Technology

• Stream all Women's Rugby World Cup games free on BBC iPlayer (UK)
• Stream from abroad with NordVPN (save 76% today's deal)
• Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 runs from Fri, Aug 22 to Sat, Sep 27

As both the No.1-ranked team in the world and the tournament hosts, there's no question that England are Women's Rugby World Cup favorites. The Red Roses have only ever lost seven games in the history of the competition, but six of those defeats were inflicted by New Zealand – five in Women's Rugby World Cup finals, the other in a semi-final.

To decribe the No.3-ranked Black Ferns as England's bogey team, then, would be a colossal understatement. They're the only reason England have two world titles to their name rather than seven or eight.

Canada and France, ranked at No.2 and No.4 respectively, fall into the bracket just below them, although No.5-ranked Ireland seem to have a hold over the six-time world champions. The Canucks have made the last four fives times but only reached the final once, while Les Bleues have lost all seven of the Women's Rugby World Cup semi-finals they've contested.

While there's no question that Ilona Maher is the most famous female rugby player on the planet, USA face a tough task making it out of Pool A. England's reigning World Rugby player of the year Ellie Kildunne, New Zealand's Ayesha Leti-I’iga and Canada's Sophie de Goede look set to light up the tournament.

Read on below for a complete guide to where to watch Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 live streams online, on TV and potentially for free.

Can I stream Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 for free?

All 32 games of the Women's Rugby World Cup are available to watch for free courtesy of BBC iPlayer in the UK. Select fixtures are also free-to-air on RTE Player in Ireland and 9Now in Australia.

Outside any of these countries on holiday? Access your RWC streams using NordVPN — more on that below.

Use a VPN to watch Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 from abroad

You can watch Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 from abroad at no extra cost with NordVPN, which we tested in-depth (see our best VPNs round-up).

Get a VPN, connect to your usual streaming service from anywhere, and watch the rugby live on your screen. Easy!

Resorting to illegal streams is a bad decision. If you're stuck abroad, consider a VPN to safely stream the Women's Rugby World Cup via an official platform such as BBC iPlayer, RTE Player or 9Now.

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How to watch Women's Rugby World Cup live streams in the US

Every game of the Women's Rugby World Cup is being live streamed on Paramount Plus in the US.

A subscription to Paramount Plus starts at $7.99/month, rising to $12.99 to remove ads. You can save on either package by committing to a yearly subscription.

All 32 games are also being shown on CBS Sports Network. If you're a cord-cutter, you can tune in via one of the best cable alternative services, such as Fubo (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial) and YouTube TV.

If you're a UK resident visiting the US during the Women's Rugby World Cup. Use a VPN to watch the tournament free on BBC iPlayer.

How to watch Women's Rugby World Cup live streams in the UK

Every game of the Women's Rugby World Cup is free-to-air on BBC iPlayerin the UK.

All England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland fixtures and the entirety of the knockouts are also being televised on either BBC One or BBC Two.

If you're on holiday outside the UK, you can use NordVPN to access the BBC's coverage. We've used it during The Hundred and it's been brilliant.

How to watch Women's Rugby World Cup live streams in Australia

Every Wallaroos game and the Women's Rugby World Cup final are free-to-air on Channel 9 or 9Gem in Australia, with live streaming available via 9Now.

However, every game of the tournament is being shown on Stan Sport. Prices start from $20 per month for the sport add-on (on top of a regular $12 Stan sub).

If you're currently out of Australia but want to watch Women's Rugby World Cup live streams, you'll need to get yourself a VPN, as per the instructions above.

How to watch Women's Rugby World Cup live streams in Canada

Every game of the Women's Rugby World Cup is being shown on the TSN network of channels.

If you don't have cable, the TSN Plus streaming service costs CA$8 a month or $80 each year.

Outside Canada while the rugby's on? Simply use a VPN to watch from abroad.

Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 FAQsWhat are the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 pools?

Pool A
Australia
England
Samoa
USA

Pool B
Canada
Fiji
Scotland
Wales

Pool C
Ireland
Japan
New Zealand
Spain

Pool D
Brazil
France
Italy
South Africa

What is the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 schedule?

(All times BST)

Group Stage

Friday, August 22
7.30pm – England vs USA | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player

Saturday, August 23
12pm – Australia vs Samoa | FREE on BBC iPlayer, 9Now
2.45pm – Scotland vs Wales | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
5.30pm – Canada vs Fiji | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
8.15pm – France vs Italy | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player

Sunday, August 24
12pm – Ireland vs Japan | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
2.45pm – South Africa vs Brazil | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
5.30pm – New Zealand vs Spain | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player

Saturday, August 30
12pm – Canada vs Wales | FREE on BBC iPlayer
2.45pm – Scotland vs Fiji | FREE on BBC iPlayer
5pm – England vs Samoa | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
7.30pm – USA vs Australia | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player, 9Now

Sunday, August 31
12pm – Ireland vs Spain | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
2pm – New Zealand vs Japan | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
3.30pm – Italy vs South Africa | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
4.45pm – France vs Brazil | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player

