Technology

• Vatn Systems will help Taiwan build AI-powered undersea drone command systems
• Neither side has revealed how much money this partnership actually involves
• Taiwan explores Vatn’s modular S12 drones for its future undersea defense needs

Vatn Systems, a United States-based defense technology company, has agreed to explore joint undersea defense projects with Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST).

The agreement, signed on behalf of Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, opens a new chapter in the island's search for naval modernization partners.

It arrives at a moment when regional tensions have pushed several allied nations to rethink how undersea warfare and deterrence should actually function.

Vatn brings modular S12 drones

The Memorandum of Understanding lays out a framework for both organizations to jointly develop artificial intelligence-enabled command-and-control systems for undersea operations.

It also calls for the fielding of autonomous underwater vehicles, including Vatn's S12 AUV, a modular platform built for varied mission profiles.

According to details shared by both organizations, supply-chain and sustainment support based in Taiwan forms a third pillar of the deal.

Vatn's approach relies on a low-cost, modular design that lets its underwater drones be adjusted for specific ranges, accuracy levels, and sensor packages.

The company claims this flexibility sets it apart from legacy undersea systems that typically carry far heavier price tags and longer development timelines.

NCSIST, Taiwan's primary state-run defense research body, has increasingly sought partnerships with smaller, agile technology firms rather than only large traditional contractors.

"Taiwan is one of many allies rethinking what undersea defense looks like, and we're glad NCSIST sees Vatn as an integral part of that conversation," said Nelson Mills, Co-founder and CEO of Vatn Systems.

Funding remains unclear

Neither organization has disclosed a financial figure for the arrangement, leaving analysts uncertain about how quickly the partnership will move beyond paperwork.

Taiwan has spent years courting foreign defense suppliers as it tries to close gaps exposed by a much larger and better-funded regional rival.

Whether a single memorandum can translate into deployed hardware within Taiwan's own shipyards and sustainment facilities remains an open and unresolved question.

Mills believes that the collaboration fits within Vatn's broader strategy of deploying affordable undersea autonomy at scale for American and allied naval partners.

The company frames this deal as one exploration among several, rather than a finished contract for delivered submarines or finalized vehicle numbers.

Vatn claims other allied defense ministries have shown similar interest in its modular systems, though the details of these “interests” are not public.

The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense has not issued its own separate statement elaborating on the scope or expected duration of the agreement.

For now, the agreement reads more as an invitation to negotiate than a guarantee of new capability reaching Taiwan's coastline anytime soon.

Its real significance may depend less on the announcement itself and more on whether follow-up contracts and funding eventually materialize.

Via SSC Subsea Cables

• Four GEEKOM A9 Mega mini PCs link together through simple USB4 cables
• Each unit runs on the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor chip
• Combined cluster memory reaches 512GB across all four connected systems

Geekom has released the DeepSeek V4 Flash model across four A9 Mega mini PCs, forming a distributed cluster aimed at enterprise AI workloads.

The setup connects the devices through USB4 rather than relying on a traditional data center server.

Each A9 Mega runs on the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 chip, which combines 16 Zen 5 CPU cores with Radeon 8060S graphics and unified memory in one compact chassis

Local processing over cloud dependence

The four-node configuration brings a combined 512GB of RAM to the task, with Ubuntu, ROCm, and DwarfStar software distributing the optimized model across the machines.

An OpenAI-compatible API links applications and AI agents to the cluster, while USB4 removes any need for a proprietary switch or server rack.

The arrangement allows organizations to keep prompts, documents, source code, and credentials within local infrastructure rather than routing them through a public cloud.

Businesses could theoretically build private knowledge assistants capable of searching contracts, manuals, and internal reports without external exposure.

For agent-based systems, Geekom says the cluster can process tools, policies, memory, and logs before executing any action, with a technical path that has operated using contexts up to 250K tokens.

Performance numbers under scrutiny

Testing reported by Geekom recorded approximately 14.61 tokens per second at single concurrency, while P95 time to first token reached about 0.42 seconds.

The company says the configuration also provides greater capacity for long prompts, rather than concentrating solely on faster short-response generation.

Users can begin with one or two A9 Mega systems before expanding the configuration to four nodes as workloads increase over time.

Each machine can operate independently, while connected systems can contribute to distributed inference when greater computing capacity becomes necessary for demanding workloads.

The A9 Mega mini PC itself supports up to 128GB of LPDDR5x memory, although four systems provide the stated 512GB cluster capacity for distributed inference workloads.

Its specifications include 120W sustained performance, dual M.2 PCIe Gen4x4 storage slots, and support for up to 8TB of RAID-configured storage.

Geekom lists the A9 Mega at $3,999 for a configuration with 128GB RAM and 2TB SSD, while the four-system cluster reaches $16,000.

The individual units also carry 126 total TOPS of combined processing output, with 120W of sustained thermal design power under load.

It also supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, dual 2.5G Ethernet, and four simultaneous 8K displays for professional environments.

The performance values above are vendor-supplied benchmarks without third-party testing - therefore, the real-world reliability of the setup for sustained enterprise use has not been independently confirmed.

Big Tech’s water guzzling to cool AI servers is serious, even if this viral ad isn’t.

• Apple Music will soon force artists to label their AI-generated tunes
• It follows moves from rival streaming services to limit AI music
• Some users want Apple to outright ban AI tracks from its platform

The subject of music generated by artificial intelligence (AI) has become a hot topic over the last couple of years, with the matter proving to be deeply polarizing among music lovers. Now, Apple is stepping in to enforce AI tags in Apple Music — but some users don’t think it’s going far enough.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Apple sent out emails to “industry partners” earlier this week outlining its position. Those messages made it clear that AI labels will start appearing “later this year” and won't be optional.

“Content providers will be required to include AI Transparency Tags in any instance where AI was used to create a material portion of the content, including tracks that are AI platform generated,” Apple said. “We define AI-platform-generated content as anything that is primarily derived from a generative AI service.”

This comes a few months after Apple started allowing record labels and artists to voluntarily signal that tracks were made with AI assistance through so-called ‘Transparency Tags.’ The latest update goes further, though, requiring music distributors to flag AI content so consumers know exactly what they’re getting.

AI fraud and streaming manipulation

(Image credit: TechRadar)

Apple didn’t outline how exactly it would enforce its new policy. It follows a similar move from Spotify, which revealed earlier this month that it would start labeling AI artists and would exclude them from curated and algorithmic recommendations. Rival service Tidal no longer pays uploaders if it detects that their submissions were made with AI.

Apple Music's new course of action comes amid growing disquiet over the use of AI in music creation. Popular concern over AI tracks has grown so much that tools like Detect Music have emerged to help people identify whether AI was used in the music they listen to.

Surveying social media, it’s clear that plenty of people support Apple’s move. “Good, but that took way too long,” lamented one person on Reddit. Another user wondered, “I might switch over to Apple Music once this is implemented, if there’s also an option to block AI content.”

Yet for others, Apple isn’t going far enough. “As a paying customer, you should be able to block it as a setting,” said one, while another contended that AI-generated music “shouldn’t be on the platform at all.” One Redditor was blunt, arguing that a “Better move would be to outright ban it.”

For many, the problem with AI music is a double one: feeling duped by the lack of artistry when a machine created the tracks you listen to, and concern that genuine musicians are being squeezed out as a result. Add to that the known cases of fraud and streaming manipulation that are often tied to the use of AI in music, and it’s clear that Apple felt that something had to be done.

With the proliferation of AI music-generation services like Suno and Beatoven, this is not a problem that will disappear overnight. But with AI tunes appearing to be highly unpopular — at least once they’re identified as such — Apple’s latest move could help to make a dent in their spread.

The requests target Discord accounts and a GitHub repository connected to the ongoing GTA 6 leak investigation.

• Researchers show how an expired contactless card can still complete a real purchase because the expiry date the terminal reads is not covered by its signature
• The attack needs physical possession of the discarded card and two ordinary smartphones, and results vary per bank, with Visa cards being susceptible in testing
• Existing EMV protections can detect the relay, but they are optional and were not enabled on any card or terminal tested, and neither Visa nor the notified banks have confirmed a fix is in the works

For a layman, the date printed on a credit card looks like a hard stop, but that might not always be the case.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that a 'zombie card' past its expiration date can be persuaded to complete a contactless purchase at a real checkout terminal, creating a real security threat.

