Technology

Jeremy Allen White is swapping the kitchen for Tatooine as Disney casts him in the upcoming Star Wars movie The Mandalorian and Grogu. Directed by Jon Favreau and co-written with Lucasfilm creative director Dave Filoni, the movie will bring the characters of one of the best Disney Plus shows - The Mandalorian - to the big screen on May 22, 2026.

Following the success of his role in FX’s The Bear, White will be making his feature franchise debut in The Mandalorian and Grogu as the son of intergalactic crime boss Jabba the Hut. But whether or not he’ll be in human-form or voicing a CGI reptilian-like creature like his father is still in question.

According to Deadline, his role appears to be integral to the plot, starring alongside core cast members Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Last of Us) and Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Ghostbusters).

(Image credit: Disney)

When it comes to the movie's plot, details are still under wraps, however, Variety's report of White’s casting states that it “provides the first real glimpse for what could be in store for the titular bounty hunter”. In The Mandalorian series, its events take place following Jabba the Hut’s demise in The Return of the Jedi (1983) while miniseries The Book of Boba Fett delves into the underworld where its titular character fights for Jabba’s old territory. From Variety’s point of view, it hints at a possible return of Boba Fett in Favreau’s upcoming feature.

As it stands, neither Lucasfilm nor White have provided comment on the latest casting addition, nor have they spared any details regarding plot - despite the movie being announced at the D23 Expo 2024 back in August. If anything, we should give White the benefit of the doubt as he has been working non-stop since his Emmy win for his role as Carmy in one of the best Hulu shows, The Bear. Just yesterday (December 9) he received another acting nomination for the 2025 Golden Globes, all while filming for the upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere where he’s playing the role of Springsteen.

Since Disney Plus became the home of all things Star Wars, the franchise has been enriched with spin-off series one after the other – more recently Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. However The Mandalorian and Grogu marks the first feature movie in the franchise since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, which wasn’t a particularly well-received final insert to the franchise. Hopefully, Favreau and Filoni’s experience with creating successful Disney Plus series will be an advantage to the movie franchise’s next steps.

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The last Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S software update of 2024 is here, and this one is a doozy. Update v72 promises a suite of improvements to various features of your VR headset, as well as a massive upgrade to the Windows remote desktop feature that should make it easier than ever to bring your PC desktop to VR.

Let’s start with that headline feature: easier Windows 11 PC connections. Once you’ve followed the setup steps (we’ll run you through those in a second) Meta says you’ll just have to look at your Windows 11 PC and you’ll get a prompt to pair with your VR headset so you can more seamlessly start a virtual desktop session.

Now for the setup. To get started, boot up your PC running Windows 11 22H2 or later (after checking it meets the hardware requirements) and visit the Microsoft Store to download the Mixed Reality Link app, then set it up.

(Image credit: Meta)

Keeping your PC unlocked, boot up your Meta Quest 3 or 3S headset, open the Settings menu and look for Advanced settings; within this submenu, find and enable the 'Pair to PC with Microsoft Mixed Reality Link' experimental feature.

Your headset should then detect your PC automatically and show you a pairing prompt, but if it doesn’t you can pair the devices manually by opening your Quest headset’s Remote Desktop app and selecting 'Add a new device'. Once you’ve followed the prompts you’ll be paired – and in future you can pair your headset with this PC simply by looking at your PC and tapping the 'Connect' button above the keyboard, or using the Remote Desktop app.

I was put off the idea of working in VR after trying it back in 2023, but this update, and the improvements the Meta Quest 3 affords in terms of comfort and image quality over the Quest Pro, might convince we to give it another try.

Making your virtual life easier

Update v72’s other improvements aren’t as stand-out, but they will make various features more reliable or easier to use.

Helping with the improved productivity tool we highlighted above, v72 has made your Quest headset better at recognizing keyboards so you can use them in VR with the help of a 'dynamic passthrough window.'

