to turn transcripts into summaries, key points, lists and even tables. If the recording is clear enough and they’re not too long, iOS 18 does well on these transcriptions. Several times, the iPhone 16 Pro straight-up declined to summarize a transcript. Why? All I got was a notification that the tools “aren’t designed to work with this type of content.”

Elsewhere, Apple struggles to catch up with AI innovations on rival devices. Like Google Pixel’s Magic Eraser (and all the other Android riffs), Clean Up now allows you to scrub out distracting elements and photo bombers from your pics. However, the results aren’t quite up to the standard of the competition. Sometimes, however, it nails it.

Some Apple Intelligence features have faded into the background after an initial buzz. Image Playground offers the ability to AI-generate your own images and had plenty of users itching to get off the beta waitlist to play around with the app. After a bit of testing, however, I haven’t used it in the months since it launched.

There might be a future for Playgrounds within iOS, though. For instance, Apple’s Invites app lets you embed Image Playground results within your events, which is helpful if you don’t have a photo to illustrate the invitation. As a standalone app, however, it doesn’t quite deliver enough to live on my home screen. It’s gone the way of GarageBand, Pages and Apple Maps on my iPhone.

Genmoji, on the other hand, is easier to use, and I use it often. With it, you can create your own emoji reactions with specific people, objects and backgrounds. I already have several established favorites, like me eating cereal and a chronically late friend with clocks in the background, and I’ll probably continue to make emoji as life demands it. For example, a passenger behind me on a flight to Barcelona last month had three cats with her. So, I made a cats-on-a-plane Genmoji. Exactly what Tim Cook intended.

Mat Smith for Engadget

Some software features are also specific to the iPhone 16 Pro series (and the 15 Pro). Camera Control aside, the new button also offers access to Visual Intelligence with a long press. Visual Intelligence is Apple’s take on Google Lens, tapping visual AI smarts to analyze what your iPhone is pointing at. It can recognize text, like words on menus, and even translate for you. If you get lucky, it’ll even identify the outside of a restaurant and (with some ChatGPT power) tell you the opening hours and what kind of cuisine it offers. It’s particularly effective in identifying landmarks, but busy scenes can quickly derail it. Unfortunately, you can’t tap on a particular object in the frame to clarify specifics. However, the ability to create calendar events from a poster is pretty cool — even if I usually forget to use it.

That’s Apple Intelligence, for now. There are a lot of smart touches, but so far, it isn’t remarkable. I credit Apple’s attempts to make most of its AI features either processed on device, or connected to the company’s Private Cloud Compute, which uses larger server-based models. Apple has reiterated that your data is never stored during these requests. Even with ChatGPT integration, if you don’t use an account with OpenAI, only your request and attachments are sent to ChatGPT. Your Apple Account and IP address are not shared with OpenAI. Apple’s deal with OpenAI means the latter can’t use your request to improve or train its models, either.

The patchy arrival of iOS features, especially Apple Intelligence, isn’t a good look for the company.

However, the rest of iOS 18 continues to deliver valuable new features and upgrades to the iPhone experience, like the aforementioned Invites app, additional content (and games) for News+ subscribers and my favorite feature since the AirPods introduced noise-cancellation, the ability to nod or shake your head to halt Siri announcements, Fitness prompts and even decline calls. I’m a busy guy!

Cameras and Camera Control

Mat Smith for Engadget

With Camera Control, Apple has introduced its most intriguing interface change since the short-lived 3D Touch.” That tech, if you forgot, offered haptic feedback on your screen tapping during the iPhone 6 era. Camera Control acts like a proper manual camera button, even when I know it combines a physical button with elaborate touch sensors. This enables deeper controls by swiping across it or semi-pressing.

Instantly, it works as a basic camera app launcher, just like the iPhone’s Action button has done in recent years. Already, it’s better placed, though, lower on the right edge of the phone, ready for your thumb if held vertically, or index finger when held horizontally. It goes beyond being a launcher, though. Swiping across it lets you adjust zoom, exposure and even toggle the new Photographic Style options. Then, a half-press works as a way to confirm your settings.

Depending on how you use the iPhone’s camera, a lot of the settings might not deserve their place within the Camera Control’s menus. While I often tinkered with Exposure and Zoom, Photographic styles are easier to adjust from the iPhone in the normal touchscreen way. I’m also not going to meddle with simulated f-stops when taking candid shots of my friends and family.

Like Apple Intelligence, Camera Control launched incomplete. When the iPhone 16 Pro first went on sale, it lacked a half-press focus like ye olde traditional cameras, and it took till January 2025 for an AF-AE lock to arrive through iOS 18.3. The feature, however, remains buried in settings and has to be toggled on.

It works well though. You tap on an object you’d like the iPhone to focus on, hold the button halfway, and it’ll lock exposure and focus for as long as you keep your finger down – like a camera. It’s frustrating that we had to wait this long for what seems like a core function of Camera Control.

To be devil’s advocate – and it’s an argument regularly leveled at AI features, both Apple Intelligence and elsewhere – did you need Camera Control? Given how much I use my phone’s cameras, I'd argue that a camera launcher is worth factoring into the hardware. But the Action Button covered that.

Camera Control also seemed like a ‘pro’ iPhone feature, so it’s surprising to see it across the entire device lineup, barring the more recent iPhone 16e.

Another change worth noting is that the iPhone 16 Pro got camera parity with the larger Pro Max this year, with a 5x optical zoom I use most of the time. Of course, this isn't a remarkable feature if you were already using an iPhone 15 Pro Max. But if you prefer the smaller of the two Pro options, aside from battery life, there’s no reason to stop you getting the cheaper iPhone 16 Pro.

Repairability and longevity

I haven’t had to repair my iPhone 16 Pro so far, and there are no pronounced scratches on the 6.3-inch screen or body. While I am also a case dweeb, I don’t use screen protectors — I haven’t needed to. The latest iPhones do come with even more repair-friendly hardware and policies if the worst were to happen. Anecdotally, according to my experience the titanium body and Apple's Ceramic Shield treatment on the display do seem to make this generation of 'pro' iPhones tougher than its predecessors

Apple’s new Repair Assistant, designed to address parts pairing issues, lets both you and repair professionals configure new and used Apple parts directly on the device, with no need to contact Apple personnel on the phone to ensure iOS plays with new parts.

Another improvement, while not part of the 16 Pro, is battery removal. On both the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, the battery can be released from its enclosure by running a low-voltage current through the iPhone’s battery adhesive. However, the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery is now encased in aluminum, making repairs less fraught, and protecting the battery more when exposed to repair tools. I haven’t had to put it to use yet, but the company’s increased willingness to embrace right-to-repair is headed in the right direction, especially after its sluggish response in the past.

Six months on, the 16 Pro’s slightly bigger battery is holding up, with the one I have still showing it’s at full health. I am a heavy phone user, and 256 charge cycles later, iOS says it’s still at 100 percent capacity, which I found impressive. If I need to replace the battery, I’m heartened that it’s easier than ever on an iPhone.

Wrap-up

Mat Smith for Engadget

The iPhone 16 Pro is one of the best smartphones available. But if there’s a particular area where Apple’s phones are lacking compared to the flagship competition, it might be the messaging and the marketing. It took too long for Apple Intelligence to land on devices. If Apple Intelligence hadn’t been so key to Apple’s presentation both at WWDC and the iPhone 16 launch event, the delay wouldn’t look so bad.

Intriguingly, we’re at a time when the likes of the Galaxy and Pixel series have never felt more like iPhones. Or do iPhones feel like Android phones? I’m not sure anymore. Either way, we haven’t seen rival devices mimic the Camera Control button.

I appreciate that a lot of the new features and additions don’t seem to clog up the iPhone experience. Don’t care for camera filters? You’ll rarely see them. Want to swap the Camera Control button for another function? Go ahead. Want to prioritize Messages notifications, but not WhatsApp messages? Go wild.

With a light, strong titanium build, there’s still a tangible premium feel to the iPhone 16 Pro, compared to the aluminum iPhone 16. The same can be said about the cameras, with a 48-megapixel ultrawide sensor and 5x optical zoom, which the base iPhone cannot match. Functionality-twise, the base iPhone 16 now delivers the Dynamic Island and Camera Control, which makes a ‘pro’ iPhone a little harder to define. For the iPhone 16 series, it boils down to more premium materials and a powerful zoom camera.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/iphone-16-pro-longterm-review-apple-intelligence-134517480.html?src=rss

Looking for a different day?A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Tuesday, April 1 (game #1163).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 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 #1164) - hint #1 - Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* 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 #1164) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1164) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?• Yes. Two of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1164) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

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 #1164) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?• I• Q• I• S

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

Quordle today (game #1164) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1164, are…

INDEXQUEENINCURSTOLE

Oh my gosh this was a tricky round of Quordle, with two rare letters and not much joy from my start words.Although I managed to complete it in seven guesses I don’t think I have ever spent as long taping out possible words before eventually arriving at the correct one.Getting QUEEN was a royal pain. I hope you found it easier.How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1164) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1164, are…

MYRRHFRANKNADIRCHOKE

Quordle answers: The past 20

Quordle #1163, Tuesday 1 April: HUMUS, BALMY, WORRY, ERECTQuordle #1162, Monday 31 March: RECUT, MOODY, WHERE, BRACEQuordle #1161, Sunday 30 March: CRIME, DRINK, CLOVE, TRUERQuordle #1160, Saturday 29 March: LATER, ODDLY, CUMIN, AGREEQuordle #1159, Friday 28 March: TERSE, MUSHY, PROVE, FRONDQuordle #1158, Thursday 27 March: CRONE, APNEA, LIGHT, AWOKEQuordle #1157, Wednesday 26 March: LEFTY, NOOSE, NOISE, TRIADQuordle #1156, Tuesday 25 March: SNEER, WATCH, FLORA, STAINQuordle #1155, Monday 24 March: FLOUT, SMASH, RAZOR, SMALLQuordle #1154, Sunday 23 March: ALLEY, GAMUT, GEESE, RADIIQuordle #1153, Saturday 22 March: PICKY, BRACE, BOOZE, SURLYQuordle #1152, Friday 21 March: DITTY, VALOR, TOWER, AMISSQuordle #1151, Thursday 20 March: RIPER, STILL, WAFER, NOTCHQuordle #1150, Wednesday 19 March: FLAME, CARAT, SPAWN, TUNICQuordle #1149, Tuesday 18 March: NAVEL, TREAT, COPSE, SLINKQuordle #1148, Monday 17 March: INFER, FLINT, CHUMP, SHEERQuordle #1147, Sunday 16 March: INPUT, RUMBA, ELUDE, BLANKQuordle #1146, Saturday 15 March: SPEED, CLASH, RISKY, GRATEQuordle #1145, Friday 14 March: BELIE, SPEAR, GROWL, ADOBEQuordle #1144, Thursday 13 March: AMISS, METAL, TEARY, SHORT

Looking for a different day?A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, April 1 (game #394).

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 #395) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Shine on

NYT Strands today (game #395) - hint #2 - clue words

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

DARTKITEMARSRATESDATASHIP

NYT Strands today (game #395) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?• Spangram has 9 letters

NYT Strands today (game #395) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?First side: top, 4th columnLast side: bottom, 3rd column

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

NYT Strands today (game #395) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #395, are…

DAZZLETWINKLESHIMMERSPARKLEGLEAMRADIATESPANGRAM: STAR POWER

My rating: EasyMy score: 1 hint

The double-Z of DAZZLE set me on my way today as I ticked off these shine synonyms.To anyone who is or was a parent the word TWINKLE will have added meaning as a key component of a nursery rhyme intended to lull tiny tots to sleep and also one of the first things learned during music lessons — for these reasons it’s equally nostalgic and irksome.I’ve always struggled with fact that light from our nearest star system takes over four years to reach us, but then if you knew me this wouldn’t really surprise you, as when the clocks go forward or back I’m in a state of confusion for the rest of the week and constantly ask myself “yes, but what time is it really?”The fact that the SPARKLE I’m seeing in the night sky is from 2021 hurts my brain almost as much as yesterday’s Connections.How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, 1 April, game #394)

SHOWERSBUDSROBINSPOLLENPUDDLESBLOSSOMSSPANGRAM: SPRINGTIME

What is NYT Strands?Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Looking for a different day?A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, April 1 (game #660).

