Technology

• Burglars have finally been added to The Sims 4 in a free update
• They can break into your virtual home and steal your most valuable stuff
• You're able to protect yourself in a variety of ways

Hide your valuables and install a burglar alarm, because the fan-favorite crafty criminals are back in The Sims 4. The update coincides with the 25th anniversary of The Sims franchise and has launched ahead of the upcoming The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies expansion pack.

In The Sims 4, the burglar is a new character: the aptly named Robin Banks. She can sneak into your house at night, stealing valuable items before sneaking off into the darkness. If one of your Sims is at home, they will be able to call the police and, if they arrive in time, see the burglar arrested.

If your Sim is feeling particularly brave, you can also opt to fight the burglar in a one on one duel - with stronger and more fit Sims more likely to succeed. Alternatively, there are a few other potential defenses all tied into various downloadable content (DLC) packs.

Those who own a dog in The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs will be fully protected, as their pet can chase the burglar away. Werewolves from The Sims 4 Werewolves will be able to scare the burglar too, while spellcasters (part of The Sims 4 Realm of Magic) can attack them with spells. For The Sims 4 Vampires owners, Vampire Sims could use their magic to command the thief to leave and scientists in The Sims 4 Get to Work get to whip out their trusty freeze ray.

Even if you don't own any DLC packs, burglar alarms have been added with a variety of different types that do everything from call the police to zap burglars, forcing them to drop their stolen items and leave. There are unique interactions to discover too, such as the chance that teenage Sims will stop for a cheeky selfie with the criminal before running away.

Is it a bit of a shame that it took over a decade since The Sims 4 launched back in September 2014 to add a feature that was present in The Sims, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3? Undeniably, but I suppose it's better late than never. I'm also glad that it's now part of the base game, rather than a paid DLC.

The Sims 4 is available now as a free-to-play title on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. That's in addition to Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PlayStation 5 via backwards compatibility.

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• Spotify: "how much money goes to artists and songwriters depends on their own contracts"
• Many tracks on Spotify don't generate royalties, and it favors big artists
• There are still ways to support artists directly, though

Spotify is getting annoyed with artists accusing it of hoarding all the money from streaming music. Speaking to our colleagues over on MusicRadar, it pointed a finger at the middlemen that sit between Spotify and the artists themselves.

Spotify has got a point: there are lots and lots of people taking often very large cuts of the money before any of it reaches the artist. But Spotify is also being a bit disingenuous here, because middlemen or not it doesn't pay a single cent for most of the songs you can stream from its service, and while its overall payouts are enormous, the lion's share goes to artists who are already huge.

I'm a broke musician and I make more money from a single Bandcamp sale than I expect to make from any streaming service this year. If you want to support artists, streaming isn't the way to do it.

Where does the Spotify money actually go?

Spotify's statement was partly in response to Gavin Rossdale, who said that "we know that Spotify barely pays. And whatever they do pay, the record companies make sure they sign off most of it before it goes to the artist."

Writing to MusicRadar, Spotify said: “As Gavin correctly points out, streaming services do not pay artists or songwriters directly. They pay rights holders, who in turn pay artists and songwriters based on their individual agreements. Once that revenue leaves a service like Spotify’s hands, how much money goes to artists and songwriters depends on their own contracts with their rightsholders."

That's absolutely true, and if you imagine streaming revenues as cake then there are many people stuffing their faces before the artist gets whatever crumbs are left. The music business is infamous for its ability to bring in huge amounts of money without giving very much of it to the talent. But while the streaming cake is huge, most of that cake is given to the very biggest artists via their record companies while many artists don't get offered any crumbs at all.

The music streaming services don't pay artists directly, and they don't pay per stream. After they've taken their cut of your subscription fees – typically 30% to cover operating costs and profit – they then pay out royalties based on market share. Spotify explains it here: "We calculate streamshare by tallying the total number of streams in a given month and determining what proportion of those streams were people listening to music owned or controlled by a particular rightsholder."

That's great if you're Taylor Swift or Kendrick Lamar. But it's not so great if you're a garage band just starting out. Since 2024 Spotify has demonetized songs that don't get 1,000 streams a year – by some estimates, 86% of music on the platform. As Air Herstand explained in Variety, "an artist with 20 songs at just under 1,000 streams each would earn around $60. Now that artist would earn $0. $60 is not life changing, and it's also not nothing."

