Technology

February was a busy month for Disney+, but it seems like March is going to be even more eventful for one of the world's best streaming services.

Indeed, from the arrival of Daredevil's standalone Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) TV series – it's about time! – in Daredevil: Born Again, to the release of Stranger Things star Sadie Sink's dystopian punk-rock opera film O'Dessa and more besides, you won't struggle to find something worth streaming between March 1 and 31. So, without further ado, here's everything that's coming to Disney+ in the weeks ahead.

March 1

• Gilmore Girls seasons 1 to 7

March 3

• Malawi Wildlife Rescue season 2 episodes 1 to 6 (US only)

March 4

• Daredevil: Born Again season 1 episodes 1 and 2 (US only)
• Paradise season 1 episode 8 (UK and Australia)

March 5

• Daredevil: Born Again season 1 episodes 1 and 2 (UK and Australia)
• Family Guy season 23 episode 1 (UK and Australia)
• Morphle: Shorts season 1 episodes 36 to 50 (US only)
• Primos season 1 episodes 20 to 28 (US only)
• Will Trent season 3 episode 9 (UK and Australia)
• Win or Lose episodes 5 and 6

March 6

• Deli Boys episodes 1 to 10 (UK and Australia)
• High Potential season 1 episode 8 (UK and Australia)
• The Kardashians season 5 episode 15 (UK and Australia)

March 7

• Doctor Odyssey episode 9 (UK and Australia)

March 11

• Daredevil: Born Again season 1 episode 3 (US only)

March 12

• Daredevil: Born Again season 1 episode 3 (UK and Australia)
• Disney Jr.’s Ariel season 1 episodes 19 to 22 (US only)
• Meet the Pickles: The Making of Win or Lose
• Moana 2
• Port Protection Alaska season 8 episodes 1 to 10 (US only)
• Tracker season 2 episode 9 (UK and Australia)
• Will Trent season 3 episode 10 (UK and Australia)
• Win or Lose episodes 7 and 8

March 13

• High Potential season 1 episode 9 (UK and Australia)
• The Kardashians season 5 episode 16 (UK and Australia)

March 14

• Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years (UK and Australia)
• Doctor Odyssey episode 10 (UK and Australia)
• Grey's Anatomy season 21 episode 9 (UK and Australia)

March 17

• The Simpsons season 36 episodes 1 to 5

March 18

• Daredevil: Born Again season 1 episode 4 (US only)

March 19

• Daredevil: Born Again season 1 episode 4 (UK and Australia)
• Gannibal episodes 1 and 2 (UK and Australia)
• Hyper Knife episodes 1 and 2 (UK and Australia)
• Life Below Zero season 23 episodes 1 to 20 (US only)
• Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures season 2 episodes 12 to 23
• Stath Let's Flats seasons 1 and 2 (UK and Australia)
• Tracker season 2 episode 10 (UK and Australia)
• Will Trent season 3 episode 11 (UK and Australia)

March 20

• High Potential season 1 episode 10 (UK and Australia)
• The Kardashians season 5 episode 17 (UK and Australia)
• O'Dessa (UK and Australia)

March 21

• 9-1-1 season 8 episode 9 (UK and Australia)
• Doctor Odyssey episode 11 (UK and Australia)
• Grey's Anatomy season 21 episode 10 (UK and Australia)

March 22

• Animals, They’re Just Like Us! season 1 episodes 1 to 6 (US only)

March 24

• David Blaine: Do Not Attempt episodes 1 and 2

March 25

• Daredevil: Born Again season 1 episodes 5 and 6 (US only)

March 26

• Bref season 2 (UK and Australia)
• Daredevil: Born Again season 1 episodes 5 and 6 (UK and Australia)
• Gannibal episode 3 (UK and Australia)
• Hyper Knife episode 3 (UK and Australia)
• Morphle and the Magic Pets: Shorts season 1 episodes 43 to 52 (US only)
• Tracker season 2 episode 11 (UK and Australia)
• Will Trent season 3 episode 12 (UK and Australia)

March 27

• High Potential season 1 episode 11 (UK and Australia)
• The Kardashians season 5 episode 18 (UK and Australia)

March 28

• 9-1-1 season 8 episode 9 (UK and Australia)
• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip
• Doctor Odyssey episode 12 (UK and Australia)
• Grey's Anatomy season 21 episode 11 (UK and Australia)

March 31

• David Blaine: Do Not Attempt episodes 3 and 4

For more Disney-based coverage, read our guides on the best Disney+ shows, best Disney+ movies, how to watch the Marvel movies in order, and Marvel Phase 5.