Saturday, September 6
12pm – Canada vs Scotland | FREE on BBC iPlayer
1.30pm – USA vs Samoa | FREE on BBC iPlayer
2.45pm – Wales vs Fiji | FREE on BBC iPlayer
5pm – England vs Australia | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player, 9Now

Sunday, September 7
12pm – Japan vs Spain | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
2pm – Italy vs Brazil | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
2.45pm – New Zealand vs Ireland | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
4.45pm – France vs South Africa | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player

Knockouts

Saturday, September 13
1pm – Quarter-final 1 | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
4pm – Quarter-final 2 | FREE on BBC iPlayer

Sunday, September 14
1pm – Quarter-final 3 | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
4pm – Quarter-final 4 | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player

Friday, September 19
7pm – Semi-final 1 | FREE on BBC iPlayer

Saturday, September 20
3.30pm – Semi-final 2 | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player

Saturday, September 27
12.30pm – Third-place playoff | FREE on BBC iPlayer
4pm – Final | FREE on BBC iPlayer, RTE Player, 9Now

Can I follow Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 on my mobile?

Of course! Each of the major broadcasters has streaming services that you can access through mobile apps or via your phone's browser.

You can also stay up-to-date with all of the key Women's Rugby World Cup moments on the official social media channels on TikTok (@RugbyWorldCup), Instagram (@RugbyWorldCup) and YouTube (@WorldRugby), and on the Women's Rugby World Cup website.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

We tested popular exercise bikes to find the best ones for your home gym.

AirPrint makes printing from your iPad easy, but there are other ways to get the job done.

• The Miniot Wheel 3 has stunning sci-fi looks and genuinely clever design
• Optical stylus, hidden tonearm and integrated preamplifier
• €2,900 / $3,443 / £2,550 / AU$5,351

The new Miniot Wheel 3 is exactly what I expected the music hardware of 2025 to look like when I was growing up in the late 1970s and early 1980s: I knew that in 2025 my enormous, airy and affordable apartment on the moon would be filled with friendly robots, holographic televisions and vertical vinyl. So it's nice to be proved right about one of those things, at least.

As the name suggests, the Miniot Wheel 3 is the third generation of Miniot's vertical vinyl player. And there's some clever tech to match the retro-futuristic design.

(Image credit: Miniot BV)A turntable that looks wheely good

This isn't the only vertical turntable around: we've seen various models since the 1980s, and among the current crop you'll find Pro-Ject with its VTE vertical turntable and last year's Fuse Audio Kickstarter, which looked impressive.

But this is a much more premium model, with a price tag to match: it's listed at €2,900 / $3,443 / £2,550 / AU$5,351.

Miniot says that the stylus is optical. It's not a laser – it's a diamond stylus – but instead of using of magnets or coils to convert the vibrations the stylus reads into an audio signal, it uses an optical sensor.

The stylus is teamed with an optical sensor-controlled direct drive motor and an integrated preamplifier. There's a hidden tonearm beneath the record that moves vertically from bottom to center, and the Wheel 3 can be laid flat, hung on a wall or stood on its stand.

Although pre-orders began in May, I haven't been able to find any reviews of the Wheel 3 – but there are some reviews of the previous model on YouTube from the likes of Techmoan, who wasn't particularly enthusiastic or damning: it was an impressive bit of design and unlike anything else on the market, but audiophiles would likely get more mileage from something more traditional and affordable.

But then, you don't buy a record player like this for its sound. You buy it to blend in with the rest of your apartment on the moon.

The Miniot Wheel 3 is available now from miniot.com. US, Australian and UK orders are expected to ship in around 10 weeks.

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We all know that Prime Video’s most-watched show of the summer needs to end with Belly (Lola Tung) and Conrad (Christopher Briney) running off into the sunset, but The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 episode 7 left me wanting to pelt them with tomatoes instead. We finally saw Conrad tell Belly that she should marry him instead of his brother Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), and it was word-for-word verbatim from the book series, so shouldn’t I be jumping for joy?

Up until now, Belly and Conrad have refused to give in to their obvious chemistry, which we've seen at countless points in the show – from the infamous peach stand scene to their tension at a memorial service for Conrad and Jeremiah's mother when the surprise engagement was originally announced. They are dancing around the inevitable, but season 3 episode 7 actually gives into it for once.

Instead of giving the latest episode a ferocious standing ovation, I hate Belly more than ever. Why? After Conrad wears his heart on his sleeve, she throws his feelings straight back in his face. In fact, she goes so far as to imply that Conrad treated her worse over the years than Jeremiah has. You mean to tell me that our sweet boy has put Belly through more heartbreak than the guy who cheated on her (twice), can't graduate and has nothing more to offer than a cheap ring and wandering eyes? Give me a break.

