Technology

• iOS 26 promises a lot of new and updated features for iPhone fans
• Some of the most interesting changes come to music and CarPlay
• Here are five of the best changes coming to these areas

If you watched Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2025) keynote video earlier this week, you might have noticed all the new features coming to Apple’s music and CarPlay offerings.

Whether you love using your Apple tech with your favorite tunes or while driving, there were some notable updates to pay attention to. Here, we’ve outlined five of the best features coming to these areas in iOS 26.

Mix tunes like a pro

(Image credit: Apple)

Any good DJ knows how to mix one song into another, ensuring the beats line up and one track fades into another so seamlessly that it’s almost unnoticeable. In iOS 26, Apple Music can now do that for you.

That’s thanks to a new feature called AutoMix, and it uses some clever under-the-hood analysis to pick the “perfect moment” for your songs to transition, smoothly blending the music as one track ends and the next begins. AutoMix replaces CrossFade (which did a similar thing, albeit in a much less advanced way), and can be enabled when you open Apple Music in iOS 26.

Apple Music Replay

(Image credit: Apple Music)

Like Spotify Wrapped, Apple Music Replay lets you check out your listening habits and see exactly how many hours you’ve spend listening to that one guilty pleasure. Before iOS 26, though, it could only be accessed as a popup web view, which didn’t provide the best experience.

Now it’s a native part of the Apple Music app, meaning it’s a lot easier to find and view than before. You’ll also find an Apple Music Replay playlist at the bottom of the app’s Home tab, and this updates throughout the year to give you the very latest stats and figures.

Custom ringtones

(Image credit: Future)

Apple has a dedicated ringtone section in iTunes – just tap the More tab in the iTunes Store app on iOS, then select Tones. But if you’d rather create your own custom ringtones, the process has always been a bit more involved, requiring you to create a ringtone of your own, export it from the GarageBand app to your phone, then choose it manually in the Settings app.

In iOS 26, that process has been simplified. If you open a ringtone in an app like Files, you just need to tap the Share button and pick the Use as Ringtone option. That can cut out a few steps, although you still need to create the ringtone in the first place.

Widgets and Live Activities in CarPlay

(Image credit: Apple)

CarPlay is all about putting useful controls at your fingertips, all with the goal of not distracting you from the road. That fine balancing act has had a new update in iOS 26 with the addition of widgets and Live Activities.

Widgets like the weather forecast and your calendar appointments are now available in your car, and they use a compact layout that Apple says offers “quick and glanceable” information. And you’ll find Live Activities in CarPlay too, showing ongoing data like flight status, helping to keep you in the know.

CarPlay zoom settingsImage 1 of 2

The CarPlay interface before Smart Display Zoom is enabled. (Image credit: Apple)Image 2 of 2

The CarPlay interface after Smart Display Zoom is enabled, with compact icons allowing more to fit on the screen. (Image credit: Apple)

It’s always important that CarPlay’s information is appropriately sized for your car dashboard, and that’s been made a little easier in iOS 26 with the addition of Smart Display Zoom. This automatically resizes CarPlay’s interface to fit your vehicle’s display area (where possible).

In an example given by Apple, Smart Display Zoom shrinks the on-screen icons slightly, which allows an extra row of buttons to be shown. With less swiping, you should be able to get to the info you need a little quicker.

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• Apple's much-anticipated Siri upgrade is rumored to arrive in 'spring 2026'
• A new report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg claims Apple Intelligence-powered Siri is slated for an iOS 26.4 release
• A year is a long time in the world of AI. Is that too long to wait?

As WWDC 2025 comes to a close, a new report claims Apple's major Siri upgrade, powered by Apple Intelligence, is expected to launch in 'spring 2026'.

According to Mark Gurman, writing for Bloomberg, Apple has "set an internal release target of spring 2026 for its delayed upgrade of Siri, marking a key step in its artificial intelligence turnaround effort."

Earlier this week, the company showcased the future of iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro software, changing the naming scheme to match the year the OS corresponds to. The "26" moniker of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS all include AI features, yet Apple's most anticipated one is still missing.

Gurman claims the Siri upgrade, which will allow the voice assistant to have on-screen awareness and personal context, is now slated for iOS 26.4, which, based on previous software releases, should arrive around March or April next year.

Gurman's sources told him an exact date hasn't been set internally, "beyond a spring time frame." It's also worth noting this time frame could shift, especially considering AI-powered Siri was supposed to launch as part of iOS 18 and was initially unveiled at WWDC 2024.