CNET's experts have rounded up all the internet options in Tampa -- from blazing-fast fiber to affordable broadband.

Salinas residents can count on AT&T Fiber for fast, affordable internet -- but there are other options, too.

One in four UK businesses lack a documented strategy to address generative AI (GenAI) threats, according to research from Ivanti. Let that sink in for a moment. Would we accept the same casual approach to, say, workplace health and safety? Likely not. Yet here we are, watching a technological revolution unfold while many organizations take a dangerously passive stance toward securing it.

The speed of GenAI's evolution has caught many security teams flat-footed. While 47% of security professionals in the UK view GenAI as a net positive for cybersecurity — and they're right to see its potential — this optimism sometimes masks a troubling lack of preparation.

Consider this eyebrow-raising reality check: Nearly half of UK IT and security professionals (49%) believe phishing will become a greater threat due to GenAI. And I’d argue they’re right to be concerned. The problem is that their concern isn’t translating into action. A quarter of organizations haven't documented any strategy to address these risks. We're seeing unprecedented technological advancement coupled with unprecedented organizational inertia. It's not great.

The data silo trap

The challenge goes deeper than just keeping pace with GenAI's evolution. A remarkable 72% of organizations report that their IT and security data are siloed across systems. These fragments of critical security information might as well be locked in separate vaults. And 63% say these silos actively slow their security response times.

Think about that. In an era where AI-powered threats can evolve and spread at machine speed, many security teams are still piecing together threat data from disparate systems like a jigsaw puzzle. That's not just inefficient — it's downright dangerous.

The training paradox

Most security teams recognize that human error is still a prime vulnerability. That's why 57% have turned to anti-phishing training as their first line of defense against sophisticated social-engineering attacks. It's currently the most popular protective measure against AI-driven threats.

I’m the first to assert that anti-phishing training is critical, particularly given how often well-meaning employees unintentionally create pathways for exploitation by falling for increasingly sophisticated phishing schemes.

But strong employee training is far from sufficient. It means using yesterday’s tools to fight today’s threats. Emphasizing best practices to combat AI threats is sort of like using a personal floatation device to keep safe while lounging in shark-infested waters. Should you wear the personal flotation device? Certainly. But it won’t save you from the real threat.

The good news is that cybersecurity professionals are aware of the gaps left by traditional anti-phishing defenses. Only 32% believe this training is "very effective" against AI-powered social engineering attacks. However, and I risk sounding like a broken record here, the concern and awareness aren’t translating into action.

Beyond traditional defenses

As GenAI capabilities expand, they create new attack surfaces faster than traditional security measures can adapt. As I’ve argued, the old playbook of reactive security measures and siloed defenses simply won't cut it anymore. What will cut it? In short, a holistic approach to exposure management that addresses both immediate threats and systemic vulnerabilities.

What does this mean in practice? Security teams need to rethink their approach altogether, and that means addressing key elements such as the following:

Continuous monitoring and assessment

Traditional periodic security assessments can't keep pace with AI-driven threats. Organizations need real-time visibility across their entire attack surface, from traditional assets to new AI tools. This means moving beyond scheduled vulnerability scans to implement continuous monitoring that can detect and respond to threats as they emerge.

Breaking down data silos

Those fragmented security and IT data stores? They're not just an inconvenience—they're a liability. With 63% of organizations reporting slower security responses due to siloed data, the need for unified visibility isn't just a nice-to-have—it's a critical security requirement when facing sophisticated AI-powered threats that can exploit gaps between systems.

Evolving beyond basic training

Remember — security awareness training is important, but it can't be your only defense. We need to augment human awareness with sophisticated detection and response capabilities. Fight fire with fire.

