Technology

• Global PC shipments rose to 255.5 million in 2024, up 3.8% year-over-year
• Strong Christmas sales and discounts saw a 4.6% rise in Q4 2024
• Lenovo accounts for 24.2% of the market

The final figures for 2024 are in, and it’s good news for the PC market, which saw encouraging growth during the year.

The latest data from Canalys claims 255.5 million PCs (including desktops and laptops) were shipped in 2024, up from 246 million in 2023 - a 3.8% year-over-year growth.

Leading the way was Lenovo, which maintained its near-quarter market share of 24.2% (up from 24.0%).

The PC market is growing

Of the 255.5 million PCs shipped in 2024, 61.9 million were Lenovo models. HP, with a market share of 20.7%, followed closely with 53.0 million units shipped. Dell, Apple and Asus rounded up the top five, with market shares of 15.3%, 8.9% and 7.2% respectively.

Canalys Analyst Kieren Jessop described the 3.8% year-over-year growth as “modest,” highlighting the stronger fourth-quarter growth of 4.6% could be a positive sign of things to come. This was thanks to "strong discounting by vendors and retailers" during the holiday season and the increased take-up of Buy Now, Pay Later schemes.

The final three months of 2024 represented the fifth consecutive quarter of growth following seven prior quarters of the market shrinking, quarterly PC shipments are still nowhere near the levels they reached in 2020 and 2021, in some cases exceeding 90 million. The most recent quarter saw 67.5 million PCs shipped.

Principal Analyst Ishan Dutt said the PC market could not be “set for accelerating growth” – increased adoption of AI-capable PCs and the looming Windows 10 end-of-service are driving commercial and personal customers to upgrade their devices this coming year.

The company now anticipates AI PCs will account for 35% of worldwide shipments this year – in the third quarter of 2024, they had a 20% market share.

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• Electric motors and a 62kWh battery from a Leaf Nismo power the 90s icon
• Project lead wants future generations to experience the unique drive
• Electric performance matches the 280hp of the original

In a move that will have the purists furiously hammering away at their keyboards, a long-time Nissan EV powertrain engineer has made it his personal mission to electrify arguably the Japanese marque’s most iconic car: the R32 Skyline GT-R.

That’s right, the performance machine that’s intrinsically linked to the best-selling Gran Turismo series has had its 2.6-liter, twin-turbocharged heart removed and replaced with a pair of 160kW electric motors that now power each axle.

But far from an exercise to raise a rabble on numerous internet forums, EV powertrain engineer Ryozo Hiraku believes it is important to “replicate the appeal of the R32 GT-R so future generations could experience it.”

In short, Hiraku is essentially admitting that modern EVs lack that special something that makes classic like the Skyline such a joy to drive, no matter what decade you were born in.

Plus, with most legacy automakers (including Nissan) committing to an all-electric future, it soon might not be possible for staff to embark on projects that aim to salvage combustion engine heroes of the past. There simply won't be the resources to do so.

The R32 GT-R project itself was a serious undertaking, with the team completely dismantling the 90s sports car and creating 3D renderings of individual parts, because as Hiraku points out, CAD wasn’t really a thing back in the early 90s.

What’s more, team members carefully synthesized the engine note of the original vehicle and pumped the soundtrack into the cabin to make it a more visceral driving experience.

Plus, there’s a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N-esque 'shift shock' that has been programmed into the paddle-mounted gear shift logic that replicates the mechanical jolting experienced when shifting up or down through a proper mechanical gearbox.

Rear seats were ripped out to make room for the Leaf Nismo battery pack, while larger brakes and rotors lifted from a R35 GT-R were added to beef up the stopping power of this 367kg heavier machine. As a result, the bespoke rims have grown from 16-inches to 18-inches to house everything.

Other than that, it’s a faithful electric replica that aims to distill the spirit of the original car into something that can be enjoyed daily in a world that is increasingly heading towards electrification.

There are no plans to commercialize a conversion kit, but instead, project leader Ryozo Hiraku says that it is important to “safeguard” the legacy of cars like the R32 GT-R for future generations and this could be one way of doing it.

