Technology

• China wants to know if Google’s Android OS is harming its smartphone market
• Nvidia under fire following its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies
• Intel dominates the Chinese CPU market

Chinese antitrust regulators have reportedly reopened probes into US tech giants Google and Nvidia, with Intel also potentially facing an investigation.

The news comes after President Trump introduced an additional 10% tariff on imports coming from China – the People's Republic retaliated with its own import tariffs on goods received from the US.

Despite the scarcity of details, we know that the Google investigation is set to focus on its Android operating system.

China launching probes into major US companies

Antitrust investigators are reportedly examining whether the Android operating system harms Chinese smartphone makers like Oppo and Xiaomi, according to sources familiar with the matter (via The Financial Times). The probe dates back to 2019, but after being put on the back burner, it hit the headlines once again in December 2024 when China reopened the probe.

This month, State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) workers visited Google’s Beijing office.

Elsewhere, Nvidia is facing allegations of anticompetitive behavior on the back of complaints by other industry members. China’s competition authority permitted its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies on the basis that it would ensure a stable supply to Chinese customers and continue to support competition.

No official confirmation has been received of an Intel investigation; it could target the company’s dominance in China’s CPU market.

Although antitrust investigations are not unique to China – the US, the EU and the UK have all launched their own probes into many American and international tech giants – the timing coincides with heated tensions between the US and China, following months of increasing restrictions on Chinese access to US AI and advanced technologies.

On the flip side, China has introduced restrictions to its tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum and indium exports – all critical elements in the tech industry.

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• A new rumor suggests the Xiaomi 15 Ultra will sport a main camera with a 1-inch sensor and a 200MP telephoto zoom
• On paper, these specs beat competition from Samsung, Apple, and Google
• The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is expected to launch in global markets in early March

The next high-end flagship phone from Xiaomi could rival the best camera phones, with a cutting-edge array of four high-res cameras, if a new rumor proves to be true.

According to noted tipster Yogesh Brar on X (formerly Twitter), the Xiaomi 15 Ultra will come equipped with a 50MP main camera utilizing the Sony LYT-900 1-inch sensor.

For reference, the main camera found on the iPhone 16 Pro uses a 1/1.14-inch sensor, which is roughly 13% smaller than the LYT-900. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Google Pixel 9 Pro both have an even smaller 1/1.3-inch main sensor.

In camera parlance, the sensor is the surface that light is focused onto by the lens. A larger sensor means more light can be captured, allowing for better low-light performance, improved dynamic range, and less noise (or graininess).

Brar adds that the Xiaomi 15 Ultra also apparently sports a 50MP ultra-wide camera, a 50MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, and a 200MP telephoto camera with 4.3x optical zoom.

On paper, that’s an extremely impressive array of cameras, and I can already imagine that such a mix of high-resolution cameras at multiple zoom lengths would offer users a lot of versatility and flexibility for photography.

The 200MP periscope camera jumps out as an exciting addition to Xiaomi’s highest-spec phone – the equivalent camera on the current-generation Xiaomi 14 Ultra is a 50MP camera offering 5x optical zoom.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is famed for its excellent quad-camera system (Image credit: Future / Roland Moore-Colyer) A big sensor to go with all those megapixels

While resolution alone isn’t a reliable indicator of quality, Brar notes that this 200MP zoom camera utilizes the 1/1.14-inch Samsung HP9 sensor – that’s the same size as the main camera on the iPhone 16 Pro and even larger than the main sensor found on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Google Pixel 9 Pro.

In theory, that combination of a large sensor and high resolution should offer optically zoomed images that are bright, colorful, and detail-rich.

Our Xiaomi 14 Ultra review found that the phone boasts “the best cameras of any phone, ever”, and with improvements like these rumored to be on the way, it seems like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra could continue this winning streak.

As PhoneArena notes, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is expected to be revealed in China on February 26, with an official reveal sometime during MWC, which spans from March 4 to March 6.

The only problem is availability: Xiaomi doesn’t sell in the US, period – this means the company’s phones are nearly impossible to get ahold of in the States (they’re also ineligible for our list of the best phones). That said, I’m sure the Xiaomi 15 Ultra will easily nab a spot on our list of the best Xiaomi phones instead.