Is the Siri turmoil over?

The last year has been rocky for Apple, to say the least. The Cupertino-based company showcased Apple Intelligence back in June 2024, highlighting how "AI for the rest of us" was going to change the way iPhone users interact with their smartphones.

Unfortunately, the Apple Intelligence features that have launched, such as Genmoji, Writing Tools, and Visual Intelligence, have all received a somewhat lukewarm response as users wait in anticipation for the truly groundbreaking AI Siri that was promised.

My colleague Lance Ulanoff spoke with Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi and Apple Global VP of Marketing Greg Joswiak following WWDC 2025's keynote earlier this week.

During the interview (which you can read about and watch here), Federighi said, "We set about for months, making Siri work better and better across more app intents, better and better for doing search," Federighi added. "But fundamentally, we found that the limitations of the V1 architecture weren't getting us to the quality level that we knew our customers needed and expected." This led to Apple postponing the release of Siri's major upgrade in March of this year.

Now, we've got a clearer idea of when to expect Siri's Apple Intelligence overhaul, although that's almost another year away, and a year in the world of AI is an incredibly long time.

By 'spring 2026', will Apple's competitors like Google and OpenAI have opened the gap even wider? And if so, will Apple have put all this effort into an AI solution that just becomes bloatware on an iPhone as users opt to use Gemini Live or ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode instead?

'Spring 2026' is just an estimate, but that has to be the latest possible arrival for a much-needed Siri upgrade; any further delays, and I think Apple's loyal user base might get even more frustrated with Tim Cook and co.

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• AMD says new Instinct MI350 Series GPUs are 35x better at inferencing than their predecessors
• AMD claims it has exceeded its energy efficiency goals, lays out bolder goals
• MI400 GPUs will power future Helios AI Racks

AMD has unveiled its Instinct MI350 Series GPUs, promising a staggering 4x improvement to AI performance compared with the previous generation chips – enough to have Nvidia worried about the market dominance of its Blackwell chips.

Company CEO Lisa Su also revealed details of the Helios AI Rack, which is to be built on next-generation Instinct MI400 Series GPUs as well as AMD EPYV Venice CPUs and AMD Pensando Vulcano NICs.

The news came at AMD's Advancing AI 2025 conference, together with a series of other hardware, software and AI announcements.

AMD's latest chips put up a fight against Nvidia's Blackwell

Besides the 4x improvement to AI performance, AMD also boasts an eyewatering 35x generational improvement in inferencing as well as price-performance gains, unlocking 40% more tokens-per-dollar compared to its key like-for-like rival, the Nvidia B200.

Despite Nvidia's market dominance, AMD proudly claims that seven in 10 of the largest model builders and Al companies use its Instinct accelerators, including Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft and xAI.

MI300X has been deployed for Llama 3 and 4 inferencing with Meta and proprietary and open-source models with Azure, among others.

Besides performance, AMD is also honing in on its environmental goals, claiming that its MI350 Series GPUs exceeded the five-year organizational goal to improve the energy efficiency of AI training and high-performance computing nodes by 30x – by reaching a figure of 38x.

By 2030, the company also wants to increase rack-scale energy efficiency by 20x compared with 2024, and it already predicts a 95% reduction in electricity for typical AI model training.

Looking ahead, Instinct MI400 Series GPUs are expected to deliver up to 10x more performance running inference on Mixture of Experts models.

Despite the bold claims, AMD's market cap remains considerably lower than Nvidia's, reaching $192.14 billion at press time.

“AMD is driving AI innovation at an unprecedented pace, highlighted by the launch of our AMD Instinct MI350 series accelerators, advances in our next generation AMD ‘Helios’ rack-scale solutions, and growing momentum for our ROCm open software stack,” said Su.

“We are entering the next phase of AI, driven by open standards, shared innovation and AMD’s expanding leadership across a broad ecosystem of hardware and software partners who are collaborating to define the future of AI.”

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It can run all day (and night) on a single charge but something about the price and features doesn't line up.

• iPadOS 26 brings the Journal app to iPad
• Journal, previously an iPhone exclusive, offers users a dedicated place for memories and notes
• The iPad version adds Apple Pencil support, as well as a map for adding places to entries

Apple is bringing the Journal app to iPad with iPadOS 26 after two years of iPhone exclusivity.

The Journal app, which already comes preinstalled on all of the best iPhones, will become one of the iPad’s default apps with the upcoming release of iPadOS 26.