Analysis: Electrifying classics is a craze that’s catching on

(Image credit: Nissan)

There are an increasing number of businesses springing up that specialize in ensuring classic vehicles can continue to be used by swapping their internal combustion engines out for modern electric powertrains.

Electrogenic in the UK, for example, already manufactures ‘plug and play’ kits for the Mazda MX-5, Series Land Rovers, Jaguar E-Types, air-cooled Porsche 911s and the iconic DeLorean DMC-12, which I’ve driven.

These kits are sent to a certified installer on a pallet, making the swap relatively painless, quick and borderline affordable, while customers can go as wild as they want with bespoke conversions, should their pockets be deep enough.

The owners of said classic can choose to store their internal combustion engine, should they want to swap things back, but the general idea is that it makes these iconic machines much easier to live with and useable in places like London, where strict emissions regulations now pretty much ban anything that produces CO2.

It is a similar story in the US, where companies like Gateway Bronco are shoehorning powerful EV motors and battery packs into classic Ford Bronco 4x4s with stunning effect. Everrati is another company making waves in the resto-mod scene, electrifying everything from the Mercedes-Benz SL to an 800hp Ford GT40.

Electrifying celebrated automotive idols like this ensures they get used, rather than stored in a garage, museum or private collection, where they will never get to do what they do best – making passers-by stop in their tracks and double-take an exterior that’s since evanesced thanks to today’s safety-focussed cookie-cutter car designs.

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• President Biden set to introduce new AI Diffusion rules on AI technology
• Groups have praised the rules for helping to shore up national security
• However China and Nvidia have both critiqued the rules for stifling competition

In the final few days of the Biden administration, the President has introduced a set of new regulations aimed at restricting China’s access to advanced semiconductors used in AI technology.

The ‘Export Control Framework for AI Diffusion’ divides the world into friend and foe, with allies being provided with unfettered access to AI technology, while US adversaries, namely China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, will face harsh restrictions.

The latest regulations, along with the slew of export restrictions levied against China during Biden’s four year tenure, are designed to maintain West’s dominance in AI development and AI chip design.

‘It’s critical that we keep it that way’

The AI Diffusion rules would implement new country-specific quotas on GPUs, but provide an option for cloud computing providers to apply for approval to build data centers outside of these limits, allowing giants such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon to continue with existing and future projects without restrictions - provided they meet security requirements, reporting demands, and have a record of adherence to human rights.

The regulations will not kick in for 120 days, leaving plenty of wriggle room for Trump to settle into his second presidency and decide on his foreign policy approach regarding China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was invited to, but declined, Trump’s inauguration, with the US president-elect threatening heavy tariffs against imported goods with a particular focus on China throughout his election campaign.

Ahead of the AI Diffusion announcement, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said, “the US leads AI now – both AI development and AI chip design, and it’s critical that we keep it that way.”

Much of the motivation behind imposing restrictions on China’s ability to import AI chips and manufacturing technologies has been on the basis of national security concerns surrounding the potential for Beijing to introduce advanced AI technologies into its military.

Both the Americans for Responsible Innovation group and the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party have praised the AI Diffusion rules focus on basis of national security.

In response however, China’s Commerce Ministry branded the regulations as “another example of generalizing the concept of national security and abusing export controls,” further arguing that the regulations were not in line with established economic and trade rules and are a “blatant violation.”

Nvidia, which capitalized on the AI tech and software hype to catapult itself to second in the most valuable companies by market cap, also hit back against the regulations in a blog post, with Ned Finkle, vice president of government affairs, stating the AI Diffusion rules are “a 200+ page regulatory morass, drafted in secret and without proper legislative review,” adding that the Biden administration was attempting to “rig market outcomes and stifle competition.”

Finkle also pointed out that the regulation would hit much of the technology that is “already widely available in mainstream gaming PCs and consumer hardware.” The blog post concluded with a statement praising innovation and competition during Trump’s first term, with Nvidia “look[ing] forward to a return to policies that strengthen American leadership, bolster our economy and preserve our competitive edge in AI and beyond.”