What that means in practice is that the very biggest artists are doing very well from streaming: rates of around $0.0031 per stream may seem small, but when you're Taylor Swift – the first female artist to reach 100 billion Spotify streams – that's a ton of money. But the very smallest artists aren't making much money, or any money at all.

If you care about music and want to support artists, the best thing you can do isn't to stream them. It's to buy from their Bandcamp, especially on Bandcamp Fridays when all your cash goes to the artist. It's to buy their merchandise. And most of all, it's to go to their shows.

All of these provide real money more or less directly to the artists, and so help to make sure that they can keep providing you with new music in the future. There's no guarantee of that through streaming alone.

If you love a band, don't just stream them. Go see them.

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• A video has surfaced which supposedly shows the rear panel of the Google Pixel 9a
• The video has since been deleted, but reuploaded by others
• We have no way to confirm whether the phone is real or fake, but it looks convincing

With the Google Pixel 9, Google Pixel 9 Pro, and Google Pixel 9 Pro XL all settling into spots on our list of the best Android phones, fans are naturally wondering when we can expect to see the long-rumored Google Pixel 9a join the lineup as this year’s mid-range Pixel handset.

Well, if a new hands-on video is anything to go by, we might not have to too long to wait. In a now-deleted YouTube short (via Android Authority), tech YouTuber Alexis Garza showed off the design of a convincing-looking Pixel 9a.

Though the original video has been pulled, fellow YouTuber Shane Craig re-uploaded the five-second clip to Threads, where it's still live at the time of writing.

Post by @shanec.irl View on Threads

In the clip, Garza holds the Pixel 9a to the camera and rotates the phone to show the rear panel, camera system, side rails, and buttons.

Everything seems to match what we’ve heard via the latest Google Pixel 9a rumors, from the lack of a camera bar to the squared-off edges that make the Pixel 9a look much more like the mainline Pixel 9 than the previous-generation Pixel 8a. The buttons appear to be standard fare, with just a power button and volume rocker on the right-hand side of the phone.

The Pixel 9a shown in the video features a dual camera system, which we expect to be comprised of a 48MP main camera and a 13MP ultra-wide camera. As mentioned, the camera bar – iconic to the Pixel series since the Google Pixel 6 – is nowhere to be seen, with the cameras instead residing in a pill-shaped cutout that sits almost flush with the rest of the chassis. A large flash module sits to the right of the cameras.

The device shown in Garza's video looks awfully convincing (Image credit: Alexis Garza / Shane Craig)

Personally, even as an outspoken fan of minimalist phone design, I think this is a very plain-looking aesthetic. I appreciate the utility-focused build, but it looks like there’s very little to set the Google Pixel 9a apart from its competitors save for, well, how very little there is to it.

We don’t get a look at the front of the phone in Garza’s clip, but the phone seems to be about the size we’d expect – recent rumors point to a 6.3-inch display for Google’s next mid-ranger, up from 6.1 inches on the Google Pixel 8a.

And if this close-up wasn’t enough, the same device showed up in the background of another since-deleted video posted by Garza depicting a similar hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.

Of course, the device in Garza’s video might be a fake, but if so, it’s a very well-made one that would presumably take serious investment to make. The speed with which the video was uploaded and removed could certainly prompt some speculation. Personally, I think the device looks too expensive and well-made to be a phony, though I have no idea how Garza got their hands on it (and this is, of course, just my personal opinion).

In any case, the Google Pixel 9a is tipped to release on March 19, so we might find out how accurate this strange hands-on is sooner rather than later. Has this leak got you more excited for the Google Pixel 9a? Let us know in the comments.

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• Phones running the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip can get up to eight years of software support.
• This will extend to future Android phones running Qualcomm chips.
• However, will anyone actually use a phone for eight years? We're not so sure.

More and more Android phones could come with longer software and security support, thanks to a partnership between Google and Qualcomm.

The crux of this partnership means that the two companies will aim to extend software and security support for devices running Snapdragon chips to up to eight years of consecutive updates. The first phones that’ll fall into this initiative will be ones that sport the flagship-grade Snapdragon Elite 8 chipsets, with the partnership set to cover the next five generations of Qualcomm chips.

