Technology

Developed to boost productivity and operational readiness, the AI is now being used to “review” diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility polices to align them with President Trump's orders.

• Some Spotify users reported being unable to access music
• Regular app users weren't affected; it's a crackdown on 'cracked' apps
• Users of cracked apps aren't being banned

Many Spotify users have found themselves unable to access the service – and the reason appears to be the use of cracked or otherwise unauthorized apps.

Some reports of Spotify apparently being down started to circulate on the 3rd of March, but it turned out that the service was only unavailable to a very specific group of users: people using apps based on the highly unofficial Spotify Premium APK.

The Spotify Premium APK aims to enable people to access some or all of the Spotify Premium features without being Spotify Premium subscribers (ie, without paying for the music streaming service), and it appears to have been blocked on 3 March.

What's going on?

Why some Spotify users are finding their apps don't work

TechRadar understands that the reported app problems are indeed due to Spotify taking routine measures to enforce its terms and conditions, which prohibit the use of cracked apps. And we also understand that nobody who's been using such apps is going to be hit with the ban hammer: they'll just be knocked back to the free service.

Some sites have suggested that the abrupt demise of the APK exposes users to risk: they say that if now-blocked users go looking for alternative ways to cheat the system, they could end up in the parts of app download websites where malware and fraudsters tend to congregate. And that's true, but of course that's not Spotify's problem.

What's surprised me is how many people seem to prefer the risk of cracked apps to just sticking with a free Spotify sub, getting Premium bundled with something else or just putting on their old-school pirate hats and downloading specific songs from the usual places.

And that's got me wondering: what it is that they value here if it isn't the music? Would they still want a cracked app if Spotify offered the same Premium features but the music were made by AI instead? I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that one.

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• Prime Video has started testing AI dubbing on select titles
• 12 licensed movies and shows will be dubbed in English and Spanish
• The pilot program will also use local human experts for quality control

Prime Video is testing a new AI-assisted feature for dubbing its movies and shows to make its content accessible to even more of its over 200 million strong global subscriber base.

Starting on Wednesday (March 5), some Prime Video subscribers will be able to see new English and Latin American Spanish dubbing for 12 of its licensed movies and shows, including El Cid: La Leyenda, Mi Mamá Lora and Long Lost.

The streaming service announced that it will initially trial the new pilot program only on these select titles, which suggests that more of the best Prime Video movies and best Prime Video shows will eventually get access to the feature if it proves successful.

Indeed, Raf Soltanovich, the VP of technology at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said in a statement alongside the announcement that "AI-aided dubbing is only available on titles that do not have dubbing support", but that Prime Video is "eager to explore a new way to make series and movies more accessible and enjoyable".

As part of the test phase of the new AI feature, Amazon says that it will take a hybrid approach that will still require local language experts to review the automated dubbing to ensure that it has been translated accurately.

Which streaming services are experimenting with AI?

The new dubbing feature is the latest AI-powered tool that Amazon is trialing on Prime Video. Last year, it rolled out a new AI-based recommendation system for creating more personalized content suggestions as well as 'X-Ray' for recapping movies and shows.

It's an area that's seeing a lot of interest among the best streaming services. For example, Disney's ESPN also started using generative AI for recaps, but received backlash due to translation errors. Despite this, it's pushing ahead with a new AI-powered football analyst for live commentary.

As for AI dubbing, there's increasing experimentation. In January, a licensing startup called Lumiere Ventures jumped onboard the AI dubbing bandwagon with an AI speech company called ElevenLabs for the international release of the Lionsgate movie Armor.

And while ElevenLabs' CEO Mati Staniszewsk did say that "AI doesn't replace the magic of human creativity", an increasing number of services are using it. YouTube was one of the earliest to adopt an AI-powered dubbing tool for video translation back in 2023.

However, not every streamer has had success with AI dubbing. For instance, Netflix received backlash in December 2024 over the dubbing of Norwegian disaster series La Palma with many taking to social media to complain about how terrible it looked.

Netflix AI mouth replacement on dubs looks terrible from r/netflix

That's surprising considering that only a couple of months earlier Netflix had announced how it was making non-English movies and shows better by starting to offer classes to voice actors involved in unscripted reality TV shows from South Korea.

Perhaps an approach that combines both would work best then, as utilizing the efficiency of AI to make quick work of a translation would of course save time, but employing language experts to review this seems to be still essential to ensure it's done effectively.

Considering Prime Video is using this hybrid approach for its AI dubbing pilot program, it might prove to be the most effective way of executing such a feature. Make sure to check back in with TechRadar to see what we make of the latest update once we've had a chance to test it out.

