Technology

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Huawei has announced the seventh generation of its all-flash OceanStor Dorado array, claiming it will meet enterprise data storage needs for the AI era.

The new storage solution is specifically designed for mission-critical applications, delivering what the company describes as “extreme performance and resilience” for complex AI workloads.

Huawei has divided the OceanStor Dorado family into three product groups: the high-end 8000 and 18000, the mid-range 5000 and 6000, and the entry-level 3000. The Dorado 18000 reportedly delivers three times the performance of the previous generation.

Proactively detecting anomalies

The new-gen OceanStor Dorado features a DPU-based SmartNIC that separates data and control flows, reducing processor bottlenecks. In addition, the newly upgraded FLASHLINK intelligent disk-controller-DPU collaboration algorithm enables over 100 million IOPS and extremely low, 0.03 ms latency.

Huawei says its new storage solution offers “extreme resilience” thanks to its SmartMatrix full-mesh architecture which allows the storage to tolerate the failure of up to seven out of eight controller enclosures without service interruption and delivers 99.99999% system reliability. It also reportedly achieves a 99.99% ransomware detection rate and ensures 100% data availability after recovery using intelligent snapshot technologies.

OceanStor Dorado's native unified storage architecture supports various applications such as databases, file systems, and container storage, and its Data Management Engine (DME) uses AI to “improve O&M efficiency fivefold” by proactively detecting and addressing anomalies.

Huawei says its data storage products are currently deployed by more than 26,000 customers globally, including 53 of the top 100 banks.

In its keynote coverage, Blocks & Files reported Yang Chaobin, Director of the Board and President of ICT Products & Solutions, touched on the challenges Huawei faces as a Chinese company.

“We have a lot of v6 customers that have been looking forward to seeing our next generation. Because of the American sanctions, we have a lot of limitations politically, so now we are gradually trying to recover from a lot of those difficulties, and our customers are looking for that,” he said.

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Peacemaker season 2: key information

- Set to arrive sometime in 2025
- Started shooting in April
- Will stream on Max in the US
- Likely to be available on Sky/Now TV (UK) and Binge (Australia)
- Creator/showrunner James Gunn has written all eight episodes
- John Cena returns as Christopher Smith/Peacemaker
- Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Jennifer Holland, and Steve Agee also part of the cast
- Frank Grillo, Tim Meadows, Sol Rodriguez, and David Denman among the show's newcomers
- Story will pick up after season 1 finale
- Set after 2025's Superman movie
- Unclear how it'll impact the rest of the rebooted DCU

Peacemaker season 2 sees the return of an antihero who famously claimed to "cherish peace with all my heart. I don't care how many men, women and children I need to kill to get it". The return of John Cena's fan-favorite DC character has certainly raised eyebrows because, well, the second season of The Suicide Squad movie's spin-off series isn't set in the now-defunct DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Instead, it's part of James Gunn and Peter Safran's rebooted DC Cinematic Universe (DCU).

Confused? So are we. Nonetheless, we've done our best to explain how Peacemaker's sophomore season will fit into – not to mention impact – the DCU Chapter One line-up. You'll also learn more about its potential release date, confirmed cast, likely story details, and more in this guide, too. So, stick on the 'Star-Spangled Banner', grab your own Eagly (that's Peacemaker's bald eagle, for anyone not paying attention), and evoke your inner patriot as we break down everything worth knowing about Peacemaker season 2. Full spoilers follow for season 1, too!

Peacemaker season 2 release date prediction

A post shared by James Gunn (@jamesgunn)

A photo posted by on

Peacemaker season 2 doesn't have an official release date yet but, as Gunn confirmed on Instagram (see above), filming go underway in April. Since then, the DC Studios co-head has announced it'll debut sometime in 2025, too (per Threads).

So, when could the hit series – which debuted on Max (US), Sky/Now TV (UK), and Binge (Australia) – make its return? Events in Gunn's Superman movie, which flies into theaters next July, will precede what happens in this show's sophomore outing. Gunn confirmed as much (again, via Threads), writing: "Peacemaker season 2 will take place after the events in Superman", and that events in Superman impact Peacemaker. This all but confirms Christopher Smith won’t be resuming his quest for peace until the second half of 2025. 

In yet another Threads post, Gunn revealed that, as of October, half of season 2 had been shot, so it's likely that filming will wrap sometime in early 2025. Based on those variables, we expect Cena's foul-mouthed vigilante to make his DCU debut in late 2025, with the show premiering around October next year on some of the world's best streaming services.