“What this means is that support for platform software included in this program will be made available to OEMs for eight consecutive years, including both Android OS and kernel upgrades, without requiring significant changes or upgrades to the platform and OEM code on the device,” explained Qualcomm, noting: “This software support can lower costs for OEMs interested in supporting their devices longer and can show consumers the advantages of Snapdragon mobile processors and software support.”

In a nutshell, this move should help extend the longevity of Android smartphones. Given that, in general, phones have become so iterative in the new features they offer and in how much of a step up they offer over their predecessors, there’s more scope for people to hold onto their phones for longer.

A lack of software and security support did stymie this somewhat, but with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S25 series and Google Pixel 9 already offering seven years plus of support, such a problem could be consigned to the virtual bone orchard.

However, there are two ‘buts’ to this situation. The first is it’s ultimately up to phone manufacturers to decide how they implement software support, with some still lagging behind and even OnePlus acknowledging that it doesn't feel the need to provide more than four years of software support.

The second builds upon that latter point, in that eight years is an age for a smartphone, with a lithium-ion battery likely to have worn out in that time and struggling to hold a decent charge for a phone unless it gets replaced, and software advancements like baked-in AI features tend to demand more powerful chips. So it’s unlikely that a smartphone will last most people eight years unless they use it very sparingly and have no interest in the latest software features.

Nevertheless, at a time when there’s concern over electronic waste and the environmental impact of technology, this partnership between Google and Qualcomm is a positive step forward in making smartphones more sustainable, as it certainly doesn't look like the world’s appetite for them is going away anytime soon. Speaking of which, check out our roundup of the best phones if you’re in the market for a new device.

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Hey Alexa, how many days has it been since September 20, 2023?

I’ll tell you – It’s been 525 days since then. That’s a fact which has been on my mind, and potentially yours and countless other Alexa users, as that’s the date of the last Amazon Devices event at which Alexa AI was unveiled. Essentially, Amazon's plan for its virtual assistant, which lives in countless Echo devices, was to get a large language model addition to make it “more intuitive, intelligent, and useful.”

525 days later, though, Alexa hasn’t gotten a major upgrade, and Alexa AI still isn’t here with the promised upgrades. There is a very good chance we’re on the cusp of Amazon debuting its next Alexa, though, and hopefully rolling out the promised enhancements. Panos Panay – Amazon’s head of devices – will take the stage for Amazon’s Devices and Services February 26th event, and you can read our live blog to follow along with the news as it breaks.

For now, though, let’s flip the calendar back and walk through what Amazon promised.

(Image credit: Amazon)

Amazon originally teased Alexa AI as the central brain for all it’s Echo devices back in September of 2023, but the company did hedge a bit on the rollout, noting it would arrive first in the US at an undisclosed date with a limited feature set.

One of the leading demos, which former devices head Dave Limp showed off on stage, was a much more conversational Alexa. You could talk back and forth more informally, much like with a family member or a friend, and ultimately, much like what ChatGPT’s voice mode or Gemini Live is like today. It was an actual demo as well, in that it took a few attempts before it worked and Limp was able to chat with Alexa about his presentation.

It was a much more natural Alexa that could weave in the answers with a better cadence. Further, it could pull on the knowledge it had learned about the household, answering queries about favorite sports team, and triggering multiple automations concurrently. It was a true personalization for Alexa, and that was the main promise. Back in 2023, it was impressive, but this is closer to the AI models we see and can interact with from the likes of OpenAI and Google today.

On the smart home side, the enhanced Alexa was promised to take action based on more human requests; instead of asking for your fans and heaters to be turned on, you could simply tell Alexa that you’re too cold or warm and then it would automatically start adjusting connected smart home gadgets. It could also run through multiple smart home automations with the turn of a phrase and even generate text if you ask.

Pretty neat. It's kind of a mixture of a true smart home assistant with intelligent cues paired with a modern AI chatbot; fitting that this landmark moment should be housed in the first virtual assistant to really captivate so many households and land a spot in millions of homes.

(Image credit: Amazon)

That brings us to the present day. Will Panos Panay, the current head of devices, take what was already teased and build it into an actual drop for current Echo devices around the globe? Might it start in the US only with support for select devices? Time will tell, though judging by the initial promise of Alexa AI, that could likely be the case.

My hope, and let’s say prediction, is that we see pieces of Alexa AI come to fruition and that Amazon will use this opportunity to really enhance home smarts and integrate AI chat further in a uniquely helpful way.