Hand tracking 2.3 is rolling out as well; Meta promises it is more stable, accurate and easier to use than version 2.2, with it highlighting some of the improvements in a comparison video it has released:

Following the Instagram app for Meta Quest launch in October, Meta has now released Instagram Direct Messenger support for Quest – so you can access the Instagram messaging service within the VR app.

And if you’re looking for a VR post to share on Instagram, the new and improved Media Gallery app for Horizon OS promises to make it easier to browse your virtual snaps and screen recordings so you can find something to post.

Last but not least, live captions are coming to calls made via the People app, so people with hearing loss or who are hard of hearing can more easily communicate with friends via their Quest headset. To turn it on you can find it in either the Accessibility tab of the Horizon OS Settings menu, or in the Settings menu for the People app.

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• The long-rumored iPhone SE 4 could launch soon, according to new rumors
• LG Innotek has reportedly began production of camera modules for the new phone, which normally occurs three months before launch
• The new SE is also tipped to borrow the display from the iPhone 13

The long-rumored iPhone SE 4 may be right around the corner and pack a previously unexpected camera upgrade, if a new crop of rumors are to be believed.

According to Korean news outlet ETNEWS (via Google Translate), LG Innotek will supply both the rear single-lens camera module and front-facing selfie camera for the upcoming phone, and make use of previously used components to keep costs down.

The new SE having just one rear camera would be nothing new, but the report also suggests that this rear snapper will be a 48MP lens, in line with the main camera on the iPhone 14 Pro models and the entire iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 lineups. Should the report prove correct about the use of previously used components, this would likely be the exact same camera as found on these earlier phones.

We had previously expected the rumored new iPhone SE to ship with a 12MP single-lens rear camera, in line with the current third-generation model. However, the ETNEWS report suggests the new iPhone SE will feature the same 12MP selfie camera as the current model.

As BGR notes, a prior report from Korean news outlet Aju News suggests that LG typically supplies camera modules for phones around three months before release.

This would suggest a release date of March 2025 for the iPhone SE 4, which fits with the previous releases in the series, all of which were unveiled in March or April of their respective years.

The report also corroborates prior rumors concerning the display the iPhone SE 4 could ship with by suggesting the new phone will borrow the 6.1-inch LTPS OLED panel from the iPhone 13. This probably means a resolution of 1170 x 2532 and a refresh rate of 60Hz – pleasantly sharp, though most budget phones come with a 90Hz or even 120Hz refresh rate these days.

Apple has reportedly divided its orders for the new display between LG Innotek and Chinese manufacturer BOE, and the use of a previously-developed panel tracks with the component cost-cutting strategy suggested by ETNEWS.

Incidentally, the use of this display would almost definitely result in an iPhone 14-style form factor for the new phone, as has been previously suggested.

Apple has yet to reveal any official information about the iPhone SE 4, and likely won’t until the phone is ready for release.

My analysis

Hype for the iPhone SE 4 is heating up, and for good reason – if these types of rumors continue, we could be looking at one of the best cheap phones (and more importantly best-value phones) Apple has ever produced.

Apple's mobile camera systems are famous for their quality and point-and-shoot reliability, so fitting the cheapest phone in the lineup with a modernized 48MP camera would be a pro-consumer move by any measure.

For most people, this would offer more than enough photography capability – I mean, how many people really use their phone's ultra-wide camera anyway?

And even I, as a noted lover of ridiculously large phone camera systems, reckon I'd be happy with a single 48MP snapper in most situations.

As well as the iPhone 13's display, we expect to see the iPhone SE 4 ship with essentially identical specs to the iPhone 16, in order to support Apple Intelligence.

Think about it – a compact AI phone with a great camera looped into the Apple ecosystem, likely for less than $500 / £500 / AU$900? This coming year could see the iPhone SE become a real competitor, rather than just a blast of nostalgia.

