Technology

On this week’s episode of Uncanny Valley, we assess the state of swiping.

On this special episode of Uncanny Valley, WIRED’s politics editor and global editorial director catch us up on Elon Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration.

The company said it's part of an effort to provide "more age-appropriate experiences" to users.

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The company's new line of products are available now, with a special offer if you purchase before Feb. 16.

• A free content update for Astro Bot has been released, adding five new levels
• These levels will be available weekly starting February 13 and until March 13
• A new "constant best resolution" 60FPS mode has also been added for PS5 Pro

Team Asobi has released a free content update for Astro Bot that will add five new levels to the game starting today.

The developer shared the details in a new PlayStation Blog post, where it said that these five levels will be released every week starting today from February 13, until March 13.

The first is called Tick-Tock Shock and can now be found inside the brand-new Vicious Void Galaxy. You can check out the teaser trailer below, as well as the dates and names for the upcoming levels.

Team Asobi said these levels are harder compared to the last Winter Wonder patch, to "test your jumping skills", and will each feature a new Special Bot to rescue. The levels can then also be replayed in Time Attack mode with online rankings, once completed.

In addition to the content update, PS5 Pro users will now be able to access an "improved version of Astro Bot" with a "constant best resolution" 60FPS mode.

"We hope you enjoy it. We want to take this chance to thank you, sincerely, for the ongoing support," Team Asobi added. "We could not be happier with the way Astro was welcomed into so many new homes. Your comments, positivity and kind words have carried us through the months and continue to warm our little robotic hearts. Thank you for your loyalty and we shall see you around."

New levels coming to Astro Bot

• February 13: Tick-Tock Shock
• February 20: Thrust or Bust
• February 27: Cock-A-Doodle-Doom
• March 6: Hard to Bear
• March 13: Armored Hardcore

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• Housemarque's next game is Saros, launching on PS5 and PS5 Pro in 2026
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• The Garmin Instinct 3 is one of Garmin's newest outdoor watches
• A new Tactical Edition may have just been leaked
• A now deleted Instagram post from an influencer revealed a new colorway and Tactical branding

Hot off the heels of the new Garmin Instinct 3, and following the unveiling of a brand new Descent G2 and Garmin tactix 8, a new Tactical Version of the Garmin Instinct 3 has just been leaked in full online.

We love the Garmin Instinct 3, and it has immediately taken its place in our best Garmin watch guide as our top outdoor pick. Currently, there are AMOLED and solar options, as well as the Garmin Instinct E, which has neither an AMOLED screen or solar-charging Power Glass. However, keen Redditors have spotted a new variant leaked by an Instagram influencer.

The post from Kristian Hansen details an experience with the new Garmin Instinct 3 solar, however, as users on the Garmin Reddit noticed, there's something strange about this one. "Hi guys, I just stumbled this post by someone on Instagram that promoting instinct 3 product on his page," the original poster said. "But surprisingly the color is not the same with the one that already launch. And if you zoom in on the watch there is the tactical logo on the bottom of the dial. Is this the instinct 3?"

The watch in the post clearly features Garmin's Tactical branding. So what could it mean?

Garmin Instinct 3 going Tactical? Here's what we know Instinct 3 Tactical seen in the wild? from r/Garmininstinct

The surest sign that this indeed a leak of an unreleased Tactical variant of the Garmin Instinct 3 is that Hansen's Instagram post has since been deleted, a sure-fire suggestion this watch was posted ahead of its time.

As to what a Garmin Instinct 3 Tactical could bring, we've got a pretty good idea based on Garmin's previous form. Garmin's Instinct 2 had a Tactical edition that brought all the features of the solar model (like the watch pictured in this leak) in an identical design package. However, it also came with a green flashlight mode, a stealth mode that switches off GPS and communication, dual-position format for syncing your location with others, a ballistics calculator from Applied Ballistics for long-range shooting, a kill switch to wipe the device, a jumpmaster mode for parachute jumps, and a tactical activity profile.

It's a very similar lineup to that of the brand new Garmin tactix 8 unveiled this week, and would be another excellent addition to the Instinct 3 lineup.

There's no confirmation as yet, but we've reached out to Garmin and will report back accordingly.