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Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, February 5 (game #339).

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

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

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

NYT Strands today (game #340) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… I'm a person of my word

NYT Strands today (game #340) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• SUCK
• LUCK
• SILK
• CARD
• SLIM
• SLAM

NYT Strands today (game #340) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Great bunch of fellas

NYT Strands today (game #340) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: top, 3rd column

Last side: bottom, 3rd column

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

NYT Strands today (game #340) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #340, are…

• FRANK
• WILL
• DREW
• MILES
• CHASE
• CHUCK
• ROBIN
• JIMMY
• SPANGRAM: FIRST NAMES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I spent a lot of this puzzle drifting off, first thinking about what links all these names – 1970s sit-coms? Elvis Presley hangers-on? Eventually, I decided they were all first names that were also words for other things. They all sound like very solid trustworthy names, too. I wish I knew someone called CHUCK, I bet they’d be excellent.

I did think that JIMMY was the odd one out, until I remembered that it is an excellent word for forcing something open with a crowbar. Meanwhile, in Scotland “Jimmy” is what you call a man whose name you don’t know.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, 5 February, game #339)

• LATEX
• SMOKE
• DUST
• MOLD
• DANDER
• POLLEN
• FRAGRANCE
• SPANGRAM: ALLERGENS

What is NYT Strands?

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

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

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, February 5 (game #605).

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

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

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

NYT Connections today (game #606) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• GREAT
• LAMP
• DIZZY
• GIRAFFE
• COUNT
• LIGHT
• NOBLE
• FAINT
• GUITAR
• DUKE
• CAB
• GRAND
• SOFT
• BOTTLE
• LOFTY
• MILD

NYT Connections today (game #606) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Dainty words
• GREEN: Over-sized in spirit 
• BLUE: They all share a bodypart 
• PURPLE: Big in New Orleans

Need more clues?

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

NYT Connections today (game #606) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: DELICATE 
• GREEN: MAGNANIMOUS 
• BLUE: THINGS WITH NECKS 
• PURPLE: FIRST NAMES IN JAZZ 

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

NYT Connections today (game #606) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #606, are…

• YELLOW: DELICATE FAINT, LIGHT, MILD, SOFT
• GREEN: MAGNANIMOUS GRAND, GREAT, LOFTY, NOBLE
• BLUE: THINGS WITH NECKS BOTTLE, GIRAFFE, GUITAR, LAMP
• PURPLE: FIRST NAMES IN JAZZ CAB, COUNT, DIZZY, DUKE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I briefly hovered over NOBLE, DUKE and GRAND, thinking there could be a group linking wealthy people – la-di-da types with chauffeurs and mansions. However, I quickly saw sense and remembered my father’s classic jazz collection containing CAB Calloway, COUNT Basie, DIZZY Gillespie and Duke Ellington.

Ellington was called “the Duke” because of his refined mannerisms, elegant speech and slick suits, but it’s great to know that his bandmates had another name for him. They called him Dumpy, after his love of food – and habit of overeating. As well as music, he was a prolific eater, with his biography recounting that he would regularly wolf down three meals in a row and follow it with an “Ellington dessert” – “a combination of pie, cake, ice cream, custard, pastry, jello, fruit, and cheese”.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, 5 February, game #605)

• YELLOW: PARTS OF A COMPENSATION PACKAGE BONUS, INSURANCE, SALARY, VACATION
• GREEN: INDICATION FLAG, GIVEAWAY, SIGN, TELL
• BLUE: THINGS TO DO WITH A DECK OF CARDS CUT, DEAL, FAN, SHUFFLE
• PURPLE: WHAT "BILL" MIGHT REFER TO BANKNOTE, BEAK, INVOICE, WILLIAM

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, February 5 (game #1108).

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

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

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

Quordle today (game #1109) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 2*.

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

Quordle today (game #1109) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.