Via SCMP

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• Patch KB5048239 for Windows 10 was first deployed in November 2024
• It’s now been installed again as part of Microsoft’s patching for January 2025
• However, this update is reportedly installing itself over and over again, and for quite a number of Windows 10 users it seems

Ever had a Windows 10 (or Windows 11) update that failed to install? That’s a problem I’ve noticed happens relatively often, but a new twist on misfiring updates is a patch that keeps on installing itself, despite being successfully installed in the past.

This is what's apparently happening with Windows 10, and the update in question is patch KB5048239, as Neowin reports.

It’s useful to cover the backstory here, which is that KB5048239 was pushed out to Windows 10 PCs (on 21H2 and 22H2) in November 2024 (among other patches), as a cure for problems with the WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment) which themselves have a lengthy history.

However, last year, KB5048239 failed to install for some people due to them not having enough space in their Windows 10 recovery partition (a minimum of 250MB is necessary).

Microsoft then issued a bunch of advice to affected users and tried to smooth out the update, but it seems that Windows 10 is now trying to deliver KB5048239 again. And again… and again… and (you get the idea).

Dean Wortmier tells us on Microsoft’s help forum, Answer’s.com, that: “This particular update installed successfully for me in November 2024, and is trying to install again today -- over and over and over... -- each time ‘successfully.’”

Another complaint comes from Brian Lofthouse: “Hi to you all. I checked my updates this morning and KB5048239 was waiting to be installed again! I run the troubleshooter and it installed again, I checked ‘View updates’ and it had changed the date from yesterday to today! It is like a Merry-go-round. I can feel a migraine coming on!”

Those two threads have had 353 people click that they ‘have the same question’ to give you an idea of the scale of the impact here (at the time of writing). So, this appears to be an issue affecting a fair few folks running Windows 10.

(Image credit: Marjan Apostolovic / Shutterstock) Is there any way out of this mess?

As to a resolution for the ‘little update that wouldn’t give up,’ the not-so-great news is that there doesn’t appear to be one.

Whatever people are trying to do, such as removing the older version of this update before letting the newest one for January 2025 install, doesn’t make any difference. They are still getting KB5048239 installing over and over. Even those whose WinRE setup is fine (and the partition is large enough) are still being hit by this debacle, as noted on this thread over at the Ask Woody forums.

Does having this patch installed over and over actually matter, though? Will it detrimentally affect your system? Probably not, but even if this isn’t throwing small spanners into the Windows 10 works somewhere, it’s still annoying to see the same update getting downloaded and installed repeatedly. Those who don’t know what’s going on here may assume their PC has some kind of serious bug – or even virus – and maybe waste a fair bit of time trying to diagnose and fathom what’s going on.

Hopefully Microsoft will have an announcement coming, and I’ve reached out to the company to find out (I’ll update this story with any response).

For now, though, about all you can do is grin and bear it (or frown and bear it, more like). One option is to pause Windows 10 updates for as long as you can (with the side effect that you won’t get other updates, of course – which might be bad news in itself). Otherwise, it’s just a matter of waiting for Microsoft to fix this (we've contacted the company for comment), which hopefully will happen fairly soon considering that this is a problem plaguing a non-trivial number of Windows 10 users, from what I can tell.

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• Intel's upcoming Arc B570 GPU is only 12% slower than B580 according to early benchmark
• The Arc B580 will start at $249 while the B570 will start at $219
• Intel has taken a great leap in its GPU and gaming focus

While Nvidia and AMD's new GPUs may have taken the spotlight over recent weeks with a slew of big new reveals, notably Team Green's RTX 5000 series at CES 2025, Intel is slowly becoming a dark horse within the budget GPU market - and PC gamers with tight budgets should pay attention.

According to an early test result spotted in the Geekbench 6 database (initially highlighted by Wccftech), the Intel Arc B570 is only 12% slower - perfect, since it’s also 12% cheaper than the Arc B580, which we noted offers fierce competition in terms of performance against its affordable rivals in our Intel Arc B580 review. This was made evident with the B570's 86,718 score compared to the B580's 98,343 in the OpenCL API benchmark.

Whilst there are multiple different benchmark results for the B580 (with the same expected for the B570 once it hits full release), Wccftech states most range between 95,000 and 100,000 points, suggesting slower performance on its lower-spec counterpart.