Data-driven security responses

When facing AI-powered threats, gut instinct and experience aren't enough. Security teams need comprehensive data visibility to spot patterns and anomalies that signal emerging threats. This means breaking down those data silos that 72% of organizations currently struggle with and implementing systems that can provide unified threat visibility.

What are you waiting for?

GenAI isn't just another technology trend to monitor — it's actively reshaping the threat landscape. While 47% of security professionals view GenAI positively, this optimism must be matched with concrete action.

Organizations can't afford to take a wait-and-see approach to GenAI security. The technology's rapid evolution, combined with existing challenges like data silos and training limitations, necessitates an intentional, comprehensive, layered and proactive stance.

Those who delay implementing comprehensive security strategies are already falling behind, and since GenAI continues to shapeshift and grow in sophistication by the day, falling even a little bit behind makes it prohibitively difficult to catch up.

The time for documented strategies, unified security visibility and enhanced threat detection isn't coming — it's here. It’s time to stop wondering whether your organization will need to adapt to AI-driven security challenges, and start focusing on how quickly and effectively you can do it.

A final plea: don’t wait until after you face a serious breach. In this case, “wait and see” translates to “wait and pay the price.”

We've compiled a list of the best firewall software.

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

• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising Version 2.00 if available now
• It introduces Sandalphon as a new playable character for the game
• The update also brings plenty of new features and balance adjustments

Version 2.00 has arrived for the popular fighting game Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, and it might just be the largest content update the game has seen since its late 2023 launch.

Headlining the Version 2.00 update is the addition of a new playable character in Sandalphon. Easily one of the Granblue Fantasy mobile game's most popular characters, it's great to see him finally arrive in Rising.

Sandalphon is the first of five characters to be added as part of Character Season Pass 2 which players can purchase now. He's set to be followed by Galleon (Spring 2025), Wilnas (Summer 2025), Meg (Fall 2025), and Ilsa (Early 2026).

Battle Pass Round 7 has also been added, offering a huge amount of free and premium rewards including new character colors, titles, music, and an all-new 'Arbitrator of the Shore' skin for playable character Zooey. Zooey's also my main in the game, so this is a pass I'll definitely be grabbing (as well as hoping for some much-needed buffs for the character).

Crucially, Version 2.00 has brought plenty of new content to Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising. There's a new Survival mode, which tasks players to progress through as much of a 100-fight gauntlet as possible, earning rewards along the way. Hopefully, it's going to be a chunky offline timesink, especially as buffs unique to Survival mode should offer it some nifty roguelite elements.

A new online training mode feature has also been added, letting you hop online to practice combos or fundamentals with a friend or coaching buddy. This is a feature that's quickly becoming standard in many of the best fighting games, so I'm happy to see it finally arrive in Rising.

Of course, it wouldn't be a major new version without significant system and character balance adjustments, and developers Cygames and Arc System Works have managed just that. Full balance changes are available to view now over at the game's official website. Key takeaways here include the rebalancing of powerful universal skills such as Brave Counters as well as invincible and counter skills.

Lastly, both the Standard and Deluxe versions of Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising have received their biggest discount yet at 61% off for a limited time. It's a fantastic time to start playing the game yourself, or as a means of picking up Character Pass Season 1 at a significantly reduced price. Not a bad way to save cash on the game if you've recently splashed out on one of the best fight sticks.

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• New 'Make It Fair' campaign wants to tackle 'content theft'
• British creatives band together to urge for stronger copyright law
• AI uses content without permission or compensation

Artificial intelligence and Large Language Models are trained on hoards of online information, including songs, articles, comments, books, drawings, pictures, and more - so if you’ve ever commented on an Instagram post, posted a photo to Twitter, or uploaded a video to YouTube - the likelihood is, your work has been used to train a model at some point or another.

These models don’t ask for permission, either, nor does it notify the creator - and these models make millions from the content. OpenAI reportedly used over a million hours of YouTube video data to train GPT-4, and Meta uses public posts from Instagram and Facebook to train its AI model - but British creatives are coming together to fight back.

Artists, singers, authors, journalists, and scriptwriters (and more) - who collectively generate over £120 billion per year for the nation's economy, have come together to urge the UK government to apply British copyright law to AI companies, and to ensure ‘content theft’ is not legitimised by leaving this issue unchecked.