Quordle today (game #1109) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

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

Quordle today (game #1109) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

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

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

Quordle today (game #1109) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• M

• S

• F

• T

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

Quordle today (game #1109) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1109, are…

• MADAM
• SCAMP
• FAUNA
• TRACK

With every word containing an “A” I switched my second start word to STARE, which helped narrow things down a little. Having a limited number of vowels also helped bring down the number of possibilities – although I must admit it took me a bit of head scratching before I finally got FAUNA.

All in all I was pleased to finish with a line to spare.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1109) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1109, are…

• LIMIT
• ENDOW
• ROCKY
• BLINK

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1108, Wednesday 5 February: SIXTH, VERVE, BLURB, CACTI
• Quordle #1107, Tuesday 4 February: BIRTH, DRAWN, MILKY, JOIST
• Quordle #1106, Monday 3 February: SLEET, TENSE, SEIZE, SCAMP
• Quordle #1105, Sunday 2 February: LOUSY, PENNE, CHUMP, SALVE
• Quordle #1104, Saturday 1 February: FACET, BLISS, FLUFF, FRANK
• Quordle #1103, Friday 31 January: PARER, SYNOD, BRAWN, BANJO
• Quordle #1102, Thursday 30 January: WEEDY, CHIRP, STALE, SUGAR
• Quordle #1101, Wednesday 29 January: CROWN, SCENE, AGILE, CRANK
• Quordle #1100, Tuesday 28 January: TOKEN, DAISY, INANE, PLIED
• Quordle #1099, Monday 27 January: ANGEL, GLOBE, MAYOR, BRAVE
• Quordle #1098, Sunday 26 January: WATER, ORBIT, BRIDE, TOUCH
• Quordle #1097, Saturday 25 January: GIVER, GROOM, GUSTO, MAKER
• Quordle #1096, Friday 24 January: GRIND, STOCK, SERVE, TOUCH
• Quordle #1095, Thursday 23 January: RUGBY, SASSY, WORRY, BANAL
• Quordle #1094, Wednesday 22 January: SLANT, TRUNK, WOOZY, EATEN
• Quordle #1093, Tuesday 21 January: CHART, VIGOR, PRINT, SPAWN
• Quordle #1092, Monday 20 January: SIXTY, THONG, TATTY, ROBIN
• Quordle #1091, Sunday 19 January: WREST, RINSE, SCOUR, CANNY
• Quordle #1090, Saturday 18 January: BLARE, ITCHY, BICEP, PIPER
• Quordle #1089, Friday 17 January: CATCH, WEARY, SWOON, LATHE

Tree-mounted sensors and new satellites promise a way to detect wildfires before they get out of hand—but no early detection method is foolproof.

• Daisy, an AI grandma, wastes scammers’ time with small talk about scones, knitting, and nostalgia for 40 minutes at a time.
• O2’s experiment proves AI can disrupt fraudsters by keeping them on pointless, never-ending calls.
• Future versions of Daisy could feature different accents and personalities to further frustrate scammers.

Daisy, an AI-powered bot built to annoy scammers, was announced two months ago – and now O2 has released some examples of the AI grandma in action.

Scammers can waste your time even if they don't take your money, but O2 has proven that Daisy (or dAIsy) can mess with con artists just as well as they mess with others. Daisy loves reminiscing about the good old days, and she’ll happily waste a fraudster’s time talking about scones instead of handing over personal banking details. Instead of just blocking fraudulent calls, Daisy picks up, engages, and keeps scammers on the line, frustrating them with a never-ending stream of dithering small talk.

O2, a British telecommunications provider, developed Daisy at the end of last year to demonstrate how artificial intelligence could be used to fight back against phone fraud and it has proven to be quite successful since. The bot was trained using real scam call data, so it recognizes the tricks scammers use to manipulate their victims. But instead of falling for their tactics, Daisy responds with an expertly crafted mix of confusion, politeness, and sheer time-wasting. When a scammer tries to convince her to download a malicious program, she might spend five minutes looking for her glasses, then another ten reminiscing about how her grandson usually helps her with “all this newfangled technology.” By the time she’s asking whether they prefer biscuits or pastries, the scammer is already losing patience, and it's 40 minutes later.