Considering the price of the Arc B580 ($249 / £249 / AU$439) and the Arc B570 ($219 / £219 / around AU$350), PC gamers on a budget will have a variety of competent options for 1080p gaming this generation. With Team Blue's XeSS upscaling method gradually improving, Intel could claim pole position to become the budget GPU king if it can compete with Nvidia's DLSS and AMD's FSR.

(Image credit: Intel) Is it time to take Intel's GPU and gaming efforts seriously?

Nvidia has consistently ruled over the years, while Intel has focused on providing stronger processors for PC builds and AMD has historically been a plucky underdog in both markets. The tide is now turning within the budget GPU space, and it's safe to say that Team Blue is now one to take seriously.

Besides the upcoming Arc B580 and B570, Intel’s new Lunar Lake processors have been shown to benefit handheld gaming PCs as well - the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is powered by the Ultra Core 7 258V processor, which will reportedly allow gamers to play games like Cyberpunk 2077 on higher settings using ray tracing.

There's still a long way to go for Intel to catch up to AMD and Nvidia in terms of providing high-end GPU hardware, but it's already off to a great start - I hope its next lineup of GPUs showcases a big step forward in performance.

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• LG reveals schedule for webOS update rollout
• The update program is called LG Re:New
• Certain LG TVs will receive five years of webOS updates

LG has revealed the schedule for its webOS 24 and webOS 25 rollout to older models from 2024 and before, as reported by FlatpanelsHD.

The rollout is part of LG's Re:New program, where certain older LG TVs will receive five years worth of webOS upgrades. For example, an LG TV from 2024, such as the LG C4, one of the best TVs released in 2024, will be upgraded each year to the next version of web OS in its life cycle. So, in late 2025, it's scheduled to be update to webOS 25, late 2026 it'll receive webOS 2026 and so on.

With older models, say the LG C3 from 2023, it will be upgraded to webOS 24 in early 2025 and receive webOS 25 in late 2025/early 2026 and so on.

The full schedule is as planned below:

The company's webOS 25 is set to arrive built-in with LG's 2025 TVs, including its 2025 OLED TV lineup and 2025 QNED TV lineup, which were first revealed at CES 2025. webOS 25 itself has seen several upgrades from its predecessor, webOS 2024, with the majority focused on AI. LG has even adopted the moniker of 'LG AI TV' to 2025's batch of screens.

Some of the upgrades of webOS 25 include AI search (US and Korea only, at launch) where AI will carry out an advanced search based on a user's questions for recommended content, plus AI Concierge, where users will be recommended movies, TV shows and keywords based on their viewing history.

There's also the AI Generative Art store, where users can spend credits to create AI generated images. There have also been upgrades to AI Picture Wizard and AI Sound Wizard which will now remember different users preferred picture and sound profiles.

AI Chatbot, introduced in webOS 24, can now also make picture and sound settings changes to suit the user, e.g. if you ask it to "make the screen brighter", it will up the brightness.

A welcome upgrade

We haven't had a chance to test webOS 25 just yet, but we did like webOS 24, with 3 upgrades in particular standing out. We also scored it highly in our LG reviews in 2024, thanks to its streamlined design, updated Quick Cards system and its streamlined Quick Menu.

The LG Re:New program is a welcome one, as it means users don't have to spend money to update their TV to get the latest smart TV features, services and crucially, latest security updates. for at least 5 years from first purchase.

LG likened the update to a full OS upgrade like you'd find on the best phones, say an iPhone going from iOS 17 to iOS 18, rather than a simple update you'd find on an app.

While some may not like the changing design, layout and features on a yearly basis, LG web OS upgrades over the past few years have been significant and have generally seen good upgrades and improvements over their previous generations.

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• Details about the first Assassin's Creed Shadows expansion have leaked
• The DLC is seemingly titled Claws of Awaji and could introduce 10 hours of additional content
• The information comes from a new-deleted Steam listing update for the game

Assassins Creed Shadows' first expansion has seemingly leaked ahead of the game's official release.