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• Tim Cook just teased an 'Apple Launch' for February 19
• While not an event, he writes we'll 'meet the newest member of the family"
• It's likely Apple will unveil the much-rumored iPhone SE fourth-generation

Are you ready to meet Apple’s latest and greatest? Well, the rest of my colleagues and I are after an especially active few days for rumors, and Apple’s CEO Tim Cook just teed up that it’s debuting something new next week on Wednesday, February 19, 2025.

Don’t call it an Apple Event, though. The post on X (formerly Twitter) ends with #AppleLaunch. The post reads, “Get ready to meet the newest member of the family.” Simply, pretty leading, and heavy with the tease.

Could it be the much-rumored iPhone SE fourth-generation? Or potentially new Macs, a second-generation AirTag, a new iPad, or something entirely new? Aside from the text, the only other hint is this six-second teaser video.

Get ready to meet the newest member of the family.Wednesday, February 19. #AppleLaunch pic.twitter.com/0ML0NfMeduFebruary 13, 2025

It's set to some joyful backing music, but the real star is the Apple logo with various shades of silver, black, and some color flowing through it. This could be light reflecting off the surface or edges of the forthcoming product as it flows through space.

Additionally, there is a circular ring around the Apple logo, which might just be to set it within the space of this launch teaser but it could also hint at the top of a HomePod or HomePod mini, which is circular with the set of LEDs in the center. There are also rumors of a new AirTag, which is a circular product as well.

The leading rumor though is likely that of the iPhone SE fourth-generation, which Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claims that this is teasing a launch of.

Considering Tim Cook writes, "the newest member of the family," it appears to be hinting at one product being unveiled versus an entire next-generation lineup. That gives some credence to the iPhone SE and likely pushes out the wait for the M4-powered MacBook Air' (remember, it's a 13-inch and a 15-inch) or new iPads a bit more.

Judging by the latest rumors, though, I think we have the highest chance of seeing the next-generation iPhone SE. Teasing with this colorful video, potentially showing us the new edges, does align with leaks promising a large redesign that resembles an iPhone 14.

The iPhone is still a central part of Apple's lineup, and a new model – even a more affordable one – is a big deal. It would make sense that Apple wants to build up the hype around it further. The next-gen iPhone SE is expected to offer a bigger display with Face ID, a faster processor that can handle Apple Intelligence, and an entirely new design.

It's likely that alongside whatever Apple announces, the company should seed the first beta to developers of iOS 18.4, which brings with it the next set of Apple Intelligence features, including the actually smarter Siri.

Of course, it could also be ushering in something entirely new, which would be a surprise. It's all speculation for now, but either way, TechRadar will be closely analyzing this teaser further, and come February 19, 2025, we'll be breaking down all the news as it hits.

But, do you have a take or a theory? Let us know in the comments below what you think the February 19 Apple Launch will bring us.

This story is developing...

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Major French streaming provider Canal+ is looking to block VPN access in a major escalation of anti-piracy measures in the country.

After a successful legal action against DNS services last year, Canal+ has now teamed up with France's professional football league agency, Ligue de Football Professionel (LFP), to issue court orders for some of the best VPN providers on the market.

Needless to say, VPN companies are furious, warning that undermining people's internet freedom and privacy isn't the solution to online piracy.

One of the targeted companies, Proton VPN told TechRadar: "DNS blocking is a common strategy that authoritarian governments use to censor the web and control society. By also attacking VPNs – one of the last bulwarks against online censorship – Canal+ and LFP Media are crossing a red line."

VPN blocking: ineffective and dangerous

A virtual private network (VPN) is security software that encrypts users' internet connection to boost online privacy while spoofing their real IP address.

While the latter skill is crucial to bypass strict government-imposed internet restrictions, it can also be used as a workaround to current anti-piracy tactics that involve blocking access to piracy sites based on users' browsing location. This is exactly what the French rightsholders want to halt.

As first reported by the French publication L’Informé, Proton VPN is the target of Canal+'s legal action alongside NordVPN and CyberGhost. The country's streaming giant also listed ExpressVPN and Surfshark as respondents.

Yet, according to Proton VPN, "the lawsuit is illogical and tackles the wrong problem," a company spokesperson told TechRadar. French rightsholders are asking, the provider explains, Proton VPN and other VPN services to block over 200 websites. The VPN providers would also be required to update this block list on a rolling basis.