Make It Fair

The ‘Make it Fair’ campaign comes at the end of the British government’s AI and copyright consultation period, in which it is reviewing ways to boost trust and transparency between sectors, and “ensuring AI developers have access to high-quality material to train leading AI models in the UK and support innovation across the UK AI sector”.

Owen Meredith, the CEO of News Media Association, which launched the campaign, added the UK's “gold-standard” copyright laws have underpinned growth and job creation in the British economy, and without the content they produce, AI innovation would not exist.

“And for a healthy democratic society, copyright is fundamental to publishers’ ability to invest in trusted quality journalism,” Meredith said.

“The only thing which needs affirming is that these laws also apply to AI, and transparency requirements should be introduced to allow creators to understand when their content is being used. Instead, the government proposes to weaken the law and essentially make it legal to steal content.

AI is at the forefront of productivity discussions in the UK right now, as the PM released plans to ‘turbocharge AI’ into the public sector, including the idea to ‘unlock’ public data by handing it over to ‘researchers and innovators’ to train AI models.

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Comino made the headlines with the launch of Grando, its water-cooled AMD-based workstation with eight Nvidia RTX 5090 GPUs. During the extensive email exchange I had with its CTO/co-founder and commercial director, I found out Grando is far more versatile than I’d come to expect.

Dig in its configurator and one will notice that you can configure the system with up to eight RX 7900 XTX GPUs because, why not?

“Yes, we can pack 8x 7900XTX, with an increased lead time though. In fact, we can pack any 8 GPUs + EPYC in a single system”, Alexey Chistov, the CTO of Comino, told me when I queried further.

Indeed, while it doesn’t currently offer Intel’s promising Arc GPU, it will if the market demands such solutions.

“We can design a waterblock for any GPU, it takes around a month” Chistov highlighted, “But we don't go for all possible GPUs, we choose specific models and brands. We only go for high-end GPUs to justify the extra price for liquid-cooling, because if it could properly work air-cooled - why bother? We try to stick with 1 or 2 different models per generation not to have multiple SKUs (stock keeping units) of waterblocks. You can have an RTX 4090, H200, L40S or any other GPU that we have a waterblock for in a single system if your workflow will benefit from such a combination.”

An RTX 5090 on its retail packaging on a desk (Image credit: Future) The Rimac of HPC

So how can Comino achieve such flexibility? The company pitches itself as an engineering company with its slogan proudly saying "Engineered, not just assembled". Think of Comino as the Rimac of HPC: obscenely powerful, nimble, agile and expensive. Like Rimac, it focuses on the apex of its line of business and absolute performance.

Its flagship product, Grando, is liquid-cooled and was designed to accommodate up to eight GPUs from the onset, which means that it will very likely be futureproof for multiple Nvidia generations; more on that in a bit.

One of their main targets, Chistov, told me, “is to always fit a single PCI slot, that's how we can populate all the PCIe slots on the motherboard and fit eight GPUs in a GRANDO Server. The chassis is also designed by the Comino team so everything works as "one”. That’s how a triple-slot GPU like the RTX 5090 can be modified to fit into a single slot.

With that in mind, it is preparing a “solution capable of operating on the coolant temperature of 50C without throttling, so if you drop the coolant temperature to 20C and set the coolant flow to 3-4 l/m the waterblock can remove around 1800W of the heat from the 5090 chip with the chip temperature around 80-90C”

That’s right, one single Comino GPU waterblock could remove 1800W of heat from a single "hypothetical 5090" that could generate that amount of heat IF the coolant temperature on the inlet is around 20 degrees Celsius AND if the coolant flow is not less than 3-4 liters per minute.

Packing eight of such "hypothetical GPUs" and some other components could lead to a total system power draw of 15 kW and indeed if such a system at full load would have a constant coolant temperature of 20C AND coolant flow per waterblock not less than 3-4 liters per minute, such system would operate "normally".

Who will need that sort of performance?