The Belly hate runs even deeper in The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 episode 7, and I bet it won't stop

CONRAD FISHER DON'T BE WITH HIM. DON'T MARRY HIM. BE WITH ME. IS FINALLY REAL #thesummeriturnedpretty pic.twitter.com/mwmdrZVnbYAugust 20, 2025

Bear in mind that the majority of season 3 episode 7 takes place during Belly's bachelorette party, including the now-iconic scene on the beach between her and Conrad. Off the back of seeing Conrad's perspective in episode 5 and Jeremiah seemingly getting the boot in episode 6, Belly is putting on the mask of all masks. She twirls around the dance floor thinking only of her time with Conrad, tells her friends in the bathroom that she's only ever thought of ending up with him, and Jeremiah isn't given a second thought... well, not until Conrad overhears that Jeremiah's been cheating on her.

Logic tells us that as soon as Belly gets the chance, she'll call off her country club wedding and admit the true feelings that she's trying so badly to hide. But when Conrad chases after Belly at the end of the episode, she tells him "you and I were never anything... nobody has ever treated me the way Jeremiah has. I put up with a lot worse from you". Sorry, what?!

As if that isn't infuriating enough, sweet Conrad doubles down on what he wants to say (which is, luckily, exactly the same as in the book 'We'll Always Have Summer'). Then, the speech we've all been waiting for: "I see you again, and everything I planned goes to sh*t. It's impossible... I love Jere more than anybody. He's my brother, my family. I hate myself for doing this. But when I see you two together, I hate him too.

"Don't marry him. Don't be with him, be with me." Screaming, crying, throwing up. The gauntlet has been laid down, leaving Belly (much like us) on her knees crying in the sand.

Only when I was sure he couldn't see me, only when the house was in sight again, that was when I let myself cry. I dropped down in the sand and cried for Conrad and then for me. I cried for what was never going to be. #thesummeriturnedpretty pic.twitter.com/v5g37Hr0c3August 20, 2025

As the original book then tells us: "Only when I was sure he couldn't see me, only when the house was in sight again, that was when I let myself cry. I dropped down in the sand and cried for Conrad and then for me. I cried for what was never going to be." But what's stopping you from getting what you want, girl? Oh yes... your own bad choices.

Listen, I've been a Belly hater since the very beginning, and it's moments like this that make me feel incredibly vindicated. It was tough enough being a teenage girl in real life, but watching Belly destroy her own life for seemingly no reason? I can understand why outside eyes sometimes find us so insufferable.

If I was Conrad, I wouldn't forgive her for saying such unfair things in the face of always trying to make her life that little bit more bearable. But the heart wants what the heart wants, or more aptly, the heart wants what the showrunners want. They're going to put us through hell to get us to our happy ending, and if The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 episode 7 is anything to go by, I'm not sure my blood pressure can take it.

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• The August update for Windows 11 and 10 broke recovery features
• That includes options to reset the PC and fix problems using Windows Update
• All of these fail to work after the most recent patch, but thankfully Microsoft has now deployed a fix

Microsoft has rushed out an emergency fix for a problem caused by the most recent Windows 11 update (and Windows 10 patch), which has broken reset and recovery features that are designed to rescue your PC when it runs into serious trouble.

Bleeping Computer spotted Microsoft's announcement of the release of the fix which has been delivered as an 'out of band' update, meaning it's a cumulative update that's been deployed outside the usual timing.

It's the resolution for a bug affecting the reset powers of Windows 11 (versions 23H2 and 22H2) and Windows 10 (22H2), which was introduced with the August updates that arrived for these operating systems last week. The cure is packed in cumulative updates that are the same as those original August patches, except for having the fix bundled in, too.

If you've installed Microsoft's August patch, and you're running one of the affected versions of Windows, you should therefore install this new update on top. It's labelled KB5066189 for Windows 11, and KB5066188 for Windows 10, and you can find it by checking for updates in the Windows Update panel. Note that it'll appear under optional updates.

If you haven't installed the August patch yet, you should simply apply this one instead (from optional updates).

(Image credit: Shutterstock / ra2 studio)Analysis: road to recovery leads to a dead end

I should make it clear that this affects all versions of Windows 10 and 11 that are in support – except for the very latest take on Windows 11, 24H2. It's rare that those on Windows 11 24H2 aren't hit by a bug – those people have been suffering the most since that newest take on Microsoft's desktop OS came out.

As to the specifics of what the bug in question breaks, it’s the ability to reset the PC, which allows you to revert the system back to its original state – essentially a reinstall of Windows 11 – or reset and keep your personal data (but not apps or settings). A second option to 'Fix problems using Windows Update' is also affected, which is essentially the same as the latter reset option, where you keep your personal files, but this also holds onto apps and settings – so it's just reinstalling the Windows system itself.

Due to the glitch, all these processes will fail, which is obviously going to leave you very much in the lurch when it comes to trying to recover from a problem. You won't be able to get anywhere, although the bug itself won't cause any further detriment to the condition of your PC. The reset or recovery procedure will simply fall over.

These aren't features that you'll need to use often – hopefully – and so the effect of this bug may not have been felt all that widely initially (which is likely why the flaw didn't come to light immediately). Still, it's going to be pretty annoying if you do need a reset or repair for your Windows 11 or 10 PC – as obviously things aren't going well with the operating system if you're resorting to such measures – hence why Microsoft has been quick to push out this fix.