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 #661) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

FANCYREADINGNICEIMPULSEJOBTYPELIKEVENUSKINDHERBROBINLARKTENNESSEEWHIMSORTHANK

NYT Connections today (game #661) - hint #1 - group hints

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

YELLOW: Chance encounterGREEN: Stuff that is all very similarBLUE: A famous surname sharedPURPLE: Grammatically speaking

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 #661) - hint #2 - group answers

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

YELLOW: CAPRICEGREEN: ILK BLUE: WILLIAMSES PURPLE: WORDS PRONOUNCED DIFFERENTLY AS PROPER NOUNS

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

NYT Connections today (game #661) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #661, are…

YELLOW: CAPRICE FANCY, IMPULSE, LARK, WHIMGREEN: ILK KIND, LIKE, SORT, TYPEBLUE: WILLIAMSES HANK, ROBIN, TENNESSEE, VENUSPURPLE: WORDS PRONOUNCED DIFFERENTLY AS PROPER NOUNS HERB, JOB, NICE, READING

My rating: HardMy score: 2 mistakes

After yesterday’s headache-inducing letters and symbols, it was a relief to see a more regular collection of words. Not that it was much easier.I had FANCY, NICE, SORT and KIND in a group together thinking they were all pleasant attributes, although in hindsight “sort” is a bit 1970s British comedy slang and unlikely to make it into Connections.My next mistake was coupling LARK, JOB, VENUS and NICE, my thinking being we were looking for key parts of popular sayings (up with the lark, if a job’s worth doing…, men are from Mars, it’s nice to be nice,) but after going up that blind alley I regrouped.I’m kicking myself that I didn’t get WILLIAMSES quicker and probably would have done if the list had included Serena.How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, 1 April, game #660)

YELLOW: CURRENCY SYMBOLS $, £, 7, €GREEN: AND/TOGETHER WITH &, +, N, XBLUE: EMOTICON MOUTHS (,), 0, РPURPLE: "RIGHT" R, →, ⊾, V

What is NYT Connections?NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Today is the big day gamers! The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct is under 24 hours away and we're expecting to learn all about the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 console.From a potential breakdown of its unique hardware features to our first confirmation of some of its launch games, this is likely to be the most interesting and exciting Nintendo broadcasts in years.So what do you we know for sure about the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct? Not a lot beyond its start time, length, and how to watch it, but that's exactly what makes it so intriguing.Join me as I keep you up to date with all the latest news and rumors as they come in throughout the build up to the event. I'll also be sharing my own personal predictions, plus the occasional tip on how best to prepare.

Nintendo Switch 2 Direct start time

The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct takes place on April 2, 2025. It starts at 9AM ET / 6AM PT / 2PM BST.Nintendo has now confirmed via a social media post that the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct will be "approximately 60 minutes long" - which is about what we expected.

Nintendo Switch 2 Direct live countdown

Nintendo Switch 2 Direct how to watch

The most reliable place to watch the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct is the official Nintendo YouTube channel. It will also be streaming via Twitch.The broadcast is currently not live, so I'd recommend bookmarking the page for easy access. When you are able to tune in, I'll let you know straight away so keep checking back here for updates.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the beginning of our live Nintendo Switch 2 Nintendo Direct coverage!With the highly anticipated event under 24 hours away, there's still plenty of time to get excited before our first in-depth look at Nintendo's next console.Whether you're a more recent fan or a long time Nintendo gamer like me, nothing quite compares to the excitement of learning more about a new piece of hardware from the company.Tomorrow's event is undoubtedly going to be an important part of gaming, so this isn't one that you'll want to miss!I'm going to be guiding you through the build up to the broadcast, so let's begin...

The Amazon Spring Sale might be over, but there are still lots of great deals to shop. For instance, there's a 33 percent discount on one of our favorite portable Bluetooth speakers for 2025. The Beats Pill is down to $100 from $150 — a record-low price for the speaker.

Let's be honest, that first glimpse of warm weather is here and it's making us dream of sitting by the beach or picnics with friends. The Beats Pill is a solid option to provide the soundtrack to your summer. We gave it in 83 in our review thanks, in part, to its durability. The speaker has an IP67 waterproof rating, so you shouldn't have to worry at all if it gets a bit wet.

The Beats Pill also offers 24-hour battery life and improved sound quality from its predecessor. However, we have found that the audio does hurt a bit when at loud volumes and it can have an inconsistent bass tone.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/pick-up-the-beats-pill-speaker-while-its-on-sale-for-a-record-low-price-140306981.html?src=rss

CISA is warning of new malware targeting vulnerable Ivanti productsMultiple products, vulnerable to a 2024 flaw, are being targetedThe malware can create web shells, harvest credentials, and more

Multiple Ivanti products are being targeted by a piece of malware called RESURGE, a new security advisory published by the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has said, detailing both the malware and the vulnerability being exploited to deploy it.Resurge is a variant of SPAWNCHIMERA, a piece of malware targeting Ivanti Connect Secure appliances, enabling unauthorized access and persistent control over vulnerable endpoints.While RESURGE can also survive reboots, the malware can also create web shells, manipulate integrity checks, modify files, and use the web shells to harvest credentials, create accounts, reset passwords, and escalate permissions.

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Remote code execution risks

Furthermore, RESURGE can copy the web shell to the Ivanti running boot disk and manipulate the running coreboot image.To infect the devices with RESURGE, threat actors are abusing CVE-2025-0282, a critical stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, Policy Secure, and Neurons for ZTA gateways. It allows remote unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code, and has been exploited in the wild since mid-December 2024.CISA added the threat to its KEV catalog in early January 2025, noting the vulnerable software includes Ivanti Connect Secure (before version 22.7R2.5), Ivanti Policy Secure (before version 22.7R1.2), and Ivanti Neurons for ZTA gateways (before version 22.7R2.3).There are a number of things companies could do to mitigate the risk, CISA says.“For the highest level of confidence, conduct a factory reset,” the advisory says. “For Cloud and Virtual systems, conduct a factory reset using an external known clean image of the device.”Furthermore, users should reset credentials of privileged and non-privileged accounts, reset passwords for all domain users and all local accounts, review access policies to temporarily revoke privileges/access for affected devices, reset the relevant account credentials or access keys, and monitor related accounts, especially administrative accounts.Via The Register

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This year’s Amazon Spring Sale has ended, but there are still some deals floating around that you can take advantage of. While this shopping event focused the discounts on household, outdoor and fashion gear, a number of our favorite gadgets made it into the sale. In line with the "spring" theme, we found great discounts on cordless vacuums, robot vacuums, air purifiers and other smart home tech, along with solid deals on headphones, streaming devices, mesh Wi-Fi systems and more. Here, we've collected the best Amazon Spring Sale deals you can still get today even after the event has ended.

Best Amazon Spring Sale deals you can still get

Amazon Fire TV Stick HD for $20 ($15 off): Our top pick for the best budget streaming device can play content at 1080p/60fps and now its remote can also control your TV's power and volume. There's also Alexa support built into the remote, so you can use voice commands to search for content.

Sonos Ray for $179 ($100 off): This is our favorite midrange soundbar thanks to its compact, attractive design and easy setup. It's best for those who have a smaller living room or den they want to outfit with better TV sound. Also available at Sonos in their March Madness sale.

Bose QuietComfort headphones for $249 ($100 off): These Bose over-ear headphones provide excellent noise cancellation, a comfortable fit and up to 24 hours of listening time on a single charge. A quick-charge feature will net you 2.5 hours of battery life in just 15 minutes of charging, so you'll rarely have to go without them, too.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones for $329 ($100 off): These hold the top spot in our best wireless headphones guide for excellent noise cancellation. These cans will give you a step up in ANC, blocking out most noise and chatter of those around you. General audio quality has been improved as well, and they have a comfy fit.

Beats Fit Pro for $169 (15 percent off): These are the best wireless earbuds for working out thanks to their comfortable, secure fit, good sound quality with thumping bass and handful of convenient features provided by Apple's H1 chipset. It provides quick-pairing and switching between Apple devices (and quick pairing with Android phones), Find My compatibility and hands-free Siri.

Dyson AM09 heater and fan for $408 (13 percent off): The AM09 has been around for ages, and for good reason. It's an excellent heater during cold months and fan during warm months, so you can use it all year round. Jet Focus control lets you choose from Focused or Diffused for personal or whole-room heating or cooling, and the handy sleep timer lets you set when the device turns off in intervals from 15 minutes up to nine hours.

Levoit Core 400S air purifier for $187 ($33 off): Our top pick for the best air purifier for most people, the Core 400S has easy-to-use onboard controls, powerful filtering technology that isn't too loud and relatively affordable replacement filters. It reliably improved air quality in our testing, and even though its mobile app is a little overstuffed, it gives you another way to control and monitor the device.

Chipolo One for $20 ($5 off): The Chipolo One is the top overall pick in our guide to the best Bluetooth trackers. While Apple’s AirTag can tap into a substantially larger crowd-sourcing network, we’ve found the One to send separation alerts faster when you’ve left an item behind and ring louder when you’re back in its vicinity.

Audible (three months) for $3 ($42 off): This deal gives you access to Audible Premium Plus, which includes one credit each month that you can spend on any book you'd like, along with listening access to thousands of other books, podcasts and Audible Originals. You also get to take part in Audible's exclusive member sales. Only US customers who are not already subscribed to Audible can take advantage of this deal.

Apple Watch Series 10 for $329 ($70 off): Apple’s flagship wearable is the best smartwatch you can buy, period. While the Series 10 was an iterative update, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It sports a slightly longer battery life, a slimmer design and wide-angle OLED screen for better viewing angles. It tracks workouts accurately and delivers alerts to your wrist efficiently.

Apple Watch SE for $199 (20 percent off): Those on tighter budgets can opt for the Apple Watch SE and know they’re getting the core Apple wearable experience with few compromises. We consider it to be the best smartwatch for newbies.

iPad Air M3 for $549 ($50 off): The latest version of the iPad Air now runs on the M3 chipset, and it continues to hold the top spot in our best iPads guide. It has the best combination of power, design and extra features, so you can use it primarily as a media consumption device if you wish, or you can add iPad accessories like an Apple Pencil or a Magic Keyboard to turn it into a true workhorse.

iRobot Roomba Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo for $149 ($126 off): This "essential" Roomba is relatively no-frills, but it has the added benefit of being a mopping robot in addition to a vacuum. It includes a washable mopping pad and a water reservoir so you can clean hard floors, and it will autonomously vacuum just like all of iRobot's other basic robovacs.

Eufy 3-in-1 E20 robot vacuum for $400 ($200 off): If you can’t decide between a robot vacuum or a lightweight stick vac, you don’t have to. The new Eufy E20 combines a robo vac, cordless upright and handheld vacuum in one machine. Plus the automatically emptying base holds a lot of debris for its size. While we found the robot performance to be better than the stick vac suction, it’s still impressive and convenient for an all-in-one model.

Cosori 9-in-1 air fryer for $90 ($30 off): One of our favorites in our best air fryers guide, this Cosori model has nine preset cooking modes and a spacious cooking basket that can handle more food at once than you might expect. It's not too large, so it can sit on your countertop all the time, and the basket has a safety release button that prevents accidental pulls.

TP-Link Deco XE75 Pro mesh Wi-Fi system for $280 (30 percent off): Our current pick for the best mesh Wi-Fi system you can get, this TP-Link bundle may be no-frills, but it gets the job done nicely. It's easy to set up and provides excellent Wi-Fi 6E performance, plus the three included nodes can cover up to 7,200 square feet.

Samsung Evo Select microSD card (512GB) for $35 ($5 off): A value pick in our best microSD cards guide, this Evo Select card provides respectable read and write speeds, and it comes with a full-sized adapter.

Samsung T7 portable SSD (2TB) for $140 (48 percent off): We're on the T9 series now, but if you're looking to save a bit of cash, the T7 remains a great option for on-the-go storage. It supports read and write speeds up to 1,050/1,000 MB/s and sports a pocket-friendly design.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazon-spring-sale-tech-deals-the-best-sales-you-can-still-get-from-apple-bose-irobot-dyson-and-others-130607704.html?src=rss

The first information about the Monster Hunter Wilds roadmap has been revealed. Post-launch, players can expect regular updates, with two large updates having already been announced. Looking at previous games, we can expect new monsters and Event Quests moving forward, spaced out throughout the year.Monster Hunter Wilds is another step forward for the long-running co-op action franchise. For one, its huge open world is more seamless, and more alive than ever before, with distinct seasons that promise to mix up hunts in interesting ways. Now that we've published our Monster Hunter Wilds review, the game has landed on our list of best multiplayer PC games.Here's everything you need to know about Monster Hunter Wilds' roadmap and upcoming DLC updates. We'll detail what's been announced in terms of post-launch support, and as we move through the year, we'll also take a look at the schedule moving forward. It's clear that Capcom intends to support the game for a while, so stay tuned for regular updates to this page.Update (April 1): We've added some new details on the Tempered Monsters arriving as part of the end of May update. These are outlined in a letter from Monster Hunter Wilds director Tokuda, which you can view in full here. Two new Event Quests have been announced as well, and one of them rewards Artian Materials upon completion.