Journal for iPad follows much the same format as its iPhone counterpart – it’s a place to store memories, jot down notes, add photos, and, on iPad specifically, write and sketch with Apple Pencil.

Journal has been available on iPhone since 2023. (Image credit: Future / Apple)

Apple’s official press release outlining the new features in iPadOS 26 notes that the app allows users to create multiple journals “for different aspects of life."

The app also contains a map section, presumably to find and pin locations to Journal entries.

As the press release notes, the Journal app allows users to incorporate “photos, videos, audio recordings, places, their state of mind, and more” into each entry.

Apple hasn’t confirmed this, but given the company’s history, we’d expect Journal entries to sync between iPhone and iPad over iCloud – though we’re not sure how the Apple Pencil functions will translate between the two platforms.

A perfect fit

The Journal app for iPad supports Apple Pencil natively, as you might expect (Image credit: Apple)

If you ask me, a version of the Journal app for iPad is overdue. It's a reflective app that brings together various aspects of one’s day and life, and the large, portable canvas the iPad provides is a natural pairing.

Take a quick scroll through the techier sides of YouTube and you’ll find dozens of videos demonstrating iPad setups that focus on note-taking, minimalism, and mindfulness.

The Journal app gives users an officially supported bit of software at no extra cost to get started with or integrate into their iPad use.

Personally, I can see myself returning to my iPad Pro 2020 for the Journal app – I recently wrote that my 11-inch model has found itself mostly relegated to the role of YouTube machine, but it’d be a perfectly-sized device to carry on my travels as a journal.

And with the Journal app seemingly a specialized notepad and file browser, I’d suggest that it won’t take up too much processing power, which means it could be a great addition to even older or less powerful iPad models.

We don’t have a full list of devices supported by iPadOS 26 yet, but we’d expect the Journal app to come to all of the best iPads. Let us know if you’d use the new Journal app in the comments below.

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I'm always wary about the term 'action comedy' because for every Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or Hot Fuzz there's a Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. It's a tough genre to do well, but it looks like Tom Kingsley has cracked it: the new Prime Video movie he's directed, Deep Cover, is getting rave reviews.

Deep Cover stars Bryce Dallas Howard as Kat, who teaches improv comedy and is beginning to believe she's missed her big chance of becoming a comedy star. But then she bumps into an undercover cop played by Sean Bean, and he wants her to play the role of a lifetime alongside two of her students, Orlando Bloom and Nick Mohammed. But this isn't a role on the stage or on the screen. Kat and her students are going to infiltrate London's gangland by pretending to be dangerous criminals.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the resulting movie is "relentlessly silly" – and that's meant as a compliment.

What are the critics saying about Deep Cover?

Deep Cover is currently sitting at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 critics' reviews (it had debuted at SXSW London Screen Festival earlier this month), making it one of the best Prime Video movies. And the consensus is that it's not exactly high art, but it's highly entertaining.

Empire Magazine gave the film four out of five stars, comparing Sean Bean's cop to Jackson Lamb from Slow Horses; saying it's "well constructed, committing to the bit in the gag department while delivering clear set-ups and pay-offs for its central characters – a comedy that, beyond the class-A drugs and body bags, is about how improv gives three lonely losers a new lease on life".

"It's one of the most surprisingly funny films of the year," says Ebert.com, giving the film three out of four stars. The cast "is fantastic from top to bottom, leaning into their on-screen personas in a way that holds all of this admittedly goofy movie together. Turns out you can accept a lot of silly plotting, as long as you’re laughing."

"Amazon's high-concept action comedy Deep Cover might be light on narrative escalation, but it has plenty of laughs and a terrific trio of lead actors," says Screen Rant. And Ready Steady Cut said that "It’s near-perfect popcorn entertainment, an action-comedy with okay action and really funny comedy that puts its all-star cast to work playing exaggerated pastiches of their usual screen personas."

What are the viewers saying about Deep Cover?

There aren't enough audience reviews to fire up the Popcommeter to generate a score, but the viewer comments are tending towards four and five stars.

Nick M loved the gags but felt the crime could be better – "If the crime aspect was as good as the comedy it would be one of the best of the last few years," he said, while Micki K gave it the ultimate compliment: "I actually put my phone down to watch it."

Many of the viewers echoed the critics by singling out Orlando Bloom for particular praise – "all of the characters are perfectly cast," says Scott F, and "Orlando Bloom is particularly funny" – as well as noting that how much you enjoy the film depends in part on what you're expecting from it.

