Technology

• Assassin's Creed Shadows has leaked one month ahead of its March release date
• Some players were able to get hold of eary copies that were being sold online
• Ubisoft has called the situation "unfortunate" and says any game footage being spread online doesn't represent the final product

Assassin's Creed Shadows has leaked one month ahead of its release after some players received physical copies early.

Earlier this week, it was reported (via VGC) that the upcoming Assassin's Creed title was already out in the wild after fans discovered some players were streaming the game and leaking certain elements online.

A Reddit post currently doing the rounds features screenshots of someone who was able to buy a physical PS5 copy of the game. They also offered proof of the game being downloaded on their system as well as several photos of them playing as one of the two playable protagonists, Naoe, alongside their current loadout and level.

The version the leaker owns is apparently "a much older build with none of the improvements added in from the delays".

It's not exactly clear how many copies were leaked, but it's claimed that some players were able to purchase copies online from third-party sources. One user in the same Reddit thread was able to provide a screenshot of a Facebook Marketplace listing, offering PS5 copies of the game for $100.

pic.twitter.com/Ignd2JZVpSFebruary 24, 2025

Ubisoft has since responded to the leaks and said that any footage shared online is not representative of the final product.

"We are aware players have accessed Assassin's Creed Shadows ahead of its official release," Ubisoft said in a statement on X / Twitter. "The development team is still working on patches to prepare the experience for launch and any footage shared online does not represent the final quality of the game.

"Leaks are unfortunate and can diminish the excitement for players. We kindly ask you not to spoil the experience for others. Thank you to our community for already taking steps to protect everyone from spoilers."

Assassin's Creed Shadows, which was originally supposed to launch on November 12, 2024, was once again delayed from its new February 14, 2025, release date in January.

The game will now launch on March 20, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

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• 54 hours of playback time via the charging case
• Bluetooth 5.4 (SBC and AAC) connectivity
• US pricing isn't confirmed but the previous model is $35

The Oppo Enco Air earbuds have been respectable budget-priced AirPods alternatives since the first generation shipped in 2021, and the latest generation follow in that tradition. They don't come with a big list of fancy features, but they're solid with exceptional battery life.

The battery in the charging case is a relatively large 560mAh, and according to Oppo that means you can get a total play time of 54 hours; just in the buds, battery life is still a huge 12 hours. And while there's no ANC or Hi-Res Audio support (which helps with the long battery life – though 12 hours is massive by any standard) the specification isn't bad for the price.

(Image credit: Oppo) Oppo Enco Air 4i: key features and pricing

The Enco Air 4i are IP55 rated for water and dust resistance and they come with Bluetooth 5.4 with relatively low latency: Oppo says that in gaming mode it's 47ms. It's important to note that while the Bluetooth version is the most recent it doesn't appear to come with the full set of audio codecs: the listed specifications only mention SBC and AAC.

The drivers are 12.4mm, slightly smaller than the 13.4mm ones in the 3i, and you can adjust the audio profile in-app with the 6-band graphic equalizer. There are built-in mics for calling, and with a weight of just 4.3g the buds should be comfortable for even long listening sessions.

We don't know the US, UK or Aus launch date yet but we do know that these earbuds are going to be extremely affordable: the Chinese price is 99 yuan, which is roughly $14. Of course there are currency differences, taxes and other factors that'll make them cost a bit more than that in the US, but probably not by a huge amount: the previous version, the Enco Air 3i earbuds, retail in the US for around $35.

We'll let you know when we hear more about their launch here, to challenge our picks of the best cheap earbuds.

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• Leaker Kosutami has claimed the AirTag 2 will launch in “May or June”
• That lines up with a similar claim from reporter Mark Gurman
• AirTag 2 could feature longer range and Vision Pro integration

Apple’s AirTag is a popular way to keep track of your valuables, yet it hasn’t been updated since it first launched in 2021. That drought could well come to an end this year, though, as a leaker has claimed a new version will launch in the next few months.

The information comes from leaker Kosutami, who said in a post on X that Apple plans to launch a next-generation AirTag in “May or June.” Kosutami has shared accurate information in the past, including that the iPhone 16 Pro would come with a battery encased in metal, but they’ve had some misses as well.

Still, their claim matches one made by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman in November 2024. At the time, Gurman said that Apple was planning to release a new AirTag “around the middle of next year,” with “next year” referring to 2025.

Kosutami’s prediction lines up with the one from Gurman, as May or June is roughly the middle of 2025. So with Android's Find My Device trackers starting to improve over the last six months, what can we expect from an AirTag 2?

What to expect from AirTag 2

(Image credit: Future)

If the AirTag 2 really is lined up for the middle of the year, it would make sense for Apple to reveal it at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). This event falls in June and frequently features product announcements, so it would make sense for Apple to include the new AirTag during the event.

The latest AirTag 2 rumors, from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, suggested that the tracker would “offer better range, bolster the onboard wireless chip, and improve privacy” compared to the first generation.

That wireless chip could be a second-generation Ultra Wideband number from Apple, while Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has claimed that the new AirTag could be integrated with the Vision Pro headset in some way. That wouldn't be a huge deal given the Vision Pro's widely-reported challenges, but we're certainly interested in the claims of improved range (which is currently between 10m-30m locally, or virtually unlimited if there's someone with an iPhone nearby).