Monster Hunter Wilds roadmap

(Image credit: Capcom)

Monster Hunter Wilds currently has two post-launch title update DLCs planned. You can find these listed below, with some details on each. In addition, we've broken out some of the core content that's planned for the next two months or so.

Monster Hunter Wilds Free DLC 1

(Image credit: Capcom)

First up, we have the Free Update Title 1 DLC. This is the one we know most about, as it's already been revealed that Mizutsune (Hunter Rank 21 or above) will be the main monster added. For those that don't know, Mizutsune is a kind of bubble dragon, that moves around like a dancer, elegantly weaving through the air. It's seriously formidable, secreting bubbles that will give you Bubbleblight, increasing your evasiveness, before making it difficult to move around without slipping. In Monster Hunter Rise, you needed to ensure you were stocked up on Cleansers, to combat this ailment.Alongside Mizutsune is the addition of The Grand Hub. This is a large social space where hunters can hang out, eat meals, plan quests and even go Barrel Bowling. Then there's Arena Quests, as well as the addition of Zoh Shia as a hunt able monster outside of the main campaign (Hunter Rank 50 or above).Shortly after the launch of Title Update 1, there'll be a Seasonal Event called Festival of Accord: Blossom Dance. This runs from April 22 until May 6 and sees The Grand Hub bloom with pink flower blossoms. There will be exclusive gear to earn during this time too.On April 29, a new Event Quest will be added, featuring Arch-Tempered Ray Dau. This will be the strongest foe in the game, and will be available until May 20.Finally, a Capcom collaboration will go live at some point towards the end of May. In the past, we've seen Resident Evil and Mega Man collaborations. This year, we're hoping for Death Stranding 2, and Assassin's Creed Shadows crossovers.

Monster Hunter Wilds Free DLC 2

(Image credit: Capcom)

Capcom has also revealed Free Title Update 2, which, for now at least, has yet to be fully detailed. We know that it'll add a new monster, as well as new Event Quests. We also know that it'll arrive sometime in Summer 2025.During a Monster Hunter Showcase that aired on March 25, 2025, a small tease for Title Update 2 was shown right at the end. A splash of water, then a roar, followed by a scaly talon has led many to believe that Lagiacrus could be returning. This'd mark the first time the monster has made an appearance in a mainline Monster Hunter game since Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate.

Monster Hunter Wilds Event Quests

(Image credit: Capcom)

Capcom has announced that Monster Hunter Wilds will be updated regularly with Event Quests moving forward. Here's what's been revealed so far:

Anguish and Atrocity: April 3 - April 8 (An event quest for earning tons of Hunter Rank Points)King of a Faraway Sky: April 8 - April 15 (Artian materials)When do Quematrice Sing?: April 8 - April 22 (Amstrigian α! headgear)Arch-Tempered Ray Dau - April 29, 2025 (details tbc but only available at Hunter Rank 50 or above)

Monster Hunter Wilds Challenge Quests

(Image credit: Capcom)

Capcom has revealed that Challenge Quests are set to arrive in Monster Hunter Wilds. Only one has been announced so far: Doshaguma of the Hollow. This runs from April 3 all the way up to April 17.A Challenge Quest where you use specific equipment to race the clock! Participate to earn an exclusive pendant. In past games, this has meant having to try out different weapons, with only a few usable during the quest. As such, it's a good idea to get some experience with a wider variety of weapons, maybe give the Hunting Horn a go?

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Filming is officially underway on House of the Dragon season 3The announcement has been overshadowed by a spat between its showrunner and George R.R. MartinIt's unclear what the tit for tat means for Martin's future involvement with the HBO TV show

House of the Dragon (HotD) is renowned for the incendiary fallout that destroys House Targaryen from within, but it appears that life is imitating art as filming gets underway on the hit HBO TV Original's third season.Yesterday (March 31), HBO confirmed that House of the Dragon season 3 has entered full production ahead of its to-be-announced release date on Max (US and Australia) and Sky/Now TV (UK).

The fight for the Throne is far from over. S3 of #HOTD is now in production. pic.twitter.com/NUe4POwIJMMarch 31, 2025

Pleasing as this news is, it's since been overshadowed by an increasingly fraught tit-for-tat between the live-action series' showrunner and George R.R. Martin. The latter, of course, is the fantasy book namesake's author and world-famous creator of Game of Thrones, aka HotD's multi-novel sequel that was also turned into a hugely popular HBO TV show.Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, HotD showrunner Ryan Condal responded to comments made by Martin in a September 2024 blog post that's since been deleted.Writing to fans at the time, Martin failed to hide his disappointment over the creative decisions that were taken for House of the Dragon season 2. Issues that Martin brought to light, as reported by IGN last September, included the absence of Aegon and Helaena's third child Maelor, the latter's importance to the shocking 'Blood and Cheese' storyline, and how this major change sets the stage for even more "toxic" alterations to be made in one of the best Max shows' third and fourth seasons.

There's no official word on whether Martin is still consulting on House of the Dragon's TV adaptation (Image credit: Theo Whitman/HBO)

Seven months on from Martin publicly airing his frustrations, Condal acknowledged that such changes would disappoint Martin the "literary icon... and personal hero of mine", as well as HotD and Thrones' global fanbase. Nevertheless, he sought to defend himself against Martin's remonstrations before politely suggesting that the legendary author became difficult to work with."It [the Targaryen civil war] is this incomplete history and it requires a lot of joining of the dots and a lot of invention as you go along the way," Condal said."I will simply say, I made every effort to include George in the adaptation process. I really did. Over years and years. And we really enjoyed a mutually fruitful, I thought, really strong collaboration for a long time. But, at some point, as we got deeper down the road, he just became unwilling to acknowledge the practical issues at hand in a reasonable way."And, I think as a showrunner, I have to keep my practical producer hat on and my creative writer, lover-of-the-material hat on at the same time," he added. "At the end of the day, I just have to keep marching not only the writing process forward, but also the practical parts of the process forward for the sake of the crew, the cast, and for HBO, because that's my job. So I can only hope that George and I can rediscover that harmony someday."

New details on House of the Dragon season 3 revealed

Matt Smith and company will be joined by at least three new faces next season (Image credit: HBO/Theo Whitman)

Away from the increasingly fiery exchange between the two creatives, Condal and HBO revealed new information on the hit series' forthcoming season.In a press release, HBO announced Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy) and Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts) had signed on to play Ser Roderick Dustin and Ser Torrhen Manderly in season 3. The duo join fellow newcomer James Norton (Happy Valley), who was previously confirmed to have joined the case as Ormund Hightower.Elsewhere, Condal teased the Battle of the Gullet, one of the most important conflicts that comprise the Targaryen civil war, will be adapted in season 3. Lastly, HBO revealed the show's next chapter will, like its forebear, contain eight episodes rather than the 10 that collectively told season 1's story.For more HotD coverage, refresh your memory with what happened last time around by reading my House of the Dragon season 2 ending explained piece. Alternatively, see if you agree with our ranking of the best Game of Thrones seasons.

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As artificial intelligence (AI) evolves, the rise of Agentic AI – systems that can act autonomously and make decisions without constant human oversight – holds immense potential to transform the workforce. These systems can automate complex tasks, boost productivity, and drive operational efficiency.However, as AI gains autonomy, it also introduces new challenges, particularly around accuracy and reliability. Issues like AI hallucinations underscore the need for careful management. And as businesses increasingly rely on AI for customer service, decision-making, and content creation, ensuring these systems are trustworthy becomes crucial.The future of work will be shaped by AI, not by replacing humans but by augmenting their abilities. While some jobs may be displaced, new opportunities will emerge, allowing workers to focus on tasks requiring creativity, strategy, and emotional intelligence. The key to this future lies in establishing strong guardrails to ensure AI’s responsible, effective use.

The Challenge of AI Hallucinations and Their Impact

Despite its capabilities, Agentic AI is far from flawless. One of the most significant challenges AI systems face is the phenomenon of "hallucinations," or instances where the AI generates information that is inaccurate, misleading, or completely false.These hallucinations occur because AI systems, particularly large language models (LLMs), learn from vast amounts of data, but they don’t always have a full understanding of the context or accuracy of that data. When the information fed into these models is incorrect or incomplete, the AI can produce responses that seem plausible but are factually incorrect.Hallucinations are particularly dangerous because they are difficult to detect. Unlike traditional software bugs that result in obvious error messages, AI hallucinations can appear as coherent and confident responses, making it challenging for users to spot errors.This poses significant risks for businesses that deploy AI in customer-facing roles. If an AI chatbot gives customers inaccurate answers, it can damage the company’s reputation, erode trust, and result in lost sales. For instance, a customer relying on an AI-driven customer service bot for urgent information could be misled by a hallucinated response, leading to frustration and dissatisfaction.For organizations, these hallucinations represent more than just a minor annoyance. They can have real financial and reputational costs. Businesses must ensure that their AI systems are both accurate and trustworthy if they are to capitalize on the benefits of automation without jeopardizing customer loyalty or operational efficiency.

The Role of Dynamic Meaning Theory in AI

To mitigate hallucinations and improve AI accuracy, it’s essential to focus on how AI understands and processes meaning. One framework that can help improve AI’s performance is Dynamic Meaning Theory (DMT). According to this theory, the meaning of words and phrases is not fixed but evolves dynamically based on context.In other words, the meaning of a term may shift depending on the surrounding information and the situation in which it is used. This concept is crucial for AI systems that need to generate contextually appropriate and accurate responses. DMT helps AI systems better understand the nuances of language, reducing the likelihood of errors caused by misunderstanding context. With this framework, AI models can become more adept at producing relevant, accurate, and nuanced outputs.

Mitigating Hallucinations and Ensuring Responsible AI Use

The key to preventing hallucinations is ensuring that AI systems are capable of continually learning from new data, feedback, and evolving language trends, so they can adapt to the ever-changing contexts in which they operate. This adaptability is critical in minimizing the occurrence of hallucinations.There are several strategies businesses can use leverage:Quality Data and Robust Training: One of the most effective ways to reduce hallucinations is to ensure that AI systems are trained on high-quality, accurate, and contextually relevant data. Enterprises can combine internal, proprietary data with external sources to provide a more comprehensive and accurate base for AI training.Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): This approach integrates AI systems with real-time data retrieval mechanisms, ensuring that responses are grounded in the most up-to-date, relevant information available.Fine-Tuning: Regularly fine-tuning AI models with fresh, accurate data is essential to ensure that they remain aligned with the latest knowledge and trends. This process helps reduce bias and ensures AI systems are better prepared to handle complex queries.

Implementing Guardrails for Responsible AI

To navigate the growing power of Agentic AI, businesses must implement ethical guardrails. These include clear guidelines, transparent development practices, and systems for continuous monitoring. Human-in-the-loop systems can ensure that AI remains accountable by allowing for human intervention when necessary. Additionally, businesses should work with regulators to develop standards for AI use that prioritize safety, transparency, and accountability.In this new era of intelligent automation, AI can be a powerful ally, but only if we establish the right safeguards to guide its development and use. The future of work is at the intersection of technology and humanity, and the responsible use of Agentic AI will determine whether we realize its full potential or encounter unforeseen risks.

Read up about the best AI tools.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we 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/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

A hacker claims to have stolen sensitive information from the Florida Department of StateThe data includes email addresses on almost 500,000 peopleThe email addresses could be used in tailored phishing attacks

The Florida Department of State, the government organization tasked with overseeing elections, corporate registrations, historical and cultural resources, and library services, was allegedly hacked, with the attackers claiming to have stolen hundreds of thousands of records, including people’s email addresses.Researchers from Incogni explained a user with the alias Rey posted a new thread on an underground forum, claiming to have hacked the Florida Department of State and stealing 568,835 records.The data contains sensitive personal information belonging to “individuals associated with the Department”. While that could mean employees, or clients, given that the database is quite large, it could mean the general public, as well.

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In any case the stolen data includes first and last names, postal addresses, and email addresses.The latter is particularly worrisome, since it can be used for tailored phishing attacks. Threat actors could impersonate the Florida Department of State, and since the victims already interacted with the organization, they could be more susceptible to the attack.For Incogni, leaked information on postal addresses is even more concerning, since it can lead to address fraud or even physical harm to state employees, as well as possible identity theft.In total, 487,961 unique email addresses were allegedly grabbed. At press time, there is no confirmation on the authenticity of the hack. The Florida Department of State is yet to address the claims, as there are no updates in its newsroom site. Therefore, we don’t know if the affected people were notified of the breach at all.Furthermore, Have I Been Pwned?, a website that aggregates email addresses from known breaches, has not yet added this information to its database.Incogni advises everyone who thinks they might have been affected to update their passwords, first. “While no passwords were reported stolen, it’s a good idea to change them just in case. If you use the same password on other websites, be sure to update those too, and make sure each one is strong and unique,” the researchers said.Furthermore, being more cautious with incoming email messages can never hurt. Finally, keeping a close eye on all accounts, especially bank and credit accounts, is also advised.