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A new OLED Roku TV has just been announced, under the Philips name, and with a launch price of just $1,299 for a 65-inch model, it's a very tempting proposition – Roku is one of the best smart TV interfaces out there, and combined with an OLED screen, you're going to get some serious picture quality.

Like all the best OLED TVs, it includes 4K 120Hz support for gaming, including AMD FreeSync. So it looks like a good package… but as someone who's seen basically every current OLED TV in person, I wouldn't be drawn in by its flashy budget price.

I'd buy the LG B4 65-inch, which is currently available for $1,199 for the 65-inch model at Amazon and also at Walmart – and then I'd buy a Roku Ultra (2024) to add those Roku features, which costs under $100. Same total price as the Roku, but I think that's a preferable setup, so let's dig into why.

The LG B4 delivers the rich image quality of OLED, with LG's expert image processing to make the most of it, as well as a great built-in smart TV system. It has four HDMI 2.1 4K 120Hz ports, making it future-proof for gamers too – a rarity even in 2025. This price is also available at Walmart – but stock is running low in all cases!View Deal

First, an important caveat: I haven't tested or measured the Philips Roku TV, so I'm having to make a few educated assumptions here – though I'm confident about them.

I strongly suspect that the Roku TV is using the same 'tier' of OLED screen as the LG B4, rather than the significantly brighter screen used in the LG C4 – and it definitely isn't the much brighter again screen used in the LG G4.

I just don't think it's possible to use the brighter screen and to bring the TV in at this price – so that means you're not going to get any better performance from the Philips Roku TV than you'd get from the LG B4.

Indeed, I suspect you'll get worse performance, because I very much doubt that the processing is better on the Philips TV than the LG model. For a start, LG knows OLED TVs better than anyone; and second, the Philips-branded TV is almost certainly made by Skyworth (which currently holds the license to make Philips-branded TVs in North America).

This is a company that's known for making some TVs with impressive bang for buck, but not for cutting-edge and advanced image processing in them.

The LG B4 is an impressive TV based on our extensive review – especially for its current super-low price. (Image credit: Future)

(For those who know international TVs: the excellent Philips-branded OLED TVs available in Europe are produced by TP Vision, which actually does invest in pretty cutting-edge image processing, hence why its TVs, such as the Philips OLED809, are rated highly by us – and are also priced accordingly.)

So for $100 less than the Philips Roku TV, you'll get better image quality from the LG B4, I'm very confident. And if you add the Roku Ultra, you'll still get the Roku interface, and you'll have paid the same as the Philips TV overall (though LG TVs have a good smart TV software of their own).

You're also getting some slightly better gaming features in the LG OLED, including Nvidia G-Sync support for PC gaming.

Both TVs offer four HDMI 2.1 ports for 4K 120Hz support, though, which is good – it means the Roku TV is more future-proof than previous budget OLED TVs not made by LG.

I can very much understand being tempted by the Roku OLED, and I expect it'll receive discounts in the future that make it even more tempting. But right now, I'd stick with the safe hands of LG given the current prices.

There's one thing to note, though: the 65-inch LG B4 seems to be selling out. The new version, the LG B5, is due in the first half of 2025 (though with an exact date), so if you're tempting by it at this price, you may need to move quickly.

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At Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, AI is the hottest topic on people’s lips. From Samsung and Huawei to Intel and Qualcomm, every tech company has something to say about AI - and the more I listen to them, the more concerned I get.

In a private meeting room in the depths of Qualcomm’s massive event stand, I attended a roundtable discussion hosted by Durga Malladi, the SVP and General Manager of Technology Planning and Edge Solutions at Qualcomm. He had a lot to talk about - Qualcomm has been at the forefront of on-device AI hardware for a while now, teaming up with Microsoft at Computex last year to deliver a new generation of Copilot+ AI PCs.

I’ll spare you the reams of business-focused use cases Malladi and the other Qualcomm staffers had to talk about, and get straight to the good stuff: the rise of so-called ‘AI agents’.

AI in your pocket… and your laptop, and your car, and your house

For the uninitiated, ‘agentic’ AI (a term that seems to have mysteriously entered the tech industry parlance without any fanfare) refers to AI-powered natural language tools that essentially act as a sort of personal assistant - capable of carrying out a wide range of tasks that would normally require you to navigate through multiple apps or websites on your device.

'Appless' AI assistants like Rabbit and the ill-fated Humane AI pin have been floated before, with limited success. (Image credit: OpenAI / Rabbit / Humane)

One example Qualcomm gave was its Automotive AI suite (the Snapdragon Ride Elite and Snapdragon Cockpit Elite processors) - your car could soon be able to buy you concert tickets while it drives you to the venue, and then go park itself and pick you up afterward when you text your partner that you’re ready to leave the venue. All of this could stem from a straightforward verbal command.