That's according to a new post over on the Assassin's Creed subreddit, as spotted by VGC, where the first details about the game's unannounced downloadable content (DLC) were revealed via a now-deleted Steam listing update.

The first DLC is seemingly titled Claws of Awaji and is expected to introduce 10 hours of additional content to Shadows, alongside a "new explorable area" and a new weapon type called "the Bō".

Since the update has now been removed from the game's Steam page there isn't much more information to go by, however, some fans are theorizing that Claws of Awaji could be the free DLC that was previously promised if you preorder the game.

Last week, Ubisoft once again delayed Assassin's Creed Shadows, this time to March 20 from its original February 14 release date "as part of the renewed focus on gameplay quality and engaging day one experiences".

"This additional time will allow the team to better incorporate the player feedback gathered over the past three months and help create the best conditions for launch by continuing to engage closely with the increasingly positive Assassin’s Creed community," Ubisoft said.

The next Assassin's Creed game was initially set for a November 12, 2024 launch date, before it was delayed the first time back in September 2024.

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• Adobe Firefly Bulk Create will handle thousands of images at once
• Users can resize for different platforms or remove/change backgrounds
• It’s available through the web to paying Firefly Services customers

Adobe has launched Firefly Bulk Create, a new tool allowing creatives and designers to edit large amounts of images in one go, helping them to apply similar settings to maintain a consistent feel across a brand as well as improve workload efficiency.

The tool, accessible to customers paying for Adobe Firefly Services, is accessible via a web browser and doesn’t require users to download any desktop software.

From launch, the service promises to help users change backgrounds and resize images in bulk. This includes removing backgrounds from images and inserting new AI-generated backgrounds with Firefly AI.

Adobe launches Firefly Bulk Create

According to PetaPixel, Adobe said customers can change “thousands of product shots at a time.” The company is also said to have stated: “Firefly Bulk Create will be able to intelligently place creative components across any layout.” This will enable it to resize images in such a way that they work across different platforms, including social media and online ads.

Varun Parmar, general manager of Adobe GenStudio and Firefly Enterprise, said the tool was designed to help ensure “an efficient content supply chain across planning, creating, managing, activating, and measuring content for campaigns” to help brands stay ahead of the curve.

“Adobe Firefly Bulk Create enables teams to efficiently create the hundreds of thousands of variations that are needed each year to provide highly personalized experiences and drive better conversion,” added Parmar.

However, although various media reporting such as this VentureBeat article confirm details of the new product release, Adobe has since removed the announcement from its website.

There’s currently no mention of Firefly Bulk Create on Adobe’s Firefly web page, so we’re uncertain whether the company had intended to announce the product so soon or whether it needs essential changes prior to going live.

It’s therefore unclear whether Adobe intended to publicize Firefly Bulk Create or whether further revisions are required for the service. TechRadar Pro has asked Adobe to comment, but we did not receive an immediate response.

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YouTube is prepping new AI features to make passive video watching a lot more interactive, according to unreleased code found by Android Authority. The Talk Live features undergoing testing use Google Gemini's AI models to let you converse about YouTube videos and PDFs.

Imagine you’re watching a video on, say, the history of art movements, and halfway through, you’re scratching your head over what separates Impressionism from Post-Impressionism. Instead of pausing the video to dive into a Google rabbit hole, you could summon Gemini Live to clarify things for you right then and there. With a simple tap on a contextual “chip” that pops up, the AI assistant will be ready to answer questions, provide context, or summarize key points from the video.

The Talk Live PDF feature takes the same premise as the YouTube feature and applies it to PDF documents. You can get Gemini Live to discuss the document with you. That might mean summarizing it, explaining complicated terms, or answering specific questions about sections that don't make sense when you read it. Whether you’re using the YouTube app or a PDF reader, you'll be able to summon Gemini and get all your queries on videos and documents answered.

AI enhancement

Google has been pushing AI for YouTube for months now. The Talk Live tool fits right in with the likes of YouTube's Brainstorm with Gemini feature for coming up with ideas. The same goes for the the AI tool for removing copyrighted music from your video without taking it down completely, or the one for making new, uncopyrighted music to fit the theme of your video. There's also the useful auto-dubbing feature, which translates and dubs videos into multiple languages.

