Technology

• The iPhone 17 Air could start at $899
• That's the same price as the iPhone 16 Plus
• It might also have battery life that's on a par with current iPhones

While we don't yet know much about the iPhone 17 Air, we were concerned that its reportedly super-slim design would mean both a high price and poor battery life – but the latest iPhone 17 Air news suggests that neither of those things will be the case.

According to Apple watcher Mark Gurman, writing in his paywalled Bloomberg newsletter (via MacRumors), the iPhone 17 Air will start at $899 in the US. Now, that’s not exactly cheap, but it is exactly the same price as the iPhone 16 Plus, which would likely make it the second-cheapest iPhone 17 model after the base iPhone 17.

If this price claim is accurate, then there’s a good chance the iPhone 17 Air will also have the same starting price as the iPhone 16 Plus elsewhere, meaning £899 in the UK and AU$1,599.

In the same piece, Gurman says the iPhone 17 Air’s battery life will be "on par with current iPhones," despite the likely slim build presumably leaving less space for a large battery. Gurman doesn't say how this will be achieved, but another recent iPhone 17 Air leak suggested that it will use “high-density battery cells.”

The iPhone 17 Air could rival the iPhone 16's battery life (Image credit: Future)

In any case, Gurman also details some other specs, claiming that the iPhone 17 Air will have a Camera Control button like the iPhone 16 series, and that its bezels will be roughly as thin as those of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Additionally, he says the iPhone 17 Air will have a 6.6-inch 120Hz display, a Dynamic Island, a single-lens 48MP camera, and an A19 chip rather than the A19 Pro that we’re expecting the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max to have.

The first port-free iPhone

This is largely stuff that we’ve heard before – as is a claim that the phone it will be eSIM-only worldwide – but interestingly Gurman also adds (via Engadget) that Apple had originally considered making the phone “completely port-free” by not including a USB-C charging port.

This plan was apparently abandoned not for any technical reasons, but to avoid issues in the EU – which not so long ago forced Apple’s hand in switching from Lightning ports to USB-C. However, Gurman adds that we may yet see a port-free iPhone in future.

We're expecting Apple to unveil the iPhone 17 Air in September, alongside the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup.

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• The 20th anniversary of the God of War series takes place on March 22
• It will be celebrated by an update for God of War Ragnarok, new merch, and more
• No new game or remaster has been announced yet

PlayStation has unveiled its plans for the 20th anniversary of the God of War series, which takes place on March 22, but the rumored remaster is nowhere to be seen.

As outlined by a recent PlayStation Blog post, the event will be commemorated with a new update for God of War Ragnarok. This will release on March 20 for both PlayStation 5 and PC and adds the 'Dark Odyssey Collection' of cosmetic items.

These will be available from any Lost Items chest in the base game or automatically while in Valhalla. The skins are inspired by the black and gold appearance unlocked when you beat God of War 2 on God Mode difficulty.

The full list of new items is as follows:

• Dark Odyssey Armor & Appearance for Kratos
  • Dark Odyssey Kratos Appearance
  • Dark Odyssey Armor Set for Kratos (Dark Odyssey Breastplate, Dark Odyssey Bracers, Dark Odyssey Belt)
• Dark Odyssey Companion Armor
  • Dark Odyssey Vestment for Atreus
  • Dark Odyssey Witch Frock for Freya
• Dark Odyssey Weapon Appearances & Attachments
  • Dark Odyssey Leviathan Axe [Appearance] & Dark Odyssey Knob [Attachment]
  • Dark Odyssey Blades of Chaos [Appearance] & Dark Odyssey Handles [Attachment]
  • Dark Odyssey Draupnir Spear [Appearance] & Dark Odyssey Hind [Attachment]
• Dark Odyssey Shield Appearances & Rond
  • Dark Odyssey Guardian Shield [Appearance]
  • Dark Odyssey Dauntless Shield [Appearance]
  • Dark Odyssey Stone Wall Shield [Appearance]
  • Dark Odyssey Shatter Start Shield [Appearance]
  • Dark Odyssey Onslaught Shield [Appearance]
  • Dark Odyssey Spartan Aspis Shield [Appearance]
  • Dark Odyssey Rond

The update will introduce the ability to edit the appearance of your weapon attachments and shield rond too, which is a nice touch.

Elsewhere, a comprehensive fan kit is being released for all platforms. Right now, this means you can download a series of free social media assets (such as banners and icons) in addition to some desktop and mobile wallpapers. On March 20, these will be joined by anniversary themed items in the Steam Points Shop and a free PlayStation Network Avatar for all PlayStation users.