More critically, though, as my colleague Lance Ulanoff wrote, is that Amazon may or may not retain support for even it’s oldest Echos. Amazon has sold countless Echo devices, and while Alexa is great for controlling music and basic requests, unleashing this next-gen version on a bounty of hardware is exciting – so we hope everyone gets the chance, no matter the age of their Echo devices.

Still, though, I’d take a shiny, new Echo smart speaker with an improved AZ1 Neural Edge chip and other hardware to really let this new Alexa burn down the highway.

Either way, my first request to this new Alexa will be to play some Bruce Springsteen – some things simply never change. Stick with TechRadar for the latest as Amazon unveils it at its February 26, 2025 event.

@jakekrol

♬ vlog, chill out, calm daily life(1370843) - SUNNY HOOD STUDIO You might also like

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• Warner Bros. has closed Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego
• The company intends to focus more closely on key franchises
• Monolith Productions was the developer of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Warner Bros. has closed three major studios, Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego, in an effort to increase its profitability.

First reported by Bloomberg, Warner Bros. has subsequently released a statement outlining the cuts. "We have had to make some very difficult decisions to structure our development studios and investments around building the best games possible with our key franchises," it read, before listing Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC, and Games of Thrones as areas of focus going forward.

"After careful consideration, we are closing three of our development studios - Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego. This is a strategic change in direction and not a reflection of these teams or the talent that consists within them," it continued. The statement clarifies that the development of the upcoming Wonder Woman game, which was being helmed by Monolith, "will not move forward."

"Our hope was to give players and fans the highest quality experience possible for the iconic character, and unfortunately this is no longer possible within our strategic priorities. This is another tough decision, as we recognize Monolith’s storied history of delivering epic fan experiences through amazing games," it said.

Founded in 1994, Monolith was a significant developer responsible for many beloved games. This included horror classics F.E.A.R and Condemned: Criminal Origins in addition to more recent licensed favorites like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War.

Player First Games was a more recent arrival, founded in 2019 and acquired by Warner Bros. Games in 2024. It developed one title, the free-to-play fighter Multiversus which features characters and worlds from various Warner Bros. properties. Earlier this year it was confirmed that Multiversus will shut down on May 30, 2025.

Warner Bros. Games San Diego also opened in 2019 and was focused on free-to-play mobile development.

It is currently unclear how many staff will be affected by the closures.

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• Nike has unveiled two brand-new supershoes
• The Vaporfly 4 is the lightest model in the franchise's history
• The new Streakfly 2 is an ultra-responsive shoe for short distances

Nike has unveiled two brand-new super shoes, including the next iteration of the Vaporfly, which it says is the lightest model yet.

Nike manufactures some of the best running shoes on the market, and its new Vaporfly 4 and Streakfly 2 shoes promise extreme response and lighting speed over short distances.

The new Vaporfly 4 is the lightest model in the franchise's history. Specifically, it's 10% lighter than the outgoing Vaporfly 3 and 20 grams lighter than the original Vaporfly from 2017. The Vaporfly 4 is the most versatile Nike racing shoe out there and would suit anyone running 5K up to a marathon. Nike has removed some surplus foam from the midsole to save weight, and there's also a new upper for more comfort and fit consistency.

Nike's next super shoes

(Image credit: Nike)

The Nike Streakfly 2 could be the ultimate speed shoe when it comes to short distances. It now features a full-length Flyplate, a redesigned centered lace system, and a new mesh upper. The Streakfly 2 is even lighter than the Vaporfly 4, weighing in at a staggering 126 grams, 40 grams less than the original.

Available from March (pricing tbc.), both of these shoes join the Nike Racing lineup which already boasts the Alphafly 3 and Zoom Fly 6.

Also new to the scene for Nike this year is the new Vomero 18, the company's new max cushioning shoe that promises a plush and gentle ride.

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Top CDs boast APYs more than three times the national average for some terms.

• The upgraded 8BitDo Ultimate 2 is launching between March and April 2025
• Improvements include TMR thumbsticks, RGB lighting and better software
• This controller is compatible with Windows and Android devices

This is not a drill! The 8BitDo Ultimate 2 - an upgraded version of the gamepad that tops our list of the best Nintendo Switch controllers - is launching very soon.