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• Gemini can now read your Google Doc for you
• Authors can also add buttons for readers to listen more easily
• It is only available in English for now, and you can even customize the voice

A new accessibility feature being added to Google Docs will let users generate audio versions of their documents for easy listening, but rather than traditional computer-read systems, it uses Gemini for a more natural language approach.

By using Gemini to read out your documents, Google hopes to improve intonation and personality to make it easier for listeners to understand and absorb information.

"Whether you want to hear your content out loud, absorb information better while reading, or help catch errors in your writing, audio versions of your documents provide you with clear, natural-sounding voices that read your documents aloud," Google summarized in a blog post.

Gemini will read your Google Docs to you

The feature, which will has already started rolling out to some users, allows eligible Google subscribers to change voices and playback speeds for optimum comfort.

There are two ways to access the Gemini-powered reader, including via Tools > Audio where a sound clip will be AI-generated.

Document authors can also choose to insert audio buttons directly into the document via Insert > Audio buttons so that readers can quickly click the button for a full read-out. Buttons can be customized with different styles and colors.

"This new audio feature in Docs helps you engage with your content in fresh ways and can improve accessibility of your documents," Google added.

Business Standard/Plus and Enterprise Standard/Plus accounts will be among the first to get access, as well as customers with the Gemini Education, Education Premium, Business or Enterprise add-ons.

Thankfully, it's not a feature that's reserved for companies, with Google AI Pro and Ultra plans also getting access.

However, from launch it will only work in English and on desktop versions of Docs – no future plans for availability have been confirmed at this stage.

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• 93% of UK companies have faced a business-critical incident (86% globally)
• They're not testing recovery plans frequently enough, though
• Some are putting together inventories of critical systems

New research has warned UK companies could be at a higher risk of facing dangerous cyber incidents, with 93% having experienced a business-critical incident compared with 86% globally.

The data comes from a Commvault study in the months following the impactful attack on UK retail giant M&S and reveals a recent uptick in incidents, with 57% having occurred in the past 18 months.

However, despite the more at-risk nature of UK companies, 21% are less likely to have dedicated recovery environments than their global counterparts and 11% are less likely to have tested recovery plans in the last month.

UK firms get more cyberattacks than the global average

Commvault noted, even though British firms are more likely to experience "frequent devastating incidents," they're falling behind when it comes to their recovery readiness, and that's down to three key failures: the complexity of existing systems and applications (52%), the struggle to keep recovery plans in line with their changing needs (47%) and difficulties separating core systems from less business-critical operations (30%).

"Having a tested recovery plan in place and a dedicated recovery environment in the cloud can make all the difference between chaos and continuous business," Commvault EMEA SVP Richard Gadd explained.

However, tables and turning and companies are starting to lay the foundations of change. The report details how two in three (65%) have an inventory of business-critical systems and dependencies, which is higher than the global average (50%).

Looking ahead, companies can strengthen their cybersecurity postures by adopting zero trust and deny-by-default principles to prevent many threats while also deploying continuous monitoring systems.

With UK firms less likely to have conducted a recovery test in the past month, there's clear scope for further testing including both recovery and penetration testing to highlight any weak points before an attack takes place.

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Liquid Glass is sometimes hard to notice unless you're looking for it. This is what Apple's done to your Mac's icons in the latest version of the OS.

Protect your skin from harmful UV rays with the best sunscreens out there -- tried and tested by our skincare experts.

• A generous helping of new Pixel 10 leaks have appeared
• There's a promo clip, eSIM rumors, and pricing too
• The Pixel 10 Pro Fold might be delayed

We only have a few hours left before the Google Pixel 10 is official, and you can follow all of the latest news in our Pixel 10 launch liveblog. But leakers aren't slowing down: we've got a repeated rumor about a controversial design change, plus a 30-second clip showing off some Pixel 10 features.

First that design change, and well-known tipster @evleaks has again hinted that the Pixel 10 phones will be eSIM-only, by posting what looks to be an image from the phone's packaging: "you no longer need a physical SIM card" the text reads.

It's something that the same source predicted earlier this month, though it's not clear which regions and handsets this would apply to. It seems it may be a US-only move, and that the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold will hang on to a physical SIM card slot.

There are a lot of advantages to eSIMs, which make it easier to set up and swap numbers, but some users still prefer the physical SIM – especially for convenience when traveling and swapping between services. Apple went eSIM-only with the iPhone 14 back in 2022, though iPhones outside the US still have SIM slots.

Bonjour, Pixel 10

Bonjour, Pixel 10 pic.twitter.com/KYvJPYpbN8August 19, 2025

Our second leak of the day comes from another veteran tipster, @MysteryLupin. It's a full 30-second promotional clip for the Google Pixel 10, showing off some of the features we can expect – though it is in French.

We have Gemini Live shown off here, which of course isn't a new feature. In the demo, the user asks how to make an espresso using the coffee machine that's just been unboxed, and Google's AI serves up the necessary instructions.