There is a limited time collaboration with Gallery Nucleus in Los Angeles, California too, which lets fans explore a collection of artwork inspired by the God of War series plus concept art and memorabilia. It is open now and will run until March 23.

Pre-orders are now open for a new God of War: 20th Anniversary Retrospective book - a two-volume set filled with developer interviews and a behind-the-scenes look at the games. On March 18, pre-orders will also go up for a series of special anniversary art prints.

An adorable Jormungandr by merch company Fangamer has been also unveiled, measuring a whopping 67in / 170cm, with pre-orders set to begin on March 19.

For vinyl collectors, Sony has partnered with Laced Records to create a 13-disc limited edition vinyl set spanning the entire God of War series. Furthermore, double LP sets featuring music from the first three games in the series will be up for grabs.

The blog post also confirmed that a collection of God of War t-shirts will be sold by Insert Coin, with pre-orders opening on March 21.

Finally, if you're new to the series then now might be a great time to experience as God of War Ragnarok has been added to the PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra game catalog at no extra cost. For PC users, both God of War and God of War Ragnarok will be on sale until March 20th.

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• The Russo brothers have revealed how Avengers 5 and 6 will differ from Infinity War and Endgame
• Doomsday and Secret Wars will tell "a beginning story"
• The pair have also discussed whether the films' leaked concept art is real or not

Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will differ from the last two Avengers movies in one big way, the Russo brothers have teased.

Joe and Anthony Russo told Brazilian outlet Omelete that the films are being treated as a curtain raiser for the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) next saga. Rather than solely serving as the culmination of Marvel's Multiverse Saga, the pair say Avengers 5 and 6 will also double as "a beginning story" that'll pave the way for stories that'll be part of Phase 7 and beyond.

"The greatest thing that ever happened is we got to, you know, get immersed in a 20 movie arc and and see an ending to that arc," Joe Russo said. "What's compelling about these two new Avengers movies is they're a beginning. It's a new beginning. We told an ending story [with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame] and now we're going to tell a beginning story."

The veteran filmmakers' latest comments provide further insight into how they're approaching their next two MCU films, which are currently slated to arrive in May 2026 and May 2027.

In an exclusive interview with me earlier in March, the Russos revealed which of Marvel's Secret Wars comic book series they're drawing inspiration from for Avengers 5 and 6. As part of the same discussion, the pair also teased the possibility that heroes from Marvel TV shows on Disney+ could be part of Doomsday and/or Secret Wars' cast rosters. With principal photography rumored to begin in April, we might learn even more about the Marvel Phase 6 films if Marvel Studios fails to stop information from being leaked online.

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'That artwork was not from Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars'

Leaked concept art for Avengers 5 and 6 apparently revealed what Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom would look like (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Speaking of leaks, the Russo brothers have also responded to reports concerning the Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars imagery that recently appeared online.

At the start of March, I reported on the news that Marvel had suffered a huge internal leak after supposed concept art for Doomsday and Secret Wars was posted online. Unsurprisingly, fans spent days poring over the artwork, with many opining that there was more than an element of authenticity about them, especially as the concept art appeared to have been produced by an apparent Marvel Studios artist.

However, as part of a lengthy chat with The Hollywood Reporter, the Russo brothers denied that the artwork was genuine. Asked if any of the leaked images offered clues about the plot of either or both films, Joe Russo emphatically responded: "No, because that artwork was not from Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars" before Anthony Russo added: "Nothing spoiling in there. That’s not our concept art."

Naturally, this could be the pair's way of saving face or trying to throw fans off the scent post-leak. Until the films are released in theaters, we won't be able to determine if that's true or not. Roll on next May and mid-2027, then!

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• 'We're optimists': AI enthusiasts Joe and Anthony Russo defend its use in movies and TV shows, but admit there are 'very real dangers' around its application

• March updates for Windows 11 and Windows 10 have an odd bug that removes Copilot
• It’s easy enough to reinstall the AI, but the glitch is puzzling, not to mention embarrassing for Microsoft
• There are other bugs hitting Windows 11 users, including worrying reports of crashes or even boot failures

Microsoft’s latest patches for Windows 11 are causing some degree of trouble, it probably won’t surprise you to learn, with reports of various fresh bugs emerging after the release of those March updates last week.