Still, the idea of remaking YouTube viewing as an engaging conversation on top of the more passive viewing experience is one that might appeal to a lot of people, especially if the video is really long and the viewer is impatient. And everyone from students trying to grasp a lecture, to creators looking to expand their audiences could benefit. It might make people more willing to engage with difficult content. Or, at the very least, the AI will make understanding Impressionism much easier.

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• Amazfit has unveiled a new health gadget to help you with your eating
• The V1tal is a camera that watches and analyses you while you eat
• It can track calories, macros, and your eating behavior

Amazfit is a household name when it comes to smart tech and wearables, and makes some of the best cheap smartwatches in the industry. But at CES 2025 the company unveiled a brand-new type of health gadget that promises to transform the way you eat food – as long as you don't mind eating on camera.

As reported by Digital Trends, the Amazfit V1tal is a camera that records and analyzes your eating. The device itself is straightforward enough – it's a simple camera with a viewfinder screen, and it looks a bit like a primitive GoPro or DJI.

But it's the technology under the hood, and what the V1tal does with your eating data that are impressive. You simply set your V1tal up on your table and record yourself eating your meal. Once you've finished eating, V1tal can use its recording data along with the Amazfit Zepp app to log what you've consumed, complete with a macronutrient breakdown of carbs, proteins, and fats. As the report notes, it's akin to the food-tracking chops of MyFitnessPal, but it's a purely automatic process powered by video recording.

Amazfit tackles nutrition

(Image credit: Amazfit)

While tracking your food consumption and calories isn't a novel concept, the technology right now is largely limited to scanning bar codes, so introducing video-recorded automation into the mix would be a big step up – but V1tal isn't just about running the numbers.

According to the report, V1tal can also monitor your eating behavior, such as whether you're skipping the healthy green bits of your meal, or whether you're rushing your food. That's insight that could not only help you count the calories and refuel, but also recalibrate your relationship with food.

It also sounds like Amazfit is positioning the V1tal as just one part of an ecosystem of health tech, which also draws on data and insight from other devices like its smartwatches and smart scales.

The V1tal isn''t just a camera either, with functionality that includes notifications from your phone, a to-do list, and even good old-fashioned video recording. Amazfit's execs reckon the V1tal could be a better version of the largely poorly received Humane AI Pin or Rabbit R1. It's a low bar, but it's a sign that Amazfit is perhaps envisioning a more integrated AI network rather than a standalone health gadget, which could be a smart strategy.

There are no firm details about the V1tal's price or release date yet, but Amazfit is reportedly targeting the first half of this year for a launch, and it certainly feels like more than a pipe-dream concept.

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• Professionally modified to Ringo Starr's exact specs
• Comes with a certificate of authenticity
• Expected to sell for at least €50,000 ($51,000)

Ringo Starr is one of the most famous people in the world, and not just for his voiceovers in the Thomas The Tank Engine animations. The former Beatle is a hugely influential drummer and still makes music today: his latest album of country and roots music, Look Up, came out just four days ago. And now you can own a unique bit of equipment from his very own recording studio.

The equipment in question is a Studer 80 Audio Recorder, the same recorder that was used in Abbey Road studios and many of the world's other major recording studios in the 1970s. It's being sold on the online marketplace Catawiki, where it currently has a bid price of €18,000 – lower than the reserve price. The bidding is open until February 2, 2025 and is expected to exceed €50,000.

Expect to pay a bit more for postage unless you're local to The Netherlands though: it weighs nearly 100kg.

What's so special about Ringo's recorder?

This particular Studer recorder has been modified by the Fab Four's sound engineer, Eddie Veale. And it's the real deal: current owner Lex van Coeverden, a celebrated Dutch mastering engineer and producer, has owned it since 1988 and it comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Veale himself and detailing the modifications Veale made.

The auction is one of several Beatles-related listings on the Catawiki website, which describes itself as "the most-visited curated marketplace in Europe for special objects". Those objects include rare Pokémon trophy cards, a Chrysler Stratus Convertible from Real Madrid's European cup victory procession and the odd Banksy original too, as well as considerably more affordable items.