Thanks Grandma

One of the calls O2 shared features a scammer attempting to convince Daisy that her computer is full of viruses. The fraudster, expecting an easy mark, instead finds himself stuck on the line with a woman who can’t seem to figure out where her Internet Explorer icon is. “Oh dear, I see something here that says ‘Save As’—does that help, dear?” she asks sweetly. When the scammer finally snaps that her “profession is bothering people,” she responds with an innocent, “Oh, I wouldn’t want to bother anyone. I just thought we were having a nice chat!”

O2 deployed Daisy into the wild, planting fake contact numbers on websites that scammers often target. Once the calls started rolling in, Daisy went to work, engaging fraudsters in conversations that led absolutely nowhere. Some scammers eventually caught on and realized they were speaking to an AI bot, but not before wasting a lot of time that they could have spent targeting real victims. In some cases, scammers even passed Daisy’s number around their call centers, each one trying and failing to get useful information out of her.

In a world where scammers operate at an industrial scale, wasting their time is more than just a minor inconvenience; it’s a real disruption to their business model. The more time they spend talking to Daisy, the less time they have to con actual people. Even if Daisy doesn’t single-handedly bring down the scamming industry, she does her bit and can help raise awareness of how common it is for scammers to try and trick people.

O2 hasn't mentioned any plans to roll Daisy out on a larger scale, but the experiment has proven that AI has the potential to be a powerful tool in combating fraud. Future versions of Daisy could include different accents, personalities, or even local slang to make her even harder to detect as an AI. Until then, we’ll have to settle for the idea of an AI grandmother wasting scammer time, armed with nothing but a warm demeanor and an endless supply of off-topic anecdotes.

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• Replacement Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pens have a similar price tag to S24 Ultra ones, despite the lack of Bluetooth
• A teardown has also revealed that the S25 Ultra may be capable of charging a Bluetooth S Pen
• Yet Samsung has stated it has no plans to sell a Bluetooth one

There’s a lot to love about the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, but one thing a lot of people very much don’t love is the changes to the S Pen, which unlike the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s, lacks Bluetooth – meaning it also lacks various Bluetooth-enabled features.

This was likely a cost-cutting exercise by Samsung, which claimed in defense of the change that not many people made use of the Bluetooth features anyway. But if you need to buy a replacement S Pen, none of those savings will be passed on to you, as the company is charging just as much for its Bluetooth-free S Pen as for the more high-tech Bluetooth model it offered with previous phones.

Specifically – as spotted by 9to5Google – Samsung has added this new S Pen to its store at a price of $50 / £49 / AU$62.30. That's the same price as the previous model in the US, while in the UK this new S Pen actually costs marginally more than the £47 S Pen for the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

At full price it’s also slightly more expensive in Australia, but Samsung is selling it at a reduced price there for whatever reason, bringing it below the price of the S24 Ultra’s S Pen. So the current price isn’t too objectionable in Australia, but in the US and the UK buyers might find it hard to stomach.

The parts are in place

And this isn’t the only odd S Pen news, as in a teardown video, JerryRigEverything has found that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra still seemingly has an inductive charger inside the S Pen slot. This would be used to charge the S pen if it had Bluetooth, but with the stylus we actually got there’s seemingly no need for this charger.

So why has Samsung still included the inductive charger? JerryRigEverything posits that rather than being a charger it could just be there to sense whether the S Pen is in its dock or not, but also notes that it looks almost identical to the charging component in previous Ultra phones, so likely is capable of providing power to a stylus.

Another possibility is that Samsung plans to sell a Bluetooth S Pen separately, and in fact a Samsung blog post specifically said that would happen, but bafflingly the company has since stated that no Bluetooth versions will be made available.

So maybe Samsung initially planned to sell a Bluetooth S Pen separately and then changed its mind, but we can’t say for sure. If so though, it’s always possible that the company will change its mind again – especially as there’s a fan petition for a Bluetooth S Pen.

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• EA has confirmed that the next Battlefield game is targeting a release by March 31, 2025
• It is being helmed by Battlefield Studios, a group of five EA developers
• You can currently sign up to Battlefield Labs for a chance to play early and give feedback

EA has confirmed that the next entry in the Battlefield franchise will likely be released before April 2026.