The irony is that it is not that EMV cryptography is not bypassed in any way, but rather that card expiry is enforced in a different way for contactless payments, as a policy check between two parties rather than as a fixed property of the card itself, and interestingly, the parties do not always know who is the one checking.

Dead plastic can still be used to pay under certain conditions

Building on the last part, a contactless transaction involves a card, a point-of-sale terminal, the merchant's bank, a card network, and the issuer. Each holds a fragment of the decision that eventually results in a successful or declined card transaction.

The EMV contactless flow is only selectively authenticated: some fields travel between the card and terminal in unencrypted text and are linked to cryptographic verification later, opening a potential attack vector for users with physical access to an expired card.

The exposure here is not that those fields can be read, since the expiry date is printed on the card anyway, but that it can be changed with relative ease. The Application Expiration Date that the terminal reads sits in the unprotected portion.

In the Visa configuration the team tested, that field is not covered by the card's digital signature and is subsequently not cryptographically bound to the expiry value the issuer sees in the online authorization request.

While this should not be the case, it opens an attack vector for a device between the card and the terminal that processes the charge by simply modifying the expiry value to one that is still valid. The issue is compounded by a second issue: cards carry an expiry date inside the digital certificate used to establish the card-to-terminal conversation, and researchers have found that the certificate outlasts the printed date on the plastic. In essence, a check that might have caught the problem is looking at a clock set further ahead.

The scope of the attack, however, is narrow: it affects Visa contactless cards only, with Mastercard, Discover, and American Express rejecting the altered expiry outright. It also requires physical access to the card and two smartphones to pull it off, making it a slightly more complex endeavor, to say the least.

The irony is that EMV does have a protection that would essentially undo such an attempt altogether: Relay Resistance Protocol, which measures timing to detect an inserted relay and can stop the transaction altogether, but it remains optional and was not enabled on any of the terminals or cards the researchers tested.

The team notified Visa and the relevant banks in May 2025 and again in December 2025, supplying a reproduction guide, transaction traces, and a video. Visa's report passed initial triage, and the company's red team was reproducing it.

However, as of publication, neither Visa nor the notified banks had confirmed a mitigation attempt, and Visa also did not respond to a press request from The Register for comment.

The underlying failure, however, is based on how payment decisions have now spread across multiple players, including chip, terminal, network, and bank architectures, all of which assume that expiry is someone else's problem, an approach that could come back to haunt them and their customers. For now, the researcher's advice remains important until a fix is rolled out: stop treating dead plastic as harmless, destroy the underlying chip, and cut through the card numbers to prevent abuse.

Insidious, we meet again. For the sixth time, in fact. It's become one of the world's biggest horror franchises but the new horror movie is making me question whether or not it needs to carry on at all.

I should preface this largely negative review by saying that I was a huge fan of the first Insidious movie, and have been a fan of James Wan's ever since Saw. So it truly does pain me to say I did not have a good time with Insidious: Out of the Further, because I went in hoping to see an intriguing new entry, but what followed was almost entirely predictable.

Recently, we have seen some good horror sequels. Take a look at Saw X for example, which is infinitely better than some of the movies that came before it (I still can't get over how bad Jigsaw is). But Insidious: Out of the Further feels like a way to profit from the popular franchise without really adding much to it.

It's a shame, because it did have potential. Here, Alice Eve plays Gemma, a young mother who is raising her daughter in her childhood home. She lives a normal life until she discovers she can travel into The Further, which is a purgatorial realm of lost souls. Gemma realizes she can bring what lives in The Further back to the real world, which is great news for demonic entities who use Gemma to their full advantage. Cue carnage unfolding in our realm, and plenty of evil round the corner.

I first saw Alice Eve in Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor, and she is undoubtedly the best thing about Insidious: Out of the Further. As a new arrival to the Insidious franchise she's front and center of this sequel, and does a great job in the role.

Unfortunately, Eve's strong performance can't make up for the movie's many flaws. Insidious: Out of the Further is the scariest of the franchise due to the sheer number of jump scares, many of which have extremely loud audio to go along with it.

But the fact it was able to make me jump in my seat multiple times does not make it a good movie. The special effects and makeup feel really off, and not at all on the same level as previous movies. A lot of the narrative decisions frustrated me too, and I think it tries to take itself too seriously by stuffing loads of new lore into its runtime, making it feel bloated.

(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

It's essential to see the other Insidious movies first, which may seem obvious, but I would encourage you to rewatch (or at least read up on them) before you go and see Insidious: Out of the Further, otherwise you might end up feeling lost. This really is for die-hard Insidious fans who know their stuff, so casual fans might be left scratching their heads.

Insidious: Out of the Further does not come close to the quality we've seen in a wave of recent great horror movies. It pales in comparison to fresh horror hits like Obsession and Backrooms, despite the fact the trailer repeatedly reminds us that it's produced by the same people; Blumhouse and Atomic Monster.

Having said that, if you want to go just to be startled by a carousel of jump scares, it's a great choice. I'd recommend this for those who want to test their nerve, and it's best seen with a crowd for this reason. I would advise against buying any popcorn in case you throw it all over yourself, because the scares are certainly in abundance here.

But it's not a necessary addition to the Insidious franchise at all, and doesn't live up to the 2010 movie that started it all. After 16 years, perhaps it's time to put this franchise to bed for good.

• The BluHub reads and writes Blu-rays, DVDs and CDs
• It has 4x USB 3.0 ports and two card reader slots
• The Kickstarter Super Early bird price is $59 (about £40 / AU$80)

If you've got a fairly recent computer you'll be vividly aware that for everything but high-powered gaming PCs, thin is most definitely in: the pursuit of ultra-thin laptops in particular means that computers have shed their optical drives and many of their expansion ports to reduce their size and weight. But what if you want those things without having to live in World of Hubs, like I currently do? One Kickstarter may have the answer.

Thanks to our pals at Tom's Hardware we've been introduced to a docking station with a difference: it's a USB hub that also has a Blu-ray drive in it. The BluHub, as it's called, is a 9-in-1 PC and Mac dock that promises "everything you need in one compact drive". It's smashed its Kickstarter goal, which to be fair was a very low $700 / £512 (about AU$977). Pledges are currently sitting at $214,411 / £157,127 (about AU$301,250).

It's clearly designed for people like me: I've got multiple hubs and accessories in front of my Mac so I can do things like burn discs, attach external storage and read camera memory cards, and that means a lot of cables and clutter. This could be a more elegant option, and it's not terribly expensive.

BluHub 9-in-1 docking station: key features and pricing

(Image credit: BluHub)

The BluHub connects via USB 3.2 Gen 2 at up to 10Gbps, and it's bus-powered so you don't need a power supply. It's compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, Chrome OS and USB On-The-Go for mobile devices.

In addition to the expected USB ports (4x USB-A / USB 3.0) it has SD and microSD slots and a Blu-ray, DVD and CD drive capable of up to 6x Blu-ray burning speeds.

The promotional images confused me at first because what looks like a lid for the BD/DVD/CD drive isn't; it's just a place to park a disc or discs. The drive itself pops out of the side, with the same kind of mechanism as the drives in desktop PCs.

It's not remotely pretty, but it's a lot less messy than my desk — and the mobile compatibility means it's an interesting option for road warriors who need to expand their Android tablet or iPad.

(Image credit: BluHub)

The retail price of the BluHub will be $129 (£90 / AU$180), but at the moment there's a super early bird offer of $59 (about £40 / AU$80) with a predicted ship date of November 2026.

Whether that early bird deal is a good one or not very much depends on your opinion of crowdfunders and your risk tolerance: they can be a great way to get in on the ground floor and save some money, but you're buying something without the benefit of being able to read reviews or see what customers have to say, and there are no guarantees.

Many early commenters on the likes of Reddit also seem a little dubious of the BluHub's credentials, noting that the enclosure appears 3D-printed and that the listing doesn't reveal the make or model of the Blu-ray drive.

As always, all of the usual caveats apply — Kickstarter isn't a retailer and doesn't offer refunds after a project is fully funded, so consider yourself warned.