Peacemaker season 2 trailer: is there one?

Looking at your phone or computer screen for that season 2 trailer drop like... (Image credit: HBO Max)

No. With the show’s release date still (probably) over a year away, it’s too early for a Peacemaker season 2 trailer. We'll update this section once a teaser is released.

Peacemaker season 2 cast: confirmed and rumored

Who's returning for Peacemaker season 2? (Image credit: Katie Yu/Max)

Full spoilers follow for Peacemaker season 1.

With the notable exception of Chukwudi Iwuji’s Clemson Murn/Ik Nobe Llok, who dies in season 1 episode 7, most of the show’s key characters will be back in action for Peacemaker season 2:

•  John Cena as Christopher Smith/Peacemaker
• Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo
• Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase/Vigilante
• Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt
• Steve Agee as John Economos
• Nhut Le as Judomaster
• Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith/White Dragon
• Viola Davis as Amanda Waller
• Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr
• Tim Meadows as Langston Fleury
• Sol Rodriguez as Sasha Bordeaux
• David Denman as TBC

The headline newcomer is Frank Grillo (best known for playing Brock 'Crossbones' Rumlow in the Captain America movies) as military man Rick Flag Sr. We’ll get our first glimpse of Flag Sr. in action in Creature Commandos, which will be the first DCU project to arrive when it launches this December. Given the murkiness of how events in The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker season 1 will fit into the wider DCU, we think Grillo's casting as Flag Sr. will make it harder to follow Gunn's cinematic universe.

But we digress. Other new additions include Star Trek: Picard’s Sol Rodriguez as established DC comic-book character Sasha Bordeaux, Mean Girls’ Tim Meadows as government agent Langston Fleury, and The Office’s David Denman in a yet-to-be-confirmed role. It’s also all but confirmed that Peacemaker’s white supremacist dad Auggie will be back from the dead – in a manner of speaking, but more on this later – after Robert Patrick told PopVerse that he recently filmed a "big scene" for season 2.

As for other potential newcomers, Gunn (via Instagram, see below) teased the appearance of a new mystery character in season 2. Get your guessing hat on now.

A post shared by James Gunn (@jamesgunn)

A photo posted by on

Elsewhere, there are rumors (per Cinemablend) that For All Mankind’s Joel Kinnaman could return as Rick Flag Jr. However, Task Force X's leader was killed by Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad so, like Patrick's Auggie, it's unclear how he'll return. The safest way to bring back the pair would be in flashback sequences but, hey, nobody's ever truly dead in the world of comic books and, by proxy, their big- and small-screen adaptations.

Peacemaker season 2 story speculation

Peacemaker season 2 will pick up after its predecessor's final episode (Image credit: Katie Yu/Max)

Full spoilers follow for Peacemaker season 1. Potential spoilers are also discussed for season 2.

Shocking no-one, a Peacemaker season 2 plot brief hasn't been revealed yet. That hasn't stopped Gunn from teasing what's to come in the show's next installment, nor us from theorizing where things could go next after the first season's finale

"It essentially picks up where season 1 left off," Gunn replied to a Threads user’s question about its plot, although he added that there’ll be "a couple of minor differences". That's to be expected, especially – as we keep saying – in light of the fact that seasons 1 and 2 exist in completely different comic book universes.

Anyway, by the end of the first season, Christopher Smith and his "11th Street Kids" associates had defeated the world-ending threat of the alien Butterflies, but not without cost. Group leader Clemson Murn (and Ik Nobe Llok, the Butterfly revolutionary inside him) was dead and ARGUS (Advanced Research Group Uniting Superhumans) agents Emilia Harcourt and John Economos, plus Peacemaker sidekick Vigilante, were all badly injured. All three were well on the road to recovery by the time the final credits rolled – indeed, Economos had even gone back to work at the Belle Reve Penitentiary, former residence of Peacemaker and the rest of the Suicide Squad.

Auggie is back in season 2, but not as we know it (Image credit: Katie Yu/Max)

Having previously taken an extremely violent – some might say murderous – approach to maintaining peace and order, Smith finally found himself on the road to redemption, too. Expect that path to continue in season 2 of one of the best Max shows, albeit one with plenty of roadblocks in the way.

One such hurdle is likely to be his late father, Auggie (aka White Dragon). Indeed, if season 1's final shot is anything to go by – a vision of Smith Sr. appeared to Peacemaker outside their trailer – he’s set to exert some influence from beyond the grave. If this turns out to be the case, Robert Patrick is clearly excited by the prospect, with the Terminator 2 star telling old the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast: "To be honest with you, I think this could be the funniest f***ing stuff ever. In my own mind I’m trying to think of the scenarios James [Gunn] is going to come up with, and there’s a lot he could do. It’s unlimited, because I’m a f***ing ghost, dude!”