So what sort of user splashes out on multi-GPU systems. Chistov, again. “There is no benefit to adding an additional 5090 if you are a gamer, this won't affect performance, because games can't utilize multiple GPUs like they used to using SLI or even DirectX at some point of time. There are several applications we are focused on for multi-GPU systems:

• AI Inference: this is the most demanded workload. In such a scenario each GPU works "alone" and the reason to pack more GPUs per node is to decrease "cost per GPU" while scaling: save rack space, spend less money for non-GPU hardware, etc. Each GPU in a system is used to process AI requests, mostly generative AI, for example, Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, DALL-E
• GPU Rendering: popular workload, but does not always scale well adding more GPUs, for example Octane and V-Ray (~15% less performance per GPU @ 8-GPUs) scale pretty well, but RedShift does not (~35-40% less performance per GPU @ 8-GPUs)
• Life-Science: different types of scientific calculations, foк example CryoSPARK or Relion.
• Any GPU-bound workload in a virtualized environment. Using Hyper-V or other software you can create multiple Virtual Machines to run any task, for example, remote workstation. Like StorageReview did with the Grando and six RTX 4090 GPUs it had on a review.

Specifically for the RTX 5090, the most important improvement for AI workloads is the 50% improvement in memory capacity (up to 32GB) which means that Nvidia’s new flagship is better suited for inference as you can put a far bigger AI model in memory. Then there’s the far higher memory bandwidth which helps as well.

In his review of the RTX 5090, TechRadar’s John Loeffler calls it the supercar of graphics cards, and asks whether it was simply too powerful, suggesting that it is an absolute glutton for wattage.

“It's overkill”, he quips, “especially if you only want it for gaming, since monitors that can truly handle the frames this GPU can put out are likely years away.”

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Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 26.

Anthropic just released a new model called Claude 3.7 Sonnet, and while I'm always interested in the latest AI capabilities, it was the new "extended" mode that really drew my eye. It reminded me of how OpenAI first debuted its o1 model for ChatGPT. It offered a way of accessing o1 without leaving a window using the ChatGPT 4o model. You could type "/reason," and the AI chatbot would use o1 instead. It's superfluous now, though it still works on the app. Regardless, the deeper, more structured reasoning promised by both made me want to see how they would do against one another.

Claude 3.7’s Extended mode is designed to be a hybrid reasoning tool, giving users the option to toggle between quick, conversational responses and in-depth, step-by-step problem-solving. It takes time to analyze your prompt before delivering its answer. That makes it great for math, coding, and logic. You can even fine-tune the balance between speed and depth, giving it a time limit to think about its response. Anthropic positions this as a way to make AI more useful for real-world applications that require layered, methodical problem-solving, as opposed to just surface-level responses.

Accessing Claude 3.7 requires a subscription to Claude Pro, so I decided to use the demonstration in the video below as my test instead. To challenge the Extended thinking mode, Anthropic asked the AI to analyze and explain the popular, vintage probability puzzle known as the Monty Hall Problem. It’s a deceptively tricky question that stumps a lot of people, even those who consider themselves good at math.

The setup is simple: you're on a game show and asked to pick one of three doors. Behind one is a car; behind the others, goats. At a whim, Anthropic decided to go with crabs instead of goats, but the principle is the same. After you make your choice, the host, who knows what’s behind each door, opens one of the remaining two to reveal a goat (or crab). Now you have a choice: stick with your original pick or switch to the last unopened door. Most people assume it doesn’t matter, but counterintuitively, switching actually gives you a 2/3 chance of winning, while sticking with your first choice leaves you with just a 1/3 probability.

Crabby Choices

With Extended Thinking enabled, Claude 3.7 took a measured, almost academic approach to explaining the problem. Instead of just stating the correct answer, it carefully laid out the underlying logic in multiple steps, emphasizing why the probabilities shift after the host reveals a crab. It didn’t just explain in dry math terms, either. Claude ran through hypothetical scenarios, demonstrating how the probabilities played out over repeated trials, making it much easier to grasp why switching is always the better move. The response wasn’t rushed; it felt like having a professor walk me through it in a slow, deliberate manner, ensuring I truly understood why the common intuition was wrong.

ChatGPT o1 offered just much of a break down, and explained the issue well. In fact, it explained it in multiple forms and styles. Along with the basic probability, it also went through game theory, the narrative views, the psychological experience, and even an economic breakdown. If anything, it was a little overwhelming.