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• Windows 11 can remove a discrete GPU driver as part of its clean-up routines, as shown on Reddit
• This can happen if the laptop has been in Eco mode for an extended period
• Because the GPU is effectively gated off from the system, the driver is marked as unused and therefore deleted by the OS during clean-up – but you can stop this from happening

Apparently, Windows 11 can end up stripping away the discrete GPU driver from your laptop in certain scenarios if the OS is left to run in Eco mode for a long time – and that's a distinct annoyance if you own a gaming laptop, as per a report on Reddit.

Wccftech spotted a Redditor who posted about their Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop with a discrete Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti, and how Windows turned off that GPU.

At this point, some of you may immediately be thinking: who runs their gaming laptop in Eco mode? And that's a fair point, and one raised in the Reddit thread – I'll come back to that.

First, let's look at the mechanics of how this works, based on the Redditor's investigation of what went on (they noted that it "took me months to work this out"). When the laptop is put into Eco mode, power is completely cut to the discrete GPU, effectively leaving it offline (just as if it were an unplugged USB stick, as the Redditor describes).

That's not a problem – obviously it's a power-saving measure – but the issue is that Windows 11 runs a driver clean-up process from time to time as part of routine system maintenance. By default, this happens every 30 days, though the Redditor notes their laptop was set to 15 days, and this can be modified.

What happens is that if the laptop has been in Eco mode for a long time, with the GPU effectively walled off and not present as far as the system is concerned, and the clean-up happens, it judges the driver to now be superfluous, and it's removed.

When Eco mode is subsequently switched off, the driver doesn't return – it remains ditched, and the GPU shows as a 'Microsoft Basic Display Adapter' instead of an Nvidia GPU in Windows 11's Device Manager.

The Nvidia graphics driver must then be reinstalled to get the GeForce graphics card functional again – and the same is reportedly true of AMD discrete GPUs.

Analysis: a niche problem, but an annoying one – here's how to avoid it

(Image credit: Future)

Let's return to that question: who runs a gaming laptop in Eco mode? No gamer really does this, at least not when they're regularly playing some of the top PC games on their notebook. However, someone might be a student cramming for finals and using the laptop for work, having given up gaming distractions for a few months. In this case, with Eco mode enabled to keep battery life up while studying, Windows 11 could disable the GPU.

Okay, so it's something of a niche situation – and the Windows 11 clean-up routines are useful for keeping the system streamlined. But it's not an unthinkable scenario, and Microsoft's OS should be tuned to be more careful around GPU drivers – and it'd be useful if the system could give a warning of such a clean-up happening (so it could be avoided).

That said, this may not happen in all situations. Another Redditor notes that they have had their Zephyrus G16 in Eco mode for two months, and the Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti is still present and correct.

Whatever the case, if you run into this problem yourself, at least you know why it's happening. The fix is to simply reinstall the Nvidia driver, although the same thing could happen again if you're one of those people who regularly uses Eco mode on your gaming laptop.

You can apply a Registry fix to permanently stop the clean-up process, but I wouldn't recommend messing with those settings unless you're confident (see the Reddit post for instructions). Also note that you'll miss out on other clean-up duties, not just GPU-related activity.

A better solution is to simply remember to take your laptop out of Eco mode now and then (every couple of weeks), which will bring the discrete GPU back into play, and save the driver from being earmarked for removal.

The Redditor notes: "Or just keep the GPU visible now and then. Optimized mode in G-Helper turns the dGPU [discrete GPU] on whenever you plug in. Flipping to Standard [mode] every couple of weeks does the same thing. Resets the counter, no Registry editing."

More of what you’re reading online could be written by an AI bot.

The contactless payment method will be available starting Aug. 24 at select stores and clubs.

• Beyerdynamic has announced the MMX 100 wireless and MMX 130 wireless
• The MMX 100 wireless launches on September 1 for £89
• The MMX 130 wireless arrives in October for £109

German audio specialist beyerdynamic has announced two new wireless headsets, the closed-back MMX 100 wireless and the open-back MMX 130 wireless.

Beyerdynamic's MMX gaming range expands with two new wireless headsets representing two styles of gaming: the closed-back MMX 100 wireless for players who want to minimize distracting ambient noise and focus on their game, or the MMX 130 wireless, which is ideal for gamers who prefer to experience the atmosphere, soundtracks, and ambient sounds in greater detail.

"With these two models, beyerdynamic is making its audio expertise accessible to an even wider gaming audience," the company said. "Rather than offering a plethora of unnecessary features and gimmicks, both headsets focus on the essentials: precise sound, high levels of comfort, flexible connectivity, and long-lasting quality."

The MX 100, with its velour ear pads and a lightweight 275-gram design, offers a closed-back design to reduce external noise, a detachable Meta Voice microphone for clear communication, and a replaceable battery that lasts over 80 hours.

It can also be connected to PCs, consoles, smartphones, and handheld devices via Bluetooth 6.0, the included low-latency USB dongle, or a cable.

As for the MMX 130, gamers can expect a wireless headset designed for audio enthusiasts, with an open-back design that balances "a natural, spacious soundstage" with external noise, whatever the user is listening to.

Sporting a titanium-coated 40 mm driver for precise sounds, the MMX 1300 is recommended for gamers who enjoy story-driven, open-world, role-playing games (RPGs), and simulation games.

"With the MMX 100 wireless and MMX 130 wireless, we're offering gamers not just two more headsets, but two different ways to experience their games," said Matthias Heilig, product marketing manager for gaming at beyerdynamic. "Those looking for focus and isolation will find it in the closed-back MMX 100 wireless. Those who want to experience gaming worlds as naturally and spatially as possible will find an exciting alternative in the open-back MMX 130 wireless."

The MMX 100 wireless will launch first on September 1 in Black and Arctic White for £89, while the MMX 130 wireless will follow in October, also in Black and Arctic White, for £109.

The MMX 100 wireless will also premiere at Gamescom 2026 and be available for public testing.

• India-based developer Kuber Mehta uses Claude Code to create a macOS driver for the HP Laser 1008a
• Previously, only the official drivers for Windows and Linux were available for the relatively obscure 2023 laser printer
• The AI-generated driver was created over a series of meticulous prompts, and is now available via GitHub

The days of avoiding hardware that is incompatible with your operating system could be over. A developer based in India has created a macOS driver for a largely unknown HP printer using Claude Code, the agentic command-line coding tool developed by Anthropic.

Released in 2023, the HP Laser 1008a was issued with drivers for Windows and Linux, but not macOS. By using AI to generate a driver for macOS, developer Kuber Mehta has demonstrated that incompatible hardware could soon be a thing of the past.

Mehta has shared the code on GitHub and has also posted about the process on social media, and also compiled a transcript of the exchange, which has been published online for reference.

HP’s Samsung printer

just Claude writing a MacOS driver for my obscure HP printer built only for Windows support pic.twitter.com/ORjLugJiRFAugust 17, 2026

Describing the issue in the introduction to the transcript, Mehta explains that the HP Laser 1008a is a “rebadged Samsung, host-based printer that speaks a proprietary raster language (SPL3), and it has no macOS driver and no AirPrint.”

No SPL3 drivers have been published for macOS previously, so the process relied on a conversation with Claude Code and reference to the Windows and Linux drivers.

The GitHub intro adds that the HP Laser 1008a and siblings in the series (1003 and 1006 a/w) have another problem: “They do not speak PostScript or PCL.” Anyone familiar with the world of printer drivers will recognize the challenge faced by Mehta, which makes the use of Claude Code even more impressive.

Using Claude Code with the Opus 4.8 model, the driver was compiled in 30-40 prompts. This might have been even quicker had the AI not made various assertions that required correcting.

The process moved through “install the drivers” to establishing the print language by analysing the printer’s error pages, via direct contact with the device and “running HP's real rastertospl codec inside a Linux container to produce genuine SPL3, to a reboot-safe background daemon.”

From here, Mehta and Claude Code moved to the published, MIT-licensed installer, which patches the macOS open-source printer driver package SpliX, adding support for the SPL3 printers (by default, SpliX handles SPL2 and SPLc drivers).

Building from AI

While already a developer, Kuber Mehta admitted learning about macOS drivers from the process, perhaps an unforeseen benefit of using generative AI tools for coding.

The GitHub repo outlines some revisions that have been made to the initial release, which is now “a tiny native IOKit helper” that dispenses with Python, pyusb, and libusb and can be swiftly installed from the Terminal.