With another leaker backing up Gurman and claiming the AirTag 2 is just a few months away from launch, it’s likely that we’ll start to see more leaks trickle out soon. If you're thinking of buying an AirTag, it might be wise to hold off for now – given a successor is likely only a few months away.

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The next big Netflix murder thriller that everyone's going to be talking about is Adolescence – a four-part show coming on March 13th, and the big selling point is that each episode was filmed in, and will be presented as, one unbroken take. Not a faux single take, like 1917, where lots of long takes are stitched together – actually all one take, is the promise.

Director Philip Barantini and actor Stephen Graham have form in this area, having done the same thing for the movie Boiling Point, and while that movie used the technique to wrap you in the intensity of the managed chaos of a restaurant kitchen, Adolescence will use it to take an unflinching look at the world of knife crime and toxic attitudes among teenagers.

It's to the show's credit that the trailer doesn't lean into the one-take premise at all, and simply looks utterly gripping and compelling.

The show follows the aftermath of a 13-year-old boy being accused of the murder of a girl who goes to his school. It'll explore what really happened, and why, as well as the aftermath among his family and the police detective leading the case.

Writer Jack Thorne told Deadline "The camera doesn’t blink in this show and by being unblinking it allows for a certain rawness and honesty… There are lots of ways of telling these stories and looking at knife crime but what we wanted to do is spend a lot of time thinking about our relationship with rage and talking about things that we struggle with as people. What has resulted is a piece that uses the technical to unlock the emotional."

There's the potential for some really interesting filmmaking to be explored, as Thorne further explained to Deadline: "The cinematographers thought a chase scene I had written would look like a computer game and instead I got this call from [Barantini] who said, ‘Imagine if the cameras could fly.’ So we strapped cameras to a drone that took off over traffic lights and then suddenly you’re at the murder scene. Emotionally it kicks you in the stomach."

It sounds like each episode will explore a different element of the story, which makes sense in terms of not being able to just cut across town to explore what someone else is up to.

I'm really looking forward to this one – its promise of exploring youth violence, rage, modern social pressures, and the influence of the 'manosphere' on teenagers, it could be a really impacting and timely thriller, as well as mind-blowing technical marvel. One of the best Netflix shows this year? We'll find out on March 13th, 2025.

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• Microsoft appears to be experimenting with ad-supported Office desktop apps
• They are limited in their functionality, and will require OneDrive syncing
• Word, Excel and PowerPoint could be going free

Microsoft appears to have released free versions of its core Office apps – Word, Excel and PowerPoint – although they are supported by ads and limited in their functionality.

The change was first spotted by Beebom, which revealed the free desktop apps show a persistent banner ad, as well as a 15-second video ad which plays “every few hours.”

However the company has already scrambled to clarify the launch is only a test, with a Microsoft spokesperson saying there were "no plans" for a wider launch.

Microsoft quietly launches ad-supported Office apps

“Microsoft has been conducting some limited testing,” a company spokesperson told PCWorld. “Currently, there are no plans to launch a free, ad-supported version of Microsoft Office desktop apps.”

Users looking to get access to the free office software will also notice that local file editing is not supported and that they’ll be guided to save files on OneDrive.

To access the free apps, users will need to skip the sign-in prompt and then agree to save their files in Microsoft’s cloud storage system OneDrive.

Being no-cost, these three free apps will be more limited in their functionality, lacking certain tools like Add-ins, Dictate, SmartArt, advanced formatting and Pivot Tables. The apps seem to plug a gap between the fully fledged desktop apps and the even more limited online web apps.

Beebom noted that for now at least, the free desktop apps are only available for Windows users, but they can still be used offline despite the requirement to save files in OneDrive.

Downloading the free apps is exactly the same as downloading the full apps, just that users will skip the sign-in stage that would otherwise get them access to all features.

In terms of availability, some users have reported not being able to access the free versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, suggesting it could be in a testing phase, which adds up given that Microsoft has not formally announced anything on the matter. Moreover, there’s no Mac equivalent (yet).

For context, Microsoft recently raised the prices of consumer 365 subscriptions, so this could be one of the ways it’s justifying the change. TechRadar Pro has asked Microsoft to confirm some details, but we did not get an immediate response.

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• The Future Games Show Spring Showcase will air on March 20, 2025
• Its hosts are set to be Jennifer English and Nolan North
• Expect announcements for over 40 games, including world premieres

There's some great news for those of you who love keeping up to date on the latest gaming announcements as the Future Games Show Spring Showcase is happening soon.

The event will be broadcast live on March 20, 2025 at 1pm PT / 4pm ET / 8pm GMT / 9pm CEST. You'll be able to watch it at a variety of websites too, including Twitch, YouTube, X / Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and with our friends over at GamesRadar.

The Future Games Show Spring Showcase is also set to have two excellent hosts in Jennifer English (Baldur's Gate 3, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33) and Nolan North (Uncharted, Assassin's Creed).

On hosting the Future Games Show Spring Showcase, English said: “I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be hosting the Future Games Show Spring Showcase next month. Make sure you tune in for an eclectic mix of exclusive trailers concerning only the most exciting upcoming games. Plus a special little something from me about a project I’m delighted to be a part of. Join Nolan and I in March to find out more!”