"This injunction is without a doubt an open door to other abuses in the future and would undermine the very nature of VPNs, which are meant to provide private and secure browsing," said Proton VPN's spokesperson, pointing out how the case is unprecedented in Western societies.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The VPN Trust Initiative (VTI), whose members include ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, and other providers, also warns that blocking VPNs would have "sweeping consequences" that could put the security and privacy of French citizens at risk.

"By requiring this group of security and privacy principle-adhering VPN providers to restrict access, this measure is not only unjustified but also exposes French residents to significant new cybersecurity risks, undermining their safety online," wrote the coalition in a public statement.

With the most secure VPN apps blocked, experts explain, French VPN users will be pushed towards alternative and less secure services, de-facto making VPN-blocking an ineffective anti-piracy measure.

Not only that, though. The French case could set up a precedent worldwide in the fight against VPN usage – whose today's main offenders are authoritarian countries like China, Russia, Myanmar, and Iran – paving the way for greater censorship, more broadly across the world.

"This case represents far more than a localized legal dispute," wrote the VPN coalition. "Imposing blocking on VPNs in France risks significant overreach, where legitimate and non-infringing content can be summarily cut off. This raises alarms about unjustly limiting individuals’ rights to freedom of information and expression."

What's next?

With the first legal audience set for March 11, 2025 – as reported by TorrentFreak – it's early to predict what could happen next.

A Canal+ victory would surely send some shockwaves throughout the rightsholder industry, though, with the music, movie, and other copyright realities, in and out of France, potentially following suit.

VPN providers aren't willing to give up on their users' internet freedoms so easily, however.

Commenting on this, Proton VPN told TechRadar: "These companies are carrying out a plain sight raid on users online freedom for their own commercial interests. Proton is determined to fight this lawsuit up to the European Court of Justice."

• Housemarque has revealed its next game, Saros
• The third-person action game is launching next year for PS5 and PS5 Pro
• Saros will have permanent progression systems compared to Returnal's roguelike system

Returnal developer Housemarque has officially unveiled its next major title Saros, and it's coming to PS5 and PS5 Pro in 2026.

The game's announcement was made during the latest Sony State of Play alongside a stunning cinematic trailer, and is what the developer is calling "the ultimate evolution of the Housemarque gameplay-first experience."

From the studio that brought us the award-winning Returnal, one of the best PS5 games you can play right now, Saros is a third-person action game that tells a "haunting story of a lost off-world colony on Carcosa under an ominous eclipse".

The game stars The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Fall of the House of Usher, and Midnight Mass actor Rahul Kohli as protagonist Arjun Devraj, "a powerful Soltari Enforcer who will stop at nothing to find who he is looking for."

In a new PlayStation Blog post, creative director Gregory Louden said Housemarque wanted Returnal to "stand on its own" so it decided to create a new IP "which evolves our deep third-person action and mysterious storytelling."

With Saros' story, the studio's goal is "to create an emotional and powerful character study that explores the cost it takes to create a new future", but its gameplay will be much different from Returnal's roguelike mechanic and instead have permanent progression systems.

"A key gameplay distinction between Saros and Returnal is permanent resources and progression making every death valuable," said Louden.

"After every death you will face a changed world, but in Saros you will be able to choose and permanently upgrade your loadout from an evolving set of weapons and suit upgrades to 'come back stronger' to overcome the challenges you face on Carcosa."

Housemarque also said it will take full advantage of the PS5 Pro's tech, so we can expect those enhancements at launch.

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• Security researchers spotted a new threat actor called Triplestrength
• The group engages in ransomware, cloud compromise, and cryptomining
• There are potentially hundreds of victims

A small and relatively unknown hacking group has started drawing attention to itself by engaging in somewhat unusual "triple threat" cyberattacks.

Researchers from Google recently discovered Triplestrength, possibly a small threat actor with only a handful of individuals, which has been around since 2020, although Google’s researchers have been tracking it since 2023.

What makes this group stand out is the fact that besides ransomware, it is also hijacking victim cloud accounts and using them to deploy cryptominers. The group started with ransomware in 2020, and added the crypto-mining part two years later.