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What's the next big game on Xbox?(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)Xbox players can look forward to South of Midnight later this month. Beyond that, there's a whole host of first-party offerings on the horizon, including titles like Doom: The Dark Ages, and Fable. The latter is yet to receive a full release date, and just got pushed into 2026, so hopefully we see more on the game sooner rather than later.

New Xbox Series X games will start arriving thick and fast once over the next few months, with new exclusives launching on Microsoft's most powerful consoles. There's certainly a lot to look forward to for Xbox fans.From South of Midnight to GTA 6, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S players will have plenty of new Xbox games to keep them busy for the rest of the year, and beyond – and we're here to tell you exactly when you'll get your hands on them.Below, we've rounded up all the release dates and windows for the biggest confirmed Xbox Series X games of 2025 and beyond. So, it's time to get your calendar out and start taking down some dates. As always, these release dates are subject to delays. If any games are pushed back, this page will be updated.

New Xbox games 2025: this year’s most anticipated releases

Below, you'll find a brief list of the biggest video game releases on the horizon, all for Xbox Series X|S.

South of Midnight - April 8 (PC, XSX|S)Doom: The Dark Ages - May 15 (XSX|S, PS5, PC)Borderlands 4 - September 23 (XSX|S, PS5, PC)GTA 6 - 2025 (PS5, XSX|S)

April

(Image credit: Compulsion Games)

South of Midnight - April 8 (PC, XSX|S)Lost Records: Bloom and Rage Tape 2 - April 15 (PC, PS5, XSX|S)Fatal Fury: City of Wolves - April 24, 2025 (PS5, PS4, XSX|S, XBO, PC)Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - April 24 (PC, PS5, XSX|S)

May

(Image credit: Microsoft/Xbox/id Software)

A medieval Doom prequel launches in May, as well as a sequel to Journey to the Savage Planet.

Doom: The Dark Ages - May 15 (XSX|S, PS5, PC)Sonic Wings Reunion - May 29 (PC, PS5, PS4, Switch)Elden Ring: Nightrein - May 30, 2025 (PS5, PS4, PC, XBO, XSX|S)Revenge of the Savage Planet - May TBC (PC, XSX|S, XBO, PS5, PS4)

2025 and TBC

(Image credit: Xbox)

Finally, here's a list of Xbox games that have been announced, but either don't have more than a release year attached to them yet, or are much further out. For now, they're simply TBC, but once each game does receive a release date, this page will be updated.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 - 11th July (PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch)Metal Solid Delta: Snake Eater - August 28 (PS5, XSX|S, PC)Shinobi: Art of Vengeance - August 29 (PS5, PS4, XSX|S, XBO, Switch, PC)Hell Is Us - September 4, 2025 (PS5, XSX|S, PC)Borderlands 4 - September 23, 2025Directive 8020 - October 2, 2025 (PS5, XSX|S, PC)Dreams of Another - 2025Dune Awakening - Early 2025 (PC)GTA 6 - Fall 2025Fable - 2026 (XSX|S, PC)Beyond Good and Evil 2 - TBCMarvel's Blade -TBCBioShock 4 - TBCDokeV - TBC (PC, PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO)Everwild - TBC (XSX|S, PC)Fallout 5 - TBCHaunted Chocolatier - TBCHollow Knight: Silksong - TBC (PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO, PC, Switch)Judas - TBCKingdom Hearts 4 - TBCMass Effect 5 - TBCPrince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake - 2026Phantom Blade 0 - TBC (PS5)Project 007 - TBCProject Mara - TBC (XSX|S, PC)Revenant Hill - TBC (PS5, PS4)Splinter Cell remake - TBCStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake - TBC (PS5)Star Wars Eclipse - TBCState of Decay 3 - TBC (XSX|S, PC)The Elder Scrolls 6 - TBCThe Outer Worlds 2 - TBC (PC, XSX|S)The Sims 5 - TBCThe Witcher 4 - TBCWonder Woman - TBCDying Light: The Beast - TBC

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What's the next big PS5 game to release?(Image credit: Mohsen Vaziri / Shutterstock.com)There are many big PS5 games to look forward to over the next couple of months, including Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Beyond that, there's Elden Ring: Nightreign, as well as Death Stranding 2. Hopefully, we'll continue to get release dates in the coming weeks. Now that the PS5 Pro is here, you can check out our PS5 Pro review, to see how the best PS5 games have been improved upon.

There's an excellent line-up of PS5 games set to launch in 2025. It's certainly shaping up to be a very good year to be a PlayStation fan, with big releases like GTA 6 sure to impress on Sony's newest consoles.New PS5 games will start coming out in the next few weeks, with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle kicking things off in style. In the rest of 2025, many exciting new games are still set to be announced – with some even likely to land on our list of best PS5 games. It's a great time to be a PS5 owner for sure, especially when you consider that there's even more to follow in late 2025 and into 2026.Read on to learn the release dates for the biggest new PS5 games. As new release dates are revealed, or if certain games are delayed, this page will be updated. For now, here's what you'll be playing in the next 6 months or so, and beyond!.

New PS5 games 2025: this year’s most anticipated releases

Here's a short list of 2025's biggest and most anticipated new PS5 games. These all have release dates, which will be updated if there are delays or cancellations. As it's still early on in the year, expect even more games to be announced as we go.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - April 17, 2025 (PS5)Doom: The Dark Ages - May 15 (XSX|S, PS5, PC)Death Stranding 2 - June 26, 2025 (PS5)Borderlands 4 - September 23 (XSX|S, PS5, PC)GTA 6 - 2025 (PS5, XSX|S)

April

(Image credit: Sandfall Interactive / Microsoft)

Players will get their hands on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in April, which contains a huge open-world, and classic turn-based combat.

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage Tape 2 - April 15 (PC, PS5, XSX|S)Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - April 17 (PS5)Fatal Fury: City of Wolves - April 24, 2025 (PS5, PS4, XSX|S, XBO, PC)Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - April 24 (PC, PS5, XSX|S)Days Gone Remastered - April 25 (PS5)Forza Horizon 5 - 29th April (PS5)

May

(Image credit: id software/Bethesda)

Doom: The Dark Ages tears its way onto PS5 in May. It's a medieval prequel that sees the Doom Slayer armed with a new chainsaw-shield weapon. Oh, and you can ride a dragon.

Metal Eden - May 5 (PS5, PC)The Midnight Walk - May 8 (PS5, PC)Doom: The Dark Ages - May 15 (XSX|S, PS5, PC)Sonic Wings Reunion - May 29 (PC, PS5, PS4, Switch)Elden Ring: Nightrein - May 30, 2025 (PS5, PS4, PC, XBO, XSX|S)Lost Soul Aside - May 30 (PS5, PC)Revenge of the Savage Planet - May TBC (PC, XSX|S, XBO, PS5, PS4)

June

(Image credit: Kojima Productions)

June sees the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which features big name actors like Elle Fanning and Norman Reedus, as well as Mad Max director George Miller.

Five Nights At Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic - June 13, 2025 (PS5, PSVR2)Death Stranding 2 - June 26, 2025 (PS5)

2025 and TBC

(Image credit: Insomniac)

Now for the games that, while we know are coming, have yet to receive full release dates. Hopefully we'll hear more about the following games sooner rather than later.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 - 11th July (PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch)Metal Solid Delta: Snake Eater - August 28 (PS5, XSX|S, PC)Shinobi: Art of Vengeance - August 29 (PS5, PS4, XSX|S, XBO, Switch, PC)Hell Is Us - September 4, 2025 (PS5, XSX|S, PC)Borderlands 4 - September 23, 2025Directive 8020 - October 2, 2025 (PS5, XSX|S, PC)MindsEye - Summer 2025 (PS5)Arc Raiders - 2025Dreams of Another - 2025Dune Awakening - Early 2025 (PC)Digimon Time Stranger - 2025GTA 6 - Fall 2025Forever Skies - 2025 (PS5)Ballad of Antara - 2025 (PS5)Ghost of Yotei - 2025 (PS5)Where Winds Meet - 2025 (PS5, PC)Beyond Good and Evil 2 - TBCBioShock 4 - TBCDokeV - TBC (PC, PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO)Fallout 5 - TBCHades 2 - TBC (PC)Haunted Chocolatier - TBCHollow Knight: Silksong - TBC (PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO, PC, Switch)Judas - TBCMarvel's Wolverine - TBC (PS5)Kingdom Hearts 4 - TBCMass Effect 5 - TBCFairgame$ - TBC (PS5, PC)Marathon - TBC (PS5, PC)Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake - 2026Phantom Blade 0 - TBC (PS5)Project 007 - TBCRevenant Hill - TBC (PS5, PS4)Splinter Cell remake - TBCStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake - TBC (PS5)Star Wars Eclipse - TBCThe Elder Scrolls 6 - TBCThe Witcher 4 - TBCDying Light: The Beast - TBC

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PlayStation Plus free games change at the start of every month, and coming in at no extra cost to PS Plus members, these free games are a great way to expand your library on the cheap or pick up and try games that you might not have thought about initially.More often than not, you'll have three games to try out with each month's drop - which covers both PS5 and PS4 (so you're still set if you haven't jumped into the latest generation yet) - though sometimes we see some curveballs in the form of one or two fewer or more games. And we're also likely to see more PSVR games be thrown into the PS Plus free game mixer too.If you are a subscriber and don't make the most of the free games on offer from month to month, it's worth making it a habit to start claiming them when you can since they'll always be available to you as long as your subscription is live. Since the best PS5 games can set you back a pretty penny, this is a great way to make the most of your console without having to fork out new releases every month.The new line-up for April 2025 includes an excellent multiplayer horror game, and a shooter starring RoboCop. Read on for the full lineup.

PlayStation Plus free games: April 2025

(Image credit: Gun Interactive/Sumo Digital)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | PS5, PS4Take on the role of one of the notorious Slaughter family, or their victims, in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, a third-person asymmetrical horror experience based on the groundbreaking and iconic 1974 horror film. As a victim you must use your wits and stealth to stay out of the Family’s reach and find the tools you need to lead to your eventual freedom. Slaughter Family players must seek out, track down, and stop their guests from escaping. Players of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre can finally find out if they have what it takes to survive.RoboCop: Rogue City | PS5Become the legendary part man, part machine, all cop hero and bring justice to the dangerous, crime-ridden streets of Old Detroit. With your powerful Auto-9 or one of a range of weapons available, eradicate criminals throughout this explosive first-person adventure. Your cyborg strength and cybernetic abilities can be upgraded as you progress, to make you an even more formidable law enforcement officer.Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory | PS4After being accused of a crime he didn’t commit, Keisuke Amazawa has no choice but to dive into the Digital World and investigate to prove his innocence. Even if that means joining a group of hackers and helping them to solve the troubles threatening this mysterious universe. Discover the mysterious backstory to the events that happened in Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth as you dive into a deeper and darker adventure, at crossroads between real and digital and experience the perfect mix between Adventure, Raising and Battle with over 320 Digimon to discover.Available April 1 until May 5.

PlayStation Plus free games: 2025 archive

(Image credit: Sony)

Below, you'll find the PS Plus offerings for the last six months or so. Use these to see what you've missed, and to predict the kinds of games that might be available in the future.

PlayStation Plus free games: March 2025

(Image credit: Sega)

Dragon Age: The Veilguard | PS5 Unite the Veilguard and defy the gods in this immersive single-player RPG where you become the leader others believe in. When a pair of corrupt ancient gods break free from centuries of darkness, the vibrant land of Thedas needs someone they can count on.Rise as Rook, Dragon Age’s newest hero. Be who you want to be and play how you want to play as you fight back and lead your team of seven companions, each with their own rich story. Together you will become The Veilguard.Sonic Colors: Ultimate | PS4The evil Dr. Eggman has built an interstellar amusement park – but he’s powering it with a captured alien race called “Wisps.” Use Sonic’s speed to free the Wisps and gain their amazing powers as you explore six unique worlds, filled with hurdles to overcome. Now with stunning upscaled visuals, additional features, a new game mode and enhanced gameplay – it’s the Ultimate Sonic Colors experience.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection | PS4, PS513 classic Konami TMNT games are assembled in one incredible package! Experience 13 immensely popular and influential TMNT games in a totally radical collection from Konami. These retro nostalgia trips come with a range of new quality-of-life features, including online play for certain games and local couch play, the ability to save anytime and rewind, button mapping, unique development art & sketches, historic TMNT media content and more!

