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• Pixels can now limit their battery charging to 80%
• This helps keep batteries healthier for longer
• The feature also adds support for 'bypass charging'

One of the updates now being pushed out to Pixels users in the December Pixel Drop is a new option to limit battery charges to 80% – and Google just clarified exactly how the feature works.

In a statement to Android Authority, Google confirmed that the update means bypass charging is enabled once the battery reaches 80% – that's assuming the Limit to 80% option is turned on in the Battery > Charging optimization section of Android Settings.

Bypass charging is, as the name suggests, where the battery is bypassed. If the phone is still plugged in, the power will be sent directly to the components in the phone, leaving the battery alone – rather than continuing to trickle charge the battery.

It should mean a cooler, healthier battery once it reaches that 80% limit, because power is no longer being sent into it. It also means you can carry on using it while it's plugged in, without worrying about too much heat building up.

Know your limits

A new Limit to 80% option has been added (Image credit: Future)

The idea of only charging a phone up to 80% is that it keeps the battery in a healthier condition for longer: filling up a battery all the way to 100% isn't dangerous, but it does gradually wear down the component a little faster.

It's actually a feature that's been around on Samsung phones, iPhones, and various other models for a while now, because of the battery health benefits – so it's good to see it arriving on the Google Pixel series at last.

Which models are able to support the Limit to 80% option isn't clear at the moment. It's not specifically mentioned in Google's blog post announcement, and the team at Android Authority wasn't able to get clarification from Google either.

The easiest way to check if you can use this on your Pixel is just to see if the option is there: Head to Battery then Charging optimization from Settings. If it's available, Limit to 80% shows up underneath the existing Adaptive Charging setting.

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The original Bank of Dave movie was a real surprise for me when I first watched it on Netflix. It was the kind of movie I put on wanting something a little more lighthearted, and was impressed by just how good it was, so I am so excited to see it returning to one of the best streaming services.

When we last saw Rory Kinnear's (The Imitation Game; Skyfall) portrayal of David Fishwick in the original 2023 movie, we saw him battling London's elite financial institutions where he competed for the first banking licence in more than 150 years, based on the gripping true story about the real-life Burnley-based businessman.

You can take a look at the first trailer below before it arrives on Netflix on January 10.

What do we know about Bank of Dave 2?

Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger follows the businessman taking on a new dangerous adversary, the payday loan companies that have caused so much misery among his local community and beyond. The new movie will explore how he tackles these companies head-on. The more Dave's reputation grows, the more we start to see him appearing on daytime TV in the UK and beyond to spread awareness of the situation.

In an effort to take down these predatory corporations, Dave recruits an American investigative reporter and a local Citizen’s Advice counsellor to help him with his efforts. Set between the UK and the US, this story is even bigger than the first and I'm excited to see it when it arrives on the streamer.

In the meantime, why not check out these new Netflix movies that are streaming right now as well as our round-up of best Netflix shows for plenty more entertainment.

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• Expected to launch before the iPhone 17
• New Wi-Fi chip that'll also be in the next Apple TV
• Probably won't be called Mini 2: Siri Boogaloo

What's got two thumbs and has a minor bit of news about the HomePod mini? The answer is me. A new report says that Apple is working on a refreshed version of its smallest smart home speaker, and that it should arrive before the iPhone 17.

The HomePod mini was launched in November 2020 and other than a few new color options, hasn't been refreshed since.

That's not necessarily a bad thing: in our HomePod mini review we gave it four stars for its impressive sound and of course, it still sounds the same today. But in the exciting world of Bluetooth and wireless speakers four years is a very long time, and the HomePod could do with at least a refresh to keep it current.

What's happening with the HomePod mini?

The new report, from Bloomberg, says that Apple is working on its own Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip with support for at least Wi-Fi 6E. That chip is destined for multiple devices – iPhones, iPads and Macs – and it'll be coming first to a refreshed HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K. Given that the annual iPhone launch is always in September, that suggests a launch some time before that.

Details of other improvements to the mini are entirely absent. But the report states that Apple is making the improvements as part of its wider smart home refresh: it's been lagging behind rivals for a while now and 2025 is the beginning of the fight back.

Previous reports have revealed other smart home plans for 2025 and beyond: the long-rumored and occasionally leaked HomePod with touchscreen display, which could well be marketed more as a smart home hub (or soundbar) than a smart speaker; a similar HomePod with an old-iMac-style display on an arm, possibly a robotic one; and a smart home security camera, currently tipped for a 2026 launch with sales expectations in the tens of millions.