Rick Flag Sr. is also unlikely to see eye-to-eye with Peacemaker, seeing as the latter killed his son in The Suicide Squad to stop him from whistleblowing on Amanda Waller’s nefarious dealings. Speaking of Waller, the morally dubious government mastermind behind Task Force X, she’s unlikely to be too far from the action – though you can rest assured she’ll leave it to others to get their hands dirty. You know, unless things go south at some point.

It remains to be seen which side newcomer Sasha Bordeaux will be on, too – the cyborg operative has worked for ARGUS in the comics, but started her DC career as bodyguard to a certain Bruce Wayne. Could Peacemaker season 2 set up some key story details for The Brave and the Bold, aka the DCU's first Batman flick? If anyone's going to drop some telling references about the direction of the DCU, it'll be Gunn. Speaking of where DCU Chapter One, also titled Gods and Monsters, will go after Peacemaker's next chapter...

How does Peacemaker season 2 fit into the wider DCU?

Peacemaker season 2 will dance its way onto a streaming platform near you next year (Image credit: Max)

Knowing how to watch DC movies in order, not to mention adding in its TV shows from various cinematic universes, is always a challenge – and things are about to get even trickier. 

Peacemaker made his live-action debut in The Suicide Squad, a quasi-sequel to Suicide Squad (2016), which was part of the deceased DCEU's continuity. Peacemaker season 1 followed on directly from The Suicide Squad. Since season 1 aired in early 2022, however, there have been big changes at DC. Gunn and Safran were appointed joint CEOs of a new-look DC Studios later that year and got to work trying to rebuild the comic titan's reputation (from a cinematic standpoint, anyhow) after years of box office bombs and projects people were less than enthused about. 

Where Peacemaker is concerned, the long and short of it is it'll straddle the DCEU and DCU which, as we keep saying, may make things confusing to follow. What aspects from season 1 and the wider DCEU have Gunn and Safran retained for Peacemaker? Will you need to watch season 1 to understand season 2? And why didn't they just reboot Peacemaker – albeit keeping Cena in the title role – to give themselves (and us!) a clean slate to work from as the DCU gets underway?

On this day, #Peacemaker aka Christopher Smith made his first comic appearance in Fightin’ 5 #40, in 1966, created by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette. It’s the role @JohnCena was born to play, and I can’t wait to show you all what we’re cooking up now for @Peacemaker Season 2! pic.twitter.com/LRkiIlHpERSeptember 2, 2024

We won't have answers to those queries until the show returns. But, responding to a Threads user asking if season 2 is going to be totally different than season 1, Gunn responded: "You’ll have to wait and see how that works out!". Subsequently asked why he didn’t just make this follow-up season a new show, Gunn replied: "Because it’s my favorite thing to do, it’s the biggest original Max show ever, and I have a way in. It won’t be confusing". We'll see, James, we'll see.

As for Peacemaker season 2's potential impact on future DCU projects, another character making the jump between DC continuities is Amanda Waller. In fact, a Waller-focused show was part of the rebooted DCU slate Gunn first announced in January 2023, with the show set to arrive after Peacemaker season 2. Taking to Threads, Gunn reconfirmed Christal Henry (Watchmen) and Jeremy Carver (Doom Patrol) are Waller's showrunners, too.

Little else is known about the effect Peacemaker's next adventure will have on other DCU Chapter One movies and shows. As we said, based on Sasha Bordeaux's inclusion, it may connect to The Brave and the Bold. Flag Sr.'s appearance might suggest that a second season of Creature Commandos could be born out of whatever happens once this show ends, too, especially if Flag Sr. ends up leading a new version of the team, or a new installment of the Suicide Squad/Task Force X. In short: we'll have to wait and see how Peacemaker season 2 will influence Gods and Monsters' slate of projects.

For more Max-based coverage, read our guides on House of the Dragon season 3, Euphoria season 3, and The Last of Us season 2.

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This week, after months of waiting for a follow-up to the hugely successful Nintendo Switch handheld we finally got brand new Nintendo hardware in form of a clock called Alarmo. We also saw some major AI developments for Gemini, and the RTX 5090 price leaked (spoiler, it ain't cheap).

To catch up on all of this and more, we've collected the week's biggest news stories here so you can find out about everything you missed.

