Technology

• Cristiano Ronaldo has unveiled his new performance and recovery line
• AVA is a series of products designed to aid athletes in training and recovery
• Products include compression boots, massage guns, and LED light-therapy boots

Global soccer sensation Cristiano Ronaldo has unveiled a new line of recovery and fitness products under his new brand AVA, Advanced Recovery For Athletes.

The venture is a partnership between CR7 and Brazilian outfit Avanutri. AVA's website says its lineup is based on "Experience, in-depth knowledge of needs, and a tireless desire to innovate," and offers "cutting-edge technology in physical recovery."

So what exactly can you buy from Ronaldo's new lineup, and is it any good?

Cristiano Ronaldo's recovery line

(Image credit: AVa )

As you can see on AVA's website, there's a wide range of products including some pretty weird and wonderful stuff. There's home workout gear that can be filled with water for custom weight and strength training during workouts. There's also a slew of fairly generic-looking massage guns with prices to match the best massage guns on the market and accessories like a $150 backpack and $50 compression socks.

My eyebrows were probably raised the highest by the $1,000 inflatable bucket oval ice bath you could definitely get on Amazon for less than $100, but there's also some cool and interesting stuff too.

I'm a recent leg-compression convert, and AVA is offering its own impressive-looking set for muscle recovery and circulation. More impressive still is the red LED technology, including the Deep Light, which can emit LED light to almost any body part to aid recovery, and reduce pain, swelling, and aches.

The coup de grace is a $3,500 pair of LedBoots, compression-looking sleeves that use "photobiomodulation" to accelerate muscle recovery, improve tissue oxygenation, and more.

LED and red-light recovery is a newer, emerging technology that could take off in 2025. Cryotherapy – using ice for recovery – is much more well-established, so if you still think the old ways are the best you can grab a $5,700 pair of Cryo Sport boots that pump the cooling air from an ice reservoir around your legs to aid recovery. Propped up on your $70 inflatable cushion, of course. You can check out AVA's range for yourself on its website.

You may also like

• Ublives' SoleFlux Relax massage boots have convinced me of the benefits of leg compression
• I tried Therabody’s self-massage smart pants to get me ready for the London Marathon
• This Theragun for the face is the all-in-one skincare tool I never knew I needed

• MSI's new Claw 8 AI+ handheld gaming PC surpasses ROG Ally X at 17W
• This comes from MSI's benchmarks across a total of 22 games
• It will launch on January 15th, with pre-orders available now

If it wasn't evident already, the handheld gaming PC scene is constantly shifting with new additions from the likes of Asus and Lenovo - and now, the upcoming MSI Claw 8 AI+'s performance has reportedly surpassed the Asus ROG Ally X's across multiple games.

Highlighted by Wccftech, MSI has released benchmarks of the Claw 8 AI+ pictured below, which reveal the new handheld performing 20% faster than the Asus ROG Ally X at 17W TDP - this is most notable in titles such as Metro 2033 with the Ally X's 44 frames per second compared to the Claw 8 AI+'s 94 at 1080p low graphics settings.

MSI's new device is now available for pre-order for $899.99 at Best Buy using Intel's Series 2 Ultra 7 258V processor, packing 8 GPU cores and an 80Wh battery just like the ROG Ally X (uses the Z1 Extreme APU). With an 8-inch 1200p VRR display, it's also expected to be superior to the Ally X's 7-inch 1080p VRR screen - this will edge closer to the Lenovo Legion Go S and its 8-inch screen based on leaked render images. UK and AU pricing has not yet been released (nor any actual indication it'll be available in those regions), but that price above roughly converts to £705 / AU$1,415.

Ignore the horrible Claw logo, but pay attention to those stats. (Image credit: ETA Prime) What's next for Asus after the ROG Ally X?

If the benchmarks shared by MSI prove to be accurate once gamers get their hands on the Claw 8 AI+, then it's a no-brainer move for most - while the Asus' ROG Ally X does a fantastic job at providing better battery life and performance than its predecessor and most other handhelds, the Claw 8 AI+ is promising both up against the Ally X at a low 17W TDP (adhering to long-lasting battery life).

There's been radio silence regarding Ally X's successor, with little to no rumors surrounding its existence. Considering the reported leap in performance from MSI with its new device, Asus will have to come out swinging - I fully expect it to do so, if rumors of the Z2 Extreme hold any truth.

You might also like...