North also added: “It’s been almost five years since I hosted the very first Future Games Show from the comfort of my own home, so I'm looking forward to being in the studio with the immensely talented Jennifer English to present this year’s Spring Showcase! Mark your calendars, as it’s going to be a stacked event, laser-focused on expanding your ever-growing wishlists.”

In terms of the games themselves, the Future Games Show Spring Showcase is set to feature over 40 of them. Alongside some world premieres, we'll also be getting further looks at FBC: Firebreak, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and South of Midnight among other highly anticipated games.

Be sure to tune in on March 20, then, because you probably don't want to miss this one.

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Firefly is a set of generative AI tools developed by Adobe. Built into Creative Cloud, Firefly’s features are designed to supercharge your workflow, whether you’re generating images, editing photos or designing graphics.

What sets Firefly apart from many of the best AI image generators is that it was trained on licensed Adobe stock and public domain images, which means it should be safer to user commercially.

New Firefly features are being added to Creative Cloud all the time. Read on to find out how Firefly can improve your creative process.

This article was correct as of February 2025. AI tools are updated regularly and it is possible that some features have changed since this article was written. Some features may also only be available in certain countries.

(Image credit: Future) What is Adobe Firefly?

Firefly is a set of creative tools built on four generative AI models: Image, Vector, Design and Video (which is still in beta). Developed by Adobe, Firefly uses AI to give designers and digital artists more creative flexibility. Some of its features are available as standalone tools, such as Firefly’s web-based text-to-image generator. Others are built directly into Creative Cloud apps, such as Generative Fill in Photoshop.

Launched in March 2023, Adobe Firefly is improving all the time, with new tools regularly added to Creative Cloud apps. The latest update included the beta rollout of its Video model, which powers Generative Expand in Premiere Pro, as well as photographic image adjustments in the Firefly web app.

Firefly is regarded as one of the most ethical AI image generators. This is because its models were trained exclusively on public domain images and licensed Adobe Stock. This makes it a popular choice for commercial and professional users, as it’s less likely to result in copyright issues with generated content.

What can you use Adobe Firefly for?

Adobe Firefly’s full capabilities are too numerous to list here, but they can be broken down into two categories. First, you have the standalone Firefly web interface. A fully featured AI image generator, it can be used to create high-quality images from natural language prompts in a range of visual styles.

It offers powerful options not found on other platforms: you can choose between art and photo content types, provide reference images for style and composition, apply lighting, colour and camera angle effects, as well as refining specific details in the prompt itself.

Then there are the various Firefly tools built into other Creative Cloud apps. You’ve got the powerful Generative Fill and Generative Expand tools in Photoshop, which leverage AI to edit the contents of existing photos and expand their margins. You can also use generative text effects to stylize typography in Adobe Express, while Text to Vector Graphic allows you to easily generate vectors in Illustrator. The new Generative Expand feature in Premiere Pro can even add seconds on to video clips.

What can’t you use Adobe Firefly for?

Firefly is designed to complement the creative process, rather than replace it entirely. As capable as it is, the output of its various tools often needs further refinement or integration into a project before it’s ready to go. Its output also fares better with some subjects than others, and the text-to-image tool will quite often generate unrealistic or surreal results.

The model’s ethics also limit what it can be used to generate. Firefly is built to avoid copyright infringement. Because it’s trained on Adobe Stock and public domain images, there are restrictions on the source material. It won’t generate branded imagery or likenesses of real people, for example. It will also steer clear of offensive or harmful imagery.

How much does Adobe Firefly cost?

Adobe Firefly is available for free via the web interface. The free plan includes 25 generative credits per month and doesn’t require a Creative Cloud subscription. For more comprehensive access, you can take out one of Adobe’s paid Firefly plans.

Firefly Standard costs ($9.99 / £9.98 / AU$16.49 per month) and includes unlimited access to image and vector features. You get 2,000 generative credits per month, which can be used to create five-second videos and translate audio. Firefly Pro ($29.99 / £28.99 / AU$49.49 per month) ups these limits, with 7,000 generative credits.

You can also access Firefly’s features by taking out a Creative Cloud Single App ($9.99 / £9.98 / AU$16.49 per month) or All Apps ($59.99 / £56.98 / AU$96.99 per month) subscription. The former includes anywhere from 100 to 500 generative credits, depending on the app, while the latter gives you 1,000 to play with. For reference, one image generation usually uses one credit.

Where can you use Adobe Firefly?

Adobe Firefly’s text-to-image features can be accessed via the web platform at firefly.adobe.com. Several of its generative tools, including text effects, can also be used online through Adobe Express.

Other Firefly-powered features are only available through the relevant app. Generative Fill and Generative Expand, for example, require you to use Adobe Photoshop.

(Image credit: Adobe) Is Adobe Firefly any good?

Firefly’s effectiveness depends on what you’re using it for. In our review of Adobe Photoshop, for example, we praised the effectiveness of the Generative Fill tool. Powered by Firefly Image Model 3, we found it capable of generating realistic imagery with deeper control of detail and composition. We also encountered few uncanny results. It’s not perfect, though, producing surreal outcomes more than occasionally.

As a text-to-image generator, the web-based version of Firefly has one of the most comprehensive feature sets. In our hands-on experience, however, it doesn’t always pay exact attention to the details of your prompt. Complex prompts can confuse it, too. From our time using it, Firefly’s generative tool is better employed for design and graphics work than photorealism.