One feature here that is new is Coach Photo, which seems to be a way of helping you get the best photos by advising you on framing, zooming, and so on. It's something that's already been rumored, albeit under the name Camera Coach.

The last feature demoed is Video Boost for stabilizing shaky video: it's already available on Pro Pixels, but the indications from this video are that it may come to the base Pixel 10 this year (presumably it has the necessary processing power to handle it).

And yet more leaks

Pricing. The Buds 2a slot in at $129. Enjoy the launch tomorrow, especially those planning to buy. pic.twitter.com/ZSKwq52LDMAugust 20, 2025

There's more to mention: @evleaks has also confirmed what we've heard from previous leaks that Pixel 10 pricing will match Pixel 9 pricing – so the range should be starting at $799 / £799 / AU$1,349 for the cheapest Pixel 10, and going up from there.

We also have a social post from @rquandt.bsky.social‬, another reliable tipster, showing off marketing materials and specs for the Pixel 10 handsets, including screen sizes: 6.3 inches for the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro, and 6.8 inches for the Pixel 10 Pro XL. The rumored Pixelsnap wireless charging is also mentioned again.

As for the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, it's listed as having a 6.4-inch outer display and an 8-inch inner one. Based on this leak it seems as though the phone may have delayed availability, with one Belgian retailer suggesting that preorders will start on September 25.

All of this will shortly be made official, and we'll bring you the news as it happens. The Made by Google event gets underway at 10am PT / 1am ET / 6pm BST today (August 20), which is August 21 at 3am AEST for Australia, and you can watch along online.

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How to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17

The Gang are back… and it’s been the usual chaos. From law breaking to dodgy dealing, after two long years, everyone’s favourite narcissists returned. Read on, as we explain how to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 online from anywhere.

Premiered: July 9

Finale: Wednesday, August 20 at 9pm ET / PT

US broadcast: FXX via Sling TV

US stream: Hulu (30-day trial)

International stream: Disney Plus (CA, AU)

Use NordVPN to watch any stream

Season 17 is the season of crossovers for the crew of Paddy’s Pub, as not only did we finally see the Gang’s PoV of the Abbott Elementary mash-up in the season opener, but Danny DeVito’s Frank finds himself a contestant on The Golden Bachelor in tonight's finale. Elsewhere, there’s been PR disasters, Saudi dealings, side hustles and reinventions, all in the pursuit of money, and lots of it.

The usual core cast are here, with the newly rechristened Rob Mac, starring alongside Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton and Kaitlin Olson. We also saw the return of David Hornsby as the long-suffering Cricket.

Ready to say goodbye to another round of beautiful chaos? Here's our guide on how to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 online and from anywhere.

How to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 in the US

If you have cable, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 airs on Wednesdays, with the finale set for August 20 at 9pm ET / PT.

Don't have cable? Cord-cutting services with FX include Sling TV – specifically the Sling Orange package from $46 per month. You can even get $10 off your first month, before returning to the original fee. There's also Fubo from $84.99 and Hulu with Live TV from $82.99 per month after a 3-day free trial.

If you're happy to watch on demand, episodes will also be available to stream on Hulu the following day.

Away from the US? Use a VPN to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 online from abroad.

How to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 from anywhere

For those away from home looking to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, you’ll be unable to watch the show as normal due to regional restrictions. Luckily, there’s an easy solution.

Downloading a VPN allows you to stream geo-blocked services safely and securely online, no matter where you are. It's a simple bit of software that changes your IP address, meaning that you can access on-demand content or live TV just as if you were at home. Our favorite is NordVPN.

Use a VPN to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 from anywhere:

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How to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 in the UK, Canada or Australia

Disney Plus is the international home of brand new episodes from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17.

In Canada, new episodes stream every Thursday, while Aussies can catch weekly episodes every Wednesday.

There's currently no release date set for the UK, but typically episodes don't start streaming in Blighty until the whole season has aired Stateside.

American away from home? You can still connect to your usual VOD services by downloading a VPN and pointing your location back to the US.

What you need to know about It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17It's Always Sunny... S017E7 recap

Episode 7: "The Gang Gets Ready for Prime Time ": "Upon learning Frank's making a 'Hometown Visit' with his Golden Bachelor partners, the Gang rehearses their family dinner to appeal to America."