Once you're up to speed why not check out our picks for the seven new movies and TV shows to stream this weekend (October 11).

8. Apple struggled to keep a lid on the M4 MacBook Pro

(Image credit: Wylsacom)

Apple doesn’t really do leaks, so this week was something of a shock for tech fans used to its watertight launches.

Not only did we see a wave of credible video and benchmark leaks for the rumored M4 MacBook Pro, several people in Russia claimed to be selling the unannounced laptop on a classified ads site. Not quite on the level of leaving an iPhone 4 prototype in a bar, but not far off.

While it’s possible that those now-pulled adverts were fakes, the sheer number of convincing leaks suggests that an M4 MacBook Pro is coming soon – potentially with more Thunderbolt ports and a Space Black version.

• Read more: The M4 MacBook Pro leak circus just got even wilder

7. Toyota revealed a future powered by hydrogen cartridges

(Image credit: Toyota)

Hydrogen hit the headlines again this week as a possible fuel source for cars and even homes as Toyota revealed some concept portable cartridges that look like giant AA batteries.

Toyota says the cylinders have been developed using its experience in shrinking the hydrogen tanks in its fuel-cell electric vehicles. The concept is certainly an alluring one – rather than having to refuel at petrol stations or EV charging points, you could just swap out your power source when your hydrogen levels run low. In theory, at least.

Whether the concept makes it to reality remains to be seen, but it’s hopefully at least somewhere down the road – we can’t endure broken EV charging networks for much longer.

• Read more: Toyota’s portable hydrogen cartridges look like giant AA batteries – and could spell the end of lengthy EV charging

6.Nintendo finally launched new hardware

Nintendo announced new hardware this week, but it wasn’t the Nintendo Switch 2. Instead it revealed (of all things) a new sound clock called Alarmo.

It features a 2.8-inch LCD screen that tells you the date, time, and shows a playful Nintendo mascot – including Link, Olimar, and (of course) Mario – who react to what you and Alarmo are doing. Though if you stay in bed for too long Alarmo might send a less friendly face to motivate you – like the evil king Bowser.

What makes this smart alarm clock clever however is its in-built motion sensor which can track your movements. Alarmo can track your sleep habits which you can review in the morning, can be waved at to snooze your alarm, and can detect when you sit up to stop your alarm.

Alarmo’s only available to buy for people who are paid Nintendo Switch Online members right now, but it should be launching to the general public in January 2025.

• Read more: Nintendo Alarmo looks like a delightfully fun smart alarm clock

5. Google's Imagen 3 rolled out worldwide

(Image credit: Google)

This week Google updated its Gemini AI chatbot to use the latest Imagen 3 software for generating images. It’s easy to use too, you just ask Gemini to create an image using the same text prompts that you use to talk to Gemini normally. Imagen 3 sees considerable improvements over the previous version, with much better detail in images, especially where text is concerned.

Imagen 3 is available to everybody who can access Gemini, on a laptop or smartphone, even if you are on the free tier, however, while the image quality of Imagen 3 is superb, and there don’t seem to be limits on how many images you can create a day, there is one slight annoyance – you need to be a Gemini Advanced subscriber if you want to use it to generate images of people.

• Read more: Google Gemini’s new AI image generator just rolled out to everyone for free

4. The Apple Intelligence release date leaked

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple Intelligence finally has a release date... sort of. We were told Apple’s AI tools would arrive on iPhone, iPad, and Mac as part of a software update in October, and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has given us a date.

Gurman suspects iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 will arrive on October 28, ushering in a new era for Apple as it moves into the AI-powered future. It’s definitely an exciting time to own Apple products, but will features like Writing Tools, Clean Up, and notification summaries be enough to make people care about AI?

At WWDC, Craig Federighi called it ‘AI for the rest of us’, but time will tell if the ‘rest of us’ even want AI to begin with. Expect to see Apple Intelligence features roll out over the next year with Genmoji and Image Playground arriving before the end of the year and Siri’s long-anticipated update set to release in early 2025.

• Read more: Here's when the first AI features are set to arrive on your iPhone

3. The Loop Dream helped us sleep well

(Image credit: Future)

Loop released its latest noise reducing ear buds, Loop Dream, which are specifically designed for sleep. Offering the highest noise reduction in the Loop range at 27dB, Loop Dream features redesigned oval tips that put less pressure on your ear canal as well as a new, silicon-coated loop that secures the buds in the cavum of your ear.

These handy little buds proved to be massively useful for our Managing Editor of Lifestyle, who's been using them for the last three weeks - and finally slept well because of it.