Yes, this does mean that the AI agent has access to your banking details, and your geographical location data, and your message history, and… the list goes on. Malladi assured me that the agent’s processes are heavily encrypted and stored exclusively on local hardware, to the point where it would take an extremely driven individual to access it (much like your existing encrypted data). But it’s a fundamental operating requirement of AI agents to be able to see everything about you - and Qualcomm’s plan for making users a bit more comfortable with this idea might actually drive me in the opposite direction.

Digital doubles

Your personal AI agent, Malladi explains, is “the equivalent of your digital persona. It is you.” Now, I’m going to sidestep the fact that this is a bit frighteningly close to the plot of the Black Mirror episode ‘White Christmas’, and instead focus on the way we as real-world tech users will engage with such a feature. I’m sure I don’t speak for everyone here, but I don’t want an AI assistant who slowly starts to mimic and predict my actions with better and better accuracy. If anything, I’d be happier with an agent that offers a more distinct and unique personality.

That’s not the only issue I have with this whole process, though. Malladi explains that these agents - in your phone, in your laptop, in your car, and beyond - will be effectively able to replace the entire ecosystem of apps that modern devices have become entirely adapted to. “We’ve been living in this app-centric world for about fifteen years now,” he says. “These apps are silos by themselves”.

Is Google Maps really a tool that needs to be filtered through an AI agent? (Image credit: Future)

He’s not entirely wrong. I can see the appeal: instead of needing to open a maps app, and a restaurant review app, and a search engine, and so on, you can simply ask your AI agent to do all the work, and it’ll do it. “The agent is the first interface, and the only interface,” Malladi explains. “You’re never going to see the apps.”

Never? That feels a bit unlikely. For starters, some apps are borderline non-functional without a proper visual interface. Navigation tools like Google Maps and Waze can provide step-by-step directions that the agent feeds to you, sure, but I don’t know a single person who doesn’t also want the visual map open at the same time. My 24-hour gym requires me to bring up the app to get a QR code for access to the building - can the agent simply pluck that from the app, or do I still need to sign in normally?

The death of apps?

There are other problems with this ‘appless’ vision of the future of tech. The app ecosystem across both the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store has grown to monstrous proportions over the past decade; Malladi likens the arrival of AI agents to the shift from using websites to using apps, saying: “You can accomplish the same thing by going to a website, but in a dedicated app, the UI - the whole process - is streamlined. This is the next step in this process.”

But I think this is a significantly larger potential shift than that - and if the past is anything to go off, those sorts of massive changes to the established norms risk becoming a turn-off for potential consumers.

And what about free software that relies on in-app ad revenue to turn a profit? Under Qualcomm’s plan for agentic AI, developers of such tools could be cut straight out of the market - after all, nobody wants an AI helper that’s just going to feed them ads from other apps, and no rational advertiser is going to pay to have a bot sit patiently and watch a 30-second ad before proceeding (although it’s a rather amusing thought).

I'm still going to have a tonne of games on my phone, too - AI agents can't replace that. (Image credit: Asus)

Still, Qualcomm is confident that AI agents will become commonplace in the future, even if such a change has to happen gradually. Malladi was keen to emphasize the advancements in both NPU hardware and LLM software that make this possible: just a few years ago, running such an advanced AI model on local hardware simply wasn’t feasible, but with more powerful processors and more efficient models, it’s now easy to install a pre-trained model on a device like a phone or tablet.

I’m reluctant to say outright that I’ll refuse to embrace AI agents if they do become widespread. As a tech journalist, it would be downright foolish of me to refuse to engage with new technologies just because I prefer things the way they are. But I definitely think that we’re a lot further away from universal adoption of agentic AI than Qualcomm would like to believe - although I have to commend the company for wanting to get ahead of the curve, because if this thing does blow up in popularity, Qualcomm will be front and center.

Oh, but promise me the voice commands thing won’t be mandatory, okay? I don’t want to shout at my phone in public.

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Everyone’s favorite music-recognition app, Shazam, just got a new update that comes with a small, but particularly helpful new feature that has improved its integration with Spotify and Apple Music. The latest version of the app (version 18.9), which arrived on March 5, comes with an improved syncing feature that automatically adds your identified songs within the Shazam app to a playlist in your Spotify or Apple Music account. So far, it seems as though it’s available to Spotify and Apple Music users only.