Patch KB5053598 for Windows 11 24H2 seems to be the most problematic, but the major bug here has also affected other Windows versions.

Some users on Windows 11 24H2 and 23H2 – and those who’ve installed Windows 10’s March patch (KB5053606) – are finding that the Copilot app has been randomly removed from their PC.

Windows Latest noticed this strange affair, which Microsoft has since acknowledged. The bug causes the Copilot app to be uninstalled and unpinned from the taskbar - so essentially, the AI assistant is vanishing completely from affected Windows 11 and 10 PCs.

Microsoft says it’s aware of the issue and is “working on a resolution”, but in the meantime, the workaround is to simply reinstall the Copilot app (from the Microsoft Store) and then manually pin it back to the taskbar.

Other reports of bugs that those using Windows 11 24H2 have encountered include installation failures, Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) crashes, or indeed the most feared of system gremlins, total boot failure (so the PC isn’t starting up at all after crashing during the update).

All of this was flagged by Windows Latest, and the tech site also observes that there’s a glitch that causes remote desktop (RDP) sessions to either fail completely or to continually keep disconnecting (that’s a bug that only really applies to business users, though).

This thread on Reddit has some further complaints about BSODs and other issues such as USB keyboards and mice failing to work post-update with Windows 11.

(Image credit: Marjan Apostolovic / Shutterstock) Analysis: An embarrassing inconvenience alongside major woes

It seems like quite a few new bugs are floating around with the March updates, and some of them are very unfortunate – particularly the nasty crashes (or complete boot failures) that are evident in a scattering of reports.

The bug that’s ejecting Copilot from Windows in such an unceremonious fashion is also particularly embarrassing for Microsoft, seeing as the software giant is on a drive to try to get people to use its AI helper – which will be tricky if it’s suddenly MIA for no apparent reason. (It’s worth noting that this doesn’t affect the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, by the way).

This is an odd glitch indeed, although it doesn’t appear to be that widespread, luckily for Microsoft. Presumably, a solution will be found soon enough – it’ll surely be a priority for the company to resolve – but it’s not difficult to reinstall the Copilot app, anyway. This is more of an inconvenience, really, but one that has surely got Microsoft blushing a bit, as it’s difficult to imagine how an accidental Copilot wipe was triggered in this way.

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• Samsung launches a new Game Booster+ tool
• Extra options include GPU tweaks and app categorization
• For now at least, it's limited to South Korea

When it comes to the best gaming phones available at any given time, you'll usually find multiple Galaxy phones and iPhones vying to come out on top – and with a new software update, Samsung might just have edged ahead overall.

As spotted by SamMobile, there's now a new Game Booster+ app available as part of the Good Lock suite of utilities that comes with every Samsung Galaxy phone. It adds some useful improvements for the gaming experience on these handsets.

You can, for example, mark any app as a game and get the optimized gaming mode for it, as well as remap the keys on a connected controller. You're able to set up four different controller profiles for four separate games, if needed.

The update also enables you to dig deeper into the graphics settings for your phone, taking more control over how game demands are handled. These options include improving texture quality, if your phone and its battery life can take it.

South Korea only, for now

New Good Lock plug-in "Game Booster+" launched in Korea.What's new:• Enable Game Booster GPU settings• Game controller key remapping• MoreDownload now:https://t.co/VGG0IBMCwqThanks @ya_sking12767 for tip and apk!! pic.twitter.com/3myycjcF1WMarch 15, 2025

There is a pretty big caveat here, which is that Samsung has only made Game Booster+ available in South Korea – so the rest of us are left with the standard Game Booster that's been around for a while, until Samsung rolls the update out more widely.

As yet, there's been no official word on if or when we'll all get Game Booster+, but there doesn't seem to be any major reason why it would stay locked to one region. There are plenty of keen mobile gamers outside South Korea, after all.

Tech tipster @tarunvats33 has made the app available for anyone to download, though as usual with sideloading on Android, you do this at your own risk. It's not quite the same as getting the official version direct from Samsung.

Meanwhile, Samsung continues its work on getting One UI 7 (its take on Android 15) ready for other phones besides the Galaxy S25 series. We don't know exactly which handsets are getting it, but we do know it's coming next month.

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• KnowBe4 surveyed employees around the world to gauge their confidence in spotting phishing
• Many confident people have also fallen victim in the past
• Education and transparency are key to combating phishing, researchers said

Despite being confident in their ability to spot phishing, many employees still fall for such scams, new research has claimed.