Use Adobe Firefly if...

You want a powerful AI image generator

Granular control of its web interface makes Firefly one of the most powerful AI image generators, with the ability to control camera angles, visual styles and more, as well as providing reference images for composition.

You want to stay on the right side of the law

Trained exclusively on licensed stock and public domain images, Adobe Firefly’s generative content is less likely to fall foul of copyright laws. This means you’re safer to use its output as part of commercial projects.

Don't use Adobe Firefly if...

You’re not a Creative Cloud subscriber

With features into several of Adobe apps, including Photoshop, Firefly complements existing tools with the power of generative AI. If you don’t use these programs, you won’t get the best out of it.

You mainly need photorealistic images

Firefly is a powerful text-to-image generator, but it’s best used for graphic and illustrative work. Complex photo prompts can often come out warped, with more believable results generated by models like Imagen 3.

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• Leonardo is an AI image generator with pro-friendly features, including real-time editing and granular settings control. It has a range of generative tools, including one that lets you create AI images from sketches. It doesn’t have the cross-app depth of Firefly, but it’s a powerful creative option.

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• Polestar 3 just got a big Apple Watch upgrade
• It now supports car keys in Apple Wallet
• You can unlock and drive your car with just an iPhone or your Apple Watch

Polestar has announced a big upgrade for iPhone and Apple Watch customers that will allow drivers of its Polestar 3 to unlock and drive the vehicle thanks to car keys in Apple Wallet.

The company announced that it was pushing an over-the-air software update to the Polestar 3. Car keys in Apple Wallet support now means that drivers can automatically unlock their cars while leaving their iPhones in their pocket, simply by wearing an Apple Watch.

It's a big benefit that allows seamless, keyless entry to (and exit from) your vehicle. What's more, customers benefit from Apple Wallet's car keys sharing, so you can share keys through Messages, Mail, AirDrop, WhatsApp, and more with up to five other users, tweaking access between just gaining access to the vehicle or driving it as required. You can even use the iPhone Power Reserve feature to unlock and drive the car if your iPhone has run out of battery.

Polestar 3 gets car keys support

This is a welcome quality-of-life upgrade for Polestar 3 owners, and the company has confirmed the Polestar 4 should get support soon too. What's more, you don't even need the best Apple Watch or newest iPhone to take advantage, you just need an iPhone 11 or Apple Watch Series 6 or later.

It's also a welcome catch-up play for anyone casting a jealous eye over at Tesla. Tesla supports Apple Wallet car keys and also unveiled a new bespoke Apple Watch app for Tesla owners late last year. The latter lets users remotely lock and unlock their vehicle, adjust climate controls, and even open the front trunk.

While niche, Apple Wallet car keys is one of the coolest Apple Watch features going. The device's Wallet app and NFC tools can also be used to unlock the best smart locks for your home, access hotel rooms, and of course, make payments using Apple Pay.

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If an annual fee fits into your budget, it can mean more rewards and better card perks.

• CMF Buds 2 Plus appear in FCC filing, suggesting a launch very soon
• Similar design and case to the CMF Buds Pro 2
• Nothing will hold an event on March 4, 2025

Nothing's CMF sub-brand makes very compelling and affordable earbuds such as the CMF By Nothing Buds, which deliver a lot of features for not a lot of money. And now it looks like a new version for 2025, the CMF Buds 2 Plus, is getting ready for launch.

As MySmartPrice reports, the CMF Buds 2 Plus true wireless earbuds have cleared FCC certification in the US, something that tends to happen just before a product launch. And the filings reveal some of the key specifications of the latest CMF earbuds.

(Image credit: MySmartPrice/FCC) CMF Buds 2 Plus: what we know so far

Visually the Buds 2 Plus don't look significantly different to the Buds Pro 2, with a square, round-cornered case and a dial in the corner that looks likely to enable you to adjust the volume and play or pause tracks, like the one on the Buds 2 Pro case (which alas, sounds much cooler than it proved in practise).

The buds themselves are short-stem designs, again rather like the Buds Pro 2.

The FCC filing shows that the case has a 460mAh battery and each bud gets 53mAh, and it details the inclusion of Bluetooth Classic for audio streaming and Bluetooth Low Energy for connectivity.

What we can't tell from the FCC filing is how they sound, and that's the big drawback of the current Buds Pro 2: in our CMF Buds Pro 2 review we noted that while the price was extremely attractive the sound was perhaps a little bass-heavy at the expense of airiness and detail.

It's possible that we might see the new Buds as soon as March 4th. That's when Nothing is launching the Nothing Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro, although the firm may choose not to share the spotlight with its affordable earbuds. But whenever they do launch, the specification looks solid and you can be sure they'll be priced aggressively – the Buds Pro 2 cost just $59 / £59 / AU$99, and these may be even cheaper.

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• Businesses are increasingly relying on mobile phones for key operations, and cybercriminals have spotted the shift
• Hackers have adapted their methods, Zimperium report claims
• Most phishing attacks are tailored for mobile phones

Phishing is “so 2020” - the threat to be worried about most right now is “mishing” a new report from Zimperium has claimed.

Mishing, a term coined by Zimperium, covers all sorts of mobile-first phishing techniques: Smishing (SMS/text-based phishing), Quishing (QR code phishing), voice phishing, Wi-Fi-based phishing (the so-called “Evil Twin” attack), and many others.