The news comes from the company’s latest earnings report, which refers to the new Battlefield Labs initiative and states that it will allow for “player-driven testing and innovation ahead of the franchise’s expected fiscal year 2026 release.” Fiscal year 2026 runs from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, so we now know to expect it to come out some time between those two dates.

If you want an early taste of the next Battlefield game, EA is currently accepting registrations for the aforementioned Battlefield Labs. Described as the company’s “most ambitious community development collaboration ever”, the initiative will give a select few fans the chance to playtest the next Battlefield game and directly influence its development through feedback.

The game is being developed by the newly formed Battlefield Studios, a group of four EA developers. This includes Criterion Games, known for helming the Need for Speed series, original Battlefield creators Dice, Battlefield Portal studio Ripple Effect, and Dead Space developer Motive.

EA also recently showed off a sizzle reel of early gameplay footage, which suggested a return to a modern day setting and a more grounded, gritty atmosphere. This is in stark contrast to the most recent instalment, Battlefield 2042, which focused on larger-than-life hero characters in colorful futuristic environments.

Despite receiving several major updates intended to address its overall mechanics and tone, Battlefield 2042 failed to find much of a footing with long time series fans. Although highly promising, we’ll have to wait and see whether the next Battlefield game can truly deliver the grounded military experience that many seem to crave.

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• The Google TV free channel count is down by 9
• One of the culled channel is the Bob Ross Channel
• Dozens of new channels were added last year

The trend of Google TV adding more and more free channels for audiences in the US had to come to an end sometime, we suppose – and so it's come to pass that nine channels have been cut from the selection.

As spotted by 9to5Mac, the cull doesn't include the most recently added, holiday-related batch of channels, which is something of a surprise. The Bob Ross Channel has been heartlessly cut though, so fans will have to get their painting fix elsewhere.

The other channels that have gone are The Hill TV, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan, the Dove Channel, Comedy Dynamics, the Bob Ross Channel, Shades of Black, OutTV Proud, Dazn Ringside, and Dazn Women’s Football.

This free channel offering comes via the Freeplay app on Google TV devices (although that app has temporarily been paused), and Google has never ditched so many free channels at once – usually it's just one or two that are removed quietly each time.

Let's go FASTer

The Google TV Streamer (Image credit: Google)

The rise of Free Ad-supported Streaming Television (FAST) has been a rapid one, and Google hasn't been alone in offering a ton of ad-supported content for viewers who might be tiring of paying for their streaming services.

Our best free streaming service list will guide you to platforms including Tubi, Pluto, and Roku, where you can enjoy a wide range of movies and shows without paying a dime (and some operate internationally too, unlike the US-only Google TV Freeplay).

However, these free, ad-supported services share something in common with the likes of Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney Plus: content can leave the platforms as quickly as it arrives, so it's never certain how long you've got to finish your binge-watching.

Given how many FAST channels Google TV still offers, it's still in credit – dozens of new channels were added over the course of 2024, and Google also launched its Google TV Streamer device in August.

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While the AirPods Pro 2 are already the best AirPods available, it looks like future versions could get better in ways we hadn't really expected.

On February 4 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple a new patent (via PatentlyApple) relating to its line of in-ear audio hardware, which could see a future AirPods Pro model get more extensive touch controls – even if you’re using them with a pair of gloves, theoretically.

Touch controls are a tricky thing for in-ear headphones: unlike the roomier over-ear models, which have plenty of space to accommodate large touch panels, in-ear headphones need to react to quite small, precise movements.

The existing AirPods Pro 2 earbuds do support touch controls for volume, playback, and ANC modes, but through a limited series of presses and vertical swipes along the protruding stem.

This new patent, however, looks to replace the small vent in the AirPods Pro casing with an external touch sensor, likely enabling more controlled adjustments to volume, playback, and the like.

The diagrams included in the patent seem focused on vertical movements, like those used to adjust volume along the stem of existing AirPod models. It's possible that this sensor would allow Apple to ditch the stem sensor for a more reliable, responsive version, though the end product could potentially allow for a wider variety of inputs.