• AMD Strix Halo leak suggests chips are imminent, but gives me a couple of reasons to worry about the flagship laptop CPU
• Nvidia’s rumored CPU could pack integrated GPU to rival RTX 4070 mobile – should AMD and Intel start to worry now?
• We could be seeing a Lenovo Legion Go successor soon, if the Ryzen Z2 rumors and price drop are anything to go by

• Ivanti finds 10/10 flaw in the Cloud Services Appliance
• It allows hackers to gain administrative privileges
• The bug was fixed in version 5.0.3, with users urged to update now

Ivanti is warning customers an older version of its Cloud Services Appliance (CSA) solution was found vulnerable to a maximum-severity (10/10) security vulnerability, and has urged them to upgrade to the newest version as soon as possible.

The critical flaw is described as an authentication bypass in the admin web console version CSA 5.0.2, and could allow remote, unauthenticated attackers to gain administrative privileges.

The bug, tracked as CVE-2024-11639, was given the maximum severity score since it does not require any user interaction to be abused, whatsoever.

To address the flaw, users should upgrade their appliances to version 5.0.3 - but fortunately there is still no evidence of abuse in the wild.

No evidence of abuse - yet

"We are not aware of any customers being exploited by these vulnerabilities prior to public disclosure. These vulnerabilities were disclosed through our responsible disclosure program," Ivanti noted, adding that a PoC was not yet published anywhere. "Currently, there is no known public exploitation of these vulnerabilities that could be used to provide a list of indicators of compromise."

If history is any teacher, though, critical CSA vulnerabilities end up getting exploited sooner or later.

In late September 2024, it was reported that a critical path traversal vulnerability in CSA was being actively exploited in the wild to grant access to restricted product functionalities. The bug was even added to CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. It was fixed with version 5.0.

Ivanti CSA is a platform that provides cloud-based solutions for security, automation, and operations. It integrates Ivanti’s various IT management capabilities into an all-encompassing cloud environment. The appliance allows businesses to streamline their IT operations, offering features such as endpoint management, patch management, software distribution, and vulnerability scanning in a cloud-based architecture.

Via BleepingComputer

You might also like

• Critical Ivanti Cloud Service Appliance flaw exploited in the wild
• Here's a list of the best antivirus
• These are the best endpoint protection tools right now

• Google has announced its 12 favorite Chrome Extensions of 2024
• There are extensions for productivity, shopping, and more
• It even recommends a fun browser game

Following Google’s November announcement of its picks for the best Android apps of 2024, the company has now revealed its 12 picks for the top Chrome Extensions of 2024. All of which promise to improve your internet browsing experience with a diverse suite of free upgrades.

The Todoist for Chrome and Evernote Web Clipper make it easier to access your to-do list and virtual notebook from your browser to easily mark off objectives or create new ones with links to sites you might want to revisit later.

Meanwhile, Momentum and Stylish aim to give you more control over your browser's appearance and function. Momentum is designed to keep you focused on your key tasks with a streamlined design, daily inspiration via quotes and images, objective reminders, and website blockers to prevent you from booting up distractions. In contrast, Stylish offers thousands of custom website themes so you can alter how your Chrome browsing experience looks across the web.

If your travels take you to YouTube or other media sites, then these next two will be great pick-ups. Turn Off the Lights turns your Chrome browser into a cinema-like experience by dimming the parts of the webpage that aren’t the video you’re playing so you can focus on the clip, and Volume Master offers greater volume control. It adds voice boost and bass boost options, as well as the ability to turn your volume up to 600%.

Find shopping deals, and improve your productivity

Starting off the back half of the list are two apps that seem perfect for shoppers. Keepa lets you easily track Amazon price history for the stuff it sells, so if you’ve ever wanted to see if an item you’re about to buy has ever been cheaper (and if it’s worth waiting for sale) or if a discount is as good as Amazon says this could be the one for you. CouponBirds is a free coupon-finding app that could help you save money wherever you shop.

If productivity is more your thing, then you have Text Blaze, which lets you set up typing shortcuts and document templates to make your repetitive writing tasks pass by more quickly.

You can also consider Bardeen, which leverages AI to help you create automated workflows across multiple sites and Google apps, and Immersive Translate, which can automatically translate documents, pages, and videos and boasts useful tools like bilingual reading, which shows the translation next to the original words.

Lastly, we have Ice Dodo, a simple yet addictive 3D parkour game you can quickly access from your extension toolbar.