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 release date

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 premiered on Wednesday, July 9 in the US with episodes made available to stream in Canada from July 10 and Australia from July 16. A UK release date is TBC.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 trailerIt's Always Sunny in Philadelphia season 17 episode schedule

• Episode 1 - "The Gang F***s Up Abbott Elementary": Wednesday, July 9
• Episode 2 - "Frank Is In a Coma": Wednesday, July 9
• Episode 3 - "Mac and Dennis Become EMTs": Wednesday, July 16
• Episode 4 - "Thought Leadership: A Corporate Conversation": Wednesday, July 23
• Episode 5 - "The Gang Goes to a Dog Track": Wednesday, July 30
• Episode 6 - "Overage Drinking: A National Concern": Wednesday, August 6
• Episode 7 - "The Gang Gets Ready for Prime Time": Wednesday, August 13
• Episode 8 - "The Golden Bachelor Live": Wednesday, August 20

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia cast

• Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly
• Glenn Howerton as Dennis Reynolds
• Rob McElhenney as Ronald "Mac" McDonald
• Kaitlin Olson as Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds
• Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

• The iPhone 17 series could be the last phones with a Camera Control button
• This is apparently because Apple has found that people aren't using it much
• But the source doesn't have much of a track record, and there are other reasons to doubt this claim too

It’s fair to say that responses to the Camera Control button on the iPhone 16 series have been mixed. While some users are unconvinced by this addition to the iPhone, others have found a lot to love about the Camera Control button. But if you’re in the latter camp you’ll be disappointed to hear that its days might be numbered.

According to Weibo poster OvO Baby Sauce OvO (via GSMArena), the iPhone 17 series might be the last phones with this button, as Apple has apparently told its suppliers it will no longer order Camera Control button parts.

This is apparently because Apple has found that iPhone owners aren’t using the button much, and that by removing this key, the company can cut some costs – which could be especially beneficial in this new age of tariffs.

Still, I’m unconvinced. It’s hard to get a sense for how many people actually use the Camera Control button much, with social media suggesting it’s a real mix of lovers and haters, but even if not many people are using it, we doubt Apple would give up on it so fast.

Even the much-maligned MacBook Touch Bar lasted five years before Apple ditched it, and it’s clear that some people do like the Camera Control.

More than just camera controls

Visual Intelligence identifying a dog (Image credit: Apple)

Plus, the Camera Control button does more than that name suggests – it’s also the gateway to Visual Intelligence, which is one of Apple’s headline AI features. Now, there are other ways to access this, but they’re less immediate, or require you toggling it to the Action button, which then means you can’t use that for something else.

Right now, Visual Intelligence itself might not seem a big deal to most people, but that’s in large part because Apple Intelligence lags behind rival AI services. If and when it starts to catch up, Visual Intelligence could be something you’d reach for often, as it lets you use AI to learn about or translate whatever you’re looking at.

So it seems unlikely that Apple would make such a major feature less easily accessible – it would be like admitting not only that these camera controls aren’t that useful, but that Visual Intelligence isn’t either.

I can’t see Apple doing that, and it’s worth noting that the source making this claim also doesn’t have much of a track record. So until the same claim is made by someone like Mark Gurman – who has a history of accurately leaking Apple information – you should probably file this under unlikely.

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• Python remains popular for data exploration, processing and engineering
• Younger developers are still using the coding language
• Only 15% use the latest release of Python, research finds

An extensive survey of around 30,000 developers has revealed Python is still a preferred language for many programmers, with around three in four (72%) using it for work, and 86% preferring it over any other language.

The Python Developer Survey (perhaps unsurprisingly) revealed an important bit of information that ties in with Python's ease of use – half of its users have less than two years' experience, suggesting its user base spans younger developers.

Still, it remains unbeatable across many categories, with more programmers using Python for web development (46%) compared with previous studies (42%).

Python is an all-time favorite programming language

Python is also a popular choice when it comes to data exploration and processing (51%), artificial intelligence and machine learning (41%) and data engineering (31%).

However, there remains a broad reluctance to upgrade to the latest release, with only 15% on 3.13.

More than a combined half are still using 3.12 (35%) and 3.11 (21%), with few seeing the need to upgrade at all – 53% say their current version meets their needs and 25% note a lack of time to upgrade.

A further 27% noted compatibility issues associated with choosing newer releases, despite the promised performance improvements such as 10-15% less memory usage and 11% faster performance when upgrading from 3.11 to 3.13.

Still, the language remains crucial for an important part of the community – around one in three developers continue to open source software, including documentation and tutorials, which are among the most popular learning mechanisms for new developers (followed by videos hosted on platforms like YouTube and AI tools like ChatGPT).

Given that Python isn't going anywhere, the need to upgrade is clear. With only 15% operating on the newest release, huge free performance gains are on the cards.

"By taking this action, you will be able to take advantage of the full potential of modern Python, from the performance benefits to the language features," Talk Python founder Michael Kennedy explained in a blog post.

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Affiliate marketing in 2025 is undergoing a transformation that reflects the dynamic nature of the industry. A 3.38% conversion rate for e-shop owners, according to platform data from 2Performant, reflects a strong industry performance, but it only tells part of the story. Growth is happening across multiple alternative channels, with video-first platforms, social commerce and emerging formats challenging conventional affiliate marketing approaches.

The shift towards alternative channels is an evolution in how consumers discover and purchase products across multiple touchpoints. With video content representing over 62% of internet traffic in the EU, social commerce growing at 30% annually, and mobile commerce accounting for 74% of all global mobile data, the infrastructure for multi-channel affiliate marketing is not only ready but actively driving consumer behavior.