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• Security researchers claim Prometheus carries numerous dangerous vulnerabilities
• Other researchers have been shouting from the rooftops for years now
• The bugs could be used to steal credentials, run arbitrary code, or mount DoS attacks

Prometheus, an open source monitoring and alerting toolkit, is reportedly flawed in a way that allows cybercriminals to steal sensitive information, run denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, and even execute arbitrary code, remotely.

Designed for recording and querying metrics from systems, containers, and applications in real time, Prometheus features a powerful query language (PromQL), time-series data storage, and integrations with visualization tools like Grafana. Furthermore, it supports flexible alerting through its Alertmanager, enabling notifications based on complex conditions across diverse endpoints.

However, cybersecurity researchers from Aqua noted Prometheus servers or exporters are often lacking proper authentication, which allow threat actors to gather sensitive information “such as credentials and API keys.” Some components, such as the /debug/pprof one, can directly impact the host machine/pod and serve as a vector for DoS attacks.

RepoJacking

“In our view, this vulnerability demands attention and mitigation,” the researchers added.

Finally, hackers could introduce malicious exporters through abandoned or renamed GitHub repositories, a vulnerability called “RepoJacking” which, ultimately, allows them to run arbitrary code, remotely.

Aqua said that a Shodan search query came back with more than 296,000 internet-facing exporters, and 40,000 Prometheus servers, totaling roughly 336,000 vulnerable endpoints.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time Prometheus made headlines for all the wrong reasons. The Hacker News reminds that both JFrog and Sysdig warned about sensitive data leakage through the toolkit, back in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

“Unauthenticated Prometheus servers enable direct querying of internal data, potentially exposing secrets that attackers can exploit to gain an initial foothold in various organizations,” Aqua concluded.

While there don’t seem to be any patches for these flaws, the researchers did suggest a number of mitigations, including adding proper authentication mechanisms, limiting external exposure, and monitoring and securing debugging endpoints. Finally, users should limit resource exhaustion, and inspect open-source links to avoid RepoJacking.

Via The Hacker News

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• Adobe has launched an experimental new 'Reflections Removal' tool
• It's available in beta for raw files in Photoshop and Adobe Bridge
• The impressive tool is also "coming soon" to Lightroom

The next big AI photography trick is removing pesky window reflections from our photos – and Adobe has seemingly cracked it with a new feature that's available in beta now for Adobe Bridge, Photoshop and soon Lightroom.

The sensibly-named 'Reflection Removal' tool can instantly remove reflections from photos you've shot through the windows of homes, vehicles, shops or airplanes. And best of all, it doesn't do it in an overly artificial way using generative AI.

Instead, Adobe says the 'Reflection Removal' model has been trained using millions of simulated photographs that task it with separating an underlying photo from a reflection. By rewarding the correct answers, the tool learns how to separate the 'real' photo from the reflection and allow you to fix it accordingly.

Right now, the tool only works on raw photos – so that's the uncompressed files taken on your camera (like DNGs or CR2s) or the likes of ProRaw from iPhones. And it's currently only a "technology preview" for Adobe Bridge and Photoshop, with Lightroom support "coming soon".

But it's clearly something that could ultimately become a built-in feature on the best camera phones. And it's the latest AI tool that automates something that professionals have long battled with, in this case either by using pricey polarizing filters or advanced editing techniques.

How to try it

(Image credit: Adobe)

To take 'Reflection Removal' for a spin, open Photoshop's Camera Raw plug-in (which pops up when you open a raw file in the app), then go to the Settings cog > Technology Previews, and check the 'New AI Settings and Features' box.

Once you restart Photoshop or Adobe Bridge, head to the Remove panel (which is the eraser symbol on the right) and in the Distraction Removal section check the 'Reflections' box.

After a few seconds, you'll see an estimation of what the final image will look like with the reflections removed, but you can also tweak the strength of the effect.

By default, the slider will be set to 100, but like most Adobe sliders, you'll likely be best going for something more subtle by moving the slider to the left.

Analysis: Not perfect yet, but it's an impressive start Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: Adobe)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Adobe)

Adobe admits that the best fix for this photography problem is to avoid reflections in the first place, rather than using its experimental tool. For example, when taking photos through a window, you want to press the lens as close to the glass as possible (photographers also use a 'lens skirt' to help with this).