If any of these extensions have tickled your fancy, you can head to the Chrome Store to download them or learn more about them.

You might also like

• The Google Pixel 7 and other older Pixels will now get two extra years of updates
• Chrome could revolutionize search on PC with a big Google Lens upgrade
• Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards 2024 winners announced

The long-awaited adaptation of García Márquez's classic novel hits Netflix.

If you've been chasing an easy way to overheat, this click-together infrared sauna is easy to set up and works great.

New inflation data released today could help mortgage refinance rates move even lower by the end of 2024.

Just about three weeks after Apple revealed the 45 finalists in its 2024 App Store Awards, it’s time to unveil the best of the best. That’s right – Apple just announced the 2024 App Store Award winners, and there are 17 of them, including the best apps and games for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and the Apple Vision Pro. Additionally, six apps are walking away as Cultural Impact winners.

Many big names and smaller titles have been chosen to receive the highest honor for an app from Apple. The winners walk away with a hefty – trust us, we briefly held one – aluminum, bright blue App of the Year award engraved with the app's name. It’s roughly the size of an oversized Mac Mini.

We’re sharing a few of our favorites across categories and the full list of winners. But as you might expect, these apps are definitely worth a download, considering Apple’s deemed them to be its 2024 App Store Award Winners.

2024 App Store Award Winners – the full list

• iPhone App of the Year: Kino
• iPhone Game of the Year: AFK Journey
• iPad App of the Year: Moises
• iPad Game of the Year: Squad Busters
• Mac App of the Year: Adobe Lightroom
• Mac Game of the Year: Thank Goodness You're Here!
• Apple Vision Pro App of the Year: What If...? An Immersive Story
• Apple Vision Pro Game of the Year: THRASHER: Arcade Odyssey
• Apple Watch App of the Year: Lumy
• Apple TV App of the Year: F1 TV
• Apple Arcade Game of the Year: Balatro+
• Cultural Impact Winners: Oko, EF Hello, DailyArt, NYT Games, The Wreck, and Do You Really Want to Know? 2

(Image credit: Kino)

You'll likely know the makers of Kino, aka Lux Optics, for their popular camera app Halide, but this one is all about video recording and even packs in support for Apple's Log Recording standard.

Kino is like a Halide for video, but is instead designed for beginners as well as enthusiasts. You can shoot 'cinematic' video – which covers color, tone and motion – by quickly applying what Kino's makes call an 'instant grade'. You can choose from one of many grades created by artists, or instead go into full manual mode with Apple ProRes and tweak settings like frame-rates, shutter speed and more.

As is the theme with most year-end lists, AI is involved here and likely best represented via the iPad App of the Year, Moises. The name is a subtle pun at its ability to separate sounds on a track, and that makes sense as it's for musicians and producers. You can either record sessions within the app or upload files into Moises to have its AI models split instruments, including vocals, on a given track, automatically add an approximately timed metronome, or even change the key.

It's pretty neat, and in a quick demo where we did not sing or play an instrument, it did work quite well on a 13-inch iPad Pro via the built-in microphones. From a generative AI standpoint, a future update will allow it to automatically play on a track, much like session players within Logic Pro for iPad. Similarly, Adobe Lightroom – the 2024 Mac App of the Year – boasts several AI features and runs well on any M-series-powered Mac.

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

2024 is also the first year that Apple Vision Pro apps are included in the App Store Awards, and we can't agree more with What If...? – An Immersive Story getting the top brass for Apple's spatial computer.

In our hands-on with the story that you basically get immersed in and play through, we called it the "most fun [we’ve] had on the device" and a taste of future impactful, immersive content that would arrive. And if you have a Vision Pro, here is a friendly reminder that this experience is free and a blast.

Of course, considering so many people play the Wordle daily – including TechRadar's Global Editor-in-Chief Marc McLaren – it clearly has had an impact on our culture, and the NYT Games app is an excellently-designed app that not only lets you easily play each title but can also introduce you to other titles you might not have tried – maybe give Connections or Strands a try?

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Oko, another one of the cultural impact winners, is super impressive and a key tool for accessibility, as it uses an AI model layered on top of the iPhone's camera to help folks with low vision or who are blind safely navigate streets. It's quite impressive and shows just how impactful an application can truly be.

While these are only a few of the 17 total apps getting the highest honor from the App Store, all of these that made the list are likely worth a try. And that's the case whether you've had an iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, iPad, Apple Vision Pro, or Apple TV for a while or are maybe getting one – or hoping to get one – this holiday season. Apple's 2024 App App Store Award Winners list is an excellent place to start for what to download first.