We've tested over 100 mini PCs, and with back-to-school season now in swing, I've spotted plenty of deals under $600 on these compact machines that are pitch-perfect for dorm rooms and home offices, providing the performance needed for studying and working.

So, I've rounded up some of my favorite mini PC deals, including the excellent Geekom A6 for $549 (was $649), and the recently reviewed Beelink EQi Wild Cat, now $469 (was $549), both scored 4.5 stars in our review, and both are discounted at Amazon.

Whether you need an inexpensive computer for homework and browsing or something more powerful for more demanding workloads and creative projects, these are the top mini PCs you can get for less than $600 right now.

Top mini PC deals under $600

A6 mini PC: was $649 now $549
The A6 packs a Ryzen 7 6800H, Radeon 680M graphics, 16GB DDR5 RAM, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, USB4, 2.5GbE, Wi-Fi 6E, and support for four 4K displays.

Read our full 4.5-star reviewView Deal

EQi mini PC: was $549 now $469
The EQi packs an Intel Wildcat Lake 304 processor, 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, 500GB UFS 3.1 storage, Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6E, 2.5GbE, and support for three 4K displays.

Read our full 4.5-star reviewView Deal

M5 Ultra Mini PC: was $499.99 now $449.99
The GMKtec M5 Ultra packs a Ryzen 7 7730U, 16GB RAM, a 512GB SSD, Radeon graphics, dual 2.5GbE LAN, Wi-Fi 6E, and support for three 8K displays.

Read our 4-star reviewView Deal

Deskmini UM760 Slim mini PC: $535.9
DeskMini UM760 Slim packs a Ryzen 5 7640HS, Radeon 760M graphics, 16GB DDR5 RAM, a 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, USB4, 2.5GbE, Wi-Fi 6E, and triple-display support.View Deal

A5 Mini PC: was $549 now $448.99
Geekom A5 packs a Ryzen 5 7430U, 16GB upgradable RAM, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, six USB ports, an SD card slot, 8K output, and a three-year warranty.

Read our 4-star reviewView Deal

Why we recommend these mini PCs for work and study

These five hand-picked mini PCs cover a surprisingly broad range of needs, from an inexpensive back-to-school computer to something capable of handling more demanding creative work.

The Geekom A6 is one of the strongest all-rounders, combining a Ryzen 7 6800H with Radeon 680M graphics, USB4 and support for four 4K displays. Its upgradable memory and storage also give it plenty of room to grow. In his four-and-a-half-star review, our expert Alastair said it: "packs in an impressive amount of power, which is more than enough to handle MS Office and light use of Adobe Creative Suite Apps."

The Minisforum UM760 Slim is similarly capable, with a newer Ryzen 5 7640HS and Radeon 760M graphics making it a good option for productivity, creative work and some lighter gaming.

For more straightforward school and office duties, the Geekom A5 provides 16GB of upgradable RAM and a large 1TB SSD, alongside useful extras such as six USB ports and an SD card reader. In his four-star review, expert Mark said it "delivers a thoughtful design that ticks most of the general usage boxes."

The Beelink EQi takes another approach, combining Intel's Wildcat Lake 304 processor with Thunderbolt 4 and triple 4K display support in a compact package. In his four-and-a-half-star review, Alastair said: "The EQi is highly tuned to an office environment," adding, "when opening Microsoft Office, Lightroom, and browsing the internet, the speed was surprisingly sharp. The strength of this machine comes in day-to-day office work, where it excels."

Finally, the GMKtec M5 Ultra, with its eight-core Ryzen 7 7730U, dual 2.5GbE ports and triple-display support make it particularly useful for productivity, networking and home-office setups. In his four-star review, Mark said: "it supports a decent amount of memory, has dual M.2 slots and dual 2.5GbE LAN ports, which increases the number of roles that this system could occupy exponentially."

For more top-tested machines, see our guide to the best mini PCs. We've also selected the best mini PC deals this week.

Should you buy a mini PC?

✅ Buy one of these mini PCs if...

You want an affordable back-to-school computer that will spend most of its life on a desk. All five of my top picks are compact enough for a bedroom, dorm room or small study area, and you can pair them with the monitor, keyboard and mouse of your choice.

There's also enough variety here to match the machine to your workload. The Geekom A5 and Beelink EQi cover everyday studying and productivity, while the Minisforum UM760 Slim and Geekom A6 provide more performance for demanding work and even some light gaming. The GMKtec M5 Ultra is great for multitasking.

❌ Skip these mini PCs if...

You need a computer you can carry between home, school and lectures. These machines may be tiny, but you'll still need a monitor, keyboard and mouse wherever you use them, making a laptop the obvious choice for mobile working.

Poco F8 Ultra: Two-minute review

The Poco F8 Ultra demonstrates what’s possible when performance doesn’t come at a premium. Packing a top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a huge 6,500mAh battery, and a bright 120Hz AMOLED display, it's among the very best phones on paper — but it's Poco's photography chops and unique Bose partnership that set the F8 Ultra apart from other ‘flagship killers’.

A trio of rear cameras steals the show. Poco phones (as well as those made by its parent company, Xiaomi) often sneak under the radar for photographic performance, but having shone in both day and nighttime environments during my testing, there’s rarely been any situation where the F8 Ultra’s cameras haven’t exceeded expectations. What’s more, Xiaomi’s HyperOS 3 seems to finally be fulfilling its AI-centric potential, with genuinely useful photo features that allow beginners to fine-tune their shots to perfection.

The brand's Bose partnership sets an equally high standard. While for many, the addition of a dedicated 1620 subwoofer in the phone's rear panel may seem like a token gesture, partnering it with symmetrical, dual 115F speakers quickly highlights how ‘flat’ other phones sound without external audio devices. Bass is noticeable, and the overall soundscape is more than pleasant enough to enable most to ditch the headphones entirely, so long as the situation suits!

While the F8 Ultra's design may bear a striking resemblance to that of Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro, that’s hardly a bad thing. The phone feels superb to hold and rivals its most premium opposition for style, despite its huge 6.9-inch display. The rounded corners, flat aluminum edges, and impressive thinness (7.9 or 8.3mm, depending on variant) help its size feel manageable, and it’ll quickly feel much like its more premium counterparts in everyday use. The denim-like variant is certainly an acquired taste, but I grew accustomed to it quickly and, frankly, it feels superb to use.

Under the hood, the combination of a huge 6,500mAh battery and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset is stellar. The F8 Ultra achieves all-day battery life with ease, all while retaining superb performance under strain from gaming or multitasking. The only drawback: it does suffer from the chipset’s trademark overheating problems. While I never found the phone to be fatally hot, this temperature increase is certainly noticeable when gaming for long periods, and it can lead to some performance drops as a result.

The phone's availability is another drawback. It's available in the UK via both carriers and retailers, but only via third-party retailers like Amazon and eBay in the US. Still, the latter is more than can be said for the best Xiaomi phones, so I suppose that's a small win. The Poco F8 Ultra isn't available in Australia at the time of writing.

Poco F8 Ultra review: Price and availability

• Launched for £749 / $729
• But it's now almost always on sale
• US price varies heavily depending on the seller

The Poco F8 Ultra undercuts almost any comparable phone when it comes to price. It launched for $729 / £749 back in November 2025, but is now available for significantly less — especially in the UK — likely due to the imminent release of the Poco F9 Ultra, which is rumored to land towards the end of 2026.

It's a win in itself to see one of Xiaomi’s devices available via Amazon or eBay in the US. It’s not available directly through carriers, though you’ll no longer have an issue using a US SIM with this device.

Even without a discount, the Poco F8 Ultra starts from the best part of $200 / £200 less than you’d normally expect to pay for a device boasting the latest chipset, triple cameras, and a huge battery. It even gets 4 years of major Android OS updates and 6 years of security updates. By which point, Xiaomi will almost certainly have released something of even better value to replace it.

Xiaomi and Poco do sell phones in Australia, but the Poco F8 Ultra isn't currently available in that region.