The 'Reflection Removal' tool does also have a few weaknesses. It doesn't currently work very well with cityscapes at night, and it might end up removing some reflections that you actually want in the photo. That's why Adobe's included the slider to adjust the strength of the effect.

But considering how complex removing reflections from photos is, the tool is a solid first step and something I'd consider using in the editing process. Some aspects of the photo may end looking artificial, but Adobe isn't relying on generative AI to 'guess' at what should be in the photo – and it could ultimately rescue shots that would otherwise head straight to the trash can.

The technique will also clearly become much more user-friendly and approachable. Adobe says it's "planning to support JPEGs, HEICs, and other non-raw files" and I can see the tool, albeit in less powerful form, arriving natively on Pixel phones, Android and iOS, with Google and Apple presumably looking on with interest.

Interestingly, Adobe also says it wants to "extend our tool to the removal of dust, scratches, rain, snow, or other things that land on windows", like bugs on windshields. It isn't clear how that differs from existing object removal tools, but the problem may ultimately become – how sanitized and perfect do we want our photos to become? For those who have long struggled with photo-ruining reflections, that'll be a nice dilemma to have.

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• Surveillance tools are being used by Chinese law enforcement
• Messages, call logs, and audio recordings were taken
• Spyware and surveillance software is being increasingly widely used

A new surveillance tool is being used by Chinese law enforcement to collect ‘extensive’ information from mobile devices since 2017.

A new report by Lookout notes EagleMsgSpy is a lawful interception tool developed by a Chinese software firm. Targeting Android devices, the spyware requires physical installation, most likely through law enforcement officers who gain access and unlock the device. From there, a headless surveillance module remains on the device and collects and exfiltrates large volumes of sensitive data.

By analyzing the installer app, cybersecurity researchers believe that the surveillance tool is used by multiple customers of the software supplier. This is because the user is required to input a ‘channel’ which corresponds to an account.

Extensive surveillance

Researchers found indications that the spyware is actively maintained by developers who are continuously protecting the software from discovery and analysis, with an evolution in the ‘sophistication of the use of obfuscation and storage of encrypted keys over time’.

As part of the surveillance, the software collects hordes of information on the victim, including all messages from sites such as Telegram and WhatsApp, call logs, SMS messages, GPS coordinates, audio recordings, and screenshots of the device in use.

This isn’t the first time in recent months that Chinese state actors have been found to be using spyware. Earlier this year, US telecommunications companies Verizon and AT&T were breached.

The breach used the existing infrastructure for ‘lawful interception’ by American law enforcement, which of course was then opportunistically exploited by threat actors. National security concerns in the US (and presumably in China) means that spyware and backdoors for law enforcement are developed at an alarming rate.

Critics of these software point out that the existence of spyware and surveillance tools, even if they are only used by officially sanctioned actors, means there is a risk that the tools will be exploited by threat actors.

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• Expectation for Nvidia RTX 5090 is a 60% to 70% gen-on-gen uplift
• RTX 5070 might be way behind that on 20% to 30% faster than 4070
• With RTX 5080 landing in-between at 30% to 40% quicker than 4080

Nvidia’s RTX 5000 GPUs are just around the corner – Team Green has now officially teased new GeForce graphics cards for CES 2025 – and we’ve just heard some more buzz on the potential performance levels these Blackwell products might achieve.

This is a rumor that you need to load up on the seasoning with, because as the source – regular leaker on X, OneRaichu – points out, these are just their expectations.

In the post which was flagged up by Digital Trends, OneRaichu believes that the flagship (RTX 5090) will be 60% to 70% faster for the GPU’s generational uplift.

The prediction is that ‘high-level’ Blackwell GPUs – which we’d take to mean the RTX 5080 – will be 30% to 40% faster, and for mid-range, that tapers down to 20% to 30% quicker than Nvidia’s predecessor graphics cards. In that latter case, we presume this refers to the RTX 5070 – and maybe to a lesser extent the RTX 5060, although this GPU is likely to be a lot further out, going by the lack of rumored specs (and any performance forecasts) around it.

(Image credit: Future) Analysis: Great news for PC enthusiasts, in theory – not so much for the mainstream

As noted, these are just expectations, but of course those expectations are built on a bedrock of leaks which OneRaichu has been hearing for some time.

What’s interesting is that regarding the RTX 5090, in past rumors, we’ve been hearing about the next-gen flagship being anything from 50% to 70% faster than the RTX 4090. So, this leaker’s assertion is that it’ll be towards the top-end of those previous estimates, a hint – taken with plenty of skepticism – that this is going to be a mighty graphics card from Nvidia. Likely with an equally mighty price tag (as in you ‘might’ not be able to afford it unless you take out a second mortgage).