You might also like

• Spotify Wrapped 2024 not working? Try these 3 fixes to help it show up
• Marvel’s first immersive story for the Apple Vision Pro is the most fun I’ve had on the device
• Apple iPhone 16 review: elevating the base to new heights

It's possible you may have expired COVID-19 test kits that have had their shelf life extended in your home.

• Xbox has announced a new partnership with Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler
• He will wear a shirt with Xbox branding throughout the PDC World Darts Championship
• His performance will also unlock community rewards

Xbox has announced a new partnership with professional darts player Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler ahead of the PDC World Darts Championship. The Championship will take place in Alexandra Palace, London from December 15, 2024, to January 3, 2025.

As part of the partnership, Littler will wear a matching shirt featuring the logos of both Xbox and the Score More with Xbox campaign. For those planning on tuning in, the stakes will be even higher than usual as his performance will be directly tied to some community rewards.

Every 180 score, nine-dart finish, or winning match throughout the Championship will increase the number of goodies up for grabs. Prizes include digital copies of EA Sports FC 25, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions, EA Sports FC 25 Points for in-game purchases, and a custom Xbox Series S console and Xbox Wireless Controller.

A new trailer has been released to introduce the partnership, opening with Littler crashing into the earth as a giant Xbox green comet. It gives us a small peek at the custom console that will be up for grabs. It’s an Xbox Series S 1TB in the black colorway, although covered in a neon green graffiti-like design. The small ventilation grille has been decorated to look like a dartboard, which is admittedly quite a cool idea.

Littler, who reportedly loves Xbox gaming, said “I’m looking forward to partnering with Xbox and bringing two of my biggest passions together – darts and gaming. I hope I can provide fans with as many rewards as possible through my performances at the PDC World Darts Championship and help them score more with Xbox."

UK and Ireland Xbox gaming marketing lead Samuel Bateman added that “as a huge Xbox fan, it only made sense for us to team up with Luke and celebrate his love for gaming in a way that felt authentic. We’re wishing him every success in the upcoming PDC World Darts Championship and encourage fans in the UK to keep their eyes on Xbox UK socials to be in with a chance of winning some awesome prizes, all thanks to his extraordinary performances.”

The partnership is part of the Score More with Xbox program, which is intended to “make Xbox the most rewarding platform for all sports fans in the UK”.

You might also like...

• My Xbox Year in Review 2024 features bangers like Microsoft Flight Simulator and Rumble Roses XX, here's how to see yours
• Xbox announces a new Squid Game collaboration with limited edition controllers, Call of Duty event, and more
• Ubisoft has made its loyalty program even better - here’s how it could save you some cash

Ditch your old toothbrush and upgrade to the Philips Sonicare 4100 rechargeable electric toothbrush while it's at an all-time low of just $25.

Inflation rose as expected, the second month in a row it inched up.

Today's inflation data opens the door for another Fed rate cut this month. Here's what that means for mortgage rates.

• Resaearchers uncover large database during routine analysis of available indexes
• Database held sensitive data on more than 1.6 million Kapital customers
• Company is still yet to close the archive

A Mexican fintech startup has been found holding a large database full of sensitive customer data wide open on the internet, available for anyone who knows where to look.

Security researchers from Cybernews found the database in early September 2024 after a routine investigation of publicly available indexes.

The database, belonging to a company called Kapital, contained sensitive data on 1.6 million Mexicans, including voter IDs and selfies.

Database still available online

Mexico City-based Kapital specializes in serving small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) with limited access to bank credit, providing different financial services, such as credit cards, or loans, and counts roughly 80,000 customers in the region, according to Fintech Nexus.

“The documents are integral to voting, identity verification, and accessing various services. Their exposure compromises individuals' immediate safety and privacy and can have negative financial consequences," the Cybernews team noted in its writeup.

When it comes to financial consequences, it was explained that the data can be used in wire fraud, identity theft, and similar money-related crime: “Threat actors can easily obtain and misuse sensitive information for identity theft. Criminals might attempt to create fraudulent accounts or gain unauthorized access to existing ones,” the researchers warned. “Financial fraud could lead to substantial monetary loss and damaged credit scores.”