When you use Shazam’s Music Recognition on iPhone and iPad, it will automatically add those songs to a special playlist in your account titled ‘My Shazam Tracks’. Before Apple rolled out the 18.9 version of the app, songs identified manually through the Shazam app itself would be synced to a separate playlist in your Spotify or Apple Music account, but not songs discovered through the Control Center. The new update changes that, and will now add songs to the playlist when identified through Siri and Shortcuts, as well as the Control Center.

The new update will automatically add your Shazam-searched songs to your own 'My Shazam Tracks' playlist in Spotify and Apple Music. (Image credit: Future)

Since joining the Apple family back in 2018, Shazam has evolved into more than a simple music recognition app and has improved the experience of the best music streaming services through its integrations - and its new ability to predict music you'll listen to in the future. According to the iOS App Store description, here’s exactly how you can expect the latest update to further improve your experience:

‘We’ve made syncing songs to Apple Music and Spotify better than ever! Shazam will now include songs found via Music Recognition in Control Centre, Siri, and Shortcuts to your “My Shazam Tracks” playlist in Apple Music or Spotify.

Simply toggle “Sync your songs” off and on in Shazam settings to re-sync all your previously discovered songs from the Shazam app. You may need to reopen Spotify to see the playlist refreshed.

Don’t forget to keep your Shazam History safe and in sync between your devices. To do this, turn on iCloud sync in Shazam Settings’.

For me, Shazam is one of my go-to music app companions, when it comes to song identification and I can’t quite put my finger on what’s currently playing - or even when I like the sound of a song and want to learn more. It also works wonders for when a familiar song starts playing during a movie or TV show. It’s a small, but rather effective new feature, and this is how you can take advantage of it for yourself.

How to sync your Shazam songs to Spotify or Apple Music Go to the Shazam app and tap the settings icon

(Image: © Future)

It can be found in the 'My Music' section of the app when you swipe up on the main song search page. From there, connect your Spotify or Apple Music account to Shazam and enable the 'Sync your songs' toggle.

When you enable the toggle, Shazam should sync all of your identified songs to your Spotify or Apple Music account to create your 'My Shazam Tracks' playlist. If it doesn't sync at first, I got mine to work by turning the toggle on and off a few times.

Head to Spotify or Apple Music to see your newly synced playlist

(Image: © Future)

Once your Shazam-searched songs have synced to your new playlist, listen to your heart's content.

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• YouTube warns users of an ongoing phishing scam
• The scam includes an AI-generated video of its CEO
• Hackers are using stolen accounts to broadcast crypto scams

YouTube is warning its users of a new phishing campaign using an AI-generated video of its CEO Neal Mohan as bait.

In a post on its official community website, the company said it is “aware that phishers have been sharing private videos to send false videos, including an AI generated video of YouTube’s CEO Neal Mohan announcing changes in monetization.”

“YouTube and its employees will never attempt to contact you or share information through a private video. If a video is shared privately with you claiming to be from YouTube, the video is a phishing scam,” YouTube said in the pinned post. “Do not click these links as the videos will likely lead to phishing sites that can install malware or steal your credentials.”

Falling victim

The attack goes like this: scammers used AI to create a deepfake video of the YouTube CEO discussing changes in monetization on the platform. They then shared it as a private video with their targets. In the description of the video is a link that leads the victims to the phishing landing page - studio.youtube-plus[dot]com.

There, they’re prompted to “confirm the updated YouTube Partner Program (YPP) terms”, to continue monetizing their content and accessing YouTube’s features - but obviously, by “confirming” the terms, the victims would just be sharing their credentials with the attackers.

Furthermore, in true phishing fashion, crooks added a false sense of urgency, threatening the victims that their accounts will be restricted for a week if they do not comply with the new rules. That includes the inability to add videos, receive monetization, and more.

Once the victims enter their credentials, the page says the account is under review.

The campaign appears to have been active since late January 2025, and “many creators” have already fallen victim, reporting that their channels had been hijacked and used to broadcast live cryptocurrency scam streams.

Via BleepingComputer

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The Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 borrows a lot from the Legion Tower 5i and packs it into a cheaper package but with some sacrifices.

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• Netflix has canceled spy series The Recruit after two seasons.
• The Recruit failed to compete with Netflix's smash hit espionage thriller The Night Agent.
• The news was announced by one of The Recruit cast members on social media.

Netflix has canceled hit spy series The Recruit after two seasons, and I'm pointing the finger at The Night Agent as the reason why it's ended up on the streamer's scrap heap.

The Recruit already faced a tough mission having to compete with the espionage thriller The Night Agent, which is one of Netflix's most-watched shows of all time – and the stakes were raised even higher when the second season of The Recruit was released just one week after The Night Agent season 2.