A report from KnowBe4 warns about “misplaced confidence” which can cause even more problems for businesses, showing almost all (86%) of respondents believe they can confidently identify phishing emails.

Yet more than half (53%) fell victim to some form of social engineering scams: 24% fell for a phishing attack, 17% were tricked by a social media scam, and 12% were tricked by a deepfake scam.

High confidence often leads to victimization

Employees in South Africa lead the way in both the highest confidence levels and highest scam victimization rate (68%), KnowBe4 explains, hinting that misplace confidence can create a false sense of security.

At the other end of the spectrum are UK employees, who reported the lowest scam victim rate (43%). However, this figure too is down 5% compared to 2021, indicating that vulnerability is rising even in regions with historically high confidence levels.

Training is paramount to combating phishing and social engineering, KnowBe4 says, adding that “fostering a transparent security culture” is equally important. While more than half (56%) of employees feel “very comfortable” reporting security concerns, 1 in 10 still hesitate, either out of fear, or uncertainty.

“The Dunning-Kruger effect, which is a cognitive bias where people overestimate their ability, is alive and well in cybersecurity,” commented Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4.

“This overconfidence fosters a dangerous blind spot - employees assume they are scam-savvy when, in reality, cybercriminals can exploit more than 30 susceptibility factors, including psychological and cognitive biases, situational awareness gaps, behavioral tendencies, and even demographic traits.”

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The time for talk is over. After two years of exploring the potential use cases, growing numbers of organizations are beginning to adopt generative AI (GenAI) to drive tangible business value. Gartner reports that investment in these technologies will continue to rise in the coming months — driving global IT spend to almost USD 6 trillion in the next year.

CIOs are keen to progress beyond the proof-of-concept stage and start putting GenAI to work. Although exciting new capabilities and use cases are emerging on a daily basis, GenAI needs to be built on firm foundations to deliver results. The teams charged with coming up with ideas on how GenAI can be used – and the leaders signing off on their investments of time and money need a solid understanding of how it works. First and foremost, however, they need to focus on making sure they have the data required to fuel the successful adoption of Gen AI tools.

Covering the bases

From Microsoft leadership teams to US courtrooms, experts are sounding the alarm: with AI, ‘garbage in = garbage out’. If they fail to heed these warnings, organizations will not unlock the benefits they are expecting. Before investing time and money into adopting new use cases for GenAI, organizations need to get the data in place to enable it to succeed. Specifically, they need to cover four core main bases:

1) Modernize existing data

First, organizations need to transform the existing data sets that will be used to train models and drive insights. They need to map and analyze their current data to understand the existing landscape, then use a mix of data warehousing and data lakes to lay the foundations for a robust architecture. They also need to consider the data aggregation, storage, and retrieval requirements, to ensure they can conduct analytics in real time. Data modernization projects can take years to complete, but there is no time to waste – they must be completed in a matter of months.

2) Identify and ingest new sources of quality data

Next, they need to enrich existing data with external insights to add crucial holistic context to supercharge AI. To date, ingesting external data sets has been a time-consuming process, but cloud-based Extract, Transform, Load (ELT) solutions can automatically create pipelines. This enables organizations to quickly bring in reliable data sets that can put them on the path to unlocking deeper insights to fuel their AI use cases.

3) Proactively remove any bias

Next, organizations need to review the entire data landscape to ensure it is clean. They need to be certain their data can be trusted to inform their AI, driving it to make the right decisions. It’s crucial that they identify and remove any unintended biases that might emerge if they feed this data into their AI. By stepping back to consider the potential biases that could arise in their AI use cases before deploying them, they can head off the likelihood of these problems arising in advance.

4) Ensure visibility to underpin data quality and governance

Finally, organizations must eliminate silos, unifying data with end to end visibility to create a single source of truth. AI will not be reliable and accurate if fed with conflicting data - so they must be able to identify confusing conflicts, and remove them. Data evolves over time, which means it is important to maintain visibility over who has changed or added data, and why. This traceability will help identify and overcome potential mistakes, for example, if synthetic training data has been accidentally used for real-world decision-making.

Increasing AI literacy to capitalize on the opportunity

This data provides the raw materials, but it needs to be used in the right way to drive GenAI success. Building knowledge across the business will enable teams to identify use cases that can really generate value. Multiple departments could potentially benefit from GenAI in different ways, so it’s crucial to start with a clear vision and objective in mind. Organizations that invest budget and manhours in training will likely be rewarded with use cases that enable them to confidently deploy GenAI in ways that unlock the fastest ROI.