PlayStation Plus free games: February 2025

(Image credit: Squanch Games)

Payday 3 | PS5First up is Payday 3, the latest heist co-op shooter that sees players teaming up to pull off epic bank robberies. Expect stealth and action-packed shootouts in equal measure, as you and your squad slowly take on harder and harder jobs, with rewards increasing along with the risk.High on Life | PS4, PS5 Fresh out of high school with no job and no ambition, you’ve really got nothing going for you until an alien cartel that wants to get high off humanity invades Earth. Now, you and a team of charismatic talking guns must answer the hero’s call and become the deadliest intergalactic bounty hunter the cosmos has ever seen. Travel to a variety of biomes and locations across the cosmos, go up against the nefarious Garmantuous and his gang of goons, collect loot, meet unique characters, and more, in the latest comedy adventure from Squanch Games.Pac-Man World Re-Pac | PS4, PS5In this 2004 remake of the original PlayStation platformer, with improved UI, fine-tuned mechanics and updated visuals, Pac-Man arrives home on his birthday to find the Ghosts have kidnapped Pac-Man’s family & friends and ruined his party. Off to the rescue, Pac-Man sets out to Ghost Island. Dodge Ghosts, solve environmental puzzles, rescue the Pac-Fam, and more in this platforming adventure. Play a collection of 3D mazes in Maze mode, clear Quest mode to unlock the original Pac-Man game in Original mode.

PlayStation Plus free games: January 2025

(Image credit: PlayStation)

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League | PS5 Take down The Justice League yourself in single-player or team up with friends in multiplayer co-op in this genre-defying, action-adventure third-person shooter from Rocksteady Studios, creators of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series. Featuring an original narrative set within an expansive open-world city of Metropolis, the game puts the four DC Super-Villains on a collision course with an invading alien force and DC Super Heroes who are now laser-focused on destroying the city they once vowed to protect.Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered | PS4Feel the thrill of the chase and the rush of escape in Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. Unleash a savage sense of speed both as an outlaw and a cop in the world’s hottest high-performance cars. Outsmart the heat or take down lawbreakers with the tactical weaponry at your disposal in a heart-pumping, socially competitive racing experience. Updated with enhanced visuals, cross-platform multiplayer – including the asynchronous competition powered by Autolog – plus all additional DLC content, this is the ultimate edition of Criterion Games’ critically acclaimed Need for Speed debut. It’s time to reignite the pursuit.The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe | PS4, PS5The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is an expanded re-imagining of the critically acclaimed, award winning indie game The Stanley Parable from 2013. Everything that was in the original Stanley Parable is here, preserved just like it was back in 2013. But The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe also dramatically expands the world of the original game with new content, new choices, and new secrets to uncover. The labyrinth has just gotten bigger. In addition, the game has been visually upgraded to reflect modern technology while faithfully preserving the tone of the original game. Accessibility features have also been added to the game, including localization of in-world text, colorblind options, and content warnings. And just as before, the impeccable voicework of Kevan Brighting will accompany you every step of the way.

PlayStation Plus free games: December 2024

(Image credit: Cold Iron Studios)

It Takes Two | PS4, PS5It Takes Two is a genre-bending platform adventure created purely for co-op. Choose from couch or online co-op with split-screen play, invite a friend to join for free with Friend’s Pass and work together across a huge variety of gleefully disruptive gameplay challenges.Aliens: Dark Descent | PS4, PS5Battle to keep your squad alive against the deadliest foe mankind has ever faced. Aliens: Dark Descent is a real-time combat strategy game where you’ll command a squad of hardened colonial marines to stop a terrifying Xenomorph outbreak on Moon Lethe. Lead your soldiers against iconic Xenomorphs, rogue operatives from the insatiable Weyland-Yutani Corporation and a host of horrifying creatures new to the Alien franchise. Infiltrate large open levels and annihilate enemies with your squad, dispatching orders strategically and intuitively. Tread carefully, as your foes will adapt their tactics to your actions while hunting you down because death is permanent.Temtem | PS5Every kid dreams about becoming a Temtem tamer; exploring the six islands of the Airborne Archipelago, discovering new species, and making good friends along the way. Now it’s your turn to embark on an epic adventure and make those dreams come true. Catch new Temtem on Omninesia’s floating islands, battle other tamers on the sandy beaches of Deniz or trade with your friends in Tucma’s ash-covered fields. Defeat the ever-annoying Clan Belsoto and end its plot to rule over the Archipelago, beat all eight DojoLeaders, and become the ultimate Temtem tamer.All three games will be available to PlayStation Plus members on December 3 until January 6.

PlayStation Plus free games: November 2024

(Image credit: Milestone)

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbo Charged (PS5, PS4)Race over 130 vehicles, including Hot Wheels Originals, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks, motorbikes and ATVs, each with their unique racing style, across multiple game modes and amazing environments. Upgrade vehicles with a dedicated skill tree that will directly affect their performance. Discover 5 brand new locations, master their secrets, and you’ll feel right at home both there and on the podium. Alternatively create the track of your dreams with the powerful Track Editor, or use the best creations from the community.Ghostwire: Tokyo (PS5)Tokyo is overrun by deadly supernatural forces as a dangerous occultist causes the city’s population to vanish in an instant. Join forces with a powerful spectral entity on their quest for vengeance and master a powerful arsenal of abilities to unravel the dark truth behind the disappearance as you face the unknown in Ghostwire: Tokyo.Death Note Killer Within (PS5, PS4)Death Note Killer Within is an online social deduction game for up to 10 players. Players will be split into two teams with different objectives. To win the game, players will need to figure out each other’s identities and either eliminate L who threatens Kira’s power or seize the Death Note. Enjoy a battle of wits as Kira and his followers, or as L and the investigators in the world of Death Note. As equally matched opponents, the two teams clash to control the game while hiding their true identities from each other.

PlayStation Plus free games: October 2024

(Image credit: EA / Motive )

Dead Space (PS5)First up this month is the Dead Space remake for PS5. The sci-fi survival horror classic returns, rebuilt to offer a deeper and more immersive experience. Isaac Clarke is an everyman engineer on a mission to repair a vast Planet Cracker-class ship, the USG Ishimura, only to discover something has gone horribly wrong. The ship’s crew has been slaughtered and Isaac’s beloved partner, Nicole, is lost somewhere on board. Now alone and armed with only his engineering tools and skills, Isaac races to uncover the nightmarish mystery of what happened aboard the Ishimura in hopes of finding Nicole.WWE 2K24 (PS5, PS4)A celebration of 40 years of WrestleMania, featuring iconic superstars past and present, playable across a vast array of game modes. Join the biggest superstars in sports entertainment as WWE 2K24 presents a retelling of WrestleMania’s greatest moments from the last 40 years. Take part in some of wrestling’s most unforgettable and career-defining matches, choosing from the likes of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Undertaker and Andre the Giant, alongside current contenders “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Rhea Ripley and Roman Reigns.Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! (PS5, PS4)Enter the psychological horror experience of Doki Doki Literature Club. You play as the main character, who reluctantly joins the Literature Club in search of a romantic interest. With every poem you write and every choice you make, you’ll charm your crush and begin to unfold the horrors of school romance. Do you have what it takes to crack the code of dating sims and get the perfect ending? This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.

PlayStation Plus free games: September 2024

(Image credit: Tarsier Studios)

Quidditch Champions (PS4, PS5)Take to the sky and play out your QUidditch fantasy in any of the Wizarding game's four positions (Chaser, Seeker, Keeper, or Beater) in Quidditch Champions and experience legendary arenas and maps from across the wizarding world. Play solo to become a hero of the game, or play co-op online tot ake on the world together with friends - or take them on head-to-head in PvP matches.MLB The Show 24 (PS4,PS5)If you've been holding out for the best way to live your Major League Baseball dreams then MLB The Show 24 is the way to do it. Work your way up to the big leagues from scratch to become a legend of the sport, or go on a journey to create a World Series dynasty, or even learn about the unsung heroes of the sport in the latest excellent entry in the baseball game series.Little Nightmares 2 (PS4, PS5)Embrace this horror-themed platformer and delve into a dark and twisted world as you play as Mono, a young boy, who is joined by Six, returning from the first game. It's a journey of courage, stealth, and resourcefulness to navigate mind-boggling puzzles and gruesome enemies.

PlayStation Plus free games: August 2024

(Image credit: Warner Bros)

LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga (PS4, PS5)Play through all nine Star Wars saga films in a brand-new LEGO video game unlike any other. Experience fun-filled adventures, whimsical humor, and the freedom to fully immerse yourself in the LEGO Star Wars galaxy.Five Nights at Freddy’s Security Breach (PS4, PS5)Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach is the latest installment of the family-friendly horror games from Steel Wool Games. Play as Gregory, a young boy trapped overnight in Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex. With the help of Freddy Fazbear himself, Gregory must survive the near-unstoppable hunt of reimagined Five Nights at Freddy’s characters – as well as new, horrific threats.Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights (PS4)Unravel the mysteries of a destroyed kingdom in this dark fantasy 2D action RPG. Journey through the sprawling and hauntingly beautiful Land’s End, traversing a submerged forest, a sealed-off contaminated underground cavern, and a grand castle. Formidable bosses await that will gladly claim your life given even the slightest chance. Defeat these powerful foes and release them from their unending curse to recruit them as allies. Overcome the challenges before you and search for the truth with powerful knights at your side.

PlayStation Plus free games: July 2024

(Image credit: 2K Games)

Borderlands 3 (PS5, PS4)Step into the shoes of a Vault Hunter and loot and shoot your way across the edge of the galaxy in Borderlands 3. Offering co-op online and joyous split-screen action this bombastic, often-witty, first-person shooter with its distinct art style will provide an excellent adventure. Mayhem, banter, and ridiculousness will abound.NHL 24 (PS5, PS4)Take your sporting hit to the ice with one of the world's fastest and high-intensity sports in the world with NHL 24. The new engine behind this latest installment of the series brings the feeling of pressure, intensity, and speed right to the fore. Building on the entries that came before and offering a whole host of new features, this is the definitive way to enjoy ice hockey on PlayStation.Among Us (PS5, PS4)Identify the imposter in your space crew in Among Us and stop them before they sabotage your ship and kill everyone on board. The enormously popular online party game is a comedy-anecdote generator and will have you and your friends in stitches as you get your alibis in order and try to hold your spaceship together.

PlayStation Plus free games - Subscription prices

In order to get every batch of PlayStation Plus free games you'll need to have an active PS Plus subscription. This can be an Essential (the basic level), the mid-tier Extra subscription, or the top-end Premium subscription, as all will get you the monthly free games. If you're keen to jump in or want to check the latest prices for adding to your existing subscription of want to upgrade, then we've got the latest and lowest prices below.

PlayStation Plus free games - FAQs

Are there free games on PS Plus?Yes! As we've stated here on our dedicated PlayStation Plus free games page, each month a handful of games are available to PS Plus members and, as long as your subscription is live and active, then they are yours to keep and play!

Can I play free PS Plus games without a subscription?Sadly, no, PlayStation Plus free games are only available to run and play for those with an active subscription. That means that if you acquired some games one month when your sub was active, but then let it lapse, those games would become unavailable.

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What's new in Fortnite?(Image credit: Epic Games)Mortal Kombat has arrived in Fortnite Battle Royale. You can pick up the Scorpion Outfit in the store now, and find new mythic and weapons in-game. Scorpion himself will be found at one of the three new landmarks: The Living Forest, and The Dead Pool. Defeat him to earn the Kombat Kit and a special medallion. You'll be able to hook enemies and pull them towards you, dealing damage and pulling them out of position. There's a new bundle too, with Outfits for Katana and Raiden, in addition to some extra Scorpion cosmetics.

Fortnite Chapter 6 is finally here, continuing with Fortnite: Lawless, which completely switches up the map once again. There's new weapons to try out, you can now fire off Sub-Zero ice abilities, and there's a whole new Battle Pass to work through.Given that this latest season only just launched, it'll be a while before we hear details on the next season of Fortnite. For now however, there's still a whole new loot pool to try out, and a bunch of hip-hop skins to earn via the new Battle Pass. It's frequent updates like these that make Fortnite one of the best battle royale games around.Here's everything you need to know about the process of Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 2 ending, when the next season starts, and what to expect from Fortnite in the future.

When does the current season of Fortnite end?