• Value score: 5 / 5

Poco F8 Ultra review: Specs

Poco F8 Ultra

Dimensions

163.33 x 8.3 x 77.82mm (Black) 163.33 x 7.9 x 77.82mm (Blue)

Weight

217g (Black), 220g (Blue)

OS

Android 16 (HyperOS 3)

Display

6.9-inch 120Hz HyperRGB AMOLED

Resolution

2608 x 1200

Chipset

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

RAM

12GB (256GB), 16GB (512GB)

Storage

256GB, 512GB

Battery

6,500mAh

Rear cameras

50MP wide (f/1.7) + 50MP periscope telephoto (f/3.0) + 50-MP (f/2.4) ultrawide

Front cameras

32MP (f/2.2)

Charging

100W wired, 50W wireless, 22.5W reverse wireless

Poco F8 Ultra review: Design

(Image credit: Future // Rob Dunne)

• iPhone-like camera plateau design
• Super comfortable to hold despite huge size
• Denim blue choice may not be to some people’s taste

Poco adopts a reliable yet stylish look for the Poco F8 Ultra. That said, the first thing that needs discussing is its Denim Blue option.

While the material itself isn’t denim — rather, Poco's own nano-tech material — it looks and feels as though you’re texting from a pair of Levi’s. It’s no doubt a strange experience to begin with, but you’ll quickly see the benefits of this new material, namely a complete lack of scratch marks and a nice grippy feel in the hand.

If you’re after a more traditional look, there is also a black variant. It uses Poco’s ‘Glass Fibre’, which gives a feel closer to that of a glass-backed phone. It should feel less slippery to hold and pick up fewer scratches than the competition, though you’re definitely likely to see more fingerprints here than on its denim-look counterpart.

Either variant is also pleasantly comfortable to hold despite the phone's huge 6.9-inch display. The F8 Ultra has a rounded aluminum frame and only weighs 220g at most (or 217g if you choose the black version). That’s over 10g lighter than an iPhone 17 Pro Max, and yet the weight cut doesn’t leave the phone feeling any less premium when you’re holding it, nor does it feel so light that it could be easily dropped or broken.

Where the F8 Ultra and the iPhone are more similar, however, is in their shared camera plateau design. In the case of the F8 Ultra, the plateau houses not only the rear cameras but also the subwoofer that headlines the phone's Bose partnership. Unlike many plateaus, the Poco F8 Ultra’s doesn’t protrude hugely despite its more-than-capable cameras, which we’ll cover later.

Aside from these features, the F8 Ultra's design bears little to shout about, which in many ways, is a win. The denim look is certainly a unique choice should you choose it, but both this and the black variant will soon leave you thinking you possess a phone far more premium than its price tag suggests.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Poco F8 Ultra review: Display

(Image credit: Future // Rob Dunne)

• Bright and easily viewed
• Great refresh rate
• Simple punch-hole front-camera

The Poco F8 Ultra’s display gives the phone a premium feel from the moment you boot it up. This huge 6.9-inch 2608 x 1200 AMOLED screen is capable of a 3500-nit peak brightness, which, while lower than many equivalent phones, does a faultless job of keeping the display punchy and viewable from almost all angles.

You also get a 120Hz refresh rate to play with, meaning scrolling through social media or gaming is smooth enough for even the most serious mobile gamers. This display also offers up to 480Hz touch sampling, which gives the screen a super-responsive feel, no matter if you're gaming or switching between apps.

The Poco F8 Ultra's display is also one of Xiaomi’s ‘eye-care’ displays. These use a combination of hardware and software to reduce eye strain, headaches, and sleep problems caused by phone displays. Technologies such as high-frequency PWM dimming and circadian rhythm adjustments are employed to keep you healthy and have little to no impact on the device’s performance.

All of this technology is housed under ‘Poco Shield’ glass, which is proprietary to Xiaomi and kept for only its most premium devices. In the months of using this phone, I’ve never found reason to doubt Xiaomi’s claims of improved scratch- and impact-resistance compared to industry-standard solutions such as Corning glass. I've been able to confidently use the F8 Ultra in crowded environments without a case, where, frankly, it’s had more than one abrupt meeting with a floor.

That said, the biggest part of why this phone feels so premium to use is just how much display it gives you to play with. It has a huge 94.25% screen-to-body ratio and opts for a simple punch-hole front camera. This, partnered with its huge size, leaves the F8 Ultra's screen feeling nothing short of flagship-worthy while you're streaming, gaming, or browsing. Good job, Xiaomi.

• Display score: 4 / 5

Poco F8 Ultra review: Cameras

(Image credit: Future // Rob Dunne)

• Brilliant levels of detail and vibrancy
• Low-light shooting is top tier
• Selfie camera has room for improvement

The Poco F8 Ultra’s cameras are nothing short of superb — whether you use them at night, for close-ups, or even just regular shooting.

No matter the subject, the Poco F8 Ultra captured a level of vibrancy and detail in each shot that, frankly, it had no right to given its price point. Most noticeably, while shooting in cloudier conditions, shots continued to be detailed and well-balanced, without falling foul of extreme white blowouts in backgrounds.

I did find focusing on the F8 Ultra a touch more fiddly than some might like, especially when looking to shoot in dimmer, indoor environments, but with time, it becomes manageable. That said, the phone was near-flawless in picking up the subject matter and retaining razor-thin focus margins to the rest of the frame.

Each of the three main cameras is 50MP, with the phone even offering a 50MP shooting mode to make full use of these megapixels — though it sacrifices much of the camera's adaptability should you choose to use it.

One of the standout inclusions on the phone's spec sheet is its Light Fusion 950 light sensor. Taking the F8 Ultra out for some night photography proved just how beneficial the device’s 43% improvement in light sensitivity (versus the F7 Ultra) can be. Details remained sharp, backgrounds were rarely a mere abyss of black, and the vibrancy I’d seen in the daytime remained to a surprising degree.

On the front of the phone, there’s a 32MP selfie camera which does a good enough job. It definitely leaves selfies a touch smoother than you’d expect given the quality of the rear cameras, and it's sometimes a touch excessive when adjusting skin tones in bright environments. But it’s still a camera I’d happily use to snap my next night out.

Whether you’re shooting selfies or regular shots, there are also a strong number of preset modes and effects you can use to make the shot your own if you aren’t a seasoned pro. It’s not quite as many as you’d get from something like a Pixel or Galaxy phone, but the Poco F8 Ultra's camera itself proved more than capable of providing strong results no matter the subject matter, even in my amateur hands.

Poco F8 Ultra review: camera samplesFutureFuture // Rob Dunne Future // Rob Dunne Future / Rob Dunne Future // Rob DunneFuture // Rob DunneFuture // Rob Dunne Future // Rob DunneFuture // Rob Dunne Future // Rob DunnePoco F8 Ultra review: Performance

(Image credit: Future // Rob Dunne)

• Flagship-level specs provide the expected power
• Doesn’t struggle with multitasking or intense games
• Brilliant audio capabilities

It’s frustratingly difficult to fault a flagship-killer's performance when it packs a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and DDR5X memory because, in short, it’s packing the same tech as its premium rivals, with a far smaller price tag. What’s more, there’s nothing to suggest any corners have been cut elsewhere on the F8 Ultra.

For example, I tested it with hugely demanding games such as Call of Duty: Mobile and Genshin Impact, and it never so much as dropped a frame. It’ll get a touch warm, as any phone would (including flagships), but, in fact, the alternative back panel material makes it far more manageable to hold when it does.

Day-to-day use is a doddle. Depending on the storage configuration you choose, you get either 12 or 16GB of DDR5X RAM, and 256GB or 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage. Simply put, nothing is slow to load, and you’ll likely be able to multitask however you choose to without any noticeable slowdown.

What’s more, having now spent well over six months with the device (yes, I've been testing it for a while), these performance levels haven't dropped off whatsoever. The F8 Ultra is backed by a huge 6,500mAh battery, which we’ll cover later, and it's remained a remarkably capable phone for heavy-duty gaming sessions while I'm on the go. This performance is, in part, helped by its ‘Game Turbo’ mode, though, on trying with and without this option turned on, the difference is far less noticeable than you’d expect.

Streaming on the device is something I also came to enjoy thanks in no small part to its unique Bose subwoofer system. It’s well known that regular phone speakers often return flat, unappealing soundscapes, but the F8 Ultra’s Bose partnership quite simply throws this possibility out of the window. The subwoofer allows for a 2.1-channel audio system that restores the punchiness you want while watching intense TV series or horror films (in private, please).

Of course, the F8 Ultra is no match for a proper speaker or sound system, but I’ve certainly found myself more comfortable using the phone to play music aloud or quickly watch videos while at home without connecting to a speaker separately.