The Recruit's cancelation comes five weeks after season 2 of the spy dramedy debuted on one of the best streaming services on January 30. Colton Dunn, who played former CIA operative Lester Kitchens on the show, announced the news on Instagram Threads.

He wrote: "The Recruit has been cancelled y’all. Such a bummer. I’ll share some pics and fun memories on IG but just wanted you to hear it from me. Thanks if you watched. I’m AVAILABLE NOW! Hire me for you [sic] tv story!!”

Despite The Recruit season 2 racking up 5.9 million views within its first four days on Netflix, it wasn't enough to compete with The Night Agent, which reclaimed its number one spot with 13.9 million views. Throw in the fact that The Night Agent also amassed a total of 98.2 million views, The Recruit was always facing an uphill battle to get renewed.

What are The Recruit and The Night Agent about?

The Recruit stars Noah Centineo as Owen Hendricks, a CIA lawyer who becomes embroiled in dangerous international conflicts after former asset Max Meladze (Laura Haddock) threatens to expose the agency unless they clear her of a serious crime.

In The Recruit season 2, which consists of six episodes instead of eight for season 1, Owen is thrown into yet another life-or-death situation as he gets involved in a perilous mission in South Korea

While Netflix hasn't officially revealed why The Recruit was canceled, it's usually low viewing figures that are a driving force behind axing's of the best Netflix shows. It's also possible that people got tired of too many spy series going on at once, but for now The Recruit has met the same fate as the Yellowstone-style series Territory and The Sandman.

Based on the novel of the same name by Matthew Quirk, The Night Agent follows low-level FBI agent Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) as he's plunged into a vast conspiracy involving a mole in the highest levels of the US government and embarks on a hunt to find the traitor to save his country.

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• AMD's FSR 4 has dethroned FSR 3 and Nvidia's DLSS CNN model, according to Digital Foundry
• FSR 4 has significantly reduced ghosting and improved image stability, especially at long draw distances
• DLSS 4's transformer model is still the victor over AMD's new upscaling method

AMD has been taking full advantage of its rival Nvidia’s controversial RTX 5000 series launch, with Team Red's new Radeon RX 9070 series GPUs launching today. With affordable pricing and great performance, the new lineup could provide strong competition in the GPU market - and the new-and-improved FSR 4 upscaling method may have a much greater impact than anticipated.

According to Digital Foundry, AMD's FSR 4 offers a significant leap over the previous FSR 3 model, while simultaneously dethroning Nvidia's former DLSS CNN model (in some cases), most notably when compared in their respective ‘performance’ modes as reported by Wccftech. FSR 4 makes outstanding improvements over its predecessor in retaining image stability at longer draw distances, by removing ghosting of objects in motion - this was a big issue in some games for both FSR 3 and Team Green's DLSS 3 when using performance mode.

An important note is that FSR 4's performance mode is slightly slower in terms of frame rates compared to FSR 3's (evident in Digital Foundry's video below) - this was also previously observed in DLSS 4's transformer model, but it only applies in some titles where we see a minor performance drop. FSR 4's frame rate in performance mode is typically 5-10fps slower than FSR 3’s (based on Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart in DF's video), but in my opinion, it’s ultimately a worthwhile tradeoff for such significant image quality improvements.

(Image credit: Digital Foundry) FSR 4 is off to a great start

It's safe to say that DLSS 4's new transformer model still leads as the best upscaling method, and FSR 4 doesn't quite match it. However, the leap over the CNN model may be enough to catch the attention of gamers - especially since with upscaling, the Radeon RX 9070 XT provides fantastic 4K performance at a shockingly affordable $599 / around £510 / AU$870) price. Compared to Nvidia's RTX 5000 series GPUs, which are either hard to find or have absurdly inflated prices, it feels like a no-brainer.

It's also important to note that AMD is at a slight disadvantage - FSR 4 (as of now) is only available on RDNA 4 GPUs, whereas Nvidia's DLSS 4 is available retroactively on all RTX GPUs. But this doesn't matter much if you can't find any older RTX cards that aren't already discontinued or at MSRP (unless overpaying isn’t a big deal for you, but like… come on, don’t do that).

Despite FSR 4's current-gen exclusivity, AMD's midrange GPU focus for this generation is looking great so far, and the RX 9070's price and FSR 4's current image quality capabilities are a strong starting point.

It's time to show AMD love

I must admit, it feels refreshing to congratulate the perennial underdog AMD on its latest GPU efforts, considering Nvidia's total domination of the market over the years. It's obvious that the new Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT won't compete with the likes of Team Green's RTX 5090 or RTX 5080, but this was never Team Red's intention.