"This is a fun ride!" says Samantha U. "Take it for what it is – entertaining. It's not an artistic work of film but man alive, I really appreciate this move. The acting was great. The writing was smart. The characters were lovable. It wasn't 4 hours long like every other movie right now." For Samantha it took her back "to a simpler time when movies were just fun."

Deep Cover is streaming now on Prime Video.

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Mobile banking Trojans have entered a new era. No longer limited to stealing login credentials, today’s threats are powered by AI, capable of dynamic behavior and advanced evasion techniques. These Trojans target both Android and iOS platforms, operating directly inside legitimate mobile apps to bypass security, intercept biometrics, and manipulate app flows in real time.

This presents a critical and growing risk: AI-powered Trojans can now execute fraud and account takeovers (ATO) without alerting the user, backend systems, or fraud engines—placing thousands of mobile banks and millions of users at risk.

Understanding the threat landscape

AI-powered mobile Trojans employ a range of tactics to execute attacks:

• Accessibility abuse: Trojans like Xenomorph and BrasDex exploit Android’s accessibility services to read screens, simulate taps, and automate transactions.
• Overlay attacks: Malware like SharkBot uses UI overlays to impersonate banking apps and capture credentials.
• Remote Access Trojans (RATs): BRATA enables full remote device control, allowing attackers to act as the user.
• Polymorphic behavior: AI-enabled Trojans evolve their code to evade static or signature-based defenses.
• Biometric spoofing: Some variants intercept Face ID or fingerprint scans, forging success responses.

Trojan attacks on mobile platforms are accelerating rapidly, and AI is helping attackers bypass traditional defenses.

Why traditional defenses fall short

Most conventional mobile security and anti-fraud tools were not designed to deal with this level of sophistication. Signature-based approach is easily evaded by AI-morphing malware. Cloud-based threat detections are too slow for real-time, on-device attacks that complete before server-side systems respond.

Perimeter defenses like WAFs or SDKs provide no visibility or control over what happens inside the mobile app during runtime. Manual detection and incident response can’t keep up with polymorphic attacks that mutate and spread faster than human teams can analyze.

These gaps have made it easier for AI-powered Trojans to silently take over devices, inject fake transactions, and manipulate mobile app flows — often without triggering any alerts.

The case for AI-native mobile defense

Stopping AI-powered Trojans requires a new approach: AI-native mobile security. These AI-native platforms operate inside the app, on the device, using machine learning and behavioral intelligence to detect and stop threats in real time.

Key capabilities include:

• In App, on-device threat detection and response: No cloud dependency—apps protect themselves, even offline.
• Behavioral and contextual analysis: Detects abnormal behavior in the mobile app, mobile OS, device and/or user.
• Preemptive protection in app: Trojans are blocked at detection—before executing credential theft, overlays, spoofing, or fraudulent actions.

Leading AI-native protections offer security systems that neutralize accessibility abuse, overlay injection, remote control malware, and more — with no SDK, server dependency, or manual tuning.

Implementing AI-native defense: a three-part strategy

To combat mobile Trojans effectively, mobile businesses and mobile developers must adopt a full AI-native defense strategy:

1. Build AI-native security into the mobile app In-app protection must be built directly into the mobile app to ensure real-time, autonomous security. This eliminates reliance on external tools or backend processes and enables end-to-end observability and control.
2. Monitor and respond with AI-native systems Security doesn't end at release. AI-native systems should monitor production environments for anomalies, analyze attack volume and velocity, detect threats like Trojan activity, and trigger rapid response in real time.
3. Use AI to support user recovery When attacks occur, AI-native tools help support teams identify and remove threats on-device. These systems can isolate compromised sessions, clean infected devices, and guide recovery—restoring trust faster and minimizing user disruption.

Conclusion

AI-powered mobile banking Trojans are not fringe threats—they are the new norm. Their ability to infect devices, impersonate users, and bypass outdated defenses makes them among the most serious risks in mobile banking today.

To stop them, mobile apps must defend themselves in real time. AI-native mobile defense platforms offer the only path forward—purpose-built to stop the threats of today and those still evolving.

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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

• Android earthquake alerts are expanding to Wear OS
• The feature is supported on phones in 98 countries
• It's included in the latest Google Play services update

For several years now, Android phones have been able to warn you about an imminent earthquake, so you've got a few minutes to prepare yourself and those around you – and the feature is finally expanding to Wear OS smartwatches as well.