• Performance score: 5 / 5

Poco F8 Ultra review: Software

(Image credit: Future // Rob Dunne)

• HyperOS 3 is simple enough for anyone
• AI is becoming increasingly involved in the experience
• Remains beginner-friendly without AI integrations

HyperOS has quickly matured into a clean and easy OS since its launch in late 2023. Yes, the ever-increasing amount of AI features may put off those keen to avoid extreme data collection in the name of convenience, but the software experience, regardless, is smoother than ever.

Navigating menus and finding settings and toggles throughout the device is smooth, and everything is essentially where you’d expect it to be. The functionality of some of the icon-based toggles could be clearer, but this is a problem that’s apparent across most Android OS packages nowadays.

Photo editing is so far the best use of Xiaomi’s increasing AI toolset. Beginners can quickly and easily improve their photos with an ‘AI Beautify’ tool that does a far better job than most auto-adjust photo tools I’ve come across in the past.

There are several more excessive options, such as sky adjustments, image expansion, and portrait adjustments, that may disturb photography purists, but, as yet, these tools aren’t quite as refined as they need to be for everyday use.

Outside of photography, you get several AI-based writing improvement, search, and speech tools that can be toggled to improve the everyday experience. Thankfully, having tested the Poco F8 Ultra both with and without these additions, the user experience remains simple enough if you’re keen to keep AI away from your everyday tasks.

All in all, HyperOS 3 more than matches up to the F8 Ultra’s premium specs; it provides a simple enough experience for casual users, while power users can make the most of its many customization options.

• Software score: 4 / 5

Poco F8 Ultra review: Battery

• Huge multi-day battery life
• Sub-hour charging times are very helpful
• Includes 22.5W reverse wireless charging

It’s no surprise that the Poco F8 Ultra’s battery credentials are flagship-grade. The phone packs a 6,500mAh battery with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging, and in testing, these figures resulted in months of day-long battery life and little worry about the speed of impromptu top-ups.

Slower use days will get you multiple days of battery life, which was a welcome surprise, and in truth you'll probably get beyond a day of endurance even with a reasonable amount of social media scrolling and general browsing.

Gaming and streaming were, understandably, the biggest drainers. But, even so, it would only make an hour or so’s difference to the battery life I’d come to expect. To this day, over six months later, I’m still never remotely worried I’ll run out of battery on the Poco F8 Ultra so long as I'm leaving the house with 40% charge or above.

And the phone's 100W charging makes charging a breeze. Getting back up to 100% is comfortably done in under an hour, though in my experience, it takes a tad longer than the advertised 38 minutes. 22.5W reverse wireless charging is also a handy addition for when friends find themselves in a pinch.

In my experience, you’d scarcely find better battery life at this price point. Only Poco's own Poco X8 Pro Max trumps the F8 Ultra for battery value, though you will get even better endurance from true flagships like the Oppo Find X9 Pro and OnePlus 15.

• Battery score: 5 / 5

Should you buy the Poco F8 Ultra?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

The Poco F8 Ultra brings undoubtedly flagship capabilities to a mid-range price point. It's perfect if you’re keen to save without making huge performance sacrifices.

5 / 5

Design

Despite being a clear iPhone clone, the F8 Ultra lacks no amount of unique style. It’s premium to look at whether you go safe with black or opt for its denim alternative.

4 / 5

Display

Bright and smooth, it’s easy to see the Poco F8 Ultra’s premium intent as soon as you load up its huge display for the first time.

4 / 5

Performance

Nothing seems to stop the F8 Ultra from performing. Gaming and multitasking are a breeze, with little sign of let up no matter how hard you push.

5 / 5

Software

HyperOS is finally becoming the matured, reliable OS it was intended to be. AI is definitely a centrepiece, but it’s easy enough for anyone to use.

4 / 5

Cameras

Vibrant, detailed, and sharp, there’s little to fault about the Poco F8 Ultra’s triple camera array. That said, there’s room for some improvement on the front.

4 / 5

Battery

Multi-day battery life and super-quick charging. Using it makes you forget what worrying about battery life feels like, and it doesn’t stop for months.

5 / 5

Buy it if

You want all-day battery life and more

The Poco F8 Ultra’s battery size, charging speed, and superb processing capabilities make multi-day use the norm — it's perfect if you’re always on the move without access to quick and easy charging.View Deal

You’re a keen mobile gamer

The mix of top-tier processing capabilities and long battery life means you can be set up for hours of high-intensity gaming. No need to turn down the graphics settings, no need to turn on battery saver; just sit down and game as you wish. View Deal

You want an immersive streaming experience

The Poco F8 Ultra’s 2.1-channel audio system and huge 6.9-inch display make for a brilliant mobile streaming experience that simply can’t be matched by any phone of a similar price. View Deal

Don’t buy it if

You want a guaranteed point-and-shoot camera experience

While the camera is superb, in some settings, the focus can be fiddly, which, if you’re after a quick shot, is less than ideal. View Deal

Poco F8 Ultra review: also consider

Oppo Find X9 Pro

Oppo’s Find X9 Pro is a step up in all the things that make the Poco F8 Ultra great. Superb photography, huge battery life, and strong performance. Just be aware that it’s regularly a more expensive choice and lacks US availability.

Read our full Oppo Find X9 Pro review

Samsung Galaxy S26

The S26 is the ideal phone if you’re looking for decent photography, with strong AI integrations and an all-round better user experience. That said, you lose out on battery life and some of the photographic potential.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S26 review

Poco F8 Ultra

Oppo Find X9 Pro

Samsung Galaxy S26

Price

£749 / $729

£1,099 / AU$2,299

$899 / £879 / AU$1,349

Display

6.9-inch 120Hz HyperRGB AMOLED

6.78-inch 120Hz AMOLED

6.3-inch 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X

Cameras

50 MP wide (f/1.7) + 50 MP periscope telephoto (f/3.0) + 50 MP (f/2.4) ultra-wide

50MP main + 50MP ultra-wide + 200MP telephoto (3x)

50MP main + 10MP telephoto + 12MP ultra-wide

Processor

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

MediaTek Dimensity 9500

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

Battery

6,500mAh

7,500mAh

4,300mAh

How I tested the Poco F8 Ultra

• Tested over multiple months
• Used as both a daily driver and second phone
• Compared with previous testing

Why you can trust TechRadar

☑️ 100s of smartphones reviewed
☑️ 15 years of product testing
☑️ Over 16,000 products reviewed in total
☑️ Nearly 200,000 hours testing tech

I tested the Poco F8 Ultra over a period exceeding six months, with the phone arriving at the time of its launch.

In that time, it was either my main or secondary phone and was put through several forms of testing. This included extensive usage to test battery life, intensive streaming and gaming testing, as well as regular daily use to spot usability issues, bugs, and other problems consumers may face.

This review was conducted using my own experience of the phones industry alongside other experiences reviewing phones in similar price brackets.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed: July 2026

• Infoblox Threat Intel counted roughly 65,000 expired domains re-registered every day in the first half of 2026, close to one in five of all new registrations
• An actor it calls Sable Squirrel controls more than 10,000 domains and is estimated, by extrapolation, to have spent over $7 million buying expired names for their inherited traffic and domain authority
• Some of the domains are also used to function as command-and-control structures for existing malware that can be traced back to the same group

A domain name is the closest thing the web has to a credit history: age, inbound links, search visibility, and reputation all feed the reputation scores that security products consult before deciding whether a request is worth worrying about.

New research from Infoblox Threat Intel claims this history has become a commodity with a market price, and that at least one criminal operation has been buying it in bulk.

The study, published as a three-part series, focuses on what the industry calls dropcatch domains: names that lapsed, were released back to the registry, and were then re-registered by someone else entirely.

A dropcatch domain situation: A gambling business with a malware-enabling catch

Dropcatch domains aren't new; software has been primed to spot expiring domains for years, and it sometimes snags the occasional massive win for users who deploy such solutions.

This lets users start with domains that already have history that benefits them or flip certain domains for a price that is often a multiple of the domain's original purchase price.

Infoblox counted an average of 50,400 such re-registrations a day across generic top-level domains in the first half of 2026, rising to roughly 65,000 once country-code domains are added. That amounts to close to a fifth of all daily registrations. The rate is highest on .net and .xyz, where nearly three in ten newly observed names had a previous life, with .com behind them at 24.5%.