I'm happy to say that AMD has delivered at a time when PC gamers need it most - the RTX 5000 series launch is nothing short of a mess (despite its flagship GPU's admittedly monstrous performance capabilities), and as I've said previously, what good is a Blackwell GPU if you can't find one?

AMD's FSR 4 is another testament to how impressive its RDNA 4 architecture is, since FSR 3 was quite a long way behind DLSS 3's competing CNN model. If there are no supply chain or price inflation issues (though there still could be), I don't see how it isn't a clear win in the midrange space for Team Red over its fiercest rival.

Patience is a virtue, I must admit - you could easily decide to play the waiting game for RTX 5000 series GPU prices to drop, but there is no guarantee that this will happen (the RTX 4090 is a prime example, with prices still over MSRP even now). With this strong showing from AMD, I’m hoping it’ll give Nvidia more to worry about with gamers considering a switch - and competition is good for the consumer, so long may it continue.

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• The first leaked images of Fujifilm's rumored GFX100RF have appeared
• It would be Fujifilm's first fixed lens compact with 100MP medium-format sensor
• It could be unveiled at the Fujifilm X-Summit on March 20

Fujifilm GFX100RF rumors are gathering pace in the build up to the recently announced Fujifilm X-Summit, which takes place in Prague on March 20, where the premium medium-format compact could be revealed.

Most recently, Fujifilm Rumors shared the first image of the would-be GFX100RF, revealing parts of the camera's back and top plate, albeit from an awkward angle. It followed up this post by sharing another image from Fujifilm's X-Summit announcement, brightening up the dark silhouette to reveal a few details of the camera's front.

The expected GFX100RF is one of the most exciting cameras for 2025. Think of it as a high-end Fujifilm X100VI alternative – it would be Fujifilm's first-ever 100MP medium-format camera with a fixed lens – a pricey, premium compact appealing to seasoned reportage and documentary photographers who value image quality above all else.

EXCLUSIVE: First Image of Fujifilm GFX100RFhttps://t.co/98B4ebIzSu pic.twitter.com/mUCx8ijZhQMarch 3, 2025

What can we learn?

So what do the leaked images seemingly reveal? Design-wise, this could be one of the smallest medium-format cameras ever, and that's with a compact-looking fixed lens factored in – impressive stuff.

There's a new aspect ratio dial, which takes a prominent position above the LCD screen. It's a control like in the Lumix LX100 II, and makes sense for a fixed lens camera with plenty of pixels to play with.

On the top is Fujifilm's lovely shutter speed / ISO dial, an exposure compensation dial and hotshoe, while on the back is an AF joystick and pronounced command dial, but no D-pad.

On the front is compact-looking fixed lens – though we can't see focal length or aperture or if it's stabilized – a crop-lever that should make quick work of making the most of the camera's high-resolution sensor (like the 61MP Leica Q3 can), and a viewfinder selector switch like in the X100VI. However, there's no hybrid viewfinder here – only an EVF.

With a medium-format sensor and fixed lens, the GFX100RF sounds like a cross between the GFX100S II and the X100VI.

Personally, I hope the scales were tipped towards the X100VI – that sort of design and handling with hybrid viewfinder, only with the larger sensor. However, the leaked images suggest the rumored GFX100RF will handle more like the GF-mount GFX100S II with its EVF, only with a fixed lens.

Of course, there's still plenty to learn about the camera beyond the leaked image, but with the X-Summit on the horizon, we might not have long to wait to find out more. I expect the GFX100RF to be one of the camera highlights for 2025.

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• Invincible season 3 episode 7 finally reveals which star is voicing Conquest
• Fans have predicted the chosen actor would play Conquest since early 2023
• At the time, Invincible's co-creator denied that the star in question would portray him

The seventh episode of Invincible season 3 has smashed its way onto Prime Video – and it just made good on a wild fan theory that's circulated online for over two years.

Season 3's penultimate chapter, titled 'What Have I Done?', is an entry that may be the most devastating since Invincible's season 1 finale. Amid the scenes of utter carnage and big character deaths – read my Invincible season 3 episode 7 ending explained piece for more on those – that it contains, though, the show's latest episode proves one thing: we were right about who would voice the terrifying Viltrumite warrior known as Conquest.

Full spoilers immediately follow for Invincible's newest installment. Turn back now if you haven't watched it yet.