(Image credit: Epic Games)

Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 2 will end on May 2, 2025 at 2AM ET / 7AM GMT. This is according to the main Battle Pass screen in-game. In addition, Epic Games stated this end date and time in a recent blog post detailing the new season.It's worth noting that some previous seasons's timings shifted by a couple of days just before the new one was supposed to arrive, so timings here are always subject to change regarding downtime periods. The best place to keep up on specific updates closer to the launch of the new season is the Fortnite Status Twitter account. We'll be sure to keep this page up to date as well.

When is the next season of Fortnite?

(Image credit: Epic Games)

The next season of Fortnite has yet to be fully detailed, but it'll launch on May 2, 2025. This is when Chapter 6 Season 2 ends, and based on previous launches, we can expect downtime to end on the same day. If things change, and as we get closer to release day, we'll be sure to update this page.

What to expect from the next Fortnite season

(Image credit: Epic Games)

Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 2 is live, adding in a rapper named Big Dill, a new currency, and armored vehicles. Mortal Kombat's Sub-Zero is a tie-in skin, and there's a big wolf crime boss to take down as well. Given that this all just launched, it'll be a while before we hear about the next season. For now, jump into Fortnite Lawless and get unlocking all the map POIs.

Fortnite Chapter 6 map changes

Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 2 is now here, bringing a new map to explore. It features large POIs like Crime City, with large buildings that can be explored and looted. Elsewhere, you'll find large mountains, long bridges and ancient buildings. With Fortnite Lawless now live, there's Outlaw Oasis, Shiny Shafts, and Lonewolf Lair.

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When will we hear more on Grand Theft Auto 6?(Image credit: Rockstar Games)The last we heard on GTA 6 came in the form of the game's first proper trailer, at the end of 2023. This was followed by the news that the game is targeting Fall 2025. In terms of future announcements, we're now well into the new year. Rockstar has been quiet so far, but given that GTA 6 is still expected in Fall 2025, we could be hearing more very soon indeed. For now, there's been no official word from Rockstar Games.

GTA 6 is easily one of the most hotly-anticipated games ever, with its predecessor still dominating sales charts. Thankfully, we do now know a fair bit about the next installment into the Grand Theft Auto series, including where it's set, and that it's currently slated to come out later this year.In terms of upcoming games, GTA 6 looks set to offer perhaps the most detailed open-world we've seen yet, that's if Rockstar Games can continue the success of Grand Theft Auto 5, that is. We now know that we'll be returning to Vice City this time around, a fact that means GTA 6’s story missions could reference some very iconic movies. One thing's for certain, the game is already looking very graphically impressive indeed.While we wait for more info on Grand Theft Auto 6, you'll find everything that's been confirmed so far in this article. As new details are revealed, we'll be sure to update this page. For now, here's GTA 6's setting, what we know about its protagonist, and all of the latest news and trailers.

GTA 6: cut to the chase

What is it? The next mainline Grand Theft Auto gameWhen does it come out? Fall 2025What can I play it on? PS5 and Xbox Series X/SWho's making it: Rockstar Games

GTA 6 release window - when does Grand Theft Auto 6 come out?

The iconic typeset of Grand Theft Auto greeted fans at the end of the game's first trailer in 2023. (Image credit: Rockstar Games)

GTA 6 will launch Fall 2025 on Xbox Series X|S and PS5. This was revealed in the game's first trailer, then later narrowed down in a subsequent financial report. Since then, Take-Two cemented the Fall 2025 release date. Aside from this release year window, however, we don't have any other specifics on when the game will come out. We'll have to wait for more info. In terms of a GTA 6 PC release, an ex-Rockstar dev has explained why GTA 6 won't come to PC at launch: 'This stuff is very complicated'.Speaking in a recent interview with Bloomberg TV's Wall St. Week, Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick was asked about the highly-anticipated release of Rockstar Games' upcoming GTA title and why the publisher is being so secretive about its release date (via GameSpot):"We want to maintain the anticipation and the excitement. We have competitors who will describe their release schedule for years in advance. We've found the better thing to do is to provide marketing materials relatively close to the release window in order to create that excitement, and balance the excitement with unmet expectation. We don't always get it right. But that's what we're trying to do."Interestingly, GTA 6 will be able to make use of the extra power provided by the PS5 Pro at launch. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but unless Xbox launches a competitor, the best place to play GTA 6 could be Sony's most powerful console. We expect there to be a dedicated PS5 enhanced version of GTA 6, but we'll have to wait and see what Rockstar announces.In terms of when to expect a PC port, you might not have to wait long for GTA 6. This is according to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, who had this to say in a recent interview with IGN:"In an interview with IGN ahead of the company's recent financial results, Zelnick was asked whether the lack of a PC release is a mistake given the platform's prevalence."With Civ 7 it's available on console and PC and Switch right away,” he replied, referencing the recent multi-platform release of Sid Meier's Civilization 7. “With regard to others in our lineup, we don't always go across all platforms simultaneously. Historically, Rockstar [Games] has started with some platforms and then historically moved to other platforms.”It's expected that GTA 6 will be a colossal hit, with Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick recently predicting sales of current generation consoles to rise.

When was GTA 6 announced?

Many of you have been asking about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.With every new project, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we've previously delivered. We're pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the series is underway.February 4, 2022

GTA 6 was announced on February 4, 2022 via the Tweet embedded above. Ultimately, this was just confirmation that Rockstar was indeed working on GTA 6, and no other details were given aside from the fact that the game was in active development.

GTA 6 trailer

The GTA 6 trailer was revealed by Rockstar on December 4, 2023, after it leaked online. The trailer was initially scheduled for release the following day, but timelines were shifted. You can check it out above, in all its sun-drenched glory. It's 91 seconds long, and introduces us to Lucia, one of GTA 6's main protagonists. You'll also get some gorgeous shots of Vice City beaches, bars, and even an alligator.

What song is used in the GTA 6 trailer?(Image credit: Rockstar Games)Now that we have the first GTA 6 trailer, we can dig down into what it all means. The song that plays over it is Tom Petty's Love is a Long Road. This teases the themes of the game, which clearly focuses on a couple in love and on the run. Heartbreak and tragedy could be on the cards here, as well as a bit of romance amongst all the shootouts.

GTA 6 is set in Vice City

Reinterpreting real-world-like landmarks and features is a mainstay of the series and GTA 6's Vice City will carry that on. (Image credit: Rockstar)

We now know that GTA 6 will be set in the state of Leonida, which encompasses Vice City and beyond. In a newswire post, published just after the trailer, Rockstar describes the area as 'the biggest, most immersive evolution of the Grand Theft Auto series yet'. We see a fair few shots of Vice City in the debut trailer, but it's still unclear whether other areas will be included at launch.A Bloomberg report published in 2022 claims that GTA 6's map was much bigger to begin with, encompassing areas based on both North and South America. This was apparently cut back during development, with Rockstar Games shifting and narrowing its focus to Vice City and the surrounding areas. These are likely the swamps and bridges we see in the trailer, based loosely on the Florida Keys.

Vice City in Grand Theft Auto 6 will look far more detailed than it did in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City from more than 20 years ago. (Image credit: Rockstar Games)

While this smaller launch map may sound disappointing at first, it's worth digging into other parts of the aforementioned report. Specifically, the fact that GTA 6's map may not remain static post-launch. Apparently, Rockstar plans to update the map with more cities and interior locations after release, mainly to give developers more breathing room and to cut down on overtime while GTA 6 is being worked on. According to Bloomberg, there will be new missions and new map areas added "on a regular basis".

GTA 6 story and playable characters

The two main characters from the GTA 6 trailer could indicate dual protagonists. (Image credit: Rockstar)

Rockstar Games revealed the first trailer for GTA 6 on December 4, 2023. In it, we're introduced to Lucia, one of the main protagonists of GTA 6. According to the leaked gameplay that popped up online early in 2023, GTA 6 could feature two playable protagonists. This is backed up by what's shown in the trailer, with Lucia and her partner, currently unnamed, shown pulling off robberies together.In terms of the story, GTA 6 looks set to follow the couple as they attempt to pull off a big score. Aside from that, we know that it'll take place in and around Vice City, and that Lucia has been incarcerated at one point or another. We'll need to wait to hear more on whether GTA 6 will indeed allow players to control Lucia and her partner, but for now, we know a lot more about Lucia than the unnamed man shown in the trailer. Given that they both feature on the game's main title card, it's a good bet that there are indeed two playable characters.

We now know that Troy Baker is not the voice behind the male character in the trailer. (Image credit: Rockstar Games)

It was rumored at one point that The Last of Us actor Troy Baker might be playing the male protagonist in GTA 6. Since then, we now know that no, Troy Baker isn't playing Grand Theft Auto 6's male protagonist, with the voice actor saying: "I want that guy, whoever it is, to get credit for his work".

GTA 6 news

Lucia seems to be the main playable character in GTA 6 but we'll have to wait to find out more about her journey - which seems to possible start in prison. (Image credit: Rockstar Games)

Rockstar announces a new GTA 5 update for PC players that includes PS5 and Xbox Series X featuresRockstar Games has announced that a free PC upgrade for Grand Theft Auto 5 will be released in March that will add PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S features.Grand Theft Auto 6 will reportedly run at 30FPS on PS5 and Xbox Series XIn a now-deleted Kiwi Talkz podcast episode, Mike York, who previously worked on Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 as an animator, shared his thoughts on the next GTA entry and expects the game to run at 30FPS on console (thanks, GamesRadar).Analyst says there are those in the gaming industry who ‘hope’ GTA 6 will cost up to $100An analyst has claimed that there are those in the games industry who are hoping Grand Theft Auto 6 will cost up to $100.That's according to Epyllion's Matthew Ball (via IGN), who recently released his State of Video Gaming in 2025 report. In it, he said that there are some developers and publishers in the industry that "hope" Take-Two will raise GTA6's price from the current standard of $70 to between $80 and $100.GTA 6 is predicted to be “one of the biggest entertainment launches in history"This comes from market research firm DFC Intelligence (via the Financial Times), which states that it is likely to generate more than $1 billion in pre-orders alone. DFC Intelligence predicts that the game will hit a total revenue of $3.2 billion in its first 12 months, which is roughly double what its predecessor Grand Theft Auto 5 achieved in the same time period.Publishers are reportedly not announcing firm release dates to dodge GTA 6 launchA recent Bloomberg article states that "anticipation is so high” for GTA 6 that “some competing game publishers are waiting as long as possible to commit to their release dates for the fall”. This is reportedly so that the publishers can know whether GTA 6 will actually hit its current release window and “keep their own games far, far away" if it does.GTA 6 is still on trackThe latest financial results from Rockstar owner Take-Two Interactive, which were released yesterday November 6, have confirmed that the highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 is still on track for a 'fall 2025' release.Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks aren't "as important as people think" says GTA: San Andreas devA former Grand Theft Auto developer has said the past Grand Theft Auto 6 leaks are unimportant and only happen due to Rockstar's secrecy. Read more in our full news writeup, here.GTA 6 is being described as one of the most important games in historyIn an interview with GI.biz (via IGN), industry analyst Mat Piscatella commented that GTA 6 will be an extremely important release, not just for Rockstar, but the industry as a whole: 'There's probably never been a more important thing to ever release in the industry, so no pressure.'Rockstar addresses GTA 6 leakRockstar Games formally confirmed that the GTA 6 leak that occurred in September 2022 was real. Releasing a statement via Twitter, the team advised this included "early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto." While they didn't comment on particular details spotted in the leak, the team said it's "extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared this way."Crucially, Rockstar's statement advised that the leak shouldn't cause any delays, stating "we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services nor any long-term effect on the development of our ongoing projects." Promising an official update to this next game "when it is ready."GTA 6 suffers huge gameplay leakIn September 2022, Grand Theft Auto 6 saw what was easily one of the biggest leaks in gaming history. Since then, Rockstar and Take-Two have since removed these through copyright strikes.

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2025 is set to be a big year for Tech conferences around the world.If you need help deciding which to attend, or if you'd just like to check out the conferences on offer, TechRadar Pro has put together a list of the most anticipated festivals and events to keep you up to date!

Generative AI Summit LondonApril 1st-2nd | London, UKThis conference is a great opportunity to join AI front runners and industry leaders to bring the most innovative solutions and tools to your workplace. Why attend? Kate Sargent. Chief Data Officer at Financial Times and Rohit Dhawan, Executive Director and Group Head of Artificial Intelligence at Lloyds Banking Group.