The 8BitDo Ultimate's successor has some key upgrades over the original model including a pair of TMR thumbsticks. These achieve the same objective as Hall effect thumbsticks in combating stick drift, but are more energy efficient, which should lead to a slight increase in battery life. Although, those new RGB lighting rings could certainly eat into the extra battery life gains. Thankfully, as with the previous model, this one also comes with a charging dock.

It's also providing what the manufacturer calls '8Speed' technology, which aims to deliver ultra-responsive 2.4Ghz wireless connectivity of under 1ms. If true, that'll be a very impressive upgrade.

The Ultimate 2 also adds toggles for its Hall effect triggers, allowing players to swap between instant and non-linear trigger presses. As before, you're getting two remappable rear buttons as well as two new bumper buttons for additional secondary inputs.

8BitDo's proprietary software looks like it's getting an upgrade too. The 8BitDo Ultimate Software V2 will let players adjust RGB patterns and strength, as well as button mapping, stick and gyro aiming sensitivity, trigger press distance and much more.

As for price and availability, the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 can be pre-ordered now for $59.99 / £49.99 at 8BitDo's Amazon store. It appears to be delivering from March 8 in the US, but UK folks will have to wait a bit longer until April 25. Three colorways are available, too - White, Black and a lovely Purple.

This initial version of the controller is also only compatible with Windows and Android devices. But, with the Nintendo Switch 2 appearing over the horizon, it's reasonable to expect 8BitDo to release a version that's compatible with the Switch family of systems.

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As data privacy laws evolve and the demand for transparency grows, privacy offices are increasingly burdened with the rising cost of processing Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs). In fact, a 2024 survey indicated a staggering 246% increase in DSARs over the past two years. And they’re costing companies big time – to the tune of $1.5k per request. For offices that handle these privacy requests manually, the costs are incremental. What began as a regulatory obligation to grant individuals access to their personal data has ballooned into a costly and resource-draining task for privacy teams.

From labor-intensive manual reviews to the complexity of identifying, retrieving, and securely delivering data, DSARs require significant investments in both technology and personnel. The challenge lies not only in complying with these legal requirements but also in maintaining the balance between operational efficiency and safeguarding the personal data they are entrusted with.

But what actually is a DSAR – and why are they causing such a stir? Let’s dive in.

Why should businesses care about rising DSARs, anyway?

A DSAR is a legal right granted to individuals under data privacy regulations – such as the GDPR in the EU or CCPA in California – that allows them to request access to their personal data held by an organization. Essentially, it’s a way for people to understand what data is being collected about them, how it’s being used, and to ensure their privacy rights are respected.

When someone submits a DSAR, an organization must provide a comprehensive report on all the data they hold on that individual. This could include everything from personal details to browsing history, transaction records, or even interactions with customer service.

For privacy teams (especially those that process these requests manually) DSARs can become a complex and resource-intensive process. The challenge is not just in identifying and retrieving the right data, but also ensuring it’s done securely, within the required timeframes, and in compliance with the law – which becomes more and more challenging as new regulations appear across the globe.

In some jurisdictions like Chile, with few legacy protections, new laws are created to provide for additional individual rights. Meanwhile, the United States continues multiplying the number of data subjects with DSAR rights and adding to the list of available rights. Still other authorities have increased enforcement of existing laws, including on topics related to DSAR handling.

Public awareness is also a driving force behind this trend. With data breaches on the rise (up 78% in 2023 alone) consumers are more informed about the risks their personal data faces. Increasing media attention, stricter breach notification laws, and high-profile enforcement actions are making consumers more cautious and proactive.

Compliance isn’t just ethical, it’s economical

Meeting DSAR requirements can set your business apart by reinforcing your reputation as an ethical, customer-centric organization. Customers are more likely to trust companies that take their privacy seriously. Being proactive in addressing DSARs and offering users easy access to their data builds credibility and strengthens brand loyalty. What’s more, businesses that excel in DSAR compliance not only minimize the risk of fines and legal penalties, but they also foster a culture of transparency that can lead to higher customer satisfaction and retention rates.