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One of AMD’s incoming Strix Halo chips has been spotted in a benchmark for the first time, and this is the flagship APU in fact, indicating that as rumors suggest, these Ryzen laptop processors are nearing release.

VideoCardz noticed the Geekbench result for a 16-core (Zen 5) Strix Halo chip with Radeon 8060S integrated graphics.

The APU – which is AMD’s fancy name for an all-in-one processor with an integrated GPU and NPU – is called the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395, and is shown as boosting up to 5.1GHz.

As for the actual benchmark result, the test run is Vulkan performance, which interestingly is a graphics metric. However, the score of 67,004 is slower than expected – but there’s a reason for that, which I’ll discuss next.

(Image credit: Canva) Analysis: GPU performance and workstation-only worries

That’s a relatively disappointing score, because as VideoCardz points out, the RX 7600 desktop graphics card hits about 90,000 in that test. The hope is that the Radeon 8060S integrated GPU in the Strix Halo flagship will be able to get a lot closer to the RX 7600 than this, based on prerelease hype – which has compared it to an Nvidia RTX 4070 discrete mobile GPU in the past – and it might well do, in the end.

Remember, this is still an early sample chip, so the finished Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395 will undoubtedly run faster. It’s too soon to make judgments, especially based on just a single leak (from Geekbench – which is hardly the first pick for graphics benchmarks, of course).

This leak is more about the fact that the Strix Halo flagship is floating around being tested, rather than the actual result itself. It’s another hefty hint that the rumors of AMD launching the new range of APUs at CES 2025 are correct.

However, perhaps everyone should temper their expectations a little in some respects. Yes, the Strix Halo flagship’s Radeon GPU has 40 CUs and is based on a refreshed take of RDNA 3 (dubbed RDNA 3.5) – compared to 32 CUs and vanilla RDNA 3 in the RX 7600 – but the latter is still a discrete desktop GPU, and integrated solutions are clearly more limited in terms of design and thermals.

We will just have to see how performance shakes out when it comes to reviews, of course, or indeed further leaks. What I’m betting we can all agree on, most likely, is that name, which seems very clunky – but it also carries another worrying hint.

The ‘Pro’ in the name (Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395) indicates that this is a workstation part. Now, there could be a Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (non-Pro) counterpart for thin-and-light gaming laptops that come with the same CPU and GPU configuration – or, as previous chatter on the grapevine has suggested, AMD might reserve this flagship APU for workstations only.

Gaming notebooks may only get a lesser Ryzen AI Max+ chip, and this is a hint that this is the case, albeit an admittedly thin one. Again, all we can do is keep watching the leaks, but we’ll likely find out at CES 2025 with that big Strix Halo reveal: will it be workstation-only, or not, for the flagship?

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• Amazon and Intuit team up to integrate sales data directly into QuickBooks
• Mid-2025 launch will initially only be available to US sellers
• The company claims to have supported millions of independent sellers

Amazon has announced plans to team up with accounting software giant Intuit to make it even easier for sellers on its platform to keep track of their finances thanks to some handy integrations between the two services.

From the middle of 2025, sellers in the US will be able to integrate their sales and inventory data straight into Intuit QuickBooks through Amazon Seller Central in order to simplify and streamline their bookkeeping.

The partnership between the two companies will also give Amazon sellers access to QuickBooks’ accounting tools in order to share real-time insights into profitability, cash flow and tax estimates.

Amazon chooses QuickBooks as its preferred partner

The ecommerce giant shared: “The expanded Amazon-Intuit partnership will give sellers the ability to bring their existing Amazon data into Intuit products and experiences—ultimately making it easier for sellers to understand and optimize profitability, manage cash flow, access capital, and simplify taxes with confidence.”

Amazon acknowledged that Intuit has been an important customer of its cloud business, AWS, since 2013.

“Together with Intuit, we’re working to equip our selling partners with additional financial tools and access to capital to help them scale efficiently," AWS VP of Worldwide Selling Partner Services Dharmesh Mehta added.

Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi boasted “businesses that use Intuit’s QuickBooks platform have a nearly 20-point higher success rate than those who don’t.” AI enhancements to its platform have also helped to improve the experience.

The financial impact of the collaboration remains undisclosed, however given the companies’ histories, it’s possible that a two-way deal will see both Amazon and Intuit benefit from the collaboration.

More broadly, the company claims to have contributed more than $1 trillion to the entire US GDP since 2010, including supporting 1.8 million jobs exclusively for independent sellers using the platform.

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• Electrica Group said it recently discovered, and remedied, a cyberattack
• Romanian Energy Ministry confirms ransomware attack
• No groups have yet claimed responsibility for the attack

Romanian energy supplier Electrica Group has confirmed suffering a cyberattack in the latest incident to hit major institutions in the country.

In a press announcement, the company said it was investigating an “ongoing cyberattack” together with the local law enforcement.

The news comes days after Romania's government was forced to cancel elections after its systems were allegedly targeted over 85,000 times by cyberattacks.

Confirmation from the Energy Ministry

"We want to emphasize that the Group's critical systems have not been affected, and any disruptions in interaction with our consumers are the result of protective measures for internal infrastructure," Electrica CEO Alexandru Aurelian Chirita was cited saying.

"These measures are temporary and are designed to ensure the security of the entire system. Our primary priority remains maintaining continuity in the distribution and supply of electricity, as well as protecting the managed personal data and the operational data of all entities within Electrica Group."

The company did not detail the attack, its nature, goal, or the identity of the threat actors, however media were notified by the country’s Ministry of Energy that this was most likely, a ransomware attack.

"Initial investigations show that it was a ransomware attack. The network equipment has been removed and is not affected," Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja allegedly said. "The SCADA systems of Distributie Electric Power Romania are fully functional and insulated, and our technical teams, together with our security partners, are already on the ground to eliminate any risk."

Electrica Group is one of Romania's largest energy companies, focusing on electricity distribution, supply, and renewable energy production. It serves approximately 3.93 million households across 18 counties, covering about 40.7% of Romania's territory.

In 2023, the company reported revenues of RON 13.33 billion ($2.93 billion), slightly lower than the previous year due to decreased electricity consumption nationally. The group is actively investing in modernizing its network, integrating renewable energy, and improving operational efficiency, with projects worth over 777 million RON completed last year.

Via BleepingComputer

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• We now have the full specs of the forthcoming Boox Note Max
• The E Ink device will have an A4-sized, 13.3-inch screen
• The Note Max is expected to launch early next year

Onyx has been teasing a new Boox Note Max E Ink notebook for a couple of months now, and has just published the full specs of the device online – and based on the details listed here, it could be the note-taking slate I've been waiting a long time for.

As per the listing (via Notebookcheck), the device is 4.6 mm (0.18 inches) thin, and comes with an A4-sized, 13.3-inch HD E Ink Carta 1300 screen – it runs at a resolution of 3,200 x 2,400 pixels, which is a sharp 300 pixels-per-inch. The slate will support the Boox stylus touch, with 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity.

Under the hood we've got an unnamed 2.8GHz octa-core processor, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage – again, impressive for an e-paper tablet like this. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 are supported, and there are dual speakers and a microphone built in. The battery capacity is listed as 3,700mAh, and the weight as 615 grams (21.7 ounces).

On the software side, the tablet runs a modified version of Android 13, with support for third-party apps. Document types including EPUB, EPUB3, AZW3, CBR, CBZ, PDF, DOCX, PPTX, HTML and TXT can be viewed. The device can show PNG, JPG, BMP, and TIFF images, as well as play WAV and MP3 audio files.

The best Boox yet?

There's a lot you can do with the Boox Note Max (Image credit: Onyx)

While we can't fully judge the Boox Note Max until it's actually out, those specs suggest it'll have a strong claim for being one of the best devices of its type when it launches – and our ReMarkable 2 review and Kindle Scribe review will tell you all about the high bar that the new E Ink slate is going to have to reach.