CISO PerthApril 1st | Perth, AustraliaThis event will tackle everything from mitigation, response and recovery, GRC, cross-functional collaboration, leadership, to enabling business growth and aims to provide you with critical insights to help propel your business forward.Why attend? Hear from Peter Gigengack, Director Cyber Security, Department of the Premier and Cabinet of WA, Caitriona Forde, Managing Director, caIT Cyber Safe - and many more!

Techspo April 3rd-4th | Los Angeles, CAApril 7th-8th | Seattle, WATechspo will showcase all the best new ideas in software, mobile, AdTech, and internet technologies. Why attend? There will be product showcases and networking opportunities, so you can find the brightest minds and the best tech for your organization!

Technology & National Security ConferenceApril 4th-5th | Cambridge, MAHeld at Harvard Business School, the fourth annual Technology and National Security Conference will bring together students, DoD officials, and industry leaders to facilitate collaboration across a range of security challenges.Why attend? There will be expert panels on a range of subjects, including Space, Energy & Minerals, Shipbuilding, and more.

QCon April 7th-10th | London, UKSenior developers and adapters will meet to discuss emerging trends and best practice for the latest tech.Why attend? There will be keynote speeches from Moumita Bhattacharya, Senior Research Scientist at Netflix, and Sam Newman, Author of "Building Microservices".

Customer Success April 9th-10th | Denver, CLElevate your customer strategy with the best and brightest the industry has to offer, with innovations from all across the sector.Why attend? There will be speeches from Motorola's Director of Customer Success, Noah Reiter, and BlueConduit's Vice President of Customer Success, Roxcee Stacker.

Reuters Events: Industrial Decarbonisation EuropeApril 9th-10th | Amsterdam, NetherlandsNet Zero projects are a big focus for businesses, and this conference will bring together over 250 senior executives from metal and mining, cement, fuels, and chemicals.Why attend? There will be keynotes from Martijn Hagens, Senior Vice President BA Markets & CEO Netherlands, Vattenfall, and Trude Sundset, Chief Technical Officer, Norsk Hydro.

Google Cloud Next 25April 9th-11th | Las Vegas, NVThe Google Cloud Next 25 conference will connect cloud users from all across the world and from a range of industries - meet peers and leaders to share insights and strategies!Why attend? There will be keynotes from Thomas Kurian, CEO at Google Cloud and Jeanine Banks, VP & GM, Developer X, Google Cloud.

AI in Finance Summit NYApril 15th-16th | New York, NYCDAO is a hub of innovation, and will bring together fantastic speakers who can offer transformative insights on data and analytics.Why attend? Hear from Richa Singh, Director and Head of Data and AI at Lexington Partners, and Lingchen Guo and Senior Director of Intelligence and Data Solutions at Visa.

Georgia Technology SummitApril 16th | Atlanta, GAThe Georgia Technology Summit will bring together over 1,200 prominent business and technology leaders for networking and driving innovation industry wide.Why attend? Hear from Bret Taylor, Co-founder and CEO at Sierra, and Dr Raj Hazra, President & CEO at Quantinuum.

B2B ChicagoApril 28th-30th | Chicago, ILJoin manufacturing and distribution leaders in ecommerce to discuss strategy and innovation, as well as AI, SEO, and other B2B trends. Why attend? Keynotes will come from Ed Soo Hoo, CTO Worldwide Global Accounts, Innovation and Transformation Executive at Lenovo, and Emily Xu SVP, eCommerce and Marketing at Republic National Distributing Company.

Meta's LlamaconApril 29th | OnlineMeta is hosting a generative AI dev conference and will be sharing “the latest on [its] open source AI developments to help developers […] build amazing apps and products.”Why attend? Hear keynotes, attend workshops, and get hands-on experience with LlaMA and other Meta AI tech.

TSIA World InteractApril 29th- May 1st | Orlando, FLTSIA is a must-attend for anyone interested in data-backed insights into the transformative power of AI, and connect with industry experts and peers.Why attend? Hear keynotes Thomas Lah, Executive Director and Executive VP at TSIA, and JB Wood, President and CEO at TSIA

Generative AI SummitApril 29th-30th | Santa Clara, CAMeet with a community of AI developers and engineers to discuss deployment and optimization, and get the latest industry insights. Why attend? Hear keynotes from Luc Julia, Chief Scientific Officer at Renault Group, and Achin Bhowmik, CTO and EVP of Engineering at Starkey Hearing Technologies.

Running RemoteApril 29th-30th | Austin, TXRunning Remote is a great networking event for C-suite executives, founders, VPs, and leaders - for all to come together and grow hybrid strategies and ideas.Why attend? Hear keynotes Nick Bloom, Professor of Economics at Stanford University, and Erin Grau, Co-founder and COO at Charter.

For information about adding your event to this list, please contact ellen.jennings-trace@futurenet.com

OpenAI's ChatGPT is leading the way in the generative AI revolution, quickly attracting millions of users, and promising to change the way we create and work. In many ways, this feels like another iPhone moment, as a new product makes a momentous difference to the technology landscape.The AI bot, developed by OpenAI and based on a Large Language Model (or LLM), continues to grow in terms of its scope and its intelligence. Here we're going to cover everything you need to know about ChatGPT, from how it works, to whether or not it's worth you paying for the premium versions like Plus and Pro.If you're wondering what ChatGPT is, and what it can do for you, then you're in exactly the right place. For those of you who are just getting started with the tech, we'd also recommend our guide to how to use ChatGPT, which introduces a few ways to get the most out of the software immediately.You'll have noticed that ChatGPT has sparked something of an AI arms race, with Microsoft building Copilot based on the same technology, Google launching its own Google Gemini apps and X (formerly Twitter) getting in on the act with its Grok AI.There's also Anthropic, who have their own chatbot which is called Claude, and is being used by Amazon to power some aspects of its Alexa+ . Finally, let's not forget about Meta AI who has by far the biggest user base of all the AI platforms because it is embedded into Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot that was initially built on a family of Large Language Models (or LLMs), collectively known as GPT-3. OpenAI is currently using its GPT-4 models in the free version of ChatGPT, and Plus subscribers have access to the latest o1 model. All these models can understand and generate human-like answers to text prompts, because they've been trained on huge amounts of data so they can create responses that make it seem like a friendly and intelligent robot.OpenAI's,ChatGPT-4o (the o is for "omni") model, which is describes as "great for most tasks", can work across any combination of text, audio and images meaning many more applications for AI are now possible. ChatGPT-4o is also much faster at processing than previous versions, especially with audio, meaning that responses to your questions can feel like you are chatting to a person in real time.ChatGPT o1 model, uses more advanced reasoning, and is only available to Plus and Pro subscribers. OpenAI has recently announced that its new o3 model is available to all users. It comes in o3-mini and o3-mini-high, which is better for coding and logic, flavors. It uses longer thinking times to improve the accuracy of its answers.

ChatGPT can answer questions on almost everything (Image credit: Apple, inc, OpenAI)

This ability to produce human-like, and frequently accurate, responses to a vast range of questions is why ChatGPT became the fastest-growing app of all time, reaching 100 million users in only two months. The fact that it can also generate essays, articles, and poetry has only added to its appeal (and controversy, in areas like education).But early users have also revealed some of ChatGPT's limitations. OpenAI says that its responses "may be inaccurate, untruthful, and otherwise misleading at times". It can occasionally hallucinate facts, so always take what it says with a pinch of salt.Still, the world is currently having a ball exploring ChatGPT and, despite the arrival of a paid ChatGPT Plus version for $20 (about £16 / AU$30) a month, or the even better Pro subscription for $200 (about £165 / AU$325) a month you can still use it for free too, on desktop and mobile devices.

What can you use ChatGPT for?

ChatGPT has been trained on a vast amount of text covering a huge range of subjects, so its possibilities are nearly endless. But in its early days, users have discovered several particularly useful ways to use the AI helper. Here are some examples:

Summarizing articlesCreating codeLearning a foreign languageAs a therapistWriting scripts for videosGenerating images (using DALL-E 3 as well as its own native image generation)As a personal trainerWriting speeches for weddingsGenerating business ideasDoing serious research (using Deep Research)Search the web

Broadly speaking, these can be divided into natural language tasks and coding assistance. In our guide to six exciting ways to use ChatGPT, we showed how you can use it for drafting letters, writing poetry, and creating (or adapting) fiction. That said, it does still have its limitations, as we found when ChatGPT showed us just how far it is from writing a blockbuster movie.That hasn't stopped self-publishing authors from embracing the tech, though. With YouTube and Reddit forums packed with tutorials on how to write a novel using the AI tech, the Amazon Kindle store is already on the cusp of being overrun with ChatGPT-authored books.

ChatGPT can help you learn a foreign language. (Image credit: Apple, inc, OpenAI)

Other language-based tasks that ChatGPT enjoys are translations, helping you learn new languages (watch out, Duolingo), generating job descriptions, and creating meal plans. Just tell it the ingredients you have and the number of people you need to serve, and it'll rustle up some impressive ideas.But ChatGPT is also equally talented at coding and productivity tasks. For the former, its ability to create code from natural speech makes it a powerful ally for both new and experienced coders who either aren't familiar with a particular language or want to troubleshoot existing code. Unfortunately, there is also the potential for it to be misused to create malicious emails and malware.Native image generation has recently been added to ChatGPT's box of tricks, even sparking the recent trend of Studio Ghibli-inspired images flooding the Internet. You can also use ChatGPT for doing serious research using the Deep Research agent, which will research a subject for you, producing a full report. This currently requires a Plus or Pro subscription, but will be coming to the free tier very soon.ChatGPT search is another recent addition that means you can use ChatGPT instead of Google if you want to search using natural language-based searching.And finally, let's not forget its Advanced Voice Mode which lets you talk to the chatbot as you would talk to a friend, using your voice. Free tier users only get 15 minutes of Advanced Voice Mode a month. You'll need a ChatGPT Plus subscription to use it for longer.If you look beyond the browser-based chat function to the API, ChatGPT's capabilities become even more exciting. It's even been integrated into Apple's Siri, as part of its Apple Intelligence upgrade.

What can't ChatGPT be used for?

While ChatGPT is a pretty flexible tool, it can't do everything. There are some specific use cases which it falls foul of, however, we've found that even for the things it says it can't do, you'll still get an answer.For example, ChatGPT says it can't "engage in real-time conversations involving emotions", however while it has no real empathy, it will respond if you talk about your emotions. Meanwhile there are definitely some things it can't or won't do. For example, when it says it can't "access or interact in real-time with other devices", it really means it. Equally, when you ask it to draw a picture of Mickey Mouse you'll be told that it's a copyrighted image and it can't do that. Here's a list of the main things you can't do with ChatGPT:

Access or interact in real-time with other devicesEngage in real-time conversations involving emotionsComment on current affairs after 2021 without browsing the Internet.Create harmful content, impersonate private individuals or create content that infringes on copyright.Directly participate in conversations.Legal, medical or financial advice.

ChatGPT also has some pretty strict guidelines for creating content, whether its images or text. In general it avoids explicit, sexually suggestive, violent, or harmful content. We've already talked about copyright, but anything that violates copyright is out. It is also keen to avoid any content that is ethically dubious, like hate speech, discriminatory content, or anything that promotes illegal activities.There are also privacy and safety guidelines. User privacy is important to ChatGPT, as is the privacy of individuals. Finally, the safety of users is taken into consideration so ChatGPT will not promote anything to do with slef-harm or harmful behaviors.So what does this mean in practice? Well, if you ask ChatGPT what its political opinions are you'll find that it has none. Instead it will simply provide some information on both sides of most issues.Perhaps the biggest thing that ChatGPT won't do is be right all the time. AI is notoriously flakey when it comes to getting its facts right, and has been known to 'hallucinate'. Always check anything factual that AI tells you, and use multiple sources to check your facts, especially for complex or evolving topics.

What is ChatGPT search?

In October 2024 ChatGPT added a new feature called ChatGPT search. This enables you to use ChatGPT like a search engine, getting results from the web, with links to the pages it finds. It differs from a traditional search engine like Google in a few key ways though.For a start it’s conversational. You can ask it something like “What are the best pizza restaurants near me?”, then when it gives you the results (complete with links to the websites concerned) you can ask it a follow up question like “Which of those have good vegetarian options?”Secondly, there are no advertisements. Considering how crowded Google search results have become with sponsored content and ads this is something of a relief. We'd expect this to change one day, but right now it's advertisement free.Using ChatGPT search is easy. If you look at your ChatGPT prompt bar you’ll see a new search icon called Search. Tap or click this and you will be searching the web using ChatGPT, rather than engaging in the normal chatbot conversation. Each search result comes with a source. When you click this the sources open up a sidebar that shows citations.