To enable this, leadership teams must also have a solid level of AI literacy and data literacy. Business leaders need understand how traditional and GenAI models work and how underlying data and training can influence the inferences presented by these models. This will give them a deeper appreciation of the recommendations coming out of an AI based solution in the context of the business use case and they will find themselves in a much better position to accept or decline such recommendations. This is the whole point of the “human in the loop” which is a key factor in the success and acceptance of AI based solutions.

Building on the foundations for successful adoption

By laying solid data foundations, empowering teams to uncover use cases and ensuring leaders can green-light the right projects, organizations will be on the path to successful GenAI adoption. The opportunity is very exciting, and evolving at a rapid pace, so there is no time to lose. CIOs just need to balance the need for speed with a firm focus on making sure none of the corners are cut. Taking time to lay solid foundations will put them on course for successful GenAI adoption that will unlock value and benefit many different teams across the business.

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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

CDs are a low-risk way to grow your savings in an uncertain economy.

The growing popularity of Macs and MacBooks in enterprises can in part be attributed to their “secure by design” reputation. And generally, macOS is considered a safe platform, a view widely shared across the tech community.

Although macOS is widely perceived as more secure than Windows, 2024 revealed a worrying trend – a notable increase in Mac-targeted threats. From infostealers like Amos Atomic and Poseidon to advanced nation-state campaigns like BeaverTail and RustBucket, threat actors are exploiting macOS design elements to compromise corporate environments.

An over-reliance on the security mechanisms built-in to macOS can leave organizations vulnerable to attacks, so it’s key for organizations to recognize these risks and understand how to mitigate them effectively.

The Rise of macOS crimeware

There is a growing concern about the presence of malware on macOS, a problem that was relatively minor ten years ago. One contributing factor is the increased prevalence of Macs in business environments, a significant shift from the late 2010s, that has made them more attractive to attackers.

Threat actors have realized there is money to be made from Mac users. As a result, cybercriminals are increasingly targeting them, recognizing the value of these devices for conducting malicious activities.

Additionally, there are more targeted attacks in business environments. Beyond general attacks, Mac users in business environments face targeted attacks from sophisticated threat actors who aim to steal sensitive company data or disrupt operations.

Today, there are more threats to Macs than ever before, but awareness of these threats remains low. In contrast, most Windows users are generally aware of the need for the best antivirus software. However, Mac users often believe their devices are safe by design, a misconception that needs to be reconsidered given the current threat landscape.

Mac myth-busting

While the myth that “Macs don’t get malware” has been thoroughly debunked, a lingering perception persists that macOS is inherently safer than other OSes. This belief stems from comparisons to Windows, which faces a staggering volume of malware, but it doesn’t mean that threat actors aren’t actively targeting Macs, too.

2024 saw a significant uptick in macOS-focused crimeware. Infostealers-as-a-service, such as Amos Atomic, Banshee Stealer, Cuckoo Stealer, Poseidon and others, represent a significant portion of these threats. These tools are designed for quick, opportunistic attacks, aiming to steal credentials, financial data, and other sensitive information in one fell swoop.

Amos Atomic, which reportedly began as a ChatGPT project in April 2023, has quickly evolved into one of the most prominent Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) platforms targeting Mac users. Initially a standalone offering, Amos Atomic has splintered into multiple variants, including Banshee, Cthulu, Poseidon, and RodrigoStealer. These versions are now developed and marketed by competing crimeware groups, spreading rapidly and affecting businesses throughout 2024.

What sets this malware family apart is its shift in distribution tactics. Instead of focusing on cracked games or user productivity apps, it now spoofs a wide range of enterprise applications, significantly broadening its reach and posing a greater threat to corporate environments.

Safe – or unsafe – by design?

For convenience, Apple designed Macs so that a single password could be used to unlock the device and allow administrator functions. This means that by default, the same password is used for logging in, installing software, and unlocking the Keychain – the database built into macOS that stores other passwords, including online credentials saved in the browser, application certificates, and more.

In addition, a built-in AppleScript mechanism makes it easy for attackers to fake a legitimate-looking password dialog box. Malware that successfully spoofs a password dialog box to install a fake program is then able to access all the sensitive data stored in the Keychain.

This straightforward yet effective approach is widely adopted by the rash of infostealers currently plaguing macOS businesses and home users. Given how deeply these features are integrated into the system itself, this technique is unlikely to be mitigated by Apple any time soon.

