Technology

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• TCL has revealed its first mobile projector, the Projector A1
• It's an affordable offering that has built-in Google TV smarts
• It also has 8W speakers with Dolby Audio and costs just $499

TCL, famed for its TVs, has moved into a new category: portable projectors. The new TCL Projector A1 is a low-priced mobile projector with built-in speakers, Wi-Fi and Google TV.

The Projector A1 is a full HD 1080p offering that delivers 360 ISO lumens of brightness, with a screen size from 45 inches to 120 inches.

The LCD projector includes automatic focus and keystone adjustment for easy setup, and its dual 8W speakers let you use the device as a Bluetooth speaker as well as to providing the soundtrack to your streaming shows and movies.

Another bonus with the TCL Projector A1 is that it's powered by Google TV, including Google Assistant for voice search and smart home control, while the audio is handled by Dolby Audio processing.

Chromecast is supported too, and the Wi-Fi is 802.11a/b/g/n – not cutting edge, then, but fine given the display resolution.

A new potential bargain?

(Image credit: TCL)

There are some nice additional touches in the Projector A1, including a clever handle – TCL calls it VersaGrip – that is adjustable for comfort and also turns into a stand.

The projector is fairly portable too, coming in at 5.5lbs (about 2.5kg) with compact dimensions of 5.0in x 7.6in x 10.4in (or 127mm x 193 x 264mm).

As you'd expect from TCL, the new Projector A1 is priced keenly: it's available now with an MSRP of $499 (around £395 / AU$770).

That's significantly cheaper than our current budget pick in our guide to the best portable projectors, the LG CineBeam Q, although that model does have a higher specification and resolution than the TCL.

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• Automatic framing is coming to all Google Meet users
• The Feature will automatically position you in the center of the video frame
• Framing can be adjusted at any time, and will even work with virtual backgrounds

Looking your best on the morning team video call could soon be a lot easier thanks to a new update coming to Google Meet.

The video conferencing platform has revealed its automatic framing tool will be coming to all Google Workspace platform tiers, giving more users a better depiction of themselves whilst on a call.

The tool helps automatically center users in the middle of the screen when joining a video call or meeting, meaning they are properly framed and as visible as possible.

Google Meet framing

Automatic framing was launched by Google Workspace back in 2022, but until now has only been available on selected tiers. Going forward, it will be on by default for all users, and there is no admin control required.

"Depending on their camera placement, some meeting participants might be less visible than others," the company noted in a Google Workspace update blog post. "With automatic framing, Google Meet will automatically center your video before joining a meeting to help ensure equal visibility for all participants."

The feature kicks in before a user joins the call, but can be re-adjusted at any time during a meeting by the user if they want to refresh how they look, by hovering over the video tile and clicking reframe.

The tool will also now work better with virtual backgrounds, which previously may have affected how a user is framed while on a call. Google says Meet will, "continuously keep you centered when using a virtual background, ensuring your background is fixed and not constantly reframing which can be distracting."

The news is the latest in a series of recent updates for Google Meet in recent weeks as it looks to become more helpful and intuitive for users everywhere.

This includes a new picture-in-picture feed, which automatically opens when navigating into a different tab - useful for those who may have to search for relevant information or data from different sources.

Google's Gemini AI platform will also now automatically take notes during a meeting, letting users "drop the pen" and focus more clearly on the meeting instead of splitting focus between listening and taking notes on video conferencing calls.

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• OpenAI recently updated ChatGPT so it can search the internet
• This feature has now been added to Apple’s Shortcuts app
• It unlocks new superpowers for your iPhone automations

At the WWDC 2024 conference in June, Apple told us it would be integrating ChatGPT into its own Apple Intelligence system to bring powerful artificial intelligence (AI) to Apple devices. What you might not know is that ChatGPT’s brand-new search feature is also working its way into one of Apple’s best apps, bringing even more capable automation to the iPhone and iPad.

As spotted by MacRumors, Apple’s Shortcuts app includes a new “Open SearchGPT” option nestled among its other ChatGPT commands. This means you can use ChatGPT’s search capabilities to find relevant information online with just a few taps.