Brute force

For ransomware, Google further explains, the group mostly targets on-prem systems. For cryptomining, it targets cloud infrastructure from Google Cloud, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Linode, and more.

Triplestrength doesn’t seem to be state-sponsored and instead seems to be motivated by pure profit - looking to gain money from both ransom payments and unauthorized cloud computing.

Initial access is mostly done through brute-force attacks on remote desktop servers, or via stolen credentials. Once the target endpoints are compromised, Triplestrength deploys malware including Phobos, LokiLocker, RCRU64, or Raccoon infostealer. For cryptomining, the group mostly uses unMiner. Interestingly enough, there was no mention of XMRig, by far the most popular cryptojacker out there.

Speaking to The Register, the researchers did not want to say exactly how many victims Triplestrength struck in the past four years, but they did stress they, "identified numerous TRX cryptocurrency addresses that we believe are associated with Triplestrength."

"And at last count, which is now months outdated, there were over 600 payments to these addresses," they told the publication. "That at least gives you some idea of the volume of mining activity that they're likely conducting."

In other words, there are hundreds of compromised cloud instances out there, and thus possibly hundreds of ransomware victims, as well.

Via The Register

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• Nvidia has revealed that the RTX 5070 Ti goes on sale on February 20
• It’ll be followed by the RTX 5070 on March 5, despite Nvidia originally saying this GPU would arrive in February as well as the Ti
• The RTX 5070 Ti launch date, and delay to early March for the RTX 5070, were predicted by the rumor mill

Nvidia has confirmed the launch dates of its RTX 5070 graphics cards, with the RTX 5070 Ti arriving as planned in February, but with the vanilla RTX 5070 having been pushed out a bit to March, as rumors had already insisted was the case.

Nvidia updated its official web page for the RTX 5070 models with the exact dates, which are February 20 for the RTX 5070 Ti, and March 5 for the RTX 5070.

Team Green also posted on X to reveal the information about the RTX 5070 Ti, and how the graphics card is coming from third-party board makers and PC builders – remember, this variant won’t have a Founders Edition from Nvidia itself.

GeForce RTX 5070 Ti availability starts February 20th at 6AM PT from our add-in-card partners and system integrators. pic.twitter.com/T2LzKfEjHzFebruary 13, 2025

The RTX 5070, on the other hand, will have a Founders Edition, but you’ll be waiting a couple more weeks to attempt to order that, or to try and grab a third-party graphics card.

Try being the operative word here, as it remains to be seen what kind of stock levels that the RTX 5070 models will launch with.

(Image credit: ShutterStock) Analysis: The rumors were right

It doesn’t bode particularly well that back when all the new Blackwell graphics cards were revealed at CES 2025, Nvidia said that both of these RTX 5070 variants were due to arrive in February at some point (without giving any specific dates). Pretty soon after, there were early rumors suggesting the RTX 5070 non-Ti version would be delayed to early March, and that’s exactly what has happened.

Why the (slight) delay, then? Could this be about running interference with AMD’s RX 9070 launch somehow, which is also in March? I doubt that, and a more likely turn of events is to be found in considering the most recent development with chatter from the grapevine. Namely, the tale spun earlier today about stock of the RTX 5070 possibly being seriously thin on the ground – potentially a similar situation to the one we’ve seen with the RTX 5090 and 5080.

Now, that’s just a rumor, and I’m not saying it’s right, but it certainly makes some sense when you put everything together in the cold light of day. Given Nvidia’s stock woes have been pretty disastrous so far, if the RTX 5070 were to arrive in healthy quantities, it’d be a surprise. It’s certainly a believable theory that the vanilla 5070 needed to be pushed back a bit to ensure something like a half-decent amount of these graphics cards end up on shelves.

The other problem with the RTX 5070 is that given its more affordable price tag, this GPU is going to be in far greater demand than any of the Blackwell graphics cards we’ve seen so far – making a tighter supply a potentially much worse scenario.

Furthermore, bear in mind that the same rumor peddler who was right about the RTX 5070 delay, also suggested the RTX 5060 has been pushed back as well (from March to April).

Naturally, stay skeptical on that particular RTX 5060 nugget, but the other widely spread rumor, the one about the RTX 5070 Ti launching on February 20, has also turned out to be correct. In short, the rumor mill appears to have nailed what’s happening with incoming Blackwell GPUs pretty well thus far, so at this point, I’m definitely not betting against it.