Zimperium says organizations are increasingly relying on mobile devices for business operations, including multi-factor authentication, mobile-first applications, and more, and cybercriminals are taking notice, tailoring their phishing attacks for mobile devices, successfully evading traditional anti-phishing measures designed for desktops.

Smishing, Quishing, and more

As a result, businesses urgently need to adopt mobile-specific security, Zimperium stresses.

Smishing, for example, is now the most common mobile phishing vector, accounting for 37% of attacks in India, 16% in the US, and 9% in Brazil. Quishing, on the other hand, is described as an emerging threat, with notable activity in Japan (17%), the US (15%), and India (11%). Furthermore, 3% of phishing sites use device-specific redirection, showing benign content on desktops while targeting mobile devices with phishing payloads.

Mishing activity peaked in August 2024, Zimperium added, with over 1,000 daily attack records.

“Mishing is not just an evolution of traditional mobile phishing tactics—it is an entirely new category of attack engineered to exploit the specific capabilities and vulnerabilities of mobile devices, such as cameras,” said Nico Chiaraviglio, Chief Scientist at Zimperium.

“Our research shows that attackers are increasingly leveraging multiple mobile-specific channels - including SMS, email, QR codes, and voice phishing (vishing) - to exploit user behaviors and expand their attack surface.”

Whatever you decide to call it, email-based phishing attacks remain the number one threat best eliminated by the use of common sense in the office.

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• Qualcomm unveils new Dragonwing branding
• Dragonwing will cover industrial, networking, edge and IoT products
• Promises to "drive transformation and elevate industry growth"

Qualcomm has taken the wraps off Dragonwing, the new name for its industrial and enterprise hardware, as it looks to take the battle to the likes of Nvidia and AMD.

The new branding, unveiled ahead of MWC 2025, covers a range of industrial, networking, edge and IoT products among other things, with the company saying it encompassed, "industrial robots to cameras, to industrial handhelds and drones, and more".

The new division will be separate from Snapdragon, Qualcomm's consumer-facing hardware, which began in smartphones before shifting to power laptops, tablets and even mobile workstations, as the company looks to provide, "a unique identity to this product portfolio".

Welcome Dragonwing

"As we continue to diversify, the core components of our platforms and solutions – AI, computing, and connectivity – are relevant to more industries than ever before," Qualcomm's chief marketing officer Don McGuire wrote in a blog post announcing the news.

"From industrial robots to cameras, to industrial handhelds and drones, and more, this portfolio deserves a brand identity worthy of the technology innovation delivered across categories."

"Dragonwing, however, isn't just a name; it's our promise to drive transformation and elevate industry growth."

Qualcomm says Dragonwing products, across hardware, software and services, will include "leading edge AI, high-performance, low-power computing, and unrivalled connectivity, designed for speed, scalability, and reliability."

It will aid businesses across a wide range of industries, including energy and utilities, retail, supply chain, manufacturing, and telecom, showing the company has ambitious goals for the new offerings.

"We know the future of technology because we create it," Qualcomm added. "With Dragonwing, we help businesses take a leap and accelerate their digital transformation with speed and confidence."

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Just when the AI market seemed on a steady course, DeepSeek entered like a kid setting off fireworks indoors. Its low-cost AI model, bypassing NVIDIA frameworks, led to a historic $600 billion slump for the US tech giant. And the industry’s crown prince, OpenAI, has started a war on two fronts – the first is legal, challenging DeepSeek on model training, and the second is competitive, combatting its sudden rival with the launch of 03-mini.

With much of Silicon Valley now in a tailspin, Big Tech is still scratching its head about how a much more efficient AI tool could take the world by surprise. Yet, while for many the full capabilities of this new Open Source platform are still being understood, it speaks to an age old truth in business – competition can come from anywhere, and ultimately this is the latest example of a fresh innovator pushing competitors to be more efficient with their emerging tech investments.

A dive into DeepSeek

For curious onlookers, what’s DeepSeek really doing that is so gamechanging? The company is marketing itself in direct contest with OpenAI – “rivalling OpenAI’s Model o1”. DeepSeek's R1 LLM is priced at the fraction of the cost of vendor alternatives – one of its key draws. Another kicker is that its foundation is based on reinforcement learning rather than labeled data. For AI, this is revolutionary. Labeled data provides a target for the model to predict – it's like training wheels for AI: time-intensive to set up but helping keep models on the right path. DeepSeek runs without this, causing it to be slower upfront, but faster and more scalable in the long run, avoiding data tagging bottlenecks. Like ChatGPT in many aspects, DeepSeek can excel in mathematical and computational tasks, and through Open Source availability its 'weights' have been disclosed to the public, a huge win for the open-source community, in comparison to black box products on the market.

All these disparate elements added up means DeepSeek provides attractive scope for largescale automation for users, with its free availability and capacity to create chatbots rivalling other models. But it’s not all green flags. Concerns about data protection and information freedom are an issue, as data is housed in China under their own non-EU regulations. This is why it’s vital that organizations and individuals alike should carefully consider if the business process and regime it sits in are acceptable, compared to current requirements for data privacy, protection, and creative and political expression.