(Image credit: Apple / United States Patent and Trademark Office)

Crucially, this sensor doesn't seem to require capacitive touch inputs, like those enabled by the conductive touch of your finger, but rather through the motion of an 'object' moving up or down along the sensor's 'geometric' edges.

This suggests that users can deploy touch controls even with a gloved hand, allowing for easier volume and/or playback adjustment in colder weather – something at the forefront of our mind in the ongoing winter.

At the moment, you can play/pause/change ANC modes on the AirPods Pro 2 by pinching the stems, and this works with gloves on – but the volume control doesn't, which is a slightly frustrating inconsistency.

It’s been three years since the launch of the AirPods Pro 2, and it’s highly likely we’ll see the AirPods Pro 3 release some time in 2025. Just because something is patented, of course, doesn’t mean it’s about to be imminently deployed, but if Apple were able to squeeze this smart tweak to touch controls into the next version, it would be a nice quality-of-life upgrade.

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Every year, the end of Autumn marks a period of major sales. Starting with Singles Day and Black Friday and continuing to the Christmas shopping spree, consumers are desperately searching for big discounts. According to a UK-based survey, 67% of respondents feel that growing living costs pressure them to look for deals, and 71% believe this helps them save money. But does it, really?

For years, tech products have been among the most susceptible to manipulative pricing, figuring in previous fake discounts research in the UK, France, and the US. Conducted during Black Friday 2024, the latter study found that 37% of the hottest tech products saw significant price hikes just before the event, making Black Friday’s offer look like a major deal. However, the study tracked fewer than a hundred products, prompting the question of whether this trend can be observed more widely.

To get a more comprehensive review of the tech market deals, we decided to employ Oxylabs’ extensive data collection infrastructure and examine the prevalence of manipulative discounts in two major US marketplaces. We used our Web Scraper API to track almost 10 thousand unique tech products from August 13 to November 29, 2024, and here is what we found.

What is a fake discount? From legal definition to consumer utility

During our research, we tracked publicly available pricing data from 9714 unique products using US locations. We were especially interested in Black Friday 2024 and the discounts offered on this particular day. We based our research on legal definitions established in California, as it is considered to have the most explicitly defined rules — under Californian law, a ‘fake discount’ is observed if the seller cannot prove that discounted items have been regularly offered at their advertised former prices for a period of 3 months right before the discount.

After analyzing case law and recommendations, we decided to treat advertised former prices as “regularly offered” (or prevailing) in those cases when they were explicitly present at least 50% of the time during the 3 months period right before the discount. The drill was simple: if product X's advertised former price was 270$ on Black Friday day, we checked if this product was actually offered for 270$ at least 50% of the time (45 days) in the 3-month period prior to the event.

We observed pricing data on an hourly basis, meaning that every unique product URL has been monitored 24 times per day. All tech products were randomly selected from different product departments; however, we made sure our analysis covered the most popular tech categories, such as video games, computers, cell phones, wearable technology, etc.

Furthermore, when analyzing data, we noticed that some discounts might not violate the laws but still be exploitative and unethical towards the consumer. Thus, we decided to perform additional research and check if consumers really benefited from the Black Friday promotions in major US marketplaces. To do so, we analyzed whether people could buy discounted Black Friday products for less money one week, two weeks, a month, and two months prior to this event. Because if they really could, waiting for Black Friday to hunt a major tech deal saved them no money.

Suspicious discounts — 75% of cases

The first thing that struck us when analyzing data was that out of 4645 discounted tech products offered on Black Friday day, only 2786 met the main criterion — they were sold in the marketplace for at least 90 days during the observed 3-month period. All others occurred on the marketplaces fleetingly, sometimes being listed for a few days only.

Out of these 2786 products, 75% (2099 tech products in total) didn’t meet the main legal criterion — their advertised former prices were not regularly offered for a substantial period of time before the Black Friday discount. The worst situation could be observed in the following categories: wearable technology (86.1%), cameras and photography equipment (81.1%), computers and their accessories (81.2%), and video games (80.4%). The cell phones category saw the least violations — 65% of cases.