OpenAI enabled ChatGPT to search the web in late October, saying that this addition worked “in a much better way” than the chatbot’s previous lookup abilities. It can include links to relevant web searches, add useful context to your results, and it works with follow-up questions to supplement your results with more information.

Apple’s Shortcuts app, meanwhile, lets you create multi-step automations that can carry out a wide range of tasks for you, which can potentially save you a lot of time and effort if the actions are tedious to perform manually.

Shortcuts can also be activated automatically at specified times of day or when you arrive at certain locations. Combine that with ChatGPT’s new ability to search the internet and you could create some very potent workflows – and change the way you search on your iPhone entirely.

Coming to free users soon

(Image credit: Shutterstock / Ascannio)

Right now, you’ll need a paid-for ChatGPT Plus or ChatGPT Teams subscription in order to use SearchGPT.

That won’t be the case forever, though, as OpenAI says it plans to extend the feature to free users “over the coming months.” Note that you’ll also need to have downloaded the latest version of the ChatGPT app on your iPhone or iPad in order to get the SearchGPT function in Shortcuts.

You might be wondering where Siri figures in all this, since Apple announced at WWDC that Siri would be able to tap into ChatGPT if needed. Well, the iOS 18.2 beta lets Siri hand off to ChatGPT in certain situations – for instance, if you start your Siri request with the phrase “Ask ChatGPT,” you’ll go straight through to OpenAI’s chatbot.

However, iOS 18.2 isn’t expected to launch to the general public until early December. If you don’t want to wait that long to get ChatGPT built into your iOS experience, SearchGPT’s Shortcuts integration might be your best bet.

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• The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max could switch from titanium to aluminum
• The upcoming Pro models might also have a larger camera bump than current models
• The iPhone 17 Air could be too thin for a SIM card slot

Apple might be taking a backwards step when it comes to the design of the iPhone 17 series, as a new report suggests the company will equip all four phones with an aluminum frame.

This report is a subscriber-only article at The Information, but it's been summarized by 9to5Mac, and this is one of many design changes detailed in it.

Apple already uses aluminum for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, but the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max instead have a titanium frame, which is generally considered to be a more premium material, so it seems odd that the company would switch them to aluminum.

According to this report though it’s not just the frames that will be aluminum – in the case of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the top half of the back will also be aluminum, with the bottom half being glass, as wireless charging doesn’t work through a metal back.

That sounds like a huge change from the all-glass rears of the current models, and the report adds that the Pro and Pro Max models will also have a larger rectangular camera bump, and that this too will be aluminum rather than the '3D glass' of current models.

A larger camera bump also doesn’t sound appealing, but it could be a sign that improved cameras are planned for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. Current leaks suggest a new 48MP telephoto camera could be included, so perhaps that’s the reason.

The rumored move to aluminum is more baffling, especially since this would give the Pro models one less differentiator from the standard ones. But perhaps it’s for cost or environmental reasons.

The iPhone 17 Air could also sport a questionable design

The iPhone 17 Air could be a lot slimmer than the iPhone 16 (Image credit: Future)

The report also details the rumored iPhone 17 Air, and those details have been summarized by 9to5Mac in a separate article. In any case, the report says that Apple is aiming for this to be between 5mm and 6mm thick, which would make it a lot slimmer than the 7.8mm iPhone 16.

However, Apple is apparently “finding it hard to fit the battery and thermal materials into the device.” That chimes with an earlier leak, though that report stated that as a result, the iPhone 17 Air would be thicker than 6mm. So we’re not sure which leak is right, or if either of them is.

This new report adds that current prototypes have just one earpiece speaker, while other iPhones have two, and that – as other leaks have suggested – the iPhone 17 Air will have just one rear camera. This will apparently be housed in a “large, centered camera bump.”

Interestingly, the report also says that Apple hasn’t found a way to fit a physical SIM card slot into the iPhone 17 Air, so if it is this slim at launch then it might be eSIM-only. Apple has already made that move with other iPhones in the US, but units in some countries such as the UK include both an eSIM and a SIM card slot. The bigger issue would be China, where eSIMs aren’t supported.