If Mark Grayson thought he had it bad enough in episode 7, he's seen nothing yet... (Image credit: Prime Video)

Yes, your ears weren't deceiving you. That's none other than Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who's appeared in numerous projects including Zack Snyder's Watchmen movie and Amazon's live-action adaptation of The Boys, who's playing Conquest.

Shocked? If you've frequented these parts and read my never-ending coverage on Prime Video's animated retelling of Invincible, you shouldn't be.

For anyone who doesn't know what I'm on about, let me explain. In January 2023, I reported on the speculation that The Walking Dead alumnus had been cast in Invincible. That rumor was born out of an Instagram post – see below – that Morgan made, which showed him posing with two hefty-looking tomes of Invincible's source material.

A post shared by Jeffrey Dean Morgan (@jeffreydeanmorgan)

A photo posted by on

It didn't take long for Invincible fans to offer their thoughts on which character he could play in one of the best Prime Video shows. Could he be Grand Regent Thragg, the Viltrum Empire's dictatorial ruler? Or, what about Nolan Grayson/Omni-Man in the still-in-development Invincible live-action film?

Those suggestions paled in comparison to another that many, many fans had: Conquest. At the time, I agreed with the majority that Morgan seemed like a perfect fit for the long-lived, battle-scarred, and incredibly powerful world-conqueror. Morgan brought real menace and malice to Negan in AMC's The Walking Dead TV show, and the fan-favorite star since proved his talent for playing complicated antagonists and/or outright villains in many other movies and TV series. It would make sense, then, if he'd been hired to voice Conquest.

The Conquest-Invincible fight is going to have us on the edge of our seats (Image credit: Image Comics)

Prior to Invincible season 2 part 1's release last February, though, it appeared our hopes had been dashed. Speaking to me ahead of last season's launch, Robert Kirkman, co-creator of Invincible's graphic novel series and its TV namesake, responded to those wild Jeffrey Dean Morgan rumors by saying: "I mean – Jeffrey and I know each other. It's possible he was just reading the comic books, which I think will disappoint many people."

I wouldn't want to spoil anything for future seasons

Robert Kirkman, Invincible co-creator (February 2023)

However, there was a sliver of light at the end of the tunnel. Continuing to answer my Morgan-based question, Kirkman added: "...But I wouldn't want to spoil anything for future seasons.

"Jeffrey's on a very long list of The Walking Dead actors that I would love to work with again. Norman Reedus is someone else on that list, as well as Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln. It would be great to get them into Invincible in some capacity; it's just a matter of finding the right role for them, so when the right one emerges for Jeffrey, hopefully you'll see him in Invincible. But it's not something I could talk about yet even if I wanted to."

Clearly, Morgan had been lined up to voice Conquest but, at the time, Kirkman couldn't confirm that he had been. Technically, then, Kirkman wasn't lying about the fact that Morgan had been case in Invincible's second season – indeed, he'd been picked to appear in its sequel chapter instead. Spoilers notwithstanding, expect to hear much more of Morgan's Conquest in Invincible's season 3 finale next Thursday (Match 13) on Prime Video, aka one of the world's best streaming services.

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• Security researchers HUMAN and partners disrupt BadBox 2.0 botnet
• They removed dozens of malicious apps from the Play Store, and sinkholed multiple domains
• The botnet targeted off-brand, low-cost Android devices

BadBox 2.0, the spiritual successor of the BadBox Android malware, has been disrupted after cybersecurity experts from the HUMAN's Satori Threat Intelligence team, together with multiple partners, removed dozens of malicious apps from the Play Store, banned their developers, and sinkholed communications for hundreds of thousands of infected devices.

“The infected devices are Android Open Source Project devices, not Android TV OS devices or Play Protect certified Android devices. All of these devices are manufactured in mainland China and shipped globally,” the researchers explained.

In total, 24 malicious apps on the Play Store distributing BadBox 2.0 were removed, and the developer accounts that uploaded these apps were banned from the platform. HUMAN then also sinkholed an undisclosed number of domains, effectively cutting off communications between the malware and the C2 servers - so in other words, the devices are still infected, but the malware is non-operational.

Sinkholing the domains

BadBox is a piece of malware that turns infected Android devices into residential proxies. They are used in ad fraud, credential stuffing, and other forms of cybercrime. Apparently, BadBox infected hundreds of thousands of devices, from TV streaming boxes, to smart TVs, and smartphones. No one knows exactly how these devices ended up being infected. Some believe they were compromised in early production, while others claim BadBox was dropped somewhere along the supply chain. In any case, these are overwhelmingly low-price-point, “off-brand”, or uncertified devices.