(Image credit: OpenAI)

One of the best ways to use ChatGPT is via the Google Chrome extension which means you can search from the browser bar.ChatGPT search is currently available to all users, even on the free tier.

Can ChatGPT generate images?

Yes! ChatGPT generate images using DALL-E 3, a powerful image generator. DALL-E 3 is built into ChatGPT, so you use the same interface you use for text prompts, but if you ask what something looks like you'll get an image, or you can straight-up ask ChatGPT to create an image. An example of a sample prompt to create an image would be: "Draw an expressive oil painting of a booted foot landing in a puddle, depicted as an explosion of colors". Type that in and you'll get an image like this:

(Image credit: OpenAI)

You can then request more refinements. For example, if you then type, "Make the boot red", you'll get an image like this:

(Image credit: OpenAI)

You'll notice that it's not the exact same image as before, since a new image is generated each time you enter a prompt.You can enter really long image prompts and get some amazing results with DALL-E 3. For example, one prompt suggested on the OpenAI website is: "Digital illustration of a beach scene crafted from yarn. The sandy beach is depicted with beige yarn, waves are made of blue and white yarn crashing onto the shore. A yarn sun sets on the horizon, casting a warm glow. Yarn palm trees sway gently, and little yarn seashells dot the shoreline."When we tired it, it produced this lovely image:

(Image credit: OpenAI)

Your imagination is really your only limit when it comes to creating images in DALL-E 3, unless you're on the free tier, that is. On the free tier of ChatGPT we hit our daily limit for creating images with DALL-E 3 after just two tries. On the ChatGPT Plus subscription tier there didn't seem to be a daily limit for images.Any image you create can be downloaded. Images from DALL-E 3 are downloaded at 1024x1024 pixels in the webP image format.

What does ChatGPT stand for?

ChatGPT stands for Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer, which is a bit of a mouthful. Let's take a look at each of those words in turn.The 'chat' naturally refers to the chatbot front-end that OpenAI has built for its GPT language model. The second and third words show that this model was created using 'generative pre-training', which means it's been trained on huge amounts of text data to predict the next word in a given sequence.

An illustration from Google's 2017 research paper for the Transformer architecture, which ChatGPT is based on. (Image credit: Google)

Lastly, there's the 'transformer' architecture, the type of neural network ChatGPT is based on. Interestingly, this transformer architecture was actually developed by Google researchers in 2017 and is particularly well-suited to natural language processing tasks, like answering questions or generating text.Google was only too keen to point out its role in developing the technology during its announcement of Google Bard. But ChatGPT was the AI chatbot that took the concept mainstream, earning it another multi-billion investment from Microsoft, which said that it was as important as the invention of the PC and the internet.

Who created ChatGPT?

ChatGPT was created by OpenAI. OpenAI was founded in 2105 as a nonprofit company, but became a for-profit company in 2019. OpenAI was co-founded by Sam Altman who is the current CEO of the company.OpenAI has its headquarters in San Francisco, California and describes its purpose with the statement, "Our mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity."

When was ChatGPT released?

ChatGPT was released as a "research preview" on November 30, 2022. A blog post casually introduced the AI chatbot to the world, with OpenAI stating that "we’ve trained a model called ChatGPT which interacts in a conversational way".The interface was, as it is now, a simple text box that allowed users to answer follow-up questions. OpenAI said that the dialog format, which you can now see in the Bing search engine and many other places, allows ChatGPT to "admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests".

A paid ChatGPT Plus subscription is available. (Image credit: OpenAI)

A more advanced GPT-4o model was released on May 13 2024 to all users, not just ChatGPT Plus subscribers, while the ChatGPT 3.5 model was finally retired in July 2024. A new ChatGPT-4mini version was also released in July 2024, which is quicker and better for everyday tasks.Going back into the mists of time, OpenAI did also previously release earlier GPT models in limited form – its GPT-2 language model, for example, was announced in February 2019, but the company said it wouldn't release the fully-trained model "due to our concerns about malicious applications of the technology".OpenAI released a larger and more capable model, called GPT-3, in June 2020, but it was the full arrival of ChatGPT 3.5 in November 2022 that saw the technology burst into the mainstream. Throughout the course of 2023, it got several significant updates too, which made it easier to use.

How much does ChatGPT cost?

ChatGPT is still available to use for free, but also has two paid-for tiers, a Plus and Pro membership, as well as a Teams membership for people who work in organizations.ChatGPT free tier has access to ChatGPT 4o-mini and limited access to ChatGPT 4o, with the option to use ChatGPT o3-mini by selecting the Reason mode. You get access to ChatGPT search, standard voice mode, limited image generation and custom GPTs.ChatGPT Plus costs $20 p/month (around £16 / AU$30) and brings many benefits over the free tier, in particular a choice of which model to use. ChatGPT Plus users get to choose between ChatGPT-4o, which is the standard model described as "great for most tasks" by OpenAI, ChatGPT-4o mini, which is a small model so has less features, but is faster, and ChatGPT-4, which Open AI has now deemed as "legacy".ChatGPT Plus subscribers also have limited access to the latest ChatGPT o1 model, which OpenAI describe as "better at coding, math and writing". There's also a faster, but smaller, o3-mini model and a o3-mini-high model, which is great at coding and logic.You also get everthing in free plus access to ChatGPT search and ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode.Next there is the ChatGPT Pro membership, which costs a hefty $200 p/month (around £165 / AU$325), but comes with everything in Pus, as well as additional benefits for people who use OpenAI's AI video generation tool, Sora, and unlimited access to o1, o3-mini, o3-mini-high, GPT-4o, and advanced voice (audio only) as well as access to o1 Pro mode.Finally there is also a Team option which costs $25 per person/month (around £19 / AU$38) which enables you to create and share GPTs with your workspace as well as giving you higher limits.

ChatGPT Plus will cost you $20 a month, while Pro is $200. (Image credit: Apple/OpenAI)

What do ChatGPT Plus users get?

The big benefit to upgrading to a ChatGPT Plus account is that it promises to give you full access to ChatGPT even during peak times, which is when you'll otherwise frequently see "ChatGPT is at capacity right now” messages during down times. You also get a limit of 5x more messages for ChatGPT 4o.OpenAI says the ChatGPT Plus subscribers also get "faster response times", which means you should get answers around three times quicker than the free version (although this is no slouch). You also get access to more images from the image generator DALL·E, which is highly regarded for image creation. The free tier limits you to two free images a day, whereas a ChatGPT Plus account gives you 1,000 images a month, which works out at 33 a day, but there is no daily cap. There's also the ability to create and use custom GTPs.You also get a free choice of which model to use. Currently that is a choice between ChatGPT-4o, ChatGPT-4o mini and ChatGPT-4 as well as limited access to the most recent ChatGPT o1 and o3-mini and o3-mini-high. We'd recommend ChatGPT-4o for most things, since it has the most features, but the lightweight ChatGPT-4o mini model can be faster for everyday tasks. ChatGPT Plus subscribers also get access to the old ChatGPT 3.5 as an API only.

On the Plus tier your ChatGPT model options are plentiful. (Image credit: Apple/OpenAI)

In contrast, free tier users have no choice over which model they can use. OpenAI say it will default to using ChatGPT-4o with a limit on the number of messages it can send. If ChatGPT-4o is unavailable then free users default to using ChatGPT-4o mini.It isn't clear how long OpenAI will keep its free ChatGPT tier, but the current signs are promising. The company says "we love our free users and will continue to offer free access to ChatGPT". Right now, the Plus and Pro subscriptions are apparently helping to support free access to ChatGPT. Whether that's something that continues long-term is another matter.ChatGPT Plus users get access to Advanced Voice Mode as well as ChatGPT search.

How does ChatGPT work?

ChatGPT has been created with one main objective – to predict the next word in a sentence, based on what's typically happened in the gigabytes of text data that it's been trained on. It's sort of like a super-advanced autocorrect.Once you give ChatGPT a question or prompt, it passes through the AI model and the chatbot produces a response based on the information you've given and how that fits into its vast amount of training data. It's during this training that ChatGPT has learned what word, or sequence of words, typically follows the last one in a given context.For a long deep dive into this process, we recommend setting aside a few hours to read this blog post from Stephen Wolfram (creator of the Wolfram Alpha search engine), which goes under the bonnet of 'large language models' like ChatGPT to take a peek at their inner workings.But the short answer? ChatGPT works thanks to a combination of deep learning algorithms, a dash of natural language processing, and a generous dollop of generative pre-training, which all combine to help it produce disarmingly human-like responses to text questions. Even if all it's ultimately been trained to do is fill in the next word, based on its experience of being the world's most voracious reader.It does sometimes go a little bit crazy, and OpenAI has been honest about the 'hallucinations' that ChatGPT can have, and the problems inherent in these LLMs. Be wary of relying completely on anything ChatGPT says.

Does ChatGPT have an app?

For a while, ChatGPT was only available through its web interface, but there are now official apps for Android and iOS that are free to download, as well as an app for macOS. The layout and features are similar to what you'll see on the web, but there are a few differences that you need to know about too.One of the big features you get on mobile that you don't get on the web is the ability to hold a voice conversation with ChatGPT, just as you might with Google Assistant, Siri, or Alexa. Both free and paying users can use this feature in the mobile apps – just tap on the headphones icon next to the text input box.

ChatGPT is now available in a mobile app. (Image credit: OpenAI)

The arrival of a new ChatGPT API for businesses means we'll soon likely to see an explosion of apps that are built around the AI chatbot. In the pipeline are ChatGPT-powered app features from the likes of Shopify (and its Shop app) and Instacart. The dating app OKCupid has also started dabbling with in-app questions that have been created by OpenAI's chatbot.

What are 4th generation ChatGPT models?

On March 14, 2023, OpenAI announced that its next-gen language model, GPT-4, was available to developers and ChatGPT Plus subscribers – with Microsoft confirming that the new Bing is already running on GPT-4.The big change from GPT-3.5 is that OpenAI's 4th generation language model is multimodal, which means it can process both text, images and audio. This means you can show it images and it will respond to them alongside a text prompt – an early example of this, noted by The New York Times, involved giving GPT-4 a photo of some fridge contents and asking what meals you could make from the ingredients.In May, OpenAI released ChatGPT-4o, an improved version of GPT-4 with faster response times, then in July a lightweight, faster version, ChatGPT-4o mini was released. Apps running on GPT-4, like ChatGPT, have an improved ability to understand context. The model can, for example, produce language that's more accurate and relevant to your prompt or query. GPT-4 is also a better multi-tasker than its predecessor, thanks to an increased capacity to perform several tasks simultaneously.OpenAI also says that safety is a big focus of GPT-4, with OpenAI working for over six months to put it through a better monitoring framework and through using experts in a range of specialist fields, like medicine and geopolitics, to make sure its answers are both accurate and sensitive.

An example surfaced by The New York Times of a GPT-4 model's ability to understand image-based prompts (with mixed results). (Image credit: The New York Times)

While GPT-4 isn't a revolutionary leap from GPT-3.5, it is another important step towards chatbots and AI-powered apps that stick closer to the facts and don't go haywire in the ways that we've seen in the recent past.Another new feature is the ability for users to create their own custom bots, called GPTs. For example, you could create one bot to give you cooking advice, and another to generate ideas for your next screenplay, and another to explain complicated scientific concepts to you. There's even an app store of sorts for them too.

My Analysis

Do you like using ChatGPT? I find AI can be a great tool for doing all the boring stuff, like analysing data from spreadsheets for me, or as a tool for spitballing ideas if I haven't got anybody else to bounce them off. But I also love having a bit of fun with AI. I like probing it to try and trick it into slipping up and contradicting itself.What's your favourite way to use ChatGPT? My favourite way to use ChatGPT is with the Advanced Voice mode via my smartphone. Sure, there are a few glitches here and there that remind you that you're talking to an AI, but it in general it can be just like having a conversation with a real person. You can upload images and ask it what it thinks too, or get it to listen and give you feedback on a speech you want to give.Are you excited about its future? People view the future of AI with as much trepidation as excitement and are worried about the implications of a future ChatGPT being indistinguishable from a human being, especially when it comes to it taking people's jobs. I'm optimistic that improved AI doesn't have to mean an end to creativity, or employment, and we can learn how to use AI as another tool for human creativity instead of a replacement.Do you have any reservations about it? As we move further into the AI-age we need to get used to always questioning if what we're seeing and hearing is real or a product of AI. That's where my biggest reservations lie.Do you think people should use it? There's an old saying that you can't put the genie back in the bottle, but I think people need to be very careful where they use AI and it should be clearly labelled as created with AI, if AI was involved. I wouldn't like to be reading an article on a trusted news source, or watching a video only to discover that it wasn't even created by a human, for example.

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