• Read more: I tried sleeping with Loop Dream

2. Nvidia apparently losing its mind with next-gen GPU pricing

The RTX 4090 (Image credit: Nvidia/Future)

It was a rocky ride for Nvidia this week from the rumor mill, and the most eye-opening piece of speculation came regarding the purported price tags that Team Green could pin on RTX 5000 graphics cards when they arrive (likely early next year).We were seriously shocked to discover that Nvidia is apparently mulling – and it is just a consideration at this point – a price of between $1,999 and $2,499 for the flagship RTX 5090. And the leaker who shared this – YouTuber Moore’s Law is Dead – reckons that the company is looking more towards the $2.5K mark, than a mere two grand. Yikes.

Furthermore, Nvidia may be thinking about pitching the RTX 5080 from $1,199 up to $1,499, and the RTX 5070 could go for $599 to $699. An RTX 5070 that is potentially equipped with only 12GB of VRAM, we should note, adding to the indignation around this week’s Nvidia-related leaks.

What’s going on with these prices? We’re honestly a bit baffled, but a theory proposed that maybe Nvidia is testing the reaction to this pricing, when the figures were inevitably leaked, could offer up some hope that there’ll be a reversal of course here. Come on, Nvidia – don’t do this to us. The worst thing, in some ways, is that these days it almost feels inevitable that Team Green will push the envelope when it comes to expensive, and that worse still, this gives AMD no incentive to price more competitively with RDNA 4 GPUs, either, when they arrive. Meh…

• Read more: Rumored RTX 5000 GPU price leaks are shocking – Nvidia should just call the RTX 5090 a Titan if it’s going to charge up to $2,500 for it

1. Panasonic revealed the world’s smallest zoom lens for full-frame

(Image credit: Panasonice)

Panasonic's new Lumix S 18-40mm F4.5-6.3 became the world's smallest and lightest zoom lens with autofocus for full-frame cameras – and it's an ideal pairing with the Lumix S9 mirrorless camera, for which a big firmware update was also announced, plus improvements to Panasonic's Lumix Lab app.

Tipping the scales at just 0.34lb / 155g and measuring just 40.9mm in length when retracted, the 18-40mm is positively tiny yet still packs a wider than average 18mm perspective that's ideal for video creators, weather resistance, focus breathing suppression, plus decent close focusing capabilities – just 0.15m / 0.49ft. It's exactly the lens that Panasonic's polarizing Lumix S9 for content creators needed, a camera that we labeled "small, simple, powerful, flawed" in our Lumix S9 in-depth review, but whose compact form felt rather redundant without a complementary L-mount lens. That changed with the new 18-40mm which, along with the firmware update, gives the Lumix S9 gets a second wind and could realize its potential as one of the best YouTube cameras.

• Read more: The Lumix S 18-40mm is officially here, and it's officially tiny

Have a peek at the pictures in our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review and you'll see distinctive, black circles around the camera lenses on the back – a design choice that's apparently coming to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra too, as per the latest leak.

This comes via an image from well-known tipster @UniverseIce, and you can see in the post embedded below there's a distinctive difference from the camera ring design choice on the current Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra model.

The image also matches previously leaked renders of this flagship, so it now seems pretty certain that this is the way Samsung is going to go with next year's Ultra model. More rounded edges and an asymmetrical frame have also been rumored.

Considering that the exact same design tweak has also been tipped for the Galaxy S25 Plus, there's a good chance that we're actually going to see this rear camera design on all three Samsung Galaxy S25 phones – which are expected to arrive in January.

Ringing the changes

The final answer of S25 Ultra camera: It is similar to the camera ring design of Fold6, but not exactly the same. pic.twitter.com/WFYZZUGfj3October 11, 2024

You could argue that the new-look camera rings are less discreet and subtle in terms of their aesthetics than what we've got on the current Ultra model – but they have a certain sort of style of their own, and look likely to keep the actual cameras well protected.

According to this tipster, the camera rings will be "similar to the camera ring design of Fold 6, but not exactly the same". We'll have to wait until these handsets are actually announced to see if we can spot the differences.

There have actually been quite a few unofficial renderings of the Galaxy S25 Ultra leaked online in the last few months, so we've got a very good idea of what the phone is going to look like – assuming the leaks are accurate, of course.

We've also heard that the phone could have a slightly bigger screen (6.86 inches instead of 6.8 inches, thanks to thinner bezels), and aside from the design there's also been talk of 16GB of RAM on board (up from 12GB) and a significant performance boost.

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