Gameplay

That's not all Claude's Extended thinking could do, though. As you can see in the video, Claude was even able to make a version of the Monty Hall Problem into a game you could play right in the window. Attempting the same prompt with ChatGPT o1 didn't do quite the same. Instead, ChatGPT wrote an HTML script for a simulation of the problem that I could save and open in my browser. It worked, as you can see below, but took a few extra steps.

(Image credit: Anthropic)

While there are almost certainly small differences in quality depending on what kind of code or math you're working on, both Claude's Extended thinking and ChatGPT's o1 model offer solid, analytical approaches to logical problems. I can see the advantage of adjusting the time and depth of reasoning that Claude offers. That said, unless you're really in a hurry or demand an unusually heavy bit of analysis, ChatGPT doesn't take up too much time and produces quite a lot of content from its pondering.

The ability to render the problem as a simulation within the chat is much more notable. It makes Claude feel more flexible and powerful, even if the actual simulation likely uses very similar code to the HTML written by ChatGPT.

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• Luma Labs’ Dream Machine can now add audio to video clips for free
• You can prompt the audio or let the AI come up with something it decides is appropriate
• Sora and other AI video makers mostly lack even an imperfect AI audio creator to go with their visuals

Luma Labs has added a score to the AI videos produced on its Dream Machine platform. The new feature brings audio to your video, custom-generated to match a written prompt or created by the AI, and is based solely on what's happening in the video. That could mean chirping birds at the sunrise scene, a spaceship’s distant hum for your sci-fi animation, the chaotic clatter of a busy café, or anything else you care to hear.

The new feature is free in beta for all users. After generating a video with Dream Machine, you’ll see a new “Audio” button along the row at the bottom of the video next to the existing "Extend" and "Enhance" buttons. Click it, and you get two choices: let the AI decide the best fitting sounds on its own, or take the wheel and provide a text prompt describing exactly what you want. Maybe you’ve got a dreamy nature scene and want to hear a distant waterfall, or maybe you want to hear how the AI does it; either way, it works.

Sound Idea

This update is big because AI-generated videos, while sometimes visually stunning, have always felt incomplete without sound. It's a lot of work to painstakingly add audio yourself. Even some of the biggest names in AI video don't have audio as an option yet, including OpenAI's Sora.

Of course, AI sound generation on its own isn't unique. There are a lot of AI music makers, even full voice and song producers. But, the production within the platform linked to the video already there makes Dream Machine a real standout. That said, it isn't perfect. You can tell from the way the motion and sound don't quite match with this dog as it swims.

On the other hand, when prompted correctly, this crackling fire and laughter of people around it sounds pretty good.

But, I wouldn't rely on Dream Machine to create sound on its own without any guidance in a prompt. With a blank audio prompt, the AI took the same short clip of people around a fire and came up with something a lot spookier.

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• SanDisk reveals E61 8TB Portable SSD
• New device offers drop protection up to 3 meters, with silicone shell improving durability and enhances tactile grip
• There's also fast read/write speeds for large file transfers

SanDisk has launched an 8TB version of its popular E61 portable SSD, expanding its offerings for users who require extensive storage capacity.

Thr new model aims to cater to professionals such as video editors, photographers, and data analysts, who often handle large files and need reliable storage solutions.

However, despite the excitement around the 8TB capacity, concerns linger about the reliability of SanDisk’s SSDs due to a major data corruption issue that surfaced in 2024.

Bigger - but also better?

The 8TB SanDisk E61 comes with a compact and lightweight form factor measuring 100.8 x 52.55 x 9.6 mm, meaning it is quite portable, and features a silicone shell that offers protection from drops of up to 3 meters, along with an IP45 rating, providing resistance against dust and water, making it ideal for outdoor use or travel.

Its USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 interface boasts read speeds of up to 1500MB/s and write speeds of 1000MB/s, ensuring fast data transfers for large files. Furthermore, it has a plug-and-play feature which means users can start using the SSD immediately without the need for additional drivers or software. It also includes 256-bit AES hardware encryption, ensuring data security for sensitive information, whether for personal or professional use.