As for Ringo, he's touring the new album. You can see his currently planned US tour dates here. And with Record Store Day 2025 dates now locked in for April, there's never been a better time to get into vinyl. What better place to start than with Rubber Soul?

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• A Galaxy Unpacked teaser says "a true AI companion" is coming
• The video shows an AI assistant being given complex instructions
• This is likely to be an upgrade to Bixby, which could come to the Galaxy S25 and other Samsung phones

We were always expecting the Samsung Galaxy S25 series to feature new and improved AI features, and now Samsung itself has hinted that we could see some major AI upgrades.

In the company’s latest teaser for Galaxy Unpacked – the January 22 event at which the Samsung Galaxy S25 series will almost certainly be unveiled – Samsung has teased the arrival of “a true AI companion.”

The company uses those exact words in a brief video in which we see someone ask an AI assistant to find them a pet-friendly Italian restaurant with outdoor seating. They ask for all that in a single request, and also ask for the information to be added to their calendar and sent to someone else.

This sort of request is well beyond what Bixby, Samsung’s digital assistant, is capable of currently. Or at least that's the case outside China – Bixby has already had a ChatGPT-like overhaul in China, and this teaser suggests the same upgrade will be going global soon.

Samsung says its currently China-only Bixby upgrade can understand "complex user instructions" that combine multiple commands in a single sentence, which is exactly what we see in this teaser video.

It also has on-screen awareness, so you can ask it about things on your phone’s display, and it has a more modern interface than the Bixby we’re used to.

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It's that time of the year again, folks. Reservations are now open for the upcoming new Galaxy smartphones – almost certainly the Galaxy S25 range. Simply sign up by email, and you'll get $50 Samsung credit on the house when it comes time to preorder, as well as the chance to win $5,000 in a sweepstake. These devices will be officially unveiled at the Samsung Unpacked event on January 22, so stay tuned for updates.View Deal

An AI upgrade for phones new and old

So with the global launch of this Bixby upgrade presumably being announced at Galaxy Unpacked, it may well be available on the Samsung Galaxy S25 out of the box – and since this is already available in China we know it doesn’t require the power of the Galaxy S25, so we might well see this come to some existing Samsung handsets too.

That said, we’d expect some of the very best new AI features to be reserved for the Galaxy S25 series, either because they require the power of its new chipset, or just as a selling point. It’s also very possible that Bixby itself will run faster on the upcoming phones.

We’ll find out soon, and TechRadar will be in attendance at the Samsung Galaxy S25 launch, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, stick with TechRadar and we’ll bring you all the Galaxy S25 news, leaks, and teasers ahead of the full announcement.

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• Leaks suggest that an The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remake is in the works at Virtuos
• It will allegedly be fully remade using Unreal Engine 5
• Apparently multiple core mechanics will also be updated

An Unreal Engine 5 remake of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is reportedly in the works at developer Virtuos. The latest leaks suggest that it will feature substantially reworked gameplay systems.

This comes from a new report by gaming website mp1st, which states that an unnamed former Virtuos employee has accidentally spilled the beans. According to the website, this employee worked on the game from 2023 to 2024 and uploaded some details of their accomplishments on a personal page.

They inadvertently not only confirm the existence of the long-rumored remake, but also provide our first real details about how it might turn out. Allegedly, substantial changes are being made to the title's core gameplay systems including stamina, sneak, blocking, archery, hit reaction, and the user interface.

The new blocking system will apparently draw on some Souls-like mechanics, presumably to give it a little more heft. Sneaking should also be easier, with highlighted icons giving the player information more clearly. As for the stamina system, it has seemingly been simplified to reduce the number of times that it negatively affects you.

Archery has been refined to work more smoothly in both first-person and third-person, while hit reactions have also reportedly been added to inflicted damage clearer. Finally, the HUD has been wholly altered to make it more modern and aesthetically pleasing.

All of this sounds incredibly substantial, and supports the idea that this is much more than a simple port of HD remaster. As for a potential release date, the site suggests that it could arrive as early as June this year.

We'll have to wait for an official announcement to learn more, so fingers crossed for the upcoming Xbox Developer Direct.

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