German authorities recently disrupted the operation within its borders, but that only sidetracked it a little. In the weeks following the operation, BadBox grew to more than a million infected devices (although they were mostly located outside Germany, in countries such as Brazil, the US, and Mexico).

Given its size and resilience, security researchers from HUMAN dubbed it “BadBox 2.0”. Now, together with Google, Trend Micro, The Shadowserver Foundation, and other partners, HUMAN disrupted the new operation in multiple ways.

As usual, the best way to defend against these attacks is to buy hardware and software from reputable sources, keep the assets updated, and monitor for malicious activity.

Via BleepingComputer

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• New unofficial renders hint at a full-width cover screen for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7
• This contrasts with prior rumors that suggested no major design changes for the rumored phone
• Samsung has yet to announce the Galaxy Z Flip 7 or share any official details

In a recent report, we reported on unofficial renders of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 that looked almost identical to the current-generation Galaxy Z Flip 6 – but as it turns out, the next Samsung flip foldable could be getting a rather major overhaul.

New renders shared by Android Headlines and OnLeaks and supposedly based on leaked information show the rumored Galaxy Z Flip 7 could sport a full-sized cover display, similar to the one found on the Motorola Razr Plus.

(Image credit: Android Headlines / OnLeaks)

Keen-eyed readers may notice that Android Headlines and OnLeaks also provided the previous set of Galaxy Z Flip 7 renders, the ones that look almost identical to the current model – in a post to X (formerly Twitter), OnLeaks’ Steve H. McFly said “It appears I misinterpreted some data and this actually is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7”.

OnLeaks has a great track record of accurate leaks and tipoffs, so we can probably give them the benefit of the doubt here, especially as other tipsters have corroborated the addition of a larger display.

For example, tipster Ross Young predicted on X (formerly Twitter) that the screen would measure in at 4.05 inches diagonally, excluding the space lost to the two cameras.

This would be a substantial improvement on the contoured 3.4-inch display found on the Galaxy Z Flip 6, and would even beat the 4 inch cover display found on the Motorola Razr Plus.

If the new renders are to be believed, the rest of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 is largely unchanged from the current generation – though a screen size boost is also tipped for the inner display, expanding from 6.7 to 6.8 inches.

My analysis – a needed improvement

When I saw the recent renders that suggested the Galaxy Z Flip 7 would look nearly identical to the Galaxy Z Flip 6, I will admit I felt a twinge of disappointment.

With the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung has demonstrated that it can issue an impressive iterative product refresh without much of a design overhaul, but I’ve always seen the Z-series folding phones as a testing ground for innovation.

If you ask me, a full-sized cover screen is just the kind of high-impact feature that Samsung needs to keep up with its competitors – spec bumps are nice, but it’s visible stuff like this that sticks in people’s minds.

And, lets face it, a full-sized cover screen is about the only way a flip phone’s outer display can be actually useful. Our Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 review found the phone’s 3.4-inch cover display to be disappointingly small, so I’m hopeful that this rumoured expansion can offer more utility.

Anyhow, the above is mostly based on rumors for now – we’ll have to wait on Samsung for any official information. What do you think? Is the Galaxy Z Flip overdue a cover screen update? Let us know in the comments.

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• PlayStation Direct is now offering PlayStation hardware rentals in the UK
• You can lease products like the PS5, PS5 Pro, and even PS Portal
• The Service is provided by Raylo

If you're keen to get your hands on some PlayStation hardware in the UK but can't stomach the upfront cost, then PS Direct might just have the service for you.

Sony's official storefront is now offering leases on a wide range of PlayStation hardware, giving you access to products for a monthly fee.

The seriously pricey PS5 Pro, for example, is available to lease for £26.99 a month if you select a 12 month term. Other options include a 24 month lease at £20.99 a month, or a 36 month lease at £18.95 a month. These are fixed term contracts, but there is also a monthly rolling option which costs £35.59 and can be cancelled at any time.

The PS5 Slim is up for grabs starting at £11.99 a month for a 36 month lease. That's a total cost of £431.64, a little below the console's £479.99 asking price. Just bear in mind that you won't own the system at the end of your term and will either have to return it, continue to pay a rental fee, or contact the company to discuss purchasing it outright.

It's not just consoles on offer either. The usually pricey PS Portal could be yours from £6.49 a month, while the expensive DualSense Edge starts at £7.49 a month. While I personally wouldn't want to rent a fully-fledged console, these premium accessories are much more tempting. I can imagine leasing the PS Portal for a few months to try it out before making a full purchase.

One last thing to note is that these rentals are provided by third-party tech rental service Raylo and will require a soft credit check for a successful application.

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Commentary: It could show up on my device today and I wouldn't use it.