Finally, current prototype units of the iPhone 17 Air apparently use Apple’s in-house 5G modem, and this is said to be slower and less reliable than the Qualcomm modems that current iPhones use. It also apparently doesn’t support faster mmWave 5G, though it’s possible that by the time the iPhone 17 Air launches, Apple will have improved its modem.

Still, for now this sounds like it could be an enormously compromised device if this report is accurate. We should find out how accurate it is in September, as that’s when the iPhone 17 series – including the iPhone 17 Air – is likely to launch.

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• One of Arcane's co-creators has responded to a big season 2 finale fan-theory concerning Jinx
• Christian Linke wouldn't confirm if Vi's sister is still alive
• However, while Linke's words said one thing, his reaction said something else

Full spoilers immediately follow for Arcane's season 2 finale.

Arcane co-creator Christian Linke has implied that, despite what happens in the season 2 finale, Jinx is still alive.

Speaking exclusively to TechRadar after the Netflix show's final episodes aired last Saturday (November 23), Linke suggested that Arcane's deuteragonist didn't die. While Linke said he could "neither confirm or deny" that this was the case, the fact that he shuffled nervously in his seat and raised a wry smile all but confirmed that Jinx didn't perish in this season's ninth and final entry.

Did you spot the purple, Shimmer-like streak heading for one of the Hexgate tower's air ducts before Jinx's bomb went off? (Image credit: Netflix/Riot Games/Fortiche Production)

There's plenty of evidence to suggest that Jinx lives to fight another day, too, which I previously covered in my Arcane season 2 act 3 ending explained piece. For starters, as Jinx detonates her Hextech bomb to kill Warwick and seemingly sacrifice herself, Jinx appears to use her Shimmer-based super-speed powers to avoid the explosion. Indeed, a unmistakable streak of purple, i.e., the color of Jinx's Shimmer abilities, can be seen in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment mere milliseconds before the bomb goes off.

Her whole story is about turning from the bumbling, little sister into someone who takes responsibility

Christian Linke, Arcane co-creator

In one of the best Netflix shows' final few scenes, Caitlyn is seen combing the Kiramman family archives while she fidgets with the monkey head of another of JInx's homemade explosive devices. As she browses these records, she finds the schematics for Piltover's Hexgate tower, which Jinx and Warwick fell down before the former detonated her bomb. Zooming in on the blueprint's air duct and cooling system section, Caitlyn raises a smile. Clearly, Caitlyn was trawling through the archives to find the tower's designs to work out if Jinx could have survived. Based on her smirk, it's evident that she believes Vi's younger sibling did.

The last two pieces of evidence come in Arcane season 2's final scene. The most obvious one is the Jinx-style 'The End' title card that flashes on the screen before the end credits roll, and which indicates that Jinx's story isn't over. Even more importantly, though, the series' final shot shows an airship flying to an unknown region of Runeterra. Why is this significant? In Arcane's very first episode, the child version of Jinx – then known as Powder – sees an airship and says "one day, I'm going to ride one of those things". Considering that the airship in season 2's final episode is identical to the one that Powder sees in the animated show's premiere, it doesn't take a genius to deduce that Jinx is flying the airship in the League of Legends (LoL) adaptation's final chapter.

I'm convinced Jinx is the individual who's flying this airship (Image credit: Netflix/Riot Games/Fortiche Production)

Armed with these clues, I asked Linke if he could confirm whether Jinx was alive, and if she was the individual who was flying the airship. As I mentioned, Linke didn't give me a definitive answer, with Arcane's co-showrunner choosing instead to speak about Jinx's redemption-based character arc that was teased in season 2's final trailer. His body language, though, practically confirmed that Zaun's self-appointed 'big, fat hero' is not only alive, but also managed to break the cycle of violence she was trapped in and walk (or, rather, fly) away to start a new life.