As per the June 2025 release notes for Google Play services (via Android Authority), you'll now receive "alerts on Wear when an earthquake is expected to cause shaking". Google Play services is a separate update to Android, and should be applied to your phone and wearable automatically in the coming days.

It makes earthquake warnings much more useful for Wear OS owners, especially those who like to leave their phones in pockets and bags (or who have watches with cellular connections, and leave their phones behind completely).

Google hasn't said anything else officially about the new feature, but presumably every smartwatch currently getting Wear OS updates is going to be eligible to get the early earthquake warning functionality as well.

How it works

How earthquake alerts appear on Android phones (Image credit: Google)

We don't know exactly how this will look on the best Android watches, but we know how it works on phones. Google gets its data from seismic sensor reports, as well as anonymous accelerometer measurements from billions of Android phones.

Expected earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.5 or greater trigger an alert: you'll be given the estimated magnitude and the distance to the epicenter, which pop up on screen, and you can tap on the alert for more information.

If significant shaking is expected, the alert will ignore any volume and Do Not Disturb settings on your phone, and play a loud sound. You'll be given advice on screen about how to best protect yourself against the coming quake.

The Android Earthquake Alerts System is currently active in 98 different countries around the world, and you can check the list here. On Pixel phones, the alerts settings can be found under Safety and emergency in Settings.

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• Gemini will suggest your next action in PDFs as well as summarize content
• The experience works in the PDF preview and doesn't require a new tab
• Business and personal accounts with Gemini can use it

Google is expanding the usefulness of Gemini by using the AI assistant to summarize PDF content in Google Drive, but it looks to be far more proactive than simply generating summaries.

With clickable action suggestions, users will be able to perform actions like draft a sample proposal or list interview questions based on a resume, making the tool far more powerful for busy workers.

The improvement follows the previous rollout of Gemini within PDFs for Google Drive, making it far easier to interact with Gemini and take the next step with content in PDFs.

Gemini unlocks even more insights and actions in PDFs

(Image credit: Google Workspace)

"PDF summary cards save you time by giving you the gist of your files and help you get started using Gemini faster by surfacing relevant clickable action options," Google explained in Workspace Updates blog post.

The best part is that Gemini is now available in more than 20 languages, so users won't just be limited to English content.

Users need to have smart features and personalization turned on. When a PDF document is opened, a generative AI summary will appear in a pop-up much like comments in other Google Drive apps. In the same window, a series of action recommendations will be provided to take further steps.

At the same time, Google has announced a slicker and quicker UI – whereas PDFs used to open in a new tab to enable Gemini integration, the AI assistant will now work within the preview window without needing to open a new tab.

Gradual rollout has already started, but it could take some users up to two weeks to get the update.

Thankfully, the feature isn't just limited to business users – personal accounts with the AI add-on are also eligible - specifically, Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Standard and Plus, the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on, and Google AI Pro and Ultra.

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Earlier this year, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisional ruling concluded that the cloud storage market, as it stands, is fundamentally anti-competitive. At the heart of this issue lies the dominance of the three hyperscalers – Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. The three tech giants have maintained a firm hold over the industry for years, leveraging their market power to impose hefty data access fees and locking in customers.

Most recently, AWS escalated the dispute by accusing Microsoft of employing anti-competitive tactics. Google quickly threw its weight behind AWS’s claims, citing instances where customers had opted for Microsoft Azure not out of preference, but because of restrictive licensing conditions.

According to Google, without regulatory intervention, Microsoft could establish a near-monopoly in the UK cloud sector within the next five years. In response, Microsoft defended its practices, asserting that its pricing model is both fair and necessary to safeguard its intellectual property.

While the hyperscalers wage their cloud storage war, UK businesses are locked into an imbalanced system that does not have their best interest at heart – with limited choice and costs that only increase.

Transparency is vital

One of the key anti-competitive practices that the CMA has identified is the unfair use of egress fees, which are charges imposed when businesses move their data out of a cloud provider’s network. While businesses should own their own data and be able to access and move it freely, they are prohibited from doing so without incurring fees.

These fees can add up to be a significant cost for businesses. Wasabi’s research has found in Europe 47% of cloud storage costs stem from data retrieval, with the actual stored capacity making up the remainder. The impact is not just financial - 55% of European organizations saying that egress or other data access fees (API calls and data outflows) associated with moving their data out of a public cloud environment have delayed IT or business initiatives.