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• Metal Gear Solid: Delta Snake Eater's release date of August 28, 2025, confirmed with new trailer
• The confirmation came as part of Sony's State of Play presentation
• The same trailer had leaked earlier this week

Last night's State of Play presentation confirmed the release date for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, the remake of the legendary stealth action game from Kojima Productions, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

The game will be released on August 28, 2025, and is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

The new trailer was indeed the same one that leaked earlier this week - meaning the reveal wasn't the biggest of surprises when it did appear in the February State of Play - but it remains excellent to have official confirmation, and now the inner PS2 gamer inside me can fully embrace the hype.

As we'd glimpsed in the leaked version, the new trailer showed a lot of the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake that we hadn't seen before. Whereas in previous reveals and trailers, we'd been limited to action and cutscenes from the first hours of the game - the Virtuous Mission - this new trailer shows off much more from deeper in the game.

There's a look at iconic bosses, closer looks at famous locations from the game, and a better look at some actual action, all in incredible detail and fidelity. It really does look incredibly impressive and is poised to wow a new generation of fans as well as loyal old ones like me.

What's more, Konami has revealed some extra content called the Sneaking DLC Pack. It consists of a bunch of uniforms, and in-game equipment parts and includes:

• Uniform - Battle Dress (Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker version)
• Uniform - Sneaking suit (Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker version)
• Uniform - Crocodile suit
• Uniform - Naked (Woodland)
• Uniform - Naked (Naked Ammunition Belt)
• Uniform - Gold
• Face - Glasses
• Face - Sunglasses
• Equipment - Kerotan mask
• Equipment – GA-KO mask

While the Sneaking DLC Pack will be available by itself after launch, it'll be included in pre-orders of the Digital Deluxe Edition and physical Deluxe Editions of the game. The Digital Deluxe Edition also gets players 48 hours of early access to Delta.

As an extra sweetener, those who pre-order Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater will get a white tuxedo uniform for Snake too.

I grew up with the Metal Gear Solid series and cannot wait to immerse myself in this remake of arguably the best in the series - and one of the best games ever made - August can't come quickly enough!

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• OnePlus won't be releasing a foldable device this year
• The OnePlus Open 2 was rumored to hit shelves in early 2025
• OnePlus' decision 'does not signify a departure from the foldable category'

OnePlus has confirmed that it won’t be releasing the OnePlus Open 2 in 2025.

In a note posted to the OnePlus Community forum, OnePlus Open project manager Vale G. said: “We’ve carefully considered the timing and our next steps in foldable devices, and we have made the decision not to release a foldable this year.”

“While this may come as a surprise,” G. continued, “we believe this is the right approach for us at this time,” noting that Oppo – OnePlus’ sister company – is now “taking the lead in the foldable segment” with the Oppo Find N5.

The original OnePlus Open was released in October 2023, and a successor – presumed to be the OnePlus Open 2 – was expected to hit shelves at some point in the next few months. A special edition version of the Open, the OnePlus Open Apex Edition, was also released in August 2024.

In his statement regarding the Open 2’s delay (which, it’s worth noting, is not how OnePlus describes the situation), Vale G. adds that OnePlus’ “decision to pause on foldable[s] for this generation does not signify a departure from the category [...] This is not a step back, it’s a recalibration.”

The Oppo Find N5 is heading to the UK and Europe this month (Image credit: Future)

Given that the original OnePlus Open and Oppo Find N3 are nigh-on identical devices, it was thought that the OnePlus Open 2 would simply be a OnePlus-branded version of the Oppo Find N5. That device is scheduled for release in the UK and Europe on February 20, though it now seems as though US buyers won’t have an equivalent OnePlus Open 2 to look forward to in 2025.

Despite its age, the OnePlus Open continues to rank among the best foldable phones money can buy, but with the Oppo Find N5 raising the bar for foldable design – and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 almost certain to arrive later this year – OnePlus' strategy shift could see it slip down the foldable pecking order.

That said, Vale G. ends his statement with "Stay tuned for what’s next. We can’t wait to share it with you soon!", so OnePlus is clearly cooking up something exciting for 2026 and beyond.

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