However, throwing data caution to the wind, consumers have flocked to the app in their millions, demonstrating that there will likely soon come a time where users are split between an ‘everyday’ AI they can play or interact with comparatively simply, and more expensive, advanced AI, coexisting for different, likely public sector, research, and industry use cases. Thus, for providers, the best competition strategy is to innovate, improve UX and functionality and find the right niche or market to dominate.

What’s the deal with ‘agentic AI’?

LLMs and GenAI are of course just one avenue of AI innovation. A hot new buzzword in Big Tech is ‘agentic AI’. This will be revolutionary for reimagining workflows and may soon create holistic AI ecosystems that autonomously manage and optimize processes in concert, with little human oversight in some use cases. Agentic AI is tipped by Gartner to revolutionize AI’s potential, with scope for it to be featured in a third (33%) of enterprise software applications by 2028, up from a minimal 1% today.

While more complex AI workflows are highly anticipated, basic prompt-and-response applications will become available off-the-shelf and, for now, this will serve many public users more than adequately. In our State of AI in Sales report, we found that nearly half (47%) of current AI users have no immediate plans to further integrate AI into their workflows. In fact, AI usage is barely moving past a basic level for many organizations. But those exploring exciting, nuanced applications will find more options with agentic AI.

This different type of AI service is less likely to hallucinate as it’s not the same kind of AI as GenAI, but will come with its own pros and cons to manage in terms of effectiveness, ability to execute what’s asked of it, and the levels of human oversight required to ensure reliability and accountability for the actions it takes.

A step towards that ‘Star Trek’ future

A world of supercomputers and starships – with the pace of change in emerging tech, it seems like sci-fi isn’t that far off from reality. But is that accurate? We are a long way from technology being leveraged for the sake of flash – what’s practical is what’s functional. Finding the right level of technology to solve the needs of the user is critical. For environmental and cost reasons, people don’t get in a Ferrari to go pick up groceries or tear up a whole field for just one bowl of cornflakes. Right now, a lot of the effort, expense, and resources of AI ‘behind the hood’ is hidden from the public, but society needs to become more knowledgeable about this to make better decisions, and to help direct industry to innovate where it will have the most impact.

Yet, it’s plain to see that, all other issues put to one side, the likelihood of more ubiquitous and embedded AI just took a step towards reality. And, given that DeepSeek comes from outside the US, perhaps AI creation may come from a greater variety of cultures, potentially reshaping global AI offerings and diversifying centers of expertise and the ways in which different users are catered for.

One of the most notable things that struck me in the vision that Star Trek laid out for a possible utopian future was the level of trust that users had in their computing. They appeared to have cracked issues of data privacy and security such that they didn’t hesitate to use their AI for work and leisure, for reasons great or small. That hinges on trust. For current AI users, there must be trade-offs around trust and economics if they want to balance being good data stewards of their own or customer data, and both the monetary and external costs of their tech use.

What’s next – AI 2.0?

There is a logical progression in AI innovation. Users want support with small tasks, see value, and increase their expectation of what AI can deliver. If AI can sort emails, can it review them? If AI can find a fault, can it fix it? Hence the growing interest in agentic AI as a new milestone to reach.

Arguably, there are tensions between innovation and trust, between economics and excitement, standard and frameworks and features. Over the next few years, the industry will need this to shake out more clearly if individual suppliers are to gauge their markets well and afford to keep innovating. Additionally, partnerships, ecosystems, and APIs - generally, working together to provide greater customer value – will need very clear international standards and for secure and trustworthy interoperability.

This will be key as, barring a massive leap forward in AGI (artificial general intelligence), perhaps led by quantum computing, there’s it not looking likely that there will be ‘one system to rule them all’, as in an all-encompassing AI that can accurately perform all the tasks a person or organisation might want. But siloed AIs, like any siloed software solution, aren’t likely to create that Star Trek-like world society apparently envisions.

Consumers and organizations must vote with their wallets, consciences, and needs in mind. But suppliers must really look ahead to a longer-term play if they are to answer these major challenges and support the society that they cannot just supply, but hopefully make better, with AI.

We've featured the best AI phone.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

Now you can brush up on your kettlebell skills with the help of your favorite Peloton pros.

We spent hours testing Wi-Fi extenders, but they failed to impress. There are better ways to improve your internet coverage.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, February 25 (game #625).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #626) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• DASH
• PAST
• LATE
• COMER
• BARGE
• UNDERSCORE
• MINUS
• CHARGE
• RATE
• BAGGIE
• COST
• PRIOR
• PISA
• PRICE
• FORMER
• HYPHEN

NYT Connections today (game #626) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Finances 
• GREEN: They’re history 
• BLUE: Straight punctuation 
• PURPLE: Slightly altered Springfield residents 

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #626) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: EXPENDITURE 
• GREEN: ONETIME 
• BLUE: MADE WITH HORIZONTAL LINES 
• PURPLE: SIMPSON FAMILY MEMBERS WITH FIRST LETTER CHANGED 

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

NYT Connections today (game #626) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #626, are…

• YELLOW: EXPENDITURE CHARGE, COST, PRICE, RATE
• GREEN: ONETIME FORMER, LATE, PAST, PRIOR
• BLUE: MADE WITH HORIZONTAL LINES DASH, HYPHEN, MINUS, UNDERSCORE
• PURPLE: SIMPSON FAMILY MEMBERS WITH FIRST LETTER CHANGED BAGGIE, BARGE, COMER, PISA

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 mistake

There were lots of common pairs today (LATE, COMER) that, as ever, it was wise to ignore and instead BARGE PAST on the way to a classic Connections solution involving something grammatical, something ambiguous and something to do with The Simpsons.