The Dynamics of Emerging Trends in the European Market

Europe's embrace of alternative channels varies across regions, reflecting differences in consumer behavior, market maturity, and commercial infrastructure. What works effectively in the US market doesn't automatically translate to European consumers, who tend to be more cautious about online purchases and more research-driven in their shopping behavior.

Across Europe, Google campaigns and CSS affiliates continue to serve as the primary sales drivers, consistently delivering the most reliable revenue. The continued dominance of PPC affiliates stems from financial accountability. Agencies invest their own money in campaigns, creating a direct relationship between their profitability and performance that reflects how campaigns are optimized.

Yet, the live-shopping and video commerce trend is catching on.

Platforms like Temu and Trendyol are investing heavily in promotional campaigns and growing in European markets. This expansion isn't happening in isolation. The ongoing cost-of-living crisis has made consumers more prudent but it has also created demand for the very benefits that video commerce provides, including real-time interaction, immediate question answering and detailed product demonstration.

When 55% of European consumers report they "can't afford to make wrong choices," live shopping's ability to provide authentic, detailed product information becomes a competitive advantage rather than a nice-to-have feature.

Video Commerce: The Leading Alternative Channel

Video commerce has emerged as the most visible alternative channel, with TikTok Shop processing thousands of live sessions daily in the UK alone and live shopping generating billions in global merchandise value. Individual sellers are seeing meaningful results, with typical live sessions moving around 100 items worth approximately £773 in sales.

The platform's success stems from its understanding of modern consumer behavior. Today's shoppers, particularly younger demographics, expect entertainment, education and commerce to be seamlessly integrated. TikTok Shop delivers this integration and creates shopping experiences that feel natural rather than transactional.

However, the effectiveness varies significantly by product category and target demographic. Beauty and personal care categories are generating billions in gross merchandise value globally, while other categories struggle to achieve similar conversion rates. This selective success highlights the importance of channel-product fit rather than assuming general applicability.

Social Commerce Beyond Video

Social commerce includes Instagram Shopping, Pinterest Product Pins and Facebook Marketplace integrations, extending beyond video platforms. These platforms are experiencing significant growth by allowing consumers to discover and purchase products without leaving their preferred social environments.

Instagram Shopping has evolved into a commerce platform with features like product tags, shop tabs, and checkout functionality creating seamless purchase journeys. Pinterest's visual discovery model aligns with product exploration, making it effective for home décor, fashion and lifestyle categories.

The key advantage of social commerce is in its ability to capture consumers during moments of inspiration rather than active search. This discovery-based approach complements traditional search-based affiliate marketing by reaching consumers earlier in their purchase journey.

The Advantage of the Performance-Based Model

The transition towards cost-per-sale pricing models favors alternative channels that can demonstrate clear conversion paths. When agencies and creators are compensated based on actual sales rather than clicks or impressions, the conversion capabilities of well-executed alternative channel strategies become clear competitive advantages.

Video commerce's ability to demonstrate products, answer questions and build trust translates directly into higher conversion rates for businesses willing to invest in quality content and authentic presenter skills. The integrated nature of video platforms means that attribution and performance management tracking provide clearer insights into what drives conversions, making it easier to optimize campaigns for maximum effectiveness.

While search-based affiliate marketing continues to generate revenue, it's increasingly competing for attention with more engaging formats. The mobile performance crisis affecting traditional affiliate marketing, with click-through rates dropping by 50% and AI overviews further reducing traffic, doesn't impact alternative channels in the same way.

Google's algorithm changes increasingly favor video content, making it harder for traditional affiliate sites to maintain their search rankings. Social platforms are also investing heavily in commerce features that make alternative channel shopping more seamless and attractive.

Consumers, particularly younger demographics, are moving away from text-based research towards multi-channel discovery and decision-making processes that blend entertainment, education, and commerce across multiple touchpoints.

The Technology Infrastructure Is Ready

The technology for multi-channel affiliate marketing has matured quickly. Attribution systems can now track performance across multiple touchpoints from initial discovery through final purchase.

Content creation tools have democratized production across multiple formats, making it possible for individual creators and small businesses to produce engaging content for video, social and emerging channels without substantial budgets. Mobile-first platforms have eliminated many technical barriers that once made alternative channels accessible only to well-funded enterprises.

Payment platforms have also evolved to support seamless purchase journeys across all channels, with fintech solutions enabling smooth transactions regardless of where the customer journey begins.

Integration Over Replacement

The future of affiliate marketing is in understanding how to integrate traditional and alternative channels effectively. Alternative channels represent opportunities for growth and differentiation, but they work best when combined with the reliability and reach of established channels.

Live shopping will continue growing throughout 2025, but scalability challenges prevent it from becoming a dominant revenue source for most businesses. Social commerce works particularly well for discovery and inspiration, while emerging technology channels excel at reducing friction for specific use cases.

The most important factor remains the quality of commercial offers presented to consumers. No amount of creative content, sophisticated technology or innovative formats can compensate for poor pricing, low-quality products or complicated purchasing processes. Success in 2025 will come from businesses that build their affiliate marketing strategies around creating genuine value for consumers across multiple channels.