While the new 8TB SanDisk E61 offers a compelling set of features, concerns remain about the product’s reliability. In 2023, SanDisk’s portable SSDs, including the SanDisk Extreme and Extreme Pro models, were plagued by a major firmware issue that caused widespread data corruption and drive failures. Users reported losing access to critical data, with the drives suddenly becoming unreadable. A class-action lawsuit was filed, accusing Western Digital (SanDisk's parent company) of failing to address the issue adequately.

In response, Western Digital issued a firmware update to mitigate the problem, but the lawsuit claimed that the core issue remained unresolved. As a result, many users, particularly professionals handling large volumes of important data, continue to worry about the long-term reliability of SanDisk SSDs.

Nevertheless, with this new 8TB version, SanDisk has an opportunity to restore customer confidence by ensuring that the previous data corruption issues have been fully addressed. The high price point of around $714 makes it a premium product, especially for professionals who depend on safe, secure, and reliable data storage.

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• Advanced Voice Mode is coming to all ChatGPT free users
• There will be a daily limit on usage
• Deep Research is being released to Plus, Team, Edu, and Enterprise users

OpenAI has just announced, via X, that it is starting to roll out a “preview” version of Advanced Voice mode for ChatGPT free users while also rolling out its Deep Research agent to all Plus, Team, Edu, and Enterprise users.

Advanced Voice Mode, which is currently only available to ChatGPT Plus users, launched initially in the mobile app versions of ChatGPT and arrived in the desktop app version of ChatGPT in November last year. It is one of the nicest features of ChatGPT; it’s a way to communicate with the chatbot using your voice in a free-flowing, natural conversation. It’s almost like talking to a real person, and you have the ability to interrupt the chatbot if you find its reply is going on too long. There are a variety of different voices to choose from too, so you can customize the experience.

OpenAI has previously experimented with offering 10 minutes of Advanced Voice Mode a month to ChatGPT free users, but the new rollout is going to “give all ChatGPT free users a chance to preview it daily across platforms." The company is also being a bit secretive about what the daily limit is for Advanced Voice Mode for free users, as it clearly wants to retain the ability to adjust it depending on demand. The only detail on usage it offers is that ChatGPT Plus users will get “5x the free limit."

Starting today, we’re rolling out a version of Advanced Voice powered by GPT-4o mini to give all ChatGPT free users a chance to preview it daily across platforms.The natural conversation pace and tone are similar to the GPT-4o version while being more cost effective to serve.February 25, 2025

ChatGPT 4o-mini-powered

The ChatGPT free version of Advanced Voice Mode will be powered by ChatGPT 4o-mini, while Plus users will continue to have access to Advanced Voice Mode powered by ChatGPT 4o. In its statement, OpenAI said: “Starting today, we’re rolling out a version of Advanced Voice powered by GPT-4o mini to give all ChatGPT free users a chance to preview it daily across platforms. Plus users will continue to have access to Advanced Voice powered by 4o with the existing daily rate limit, which is more than 5x the free limit, as well as access to video and screensharing in Advanced Voice.”

Reacting to the news some X users expressed concern that the 4o-mini model might be “dumbed down” and expressed frustration that the daily limit remained in place for ChatGPT Plus subscribers “We’re paying for the best, not a crippled version. Get it together”, said X user Emanuele Dagostino.

Gemini Live, Google's voice mode chatbot, is entirely free for Android users.

Advanced Voice Mode in the ChatGPT Mac app. (Image credit: OpenAI) Deep Research

At the same time, OpenAI is rolling out its Deep Research agent tool to all its paid subscribers, rather than just its Pro subscribers. Built using the o3 model, Deep Research is a tool for carrying out in-depth research using the Internet that drastically reduces the time taken by researchers.

The o3 model is optimized for data analysis and can handle text, images, and PDF files that it can access via the web.

Deep Research can work independently. You simply give it a prompt, and it goes off and analyzes and synthesizes hundreds of online sources for you, reducing a job that would take human researchers many hours to a few minutes.

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• OpenWrt launches "unbrickable" security-focused wireless router
• Dual-band Wi-Fi 6 connectivity ensures fast, reliable internet access
• Open-source firmware guarantees no lock-in or obsolescence risks

OpenWrt has officially launched its first dedicated wireless router that promises unrivalled security protection.