UNDERSCORE could get a group of its own, considering that you can also call it an understrike, an underline, and an underbar. It’s a form of punctuation that was once rare, the preserve of teachers and angry letter writers, but has now become more common. It has even developed a new lease of life in passwords, email addresses and when it’s used to denote a missing word where otherwise there would otherwise just be white space. Of all the punctuation MADE WITH HORIZONTAL LINES it is by far the coolest.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, 25 February, game #625)

• YELLOW: ENTHUSIASM GUSTO, PASSION, RELISH, ZEST
• GREEN: "MANY" IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES BEAUCOUP, MOLTO, MUCHO, MULTI
• BLUE: RECTANGULAR PRISMS BRICK, FISH TANK, MICROWAVE, SHOEBOX
• PURPLE: RHYME WITH U.S. COINS JENNY, LIME, MORTAR, PICKLE

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Tuesday, February 25 (game #1128).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1129) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1129) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1129) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1129) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1129) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• L

• S

• V

• M

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

Quordle today (game #1129) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1129, are…

• LOVER
• SPIED
• VAPOR
• METER

I was going great guns today until my final guess, when I had to choose between three possible words ending in O-V-E-R from the letters I had remaining (Hover, Cover and LOVER). After agonizing for far too long I decided to go for the most common of the words and got lucky.

Meanwhile, as my Quordle game gets stronger I’m going in the opposite direction with the Daily Sequence, the game which forces you to do one word at a time Wordle-style. I did solve today's, but it was a struggle.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1129) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1129, are…

• LOUSE
• COVEN
• AVERT
• LABEL

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1128, Tuesday 25 February: TWIST, TWEAK, MEANT, CLEAR
• Quordle #1127, Monday 24 February: LEASH, LEVER, TOTEM, CREME
• Quordle #1126, Sunday 23 February: RABID, RELIC, SCRAM, BASIS
• Quordle #1125, Saturday 22 February: ETHER, SONIC, VAUNT, ROUSE
• Quordle #1124, Friday 21 February: STIFF, PRIZE, SCOWL, DONUT
• Quordle #1123, Thursday 20 February: HASTY, DRAPE, FICUS, CRAZE
• Quordle #1122, Wednesday 19 February: ABATE, TROVE, VENUE, DRAPE
• Quordle #1121, Tuesday 18 February: TAMER, SCRUB, BRICK, DRIFT
• Quordle #1120, Monday 17 February: SADLY, WAFER, LITHE, IDIOM
• Quordle #1119, Sunday 16 February: GHOUL, AFIRE, COVEN, FIERY
• Quordle #1118, Saturday 15 February: CREEP, CONDO, GRILL, FANCY
• Quordle #1117, Friday 14 February: MEDIA, ELUDE, THUMB, WIDOW
• Quordle #1116, Thursday 13 February: SCALP, DWELL, AMPLE, TRUNK
• Quordle #1115, Wednesday 12 February: SHOOK, GRADE, POLAR, SEEDY
• Quordle #1114, Tuesday 11 February: HEAVY, CIRCA, PESKY, SCION
• Quordle #1113, Monday 10 February: TWIXT, FRESH, GUISE, TABBY
• Quordle #1112, Sunday 9 February: TAPIR, SHAKE, TOKEN, SEVEN
• Quordle #1111, Saturday 8 February: AFOOT, ALIKE, HUMUS, TOWEL
• Quordle #1110, Friday 7 February: PETAL, ABASE, AMONG, CORER
• Quordle #1109, Thursday 6 February: MADAM, SCAMP, FAUNA, TRACK

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, February 25 (game #359).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #360) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… "Fire represents your life"

NYT Strands today (game #360) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• MINE
• VEIL
• GREY
• RAIN
• WORD
• GENE

NYT Strands today (game #360) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Adventure reality show

NYT Strands today (game #360) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 4th row

Last side: right, 5th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #360) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #360, are…

• CHALLENGE
• JURY
• MERGE
• REWARD
• ALLIANCE
• IMMUNITY
• SPANGRAM: SURVIVOR

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 hint

I don’t know why someone hasn’t set up their company in the format of SURVIVOR. It would work great for a boring office. Each day employees could win advantage amulets by completing a CHALLENGE like making spreadsheets, fixing a flickering light or answering the phone to an unhappy customer.

The staff canteen could be replaced by a fire pit, where depending on their achievements the employees get to eat either soggy rice, roasted squirrel or divide a fish between 25 people for some much-needed protein.

Then, at the end of the day, the boss could oversee a tribal council in reception where everyone votes for who annoys them the most and that person is fired.

It’d be more civilized than some of the places I’ve worked.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, 25 February, game #359)

• CARAMEL
• TRUFFLE
• NOUGAT
• LIQUEUR
• TOFFEE
• ALMONDS
• SPANGRAM: FILLINGS

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Chrome is a pain, isn't it? It's one of those browsers that just sticks with you, no matter what you try. For better or worse. I've personally shifted back and forth between a number of browsers over the years; mostly alternating between Firefox and Chrome, and using Opera as a backup, usually to see if one website or another is broken or not. Yet no matter how long I'm gone, even in the deepest of Firefox stints, inevitably, I always end up back with Google's shiny metal goliath.