Alternative channels are defining the next wave of sales because they align with how consumers actually want to shop in 2025. The transformation is already underway, and the question is how quickly businesses will adapt these alternative channels to capture the opportunity while maintaining the foundation that traditional channels provide.

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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

A few months ago, Chinese LLM DeepSeek-R1 made headlines. The world was introduced to an open-source AI model that matched OpenAI o1’s reasoning abilities at a fraction of the cost. A relatively obscure startup topped Apple’s App Store rankings and sent shockwaves through global stock markets.

DeepSeek’s breakthrough proved AI could be built without massive capital investment or Nvidia’s highest-grade chips. More importantly, it showed that an open-source strategy could challenge America’s AI hegemony. China is betting that widespread, open-source use offers more value than the West’s paywalled models, such as ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Perplexity.

But if DeepSeek was a minnow, a Chinese whale is now having its own open-source moment: Baidu, China’s answer to Google, with 704 million monthly active app users and a market cap of 31.6 billion USD, has announced it will open-source its powerful generative AI model, Ernie. This release represents a dramatic policy reversal for Baidu, whose CEO Robin Li had previously advocated for proprietary, closed-source models as the only viable path for AI development.

If DeepSeek demonstrated that China could compete with the West, Baidu’s open-source pivot makes Chinese AI seem almost unstoppable. The commoditization of AI is accelerating, and China’s tech giants are redrawing the battle lines with the West from a performance race into a price war.

Here’s why Baidu’s open-source play matters more than DeepSeek's January breakthrough.

Deep Pockets

While DeepSeek was, at least in appearance, a proof of concept from a scrappy startup, Baidu brings the institutional weight, capital firepower, and, crucially, the distribution channels, to ensure widespread adoption.

In the age of AI, it pays to be a big company. Their sheer scale enables larger investments, improves resilience against market shocks and trade sanctions, and offers hyperscalers the advantage of applying this technology to their existing products.

Just look at Google. The American search engine giant is leveraging its existing broad and loyal customer base to attract traffic to its Gemini models, which are being integrated into its search function. At the May Google I/O conference, Google announced that its ‘AI Overviews’ (the AI summaries displayed next to search results) are used by more than 1.5 billion people each month. Baidu will doubtless do the same, leveraging its economies of scale to make Ernie a winner.

Meanwhile, DeepSeek’s momentum has sputtered. The smaller tech outfit has been forced to delay the release of its next-generation R2 model after struggling to procure enough of Nvidia’s high-end graphics processing units to complete training, because of new U.S. sanctions on chip exports to China, according to The Information.

As it stands, Baidu’s Ernie API has an 18% market share, still some way behind DeepSeek’s 34% share; however, Baidu’s size means it can rapidly make up ground.

From Performance Race to Price War

China is commoditizing AI faster than the West can monetize it. When developers can access high-performance AI without Big Tech’s pricing gates, it fundamentally rewrites who can afford to innovate.

DeepSeek-R1 debuted at $0.55 input/$2.19 output, undercutting the then SOTA model o1 by 90%+ on output token pricing. Since then, reasoning model prices have cratered, with OpenAI recently cutting its flagship model price by 80%, according to SemiAnalysis. Baidu already said in March that its Ernie X1 model delivers performance on par with DeepSeek-R1 “at only half the price.”

“If open-source AI becomes just as powerful as proprietary US models,” wrote June Yoon, Asia Lex Editor of the Financial Times in an article earlier this year, “the ability to monetize AI as an exclusive product collapses. Why pay for closed models if a free, equally capable alternative exists?”

The West may be forced to rethink its pricing strategies and business models when China can release equally good AI at virtually no cost.

Developer Ecosystem

China could never compete when the U.S. is making deals the size of Stargate, which is set to rise to $500 billion, and imposing tariffs on the tools used to build AI. That’s why China was forced to become self-sufficient.

By open-sourcing AI, they can bypass U.S. sanctions, decentralize development, and access global talent to improve models. Restrictions on Nvidia’s chips matter less when the rest of the world can refine China’s models on alternative hardware.

This approach may render restrictions moot, as much development occurs on Nvidia infrastructure outside China. By publishing the code of its flagship LLM, Baidu aims to foster broader adoption and a developer community around the technology.

CEO Li said as much to Chinese developers in April this year: “Our releases aim to empower developers to build the best applications — without having to worry about model capability, costs, or development tools.”

More developers using Ernie’s code will help it scale to new heights.

Game on

As more Chinese tech giants embrace open-source AI, they’re creating an alternative technology stack that bypasses U.S. control. Every developer who builds on Ernie instead of GPT-4 is one less customer for Silicon Valley and one more node in China’s AI ecosystem.

While DeepSeek faces delays and hardware shortages, established players like Baidu can take on the baton and sustain the open-source assault indefinitely. They have the capital to subsidize free AI and the scale to support millions of users.

For Western tech companies clinging to closed models and subscription fees, the message is clear: the game has changed. Adapt or become irrelevant.

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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