The problem is that not all of these are seemingly innocent or small-scale scalping operations: Infoblox has identified an entity it has labeled Sable Squirrel, part of a naming convention the company applies to domain hoarders. It controls more than 10,000 domains, most of which support a large Vietnamese-language sports piracy operation operating under brands including Xoilac, Cakhia, 90phut, Socolive, and MiTom.

Infoblox estimates the actor's total spend on expired domains at north of $7 million, which it describes as the largest domain acquisition budget it has identified for a single actor in the industry. The bigger problem is that Infoblox also found that a subset of these streaming domains runs as malware command and control while continuing to serve live football to human visitors.

More than 31,000 samples identified called back to Sable Squirrel's infrastructure, spanning Quasar RAT, AsyncRAT, DCRat, NanoCore, Remcos, and njRAT, plus samples carrying HiddenTear ransomware signatures.

Infoblox said the operator's carelessness made finding a link easier: many samples carry the actor's brand names in their Windows executable metadata, with fields reading socolive, xoilac, and 8xbet. Infoblox confirmed 405 domains as malware C2, which is roughly four percent of the total domains the organization controls, and the weaponization arrived as a single wave in late 2025 rather than as the operation's original purpose.

Sable Squirrel's core business is gambling, and while the entity tries to mask it as a streaming operation, it also doubles as an acquisition channel for the same. While law enforcement has not been silent here, it has had limited luck at best: Vietnamese authorities froze some of the flagship sites in February 2026 and charged 30 suspects in March.

They also seized assets Infoblox puts at roughly $12 million, but it seems to have survived and continues to expand, having acquired and run World Cup-centric domains since June, further expanding its footprint in a world where it has already identified and secured a large chunk of what is arguably a very important commodity: Domain authority.

Canon's Pixma line has been the default recommendation for home printing for years, and the TS6520 is the compact, back-to-school-ready all-in-one built for exactly that kind of everyday use.

Right now, the Canon Pixma TS6520 has dropped to $79 (was $150) at Amazon. This wireless color inkjet handles printing, scanning, and copying, with automatic two-sided printing to save on paper and a 1.42-inch OLED display for checking ink levels and adjusting settings without needing a phone app.

PIXMA TS6520: was $149.99 now $79
Print, scan, and copy functionality with automatic duplex (2-sided) printing, wireless connectivity through the Canon PRINT app, Apple AirPrint, and Mopria Print Service, and a 1.42-inch OLED display for monitoring ink levels and settings. Compact design intended to fit easily on a desk or shelf.View Deal

Why we recommend it

Canon's PIXMA series has built its reputation on being the printer most people default to for home use, and the TS6520 keeps that formula simple: reliable printing and scanning, automatic duplexing that saves paper without extra steps, and setup that requires little more than connecting to Wi-Fi. For students heading back to school or anyone who just wants a printer that works without fuss, that simplicity is the whole appeal.

The compact design and OLED display are nice touches at this price. Many budget all-in-ones skip a proper display entirely, and being able to check ink levels and adjust settings without opening an app on your phone is a small but genuinely convenient feature.

For more top performing units, see our guides to the best home printers, best inkjet printers, and best ink tank printers we've tested.

Also consider

Megatank G3270 All-In-One Wireless Inkjet Printer: was $248.99 now $159.99
Combines color printing with a flatbed scanner and copier and supports Wi-Fi and USB connectivity. Print speeds reach 11 pages per minute in black and six pages per minute in color, while maximum color resolution is 4800 x 1200 dpi.View Deal

EcoTank ET-4800 Wireless All-in-One: was $299.99 now $199.99
Refillable EcoTank ink system with up to 2 years of ink included in the box, automatic document feeder (ADF) for multi-page scans and copies, fax capability, and both wireless and Ethernet connectivity. Print, scan, and copy handled through the Epson Smart Panel app.View Deal

Smart Tank 5101 Wireless: was $259.99 now $169.99
Refillable ink tank system with 2 years of ink included in the box, print, scan, and copy functionality, and wireless connectivity over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. Mobile printing supported through the HP Smart app.View Deal

Price Context & Historical Value

A $70.99 discount off $149.99 works out to a substantial 47 percent off, one of the larger cuts we've seen on a Canon Pixma model. Over Black Friday, it dropped to an all-time low of $64, but the general price for most of the year fluctuates between $100 and $140. So, this current discount makes this a genuinely strong back-to-school price point for an inkjet printer.

If you want to save on other units, see our round-up of this week's best printer deals.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Canon PIXMA TS6520 if...

You need a reliable, no-frills printer for school assignments and home use, you print double-sided documents often and want automatic duplexing, or you want a compact printer that doesn't take over your desk.

❌ Skip the Canon PIXMA TS6520 if...

You need an automatic document feeder for scanning multi-page documents, you print high volumes regularly and want a refillable ink tank system, or you're looking for a printer we've tested hands-on.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

We haven't reviewed this specific printer hands-on, so this recommendation leans on Canon's general reputation with the Pixma line rather than direct testing.

Like most inkjet printers, ongoing cartridge costs are worth factoring in if you print often. It also lacks an automatic document feeder (ADF), so scanning or copying multi-page documents means feeding them in one at a time.

No ADF is unlikely to be an issue for most home and student printing - we expect that feature on printers for office work and business, but it's worth mentioning.

• See all printer deals at Amazon.

In my opinion, 4K Blu-ray is easily the best way to view a movie at home. It delivers unmatched picture quality that will give the best TVs a chance to shine, along with uncompressed audio that, when played through one of the best soundbars or a full surround system, is unbeatable.

Since I started testing 4K Blu-ray for TechRadar back in November 2024 as part of the Blu-ray Bounty (where we test the latest 4K releases from each month), I’ve come to appreciate the format even more, and I've even become a fan and collector during that time. 4K Blu-ray is also a staple of my AV testing, as it uses that exceptional picture and audio I mentioned to really push AV equipment to its limits.

I’ve spoken before about my favorite discs of classic movies, as I believe 4K Blu-ray has worked wonders for some older titles. But in recent months, there’s been a few new discs that have impressed me in one area in particular: color. I’ve tested two discs in the last few weeks alone that have entered my testing disc rotation, so I thought I’d pick my top five 4K Blu-rays for color that I’ve tried out as part of the Blu-ray Bounty.

Speed Racer (2008) (Warner Bros.)

(Image credit: Warner Bros. / Future )

Based on the 1967 animated TV show of the same name, Speed Racer follows the story of a young man called Speed Racer (Emile Hersch), a racecar driver who follows his deceased older brother’s career and vies to become a champion. After he chooses to stay with his family’s racer company, Racer Motors, instead of joining the Royalton Industries team, he becomes a target. The movie also stars John Goodman, Susan Sarandon and Christina Ricci.

From the moment I fired up Speed Racer, I was amazed by the sheer brilliance of its colors, which practically explode on screen. Throughout the movie, there’s plenty of bold, vibrant tones that really show off your TV’s color reproduction. As the Racer family eat breakfast after the opening race, the bright orange walls, green furnishings and pink details all pop on screen. Even people’s clothes have an almost oversaturated, bright look to them than when I watched on the LG G6, one of 2026’s best OLED TVs, showing real vibrancy.

Of course, there’s the colors around the racetrack itself too. From the bright, neon advertisements to the candy-colored outfits and car decor, if your TV has good HDR peak brightness, you’ll be rewarded with punchy highlights that really dazzle on screen. The disc supports Dolby Vision, and if your TV supports it, you’ll enjoy even more vibrant colors. This really is a reference quality disc.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (Universal Pictures)

(Image credit: Nintendo / Universal Pictures / Future )

Sequel to 2023’s The Super Mario Bros Movie, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie follows Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and Toad as they attempt to rescue Princess Rosalina from the clutches of Bowser Jr. The voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Anya-Taylor Joy, Charlie Day and Jack Black.

Animated movies often deliver striking, eye-catching colors, but I was floored by how good The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s colors were. It starts in the very opening scene with the Lumas. As the Lumas themselves are all a variety of vivid colors, including red, green, blue and gold, they really show the 4K disc’s superb clarity from the get-go.

There’s plenty of natural color too, particularly in Mario and Luigi’s overalls, which are the most toned down, lifelike colors throughout the movie. Scenes of space show gorgeous pink, purple and blue hues that balance that are both nicely saturated and rich, and even fire has plenty of dazzle that, on the right screen, can also look realistic. It helps that the movie has crisp textures and details, but the color is what really shows off this disc.