Developed in collaboration with Banana Pi, the OpenWrt One is specifically designed to meet the needs of hackers and security-conscious users.

Available for just $89, the OpenWrt One promises to offer a long-lasting, open, and flexible solution for users who value control and security in their networking hardware.

A router built for the OpenWrt community

The OpenWrt One is powered by the MediaTek MT7981B system-on-chip (SoC), supports dual-band Wi-Fi 6 with the MediaTek MT7976C chipset, and offers 2x2 2.4 GHz and 3x3 5 GHz wireless connectivity. For wired connections, the router includes one 2.5 Gbit WAN port and one 1 Gbit LAN port, ensuring fast, reliable internet access.

In terms of storage and expandability, the OpenWrt One features 128MB of SPI NAND and 16MB of SPI NOR flash memory, with additional storage options through a 2230/2242 NVMe PCIe 2.0 slot. It also includes a USB 2.0 Type-A port for connecting peripherals and a USB Type-C port for power delivery and serial interface, providing ample options for customization.

The router's hacker-friendly design includes a mechanical switch for boot selection between NAND and NOR flash, as well as a mikroBUS expansion slot for additional hardware add-ons. Fully compliant with FCC, EC, and RoHS standards, the OpenWrt One is built with security and open source innovation at its core.

According to OpenWrt, what sets OpenWrt One apart from other routers is its dedication to being open and secure. Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC), a group that worked with OpenWrt on the project claims that it comes with OpenWrt’s open-source firmware which guarantees that it will never be locked and it is designed to be "forever unbrickable." This means users can experiment with different configurations, flash new firmware, and make modifications without the risk of rendering the device unusable.

The OpenWrt One launch comes at a time when many older routers and network devices are becoming obsolete due to unpatched vulnerabilities. Manufacturers often abandon support for these devices, leaving users with few options other than replacing hardware. With OpenWrt, users can continue using their existing devices by flashing the open source firmware, extending the life of their hardware and improving security.

Many users are turning to open source solutions like OpenWrt as manufacturers stop supporting older models. For instance, D-Link recently refused to patch critical security flaws in over 60,000 NAS devices, effectively turning them into e-waste. In contrast, the OpenWrt One is designed to avoid these issues, giving users peace of mind that their router will remain secure and usable for years to come.

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• Nvidia's ConnectX-8 features a GPU-inspired design for networking
• ConnectX-8 delivers an impressive 800Gbps throughput capability
• Requires PCIe Gen6 x16 for optimal performance

Nvidia has unveiled the ConnectX-8 SuperNIC, a new card whichcomes with an 800Gbps capability, doubling the 400Gbps recorded for its predecessor.

The design of this card is a departure from conventional network interface cards (NICs) as it looks more like traditional GPUs, with the ConnectX-8 seemingly set to focus on enhancing airflow and cooling efficiency with its low-profile design, backplate and advanced internal layout.

This device also comes with a large connector on the back, which suggests the potential for multi-host cable connections, possibly linking to additional CPUs or functioning as a PCIe switch output.

Multi-host connections and flexibility

The ConnectX-8 SuperNIC is a single-port card that delivers high bandwidth which necessitates advanced PCIe connectivity.

Specifically, it requires either PCIe Gen6 x16 or two Gen5 x16 links to operate effectively, suggesting the card's performance exceeds what a single CPU can handle. This capability aligns with the need for robust connectivity in Nvidia's Grace platforms, where the ConnectX-8 serves as a critical component for auxiliary connections due to the limitations of Grace CPUs.

By integrating these NICs, Nvidia minimizes reliance on Broadcom products, enhancing system efficiency and flexibility.

Unlike older NIC designs that typically feature bulky heatsinks and a more utilitarian aesthetic, the ConnectX-8 showcases a sleek backplate and overall factor reminiscent of modern GPUs.

The introduction of the ConnectX-8 does not seem to be merely about aesthetics, as it suggests Nvidia has a broader vision for AI infrastructure. By aligning its networking products with GPU-like designs, the company likely aims to streamline its integration within data centers while delivering high-performance capabilities essential for AI workloads.

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