As someone who's been looking for a device somewhere between a phone and a laptop – but without all the distractions of a Surface Pro or one of the best iPads – the Boox Note Max really appeals. From what we can tell so far, that screen is going to be a pleasure to use, in both its sharpness and responsiveness (though I would've liked a front light, too).

It's the versatility that really stands out here though: support for a wide range of e-book and document formats, and third-party Android apps. Looking at the promo imagery, I'll be able to load up the likes of Gmail, Trello, Evernote, and Notion, without worrying about more distracting apps or games.

The US price has been set at $649.99 (with a stylus), which is roughly £510 / €615 / AU$1,015 with a straight currency conversion (though UK buyers usually have to import Onyx products). As for a launch date, all we know is it will be sometime early in 2025.

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• GTA 6 is set to release in late 2025
• Publishers are reportedly avoiding announcing game releases for that time
• This is due to fears that the GTA 6 launch will negatively affect sales

Rockstar Games has previously confirmed that the highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to release in 'fall 2025.' Although there is no official date quite yet, we now know that this news still has had quite an impact on other publishers with companies desperate to avoid a release clash.

A recent Bloomberg article states that "anticipation is so high” for GTA 6 that “some competing game publishers are waiting as long as possible to commit to their release dates for the fall”. This is reportedly so that the publishers can know whether GTA 6 will actually hit its current release window and “keep their own games far, far away" if it does.

Given the huge amount of excitement surrounding GTA 6, it’s not difficult to imagine why. Its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto 5, released back in 2013 and now has sold roughly 200 million copies as of earlier this year - a figure that puts it right at the top of the list of the best-selling games of all time by most metrics.

The game also came bundled with a multiplayer component, Grand Theft Auto Online, which proved highly popular in its own right and rakes in millions of dollars in revenue each year. It’s not unreasonable to expect that GTA 6 will be just as successful, potentially sapping attention away from other games released around the same time and negatively impacting their sales.

So far we’ve only seen a single trailer for GTA 6, which gave us our first glimpse at its setting - the Miami-inspired fictionalized state of Leonida. According to previous leaks, the game will star two playable protagonists. In terms of platforms, we know that it’s coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

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• Cyberpunk 2077 is getting another major update soon
• Update 2.2's livestream is happening on December 10, 2024
• PS5 Pro support and New Game Plus have been ruled out

Surprise! Cyberpunk 2077 is getting yet another update, roughly a year after its last major patch dropped.

Update 2.2 was confirmed by the official Cyberpunk 2077 X / Twitter account. It'll be detailed in an upcoming REDstreams livestream happening later today (December 10) at 8am PST / 4pm GMT / 5pm CET. You can tune into the livestream as it happens over at CD Projekt Red's official Twitch and YouTube channels.

We're not really sure what to expect from Cyberpunk 2077's Update 2.2. Though we do know what not to expect. CD Projekt Red's global community director, Marcin Momot, took to X / Twitter to pour cold water on PS5 Pro support and New Game Plus rumors.

"A lot of questions about whether PS5 Pro support and NG+ are coming with Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 2.2," Momot wrote. "The answer is no. We do have some other cool stuff in the oven and we’ll talk about it tomorrow during the stream—we hope you’ll like it too!"

In fairness, the developer had already confirmed that PS5 Pro support would not be coming to Cyberpunk 2077. Similarly, New Game Plus would've been a nice-to-have, but it wouldn't really make sense for protagonist V to be kitted out with near-cyberpsycho levels of augmentation at the start of the game.

The good news is that we should expect more than a smattering of bug fixes given that Update 2.2 is having a whole livestream dedicated to it. Major updates prior to this have included apartments for V, vehicle combat, more driving activities and a tie-in quest with the brilliant Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime.

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