"I can neither confirm or deny [the Jinx is alive]," Linke coyly replied. "I will say this: her whole story is about turning from the little, bumbling sister into someone who is able to take responsibility and do what a big sister needs to do.

"Isha is really that example for Jinx. She [Jinx] is starting to understand what it's like to be responsible, and to be able to grow and be stronger. Even in that scene [involving Vi, Jinx, and Warwick], there's something where VI is incapable of kind of sacrificing the ones she loves and leaving them behind. Jinx has a moment where she has grown and she's capable of stepping in, and it's a big decision that's important for her. So, that's I guess, where I'll leave it."

Even if Jinx is still kicking around, it's unlikely that we'll see her again. Arcane's second and final season wraps up Jinx and Vi's story, as well as that of Piltover and Zaun. That's in spite of rumors that Arcane was supposed to run for five seasons, too – with Linke and fellow creator Alex Yee telling me it was "never the plan" for Arcane to last that long.

Regardless, there are plenty of other LoL movies and TV shows in the works that will explore more regions of Runeterra and focus on other LoL champions. I'll have more to share on that front in another exclusive later today, so be sure to check back with TechRadar soon. For now, see why Arcane's creators have insinuated that it'll be a long time before the hit series' follow-up projects are released.

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• The Nothing Phone 3 may have been spotted in a new leak
• Benchmark stats point to a new mid-range handset
• The phone is due to launch sometime in 2025

It's been quite the wait for the Nothing Phone 3 – with the phone pushed back to 2025 to allow more time for additional AI features to be developed – but a new benchmark leak suggests the handset will be turning up sooner rather than later.

The Geekbench listing was spotted by GSMArena, and based on the scores and the internal spec references, the Nothing Phone 3 could be more of a mid-range phone than a flagship: it looks as though the processor inside is the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3.

That would be a step down from the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 3 fitted inside the Nothing Phone 2, but this could just be one of several variants. It's very possible that more powerful, higher-end versions of the Nothing Phone 3 are in the pipeline too.

The listing also tells us there'll be 8GB of RAM here, with Android 15 and Nothing OS 3.0 for the software – though as always with these benchmark leaks, don't assume anything is confirmed until Nothing gets around to making the handset(s) official.

What comes next

The Nothing Phone 2a (Image credit: Future / James Ide)

You can catch up on the recent history of Nothing phones by reading our Nothing Phone 2 review, Nothing Phone 2a review, and Nothing Phone 2a Plus review. Those phones came out in July 2023, March 2024, and July 2024 respectively.

The Phone 2a and Phone 2a Plus are very much mid-range handsets, so it would be something of a surprise if the Nothing Phone 3 (or one of its variants) was too – it seems more likely that we'd get a Nothing Phone 3a as a follow-up.

We haven't heard too much about the Nothing Phone 3 so far, beyond that it'll feature plenty of AI. A couple of codenames have leaked, and according to insiders the Nothing Phone 3 will in fact offer performance close to flagship levels.

The GSMArena article does predict that a premium Nothing Phone 3 Pro is indeed on the way, so that might be the true successor to the Nothing Phone 2 – rather than the model referenced in this benchmark.

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• Windows 11 24H2 has run into yet more bugs
• They affect Ubisoft games and cause them to freeze up in a nasty way
• There’s also a bug with an encryption app hitting Dell’s laptops

Windows 11 24H2 seems to run into more and more problems as the update continues to roll out, and here’s another bunch of fresh issues which upgraders have encountered.

For starters, one of the most recent bugs to rear its head represents a spot of trouble for PC gamers (again), as flagged up on Microsoft’s release health status dashboard.

This one relates to problems with Ubisoft games whereby some titles can become “unresponsive while starting, loading or during active gameplay” with this resulting in a black screen crash in some cases.

The games affected are as follows:

• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Assassin’s Creed Origins
• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
• Star Wars Outlaws
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

We’re told that Ubisoft has released a patch for Star Wars Outlaws that means the game will no longer freeze up, but players might still encounter technical hitches in terms of unspecified ‘performance issues,’ so we can guess that means some bouts of sluggish frame rates, perhaps.