On the other hand, the RTX 5070 may be a much more modest gen-on-gen uplift, which is disappointing to me – and all mainstream gamers with more typical gaming PC budgets – and this also fits with some of the rumors that we’ve heard about that graphics card. (Notably the purported 12GB of VRAM which, even if it is much nippier GDDR7, could be a real sticking point for many).

At least we don’t have long to wait to find out how accurate this forecast – and the other speculation from the grapevine – will be, as Nvidia is almost certainly going to reveal RTX 5000 graphics cards at CES 2025, given that fresh teaser. (And the fact that the new Witcher 4 trailer also used an unannounced RTX GPU, likely the 5090).

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• A group that lobbied on behalf of Exxon Mobil has been implicated in a hack-and-leak campaign
• The campaign targeted environmental groups critical of the oil and gas industry
• Accounts were broken into and emails leaked to stop investigations and lawsuits against Exxon progressing

A report by Reuters has claimed a group lobbying on behalf of energy giant Exxon Mobil is allegedly being investigated for its targeted hack-and-leak operations against critics of the oil industry.

The report stated critics were targeted in a prolonged campaign between 2015 and 2018 which saw over 500 email accounts hit by attacks that were in an apparent effort to stifle investigations and lawsuits being filed against Exxon Mobil.

Now, two Democratic senators and numerous environmental groups are calling for an investigation into the hacking and for greater accountability to be levied against Exxon Mobil for its potential involvement.

Greater oversight

In response to the report, Exxon Mobil denied having any involvement in the attacks, further stating, “if there was any hacking involved, we condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”

The report stated the DCI Group, who was working on behalf of Exxon Mobil at the time, was investigated by the FBI for hacking into oil industry critics and leaking their emails to the press. DCI responded to the report in a statement saying the company “has not been involved in nor commissioned others to hack or to obtain information unlawfully.”

Groups named as victims in the report include the Center for International Environmental Law and The Union of Concerned Scientists, alongside several other environmental organizations such as Oil Change International, SKD Knickerbocker, and Earthworks.

Senate Budget Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse voiced his concern at the implications in the Reuters report stating that the Department of Justice, who have not yet commented on the allegations, should “take a good, long look at Exxon and its fellow fossil fuel flunkies.”

Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden echoed these concerns, emphasizing that cyberespionage “threatens the very core of America's democracy and fundamentally undermines our justice system.”

Via Reuters

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• Final Fantasy 16's Clive Rosfield is coming soon to Tekken 8 as a playable character
• Season 1 Pass holders can access the character from December 16, 2024
• The Phoenix Gate stage is also being added to the game

Tekken 8's fourth and final DLC character for its year one season pass is none other than Clive Rosfield - protagonist of Final Fantasy 16.

Clive will be added to the Tekken 8 roster on December 16 for owners of the Playable Character Year 1 Pass, which also includes fighters Eddy Gordo, Lidia Sobieska and Heihachi Mishima. Clive will be released for individual purchase after a 72-hour early access period on December 19.

Clive's fighting style in Tekken 8 looks to be a very faithful rendition of his abilities in Final Fantasy 16. He fights with a sword and can call upon the power of Eikons like Titan, Leviathan and Phoenix to launch opponents, extend combos and perform Heat actions. His powerful Rage Art also sees him transform into the Eikon Ifrit.

A brand new stage is also being bundled with Clive: Phoenix Gate. This is an iconic and important location from Final Fantasy 16, and it's hard to think of a more fitting backdrop for his Tekken 8 appearance.

I'm sure that a lot of folks - myself included - would have preferred Tifa Lockhart to take that guest character spot. Her move set in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth makes her seem tailor made for a fighting game appearance.

That said, I'm still plenty happy with Clive, and it's awesome to see Ben Starr returning to voice the beloved protagonist. And hey, Tekken 8 isn't going anywhere fast - there's still every chance Tifa gets added down the line, perhaps around the time that Part 3 of the Remake series gets announced.

We already knew that the fourth Tekken 8 DLC character was to be revealed during The Game Awards 2024, as game director Katsuhiro Harada confirmed as much during last week's Tekken World Tour finals.

Tekken 8's winter update, which includes improvements to photo mode, player search function and 30th anniversary cosmetics via a new Fight Pass, should follow shortly after Clive's release.

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