To make matters worse, Kapital doesn’t seem to care much. Cybernews claims to have reached out “dozens” of times, to no avail. The country’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) was also notified. However, by the time the researchers published their report, which was on November 6, the database was still up and running, three months after initial discovery.

Misconfigured cloud databases continue being one of the key causes of data breaches and leaks, exposing millions of customer records every month.

You might also like

• Hundreds of Google Firebase websites might have leaked data online
• Here's a list of the best antivirus
• These are the best endpoint protection tools right now

Duplicati, a free download on both macOS and Windows, puts encrypted backups of all your important files into the cloud service of your choice. Here’s how to use it.

• The new Audio Immerse aren't earbuds or plugs; they're ear reshapers
• Some music pros say they're amazing
• We… want to believe

Imagine a technology so amazing that it changed the way you hear the world. A technology so widely compatible that it upgrades not just headphones but hi-fi speakers and concert sound systems too. A technology so clever it makes the whole world sound better.

Imagine it costs about sixty bucks.

That's what Flare Audio is promising with its new Immerse product. Immerse looks like fancy earplugs or earbuds, but the product is neither of those things. It's "ear technology" that according to the firm changes the way your ears work.

Immerse comes with impressive endorsements. U2, Killers and NiN producer Flood says he's "finally heard the true sound of music", and he doesn't mean the movie.

Kiss and Eagles of Death Metal tour manager Steve Toth says the difference "is as subtle as a flying mallet". And Manic Street Preachers producer Dave Eringa says that your jaw will "hit the floor".

The sound of science? What's new?

(Image credit: Flare Audio)

Flare Audio's Immerse look like earbuds, but don't contain any electronics – instead, they apparently use "high-precision acoustic reflectors" to change the geometry of your ear canal and improve sound quality. But we've yet to try them to see if they live up to those claims.

So what does Immerse actually do? According to its creators, the enemy of sound quality is your ear. Because the insides of our ears are kinda shell-shaped, Flare says that they distort sound by at least 20 percent. That's due to something called HRTF, short for Head Related Transfer Function.

HRTF is a real thing, and it varies from person to person: it describes how multiple factors in your head – not just the shape of your ears but the size and shape of your sinuses, the density of your head and the shape of your oral cavity – affect the sound you hear. It's astonishingly complex, but Flare says it's got a one size fits all solution to that near-infinite variety.

According to the firm:

"the patented technology uses high-precision acoustic reflectors that ensure sound waves don’t distort as they enter our ears. Using Flare’s high precision, Mirror Image Sound™ technology, the result is the most detailed and immersive sound you can imagine, from any source."

I want to believe. I really do. But Flare has a bit of a track record with grand audio claims. As the Earjobs blog wrote about its high frequency-suppressing Calmer earplugs in 2021, "Flare Calmer is the most hyped personal hearing product ever. In the months leading up to release, there were rumors that it would cure tinnitus, solve sound sensitivity, and upgrade your ears a few thousand years ahead of evolution... Online, a lot of noise has been made about its potential as a cure for tinnitus, a solution for sensory processing or hypersensitivity, as well as a stress-mitigation device."

Flare is very careful not to claim that Calmer helps tinnitus on its website. But the marketing I, and others, saw on social media included testimonials saying exactly that: as Hearing Health Matters' Ben Thompson wrote, "In a sponsored Facebook ad from Flare Audio, the company that makes this product, they say that Calmer is an 'in-ear tech device to help some people reduce tinnitus and sound sensitivities.' They describe Calmer as a 'soft silicone in-ear waveguide that removes resonance from inside of our ears.'" Both Soundly.com and Hearing Health Matters concluded that for some people, Calmer could make tinnitus symptoms worse.

I don't doubt that Immerse will adjust the way music and other audio sounds; the same firm's Calmer product does that too. And I don't doubt that some people will like the results. But I'm taking the marketing with a very big pinch of salt, and you might want to see what the people on Audio Science Review's forum are saying about it.

You might also like

• The best headphones money can buy
• The best noise cancelling headphones
• The best earbuds

Get those curls and waves looking extra luscious with our favorite diffusers and diffuser attachments.

Be that cute couple or family who sends a Christmas card.

Fancy cocktail kits and subscriptions aim to teach basic -- and not-so-basic -- mixology skills to the masses via giftable boxes of specialty ingredients with recipes to shake and stir. Here's what I thought after a three-month trial run.

Are you ready for our 2024 list of the best gaming handhelds? From the Nintendo Switch OLED to the iPad Mini, what do you think is the top device?