Wicked (Universal Pictures)

(Image credit: Universal Pictures / Future )

Wicked, based on the musical of the same name, is a re-imagining of the events of The Wizard of Oz. It follows the story of how Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West), played by Cynthia Erivo, and Glinda (the Good Witch of the North), played by Ariana Grande, strike up an unlikely friendship while at the Shiz academy.

When I first tested this disc as part of the March 2025 Blu-ray Bounty, I was impressed with its color reproduction. While I expected dynamic, lively colors, due to the setting of Oz, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the 4K disc struck the balance between vivid and true-to-life. Elphaba’s green skin, although not in itself ‘realistic’, looks believable and lifelike. Glinda’s bright, pink outfits really pop on screen, but again look natural.

One scene I frequently use in my TV testing is where Elphaba stands under a tree with pink flowers. On the right TV, this scene can really show off a TV’s colors, thanks to the vibrant pink flowers, Elphaba’s green skin and even the blue detail on the decor of the school walls. Even if a TV doesn’t have the strongest color reproduction, the scene can still look good: it just won’t have that wow-factor that does the 4K disc justice.

The Sound of Music (Disney)

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Future )

One of cinema’s most iconic musicals, The Sound of Music, based on the 1959 stage musical of the same name, tells the story of a nun Maria (Julie Andrews) who is assigned as the nanny for the Von Trapp family children during wartime Austria. The movie won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

I’ve always been amazed about what 4K Blu-ray can do for older movies, and The Sound of Music is one of my chosen showcases for this. Not only is the restored detail exceptional, but the movie’s colors are a sight to behold. My reference scene from this disc is when Maria and the children are at a market. In front of them are various fruits, mainly yellow, orange and red, that on the 4K disc practically shimmer on screen. But like Wicked, these colors also appear natural at the same time.

Throughout the movie, many scenes of the Austrian landscape also really showcase the bold, engaging color profile that the 4K disc can show on the right screen. The green grass, gorgeous blue sky and the white snow-capped mountains all pop, and if your TV can replicate the finest details, individual shades within these large colorful areas look exceptional. This is one of the best 4K discs of an older movie I’ve seen, and its colors are a big reason for that.

The Wild Robot (Universal Pictures)

(Image credit: Universal Pictures / Future )

Based on the 2016 novel of the same name, The Wild Robot follows Roz, a robot sent to gather data on wildlife. Roz, who is abandoned, must adapt to her surroundings, where she becomes the surprise adopter of a wild goose. The movie stars Luipta Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor and Mark Hammil among its all-star cast.

While a lot of animation, such as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie higher up this list, can opt for vibrant, saturated colors, some animated movies go for a more natural color profile. The Wild Robot is one of the best examples I’ve seen of this. Using a beautiful animation style, which looks like a watercolor painting, the 4K disc is truly stunning. Colors are vibrant, but also true to the watercolor aesthetic of the movie and really do look like a real-life painting.

There are tons of scenes to choose from here, but the opening sequences where Roz first encounters nature are the best. The green trees and fields look superb, appearing both realistic and bright, and as Roz touches a group of yellow butterflies, the screen is filled with beautiful, vivid color that can really glisten on the right TVs. There’s even excellent detail within the colors of different creature’s fur, with different shades appearing nuanced and refined. I’ve seen numerous animated 4K Blu-rays, and this is one of the very best looking around.

When the news reached my ears that Aldi was launching a £60 "Dyson rival" stick vacuum cleaner, my heart sank a bit. After two years of reviewing stick vacuums, one of the biggest things I learned is that ultra-cheap vacuums are almost always a big old waste of money.

My rule of thumb with vacuums is that the absolute cheapest you can go is around £150. Listen, I'm sorry. I know that's still a decent chunk of change, and especially for a gadget that no one really enjoys using. But if you want a vacuum that's going to do more than gently brush your carpet while emitting a light breeze of suction, you'll need to absorb the cost.

Below, I've rounded up my top affordable stick vacuum picks. My #1 choice is the Dreame R20, which sits right at the top of our best budget vacuum ranking and delivers very capable cleaning, a lightweight and maneuverable build, and some bonus advanced features, all for an extremely reasonable price. Shark is also a solid brand to look at — its range is sprawling, and prices fluctuate regularly, but it rarely disappoints on performance, and there's usually a discounted option in the lineup that's worth snapping up.

Read on for 6 budget vacuum cleaners I'd buy instead of Aldi's newest option. Or, if you're interested in how these picks compare on the wider market, head to my general best cordless vacuum guide.

Brilliant budget vacs

Dreame R20 cordless vacuum

Read our full review

Pros

• Lightweight and manoeuvrable
• Excellent suction performance
• Good selection of tools
• Exceptional battery life
• Very competitive price point

Cons

• Power trigger is over sensitive
• Slightly annoying whiney noise in use
• No low-power mode

Dyson V8 cordless vacuum

Read our full review

Pros

• Affordable for a Dyson
• Versatile 2-in-1 design
• Well-designed
• Useful attachments
• Still impressive suction

Cons

• Long recharge time
• Small bin
• Not as powerful as newer models
• Lacks some useful features

Ultenic U16 Flex Cordless Stick Vacuum

Read our full review

Shark Corded Stick Vacuum Cleaner, HZ500UK

Shark Clean & Empty Cordless Vacuum BU3521UKTSB

Shark Stratos Cordless Pet Pro IZ402UKTSB

• Google is rolling out a new Gemini for Home update to fix voice commands for Spotify
• The company is also fixing message broadcasting and smart light controls
• Despite the upgrades, users are criticizing Google for not fixing the issues they've been experiencing for a while

The transition to Gemini has been rough — even Google knows that, but the latest Google Home update aims to tackle a handful of pain points with voice commands.

In an announcement issued yesterday (August 20), Google shared three fixes coming to the Gemini for Home voice assistant, which is still in early access. Additionally, features in the Google Home app are also tipped to get a glow-up.

The first voice command fix is for Spotify requests, which Google says has been improved to better recognize the artists, songs, and playlists you ask your Google smart speaker to play. More often than not, Gemini for Home has struggled to register commands when you ask it to launch certain playlists, while other voice commands have been interpreted as music requests.

Now, you can get your smart hub to play specific personal playlists, such as your Liked songs, and it will produce smoother results, but Google adds that Personal Results need to be enabled to request things like Liked songs and personal playlists.

As well as Spotify improvements, Google says it’s updated message broadcasting, which now works as a two-step process. The first step requires you to say ‘Hey Google, broadcast message’, and after a short wait, you can follow up with your message as a second command. Previously, you had to broadcast your message in one long voice request, so this fix removes the chance of miscommunication.

Lastly, Google is letting you be even more precise with adjusting the lighting in your home. The Gemini for Home update now lets you set your smart lights to a specific color temperature to create the perfect ambiance for a movie night or an evening soiree with friends. You can try saying, ‘Hey Google, make the living room lights 2700 kelvins,’ and your lights will change accordingly.

Useful upgrades, but there’s more to be done

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

Google began phasing out the old Google Assistant across its ecosystem of devices in 2025, and it will be shut down for good on Android and Wear OS devices on September 4 in favor of Gemini. The same goes for smart home devices, but the switch to Gemini for Home has been far from smooth.

Though the Spotify fixes and other voice request updates are welcomed solutions, user have called Google out for glossing over the main issues that have been plaguing their experiences, and there’s still a lot more work to be done to fix surface-level features.

Redditors who are also long-time Google Home users have shared their struggles with the transition; one user says, ‘the move to Gemini has been rough for us,’ recalling that basic household commands such as setting alarms are still hit-or-miss for them. ‘I just hope this all gets fixed soon,’ they added.

Comment from r/googlehome

Luckily, they’re not the only one riding the struggle bus. Another user says they’re still experiencing issues with creating and scheduling basic automations for their thermostat, while a user with multiple Google devices says that Gemini is still unable to answer simple questions like ‘how long to cook a sweet potato’ — despite resetting their devices four times.

Not all the best smart speakers are perfect, but the rising reports of Gemini for Home’s ill performance are worrying for the future of Google’s smart home ecosystem. The updates are rolling out at too slow a pace, and users are already starting to lose trust.