Unlike phones, operating systems, processors, graphics cards, or even the best VPNs, browsers inherently don't have that flux. It never feels like there's a need to swap to upgrade. No single one has a significant advantage over the other, and no browser has ever really introduced any feature that's quite as revolutionary as something like Nvidia's DLSS upscaling tech or AMD's CPU 3D V-cache. It's all iterative change, trying to entice you over and keep you there, and I do believe a lot of Google's initial success was down to societal peer pressure and just being one of the first alternatives that provided a slicker initial setup and user experience than anything else.

Although it ended up as a browser that has a RAM footprint akin to the mass of a small brown dwarf star, it simply provided people with a slicker, seamless experience than what Internet Explorer, Safari, Netscape, or Firefox could back in the day.

Chromed up

So how did Google corner the market following on from the success of those early years? How did it manage to oust IE, Firefox, and later Edge as kings of the free browsers? Particularly given how Microsoft literally installs its own browser on Windows for you? It's one of those questions that you genuinely have to step back, look at Microsoft, and ask: "No seriously, how did you mess this up so badly?".

In today's era, the answer is simple enough. It's not because of anything Google is doing directly with Chrome. There's no killer app or silver bullet here, no feature that's going to blow your mind wide open. It's still easy to use and operates smoothly as it almost always has done (memory quandaries aside), but it's the entire environment Google has built around it that really nails its dominance to the table.

Google has woven all of the staple tools you need online into one seamless interconnected web, and it's difficult to escape. (Image credit: Gmail)

It's effectively built out this beautiful, seamless ecosystem for us regular folk. Create a Google account, and you immediately have access to YouTube, Drive for office work, Gmail, and a Chrome account that'll sync all of your settings, passwords, passkeys, bookmarks, cookies, and extensions, all in one place. On top of that, for Android users, it'll tie into your phone too, syncing across platforms in the process.

Dominant Search Engines

Not only that, but Google as a search engine is just impeccable. Sure, its recent experiments with generative AI have been hit and miss, but it's not utterly littered with ads or incorrect listings. If you try to use Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Yahoo, the experience by comparison is shocking. It's like traveling back in time by five to ten years, depending on which one you use.

As a web-based tech journalist, I'm conscious that Google often gets a lot of ire from those in my line of work for its constant iterative SEO changes and updates to how it ranks things. This can massively impact site rankings, and kill smaller brands, potentially leaving people without work. It's a grim dance with livelihoods on the line, particularly with Google's new use of Gemini AI prompts as well.

The reality is, though, that as harsh as that is, it does this because it's still trying to provide the best search experience for the user. It comes from a good place. Although that drive might be market-driven, it still needs to provide the best sources, the best answers to your questions. Those SEO changes are necessary, and you can see the way it's going is centered around making sure it selects content and answers that align with its EEAT philosophy ('Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness' - basically, choosing authors and content that have good knowledge in a certain field) while providing information that is accurate, unique, and to the point.

YouTube is a whole other kettle of fish, and it's anyone's guess as to which way the wind blows on that search algorithm, but for its core brand, its core product, Google's search is unparalleled in many ways.

And the fact is that this wider ecosystem and everything tied into it, as much as some of us might dislike it, still makes Chrome my go-to browser. No doubt in a year's time, I'll get fed up and dive back into Firefox for a few months, enjoying the new experience, the feel of being slightly edgy (and having adblockers on my phone), only inevitably to fall back into that old habit, to miss my army of extensions on a platform that just works, without fault, without hindrance. It's sad, but it's true.

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• Google is removing SMS messages as an authentication option
• It will be replaced with on-screen QR codes
• Removing SMS authentication reduces the risk of phishing and fraud

Google is officially moving away from using SMS messages in its Gmail account two-factor authenticator.

Gmail spokesperson Ross Richendrfer told Forbes, “we want to move away from sending SMS messages for authentication” to “reduce the impact of rampant, global SMS abuse.”

SMS authentication codes can be easily intercepted by hackers simply by porting your phone number to a new device - just one of the many security issues plaguing SMS messages for authentication.

QR codes to replace Gmail SMS authentication

Google will instead introduce on-screen QR codes that will have to be scanned with your chosen authentication device in order to verify that it is actually you trying to log in. This potentially adds an extra layer of biometric security for those who use a facial recognition or fingerprint scan to access their device or applications.

QR codes will also solve two other concerns related to SMS authentication methods. The first being that QR codes are more phishing resistant, as there will no longer be a security code to share with an attacker. The second being the authentication will no longer be reliant on the phone service provider’s abuse and fraud protections.

Authentication will still be reliant on the user having access to their mobile device, but removes a significant amount of the risk of abuse. For Google, it is also a win, as it cuts down on threat actors being able to run ‘traffic pumping’ campaigns.

In these campaigns, criminals will abuse online service providers to generate a huge amount of SMS messages to phone numbers they control, allowing them to generate revenue through access charges and intercarrier compensation.

In the future, Google hopes to move to a fully passkey supported authenticator system, but the move from passwords to passkeys hasn’t been as fast as Google had hoped, despite their best efforts to convince users to make the switch.

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