On top of that, there’s another gremlin causing havoc in 24H2 for some USB devices, mainly USB standalone scanners, as Microsoft again explains in its dashboard.

Windows Latest also spotted that Dolby Digital sound won’t work in Windows 11 24H2, with a fresh install, that is, as the Dolby Audio decoders aren’t preinstalled in the OS as of 24H2. So, in this case, you’ll need to manually install them.

Finally, the tech site also noticed that there’s a bug with Dell PCs with a certain app that means they won’t hibernate or shut down, a pretty major clanger it has to be said.

This happens when Windows 11 24H2 is installed on a Dell machine with an older version of the Dell Encryption app, as confirmed by the laptop maker itself.

In a support document, Dell tells us: “Dell Encryption v11.9 and earlier are not compatible with 24H2 and should not be installed to those computers.”

Note that this app is something you’ll see in a business setting, so the odds are that this isn’t one you’ll have to worry about – but it’s still something to be aware of, given the impact here, if you have a Dell notebook for working from home, for example.

(Image credit: Ubisoft/LucasFilm Games) Analysis: Hell for Dell, and Ubisoft too

So, for those who do have such a Dell laptop, you need to be careful here, as failing to shut down the PC is a pretty critical bug. What’s more worrying here is that as Windows Latest observes, Microsoft hasn’t yet placed a hold on the 24H2 update for PCs running Dell Encryption v11.9 or earlier – normally, these systems should be blocked from the upgrade due to this incompatibility problem.

At least this was the case at the time of writing, and the current advice is to make sure you have Dell Encryption v11.10 (or better) installed before you grab the 24H2 update. Your Dell PC may have already updated that app, with any luck, but we wouldn’t take that for granted.

The good news is that the bug more likely to affect our readers – with the Ubisoft games – does have an upgrade block in place. So, if you have the mentioned games installed, the 24H2 update won’t be offered to you. Also, don’t try to fudge your way around that compatibility block by manually installing 24H2 (by using, say, the media creation tool), as that will end in tears (or your PC games crashing, rather).

As mentioned at the outset, there are a growing number of problems with the 24H2 update, so we can’t imagine the rollout will be opening up to a lot more PCs anytime soon. Microsoft has a lot of fixing to do here, work that’s already happening to be fair.

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• Workers’ AI skills are a barrier to successful AI adoption
• Legacy infrastructure is also causing a problem
• Companies want clearer government guidance

British businesses are struggling to see returns from their AI investments due to the ongoing skills gap, new research has claimed.

Three in five (59%) companies in the UK and Ireland surveyed by NTT Data believe their employees lack the necessary skills for them to benefit from the transformative potential of AI.

However, workers may not be entirely at fault, with more than a quarter (27%) of UK&I organizations yet to establish expert generative AI teams, equating to 10% higher than the global average.

UK businesses are falling behind on AI

"As we move beyond experimentation, a tension emerges: move too fast, and we risk unintended circumstances; move too slow and we fall behind," noted NTT DATA Group CEO Yutaka Sasaki.

Almost all (99%) of the organizations surveyed plan to further their GenAI investments, with hopes that the technology would have a material impact on things like productivity and efficiency, sustainability, compliance, business processes, security and employee experience.

Two-thirds (67%) of global respondents believe their employees lack the right skills to work with GenAI, and even more (72%) noted that they don’t have a GenAI usage policy for workers. Furthermore, companies are calling on governments to introduce clearer regulations on AI.

Limited perception of value, limited awareness, user resistance and concerns surrounding GenAI’s safety and security were highlighted as key obstacles to the technology’s adoption.

There are other hurdles beyond worker skills that are preventing companies from going head-first into AI, too. Nine in 10 said that legacy infrastructure hinders the effective use of AI, with most CIOs and CTOs acknowledging that cloud-based solutions are the most practical method to support such applications.

Sasaki added: “The future is clear. Generative AI is more than just another tool – it’s a transformative force.” However, as AI matures, it’s increasingly apparent that the right foundations are critical before companies can consider any form of investment.

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