Advanced adversaries: Staying hidden in plain sight

Rather than the quick-hit tactics of smash-and-grab infostealers, advanced adversaries such as nation-state actors also aim to persist on the device over time. Their goal is to maintain long-term access to compromised devices, often for espionage or other high-value objectives. With Apple introducing user notifications for background login items in macOS Ventura, attackers have adapted by exploring new ways to remain undetected.

Common techniques include trojanizing software, which consists of compromising popular or frequently used applications to ensure the malicious code runs regularly. This can involve infecting development environments such as Visual Studio and Xcode with malicious payloads.

Additionally, leveraging Unix components, threat actors are exploiting overlooked command line elements like zsh environment files (“.zshenv” and “.zshrc”), which execute whenever the user opens a new terminal session, granting the attacker persistent access to the system.

Such tactics underscore the importance of scrutinizing trusted applications, development tools, and the underlying command line environment.

Defensive strategies for organizations

To protect against the rising tide of macOS threats, organizations should implement proactive and comprehensive security measures. Key defensive strategies include:

• Control user actions: Recognize that most malware on Macs comes through user interaction. Use device management to control what users can change and do on their devices and limit admin privileges to reduce the risk of malware installation.
• User education: Educate employees on the risks of using Apple’s built-in Passwords app and Keychain for storing corporate credentials. Instead, mandate the use of trusted third-party password managers that provide stronger security and compartmentalization.
• Ensure visibility: Implement software that provides visibility into the system to monitor changes and detect suspicious activities. Understand how to check for malware and what tools to use for confidence in the system's security.
• Adopt robust security solutions: macOS’s built-in XProtect malware detection is updated infrequently and offers limited coverage. Organizations should deploy an advanced security solution that provides real-time threat detection and prevention.

Rethinking macOS security

The perception that macOS is inherently more secure can create a dangerous blind spot for organizations. Macs are not necessarily more “secure by design” than any other computing platform, and the evidence from 2024 demonstrates that threat actors are increasingly targeting them.

Organizations must treat macOS as a primary target in their security strategy, adopting a layered defense approach and educating users about the risks.

By recognizing and addressing these vulnerabilities, organizations can mitigate the risks of betting too heavily on macOS security – and avoid becoming sitting ducks for the next wave of attacks.

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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

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• BraX3 is a privacy-focused, modular smartphone running iodéOS
• Advanced tools block trackers and analyze your data’s digital path
• Open source iodéOS promises privacy and security

A little-known device maker is looking to address the growing concerns about smartphone surveillance as modern devices collect and share extensive user data to build digital profiles.

BraX is working to launch BraX3, a business smartphone designed for those who value their privacy above all else - it runs iodéOS, a de-Googled, open source Android 14-based alternative operating system that blocks ads, trackers, and unwanted data sharing.

Instead, the BraX3 uses dedicated privacy-focused servers for essential services, providing safe browsing with privacy-first search engines like Qwant, Brave, and Ecosia.

The most privacy-friendly smartphone yet?

The BraX3 also employs Lunar Network for geolocation, blending GPS for outdoor navigation and a secure indoor network-based location service. With no Google identity required, users can enjoy complete anonymity.

It also includes an internet traffic analysis tool, which visualizes who is accessing your data, how much is being collected, and where it is sent. By restricting intrusive applications and ensuring only privacy-compliant apps are used, BraX3 minimizes data exposure without sacrificing functionality.

As for hardware, the BraX3's modular design allows users to replace parts using standard tools, with spare parts available for six years post-launch.

It offers a 6.56-inch HD+ display which supports 90Hz refresh rate, and a pixel density of 280 xhdpi. Under the hood, it boasts the Dimensity 6300 processor (Octa-core, 2.4GHz, 6nm), paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. A 5,000mAh battery with 10W charging ensures lasting performance.

It comes with a 50MP camera on the rear as well as a 5MP front camera for selfies. This device features a fingerprint sensor, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2 and multiple 4G and 5G bands.

Crucially, it also supports an eSIM for international travel, dual SIM, and a MicroSD slot.

While the porting process may face delays, BraX hopes that power users will have the option to run Ubuntu Touch, offering an independent app store and Terminal access.

The BraX3 is available for pre-order for $299.00 via crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. With 2,792 backers at press time, this alternative business smartphone signals a rising demand for tech that prioritizes privacy and the right-to-repair.

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