To turn DSAR compliance into a strategic advantage, here are three actionable tips businesses can implement to safeguard customer data and stay ahead of the competition:

Adopt Data Minimization and Secure Storage Practices: One of the best ways to reduce the burden of responding to DSARs is to minimize the amount of personal data collected in the first place. By adopting data minimization principles (that is, only collecting the data that’s necessary and for the minimum amount of time) businesses limit the scope of DSARs and reduce the risks associated with data breaches. Additionally, secure storage practices, such as encrypting sensitive data and using access controls, can help prevent unauthorized access while DSARs are being processed.

Create Clear, User-Friendly DSAR Processes: Make it as easy as possible for customers to submit DSARs by offering easy-to-read instructions and multiple channels for requests. Whether it’s through an online portal, customer service team, or dedicated privacy email address, ensuring that the process is simple and transparent encourages individuals to take advantage of their rights. Timely and clear responses, coupled with transparency about how their data is being used, can further cement your organization as a trusted entity in the eyes of your customers.

Implement Automated Data Mapping and Retrieval Systems: Manually processing DSARs can be inefficient, error prone, and difficult to scale. By investing in automated tools that help map out where personal data resides within an organization, businesses can dramatically speed up the process of retrieving that data when a request is made. Not only does this streamline compliance, but it also helps ensure that the data you provide is complete and accurate — critical for building trust.

By embracing DSAR compliance not just as a regulatory requirement but as a business opportunity, companies can position themselves as leaders in privacy and data ethics. Because the reality is: the organizations that are ethical, responsible and accountable for their customers' personal information are the organizations who are likely to differentiate their brand from the competition.

We've compiled a list of the best data loss prevention services.

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

Amazon is set to host its first Amazon Devices event since 2023, scheduled for 10am EST / 3pm GMT / 2am ACT on Wednesday, February 26, with many expecting this to be the launching pad for a new, AI-enhanced Alexa, alongside a handful of rumored Echo and Fire TV devices.

After announcing Alexa 2.0 alongside an array of hardware launches back in 2023, all has been relatively quiet from Amazon regarding the future of the LLM (large language model)-boosted smart assistant. Elsewhere, however, rumors have spelled a challenging road to release for Alexa 2.0, including recent concerns that there may be further delays even with its unveiling on the horizon.

It could end up being a divisive event, however, and not because of AI-related concerns; Amazon could be about to fill out its "trends of the 2020s" bingo card by also announcing a subscription plan for the newly smartened Alexa.

We're on the ground in New York City attending the event, which is not publicly available to live stream, and we'll be sharing all the news live as it happens. Stay tuned!

The latest news

• Amazon has scheduled its Devices and Services event for for 10AM EST / 3PM GMT / 2AM ACT on Wednesday, February 26.
• The event is rumored to be the announcement of a new, AI-enhanced Alexa 2.0...
• ... however further rumors suggest this will be a subscription-only service.
• Further rumors suggest new Fire TV hardware and potentially new Echo devices.

Welcome to our live blog coverage of Amazon’s Devices and Services event! Our very own Lance Ulanoff and Jacob Krol are on the ground in New York City to attend the event in person, and I’ll be covering all the news as we learn more from Amazon about its 2025 products.

Stay tuned, because this could be a big moment for Amazon!

Instead of a Devices and Services event in 2024, Amazon opted to trickle various product releases throughout the year, including a surprise launch for the all-new Echo Show 21, as well as second generations of the Echo Spot and Echo Show 15.

We’ve reviewed them all - check them out!

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

With rumors flying about Alexa 2.0’s subscription fee, we’ll hopefully be learning more later today on what that means for the original Alexa. Logic would dictate they wouldn’t fully ditch it and would leave that as the ‘basic’ option in all Echo devices, right? Right?

Anyway, for a refresher on what Alexa can do, check out our list of the Best Alexa Skills and commands.

(Image credit: Amazon)

Especially at release, Alexa was a real game-changer, but with the passage of time comes new technology and new demands on aging software. That’s certainly the case with Alexa; the voice assistant has seen many quality of life updates and new features, but it’s starting to show its age.

There’s plenty that could be improved, but I wrote yesterday about five specific features that would make Alexa 2.0 genuinely worthwhile. Check it out!

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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• Comino has workstation PCs with 8, yes 8 Nvidia RTX 5090 GPUs, for less than $60,000 - but that’s not the best news
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• AMD-powered, liquid cooled Comino Grando AI sever gets reviewed but I still can't see any octo Nvidia RTX 5090 GPUs configuration

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