Seeing these numbers, we wondered how tech categories compare to non-tech ones. During the entire research period, starting with August 13, 2024, we monitored prices for over 61 thousand different products in both tech and non-tech categories. Aggregated analysis of tech and non-tech products showed that 60% of the deals didn’t meet the main legal criterion, compared to 75% when analyzing only tech products. It roughly confirms that tech products are more susceptible to ‘fake’ deals — a suspicion already raised by previous research.

At this point, we can draw two conclusions. First, three out of four discounted tech products in two major US marketplaces on Black Friday could have been fake discounts or, at best, manipulative deals. Unfortunately, we cannot prove it undeniably due to the reasons presented below, which brings us to the second part of the research.

Legal yet exploitative? The consumer utility

If the product was listed for a shorter period than 90 days, to see if the discount is genuine, one must check whether the advertised reference price was a prevailing market price, i.e., perform competitor analysis. However, anyone with experience in ecommerce web intelligence knows that acquiring reliable competitor pricing data retrospectively is nearly impossible. There is also an option to check if the seller clearly and conspicuously stated in the advertisement the date when the alleged former price did prevail. However, it is unclear where and how this data should be presented on the marketplace’s website.

Thus, we witness a huge gap in legal regulation, at least in the US. In the case of digital commerce, the 90-day period is excessive as the majority of small sellers do not keep the products in the marketplace for so long — global ecommerce is too dynamic. However, in cases when sellers do not follow this requirement, it is extremely complicated for consumers or regulatory institutions to factually prove a ‘fake discount.’

To see if consumers really benefit from the questionable Black Friday tech ‘deals,’ we performed additional analysis and checked whether the consumers could save money buying the same products before the Black Friday event. Web intelligence we gathered showed that the discounted Black Friday price was the lowest price during the entire week prior to Black Friday in only 27% of cases. The remaining 73% of tech deals were not saving consumers any money.

The situation looks more positive when we look at product prices at least a couple of weeks before Black Friday event:

• 2 weeks prior to Black Friday — Black Friday price was the lowest price in 72% of cases;
• One month prior to Black Friday — Black Friday price was the lowest price in 78% of cases;
• Two months prior to Black Friday — Black Friday price was the lowest price in 83% of cases;
• Three months prior to Black Friday — Black Friday price was the lowest price in 85% of cases.

And yet, we can still infer from this data that only 1 out of 4 consumers could undoubtedly benefit from waiting specifically for the Black Friday instead of buying a product on any other day a week before the event. Moreover, we cannot be sure that the product’s price wasn’t artificially inflated at some point before the Black Friday as the first part of our research showed most deals do not strictly comply with legal regulation.

Hunting for deals in the age of AI

Although a significant percentage of suspicious discounts in major US marketplaces indeed surprised us, the trend isn’t new. Moreover, it has already been observed in other countries. In 2022, the European Commission inspected Black Friday sales, revealing that around 25% of price reduction announcements were inconsistent with EU law. An earlier study that monitored Black Friday deals in the UK showed that 85% of the discounted products had cost the same or less six months earlier.

Unfortunately, legal regulation alone is not enough to protect consumers. On the one hand, AI-driven web intelligence solutions enable regulators to keep tabs on thousands of websites simultaneously and monitor pricing changes on a large scale with relatively small resources. On the other hand, if the laws are too vague or don't meet the new reality of the digital economy, they become fictional documents preventing efficient ways to enforce the rules.

AI tools make it easier for sellers to perform complex pricing manipulations. Unfortunately, manipulative discounts aren't the only trap awaiting online shoppers in 2025. A recent study by originality.ai showed that during Black Friday, almost a third of product reviews from major ecommerce platforms, including Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, were likely AI-generated. This makes it even harder for consumers to understand if the seller is reliable and the product is worth the money.

With AI bringing both positive and negative effects to the e-commerce industry, consumers should stay aware of many different manipulation tactics and think twice before getting caught in the hunt for ‘deals.’ Major tech news websites have regular articles about good tech deals in big marketplaces — this information might help if you are planning to buy some gadget. It feels just rational to try to save a penny, but it's worth remembering that some tech deals, especially during major shopping events, might be nothing more than ghost discounts.

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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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