This practice does not provide customers with clear, predictable pricing. Often, they later discover hidden fees and end up paying more than expected and budgeted for. This has a negative impact for businesses of all sizes, hindering financial planning. It can be especially disastrous for small businesses with limited financial flexibility to absorb hidden costs.

Unexpected costs and their impact are bad enough but another tactic raising competition concerns is the bundling of essential services—such as storage and compute—with proprietary offerings like voice recognition, analytics, and blockchain tools.

Vendors often require customers to purchase storage alongside these supplementary services, limiting flexibility. This approach reinforces the "walled garden" ecosystems built by hyperscalers, making it increasingly difficult for customers to mix and match best-of-breed solutions from different providers.

Creating an open and level playing field

Transparent and predictable pricing is a cornerstone of good business practice across the UK economy, yet the cloud market continues to fall short of this standard. For organizations making decisions about cloud data and services, understanding the full cost upfront is essential. Without clear pricing structures, businesses are left navigating uncertainty, undermining their ability to plan effectively and make informed decisions about their data.

Cloud pricing should also be predictable, and easy to understand. Businesses need to confidently know what their cloud bill will look like at the end of each billing cycle. To support this, cloud providers should provide customers with cost estimation and monitoring tools, so they can accurately forecast costs over daily, monthly, or annual periods. Capabilities like real-time dashboards, consolidated spend reporting, and automated alerts for unusual usage patterns can support businesses in maintaining control and track of cloud costs.

These tools empower organizations to optimize their data strategies—ensuring data is stored and accessed efficiently, where and when it’s needed, and at a cost that aligns with business goals. Ultimately, this level of transparency fosters smarter decision-making and reduces financial risk.

Building a better cloud for Britain’s future

As scrutiny from regulators intensifies, the spotlight on the hyperscalers is only set to grow. These providers face a pivotal choice: proactively embrace reforms that foster competition and pricing transparency, or risk regulatory measures being imposed that are designed to force change.

Current practices such as egress fees, restrictive licensing, and deliberately opaque pricing structures are incompatible with the needs of modern UK businesses. These tactics entrench vendor lock-in and limit customers’ ability to choose solutions that align with their needs and goals.

The UK has made significant strides in nurturing a world-class tech ecosystem - one built on innovation, agility, and ambition. To continue this, a competitive UK cloud sector is essential as it provides the utility on which technologies such as Generative AI are built on. Creating a fairer market will support businesses in adopting the best tools for their needs, drive growth, create new jobs and support the broader economic scene.

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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

• Netflix has defended the streaming service's first big UI refresh in 12 years
• Fans have vented their fury over the homepage layout's unnecessary changes
• Netflix claims people quietly prefer the updated version

Netflix has defended the platform's first major user interface (UI) redesign in 12 years – and has even claimed the majority of people prefer it to the old landing page's layout.

Per The Hollywood Reporter (THR), Netflix has suggested fans actually prefer the streaming's new look compared to the old one. As THR's article reveals, Netflix says its internal data, plus the year-long beta test it conducted ahead of the new layout going live, vindicates the entertainment behemoth's decision to overhaul its service's UI.

Netflix's assertion comes over a month after it revealed the biggest upgrade to its homepage in over a decade. At the time, the streaming titan confirmed the update's global roll out would begin in earnest, but stated some users would see the redesign sooner than others.

Less than 24 hours after the UI refresh's grand unveiling, which took place on May 7, Netflix fans began reporting that their homepage had been updated – and a number of them weren't happy. Indeed, frustrated fans flocked to social media to say Netflix's "new design sucks" because it made it more difficult to find the type of content they like to stream.

Comment from r/netflix

In the weeks since the best streaming service's layout was overhauled, more customers have been switched over to the redesigned homepage. And, surprise surprise, more people have posted online to express their fury at what they deem to be unnecessary changes. From Netflix's own sub-Reddit to other social media platforms like X/Twitter, consumers have hit out at Netflix's layout renovation.

Now, though, Netflix has suggested those dissenters are just a very vocal minority. Indeed, while a company spokesperson admitted that the streaming giant knew it would face some form of backlash over the changes, the updated UI makes for a better experience. "With bigger boxes, we’re showing more information up front to help you make a better decision," they added. "Instead of seeing 20 or 30 titles at a time, now you’re seeing information at a glance."

Opinion: Netflix users are simply shouting into the void – againComment from r/netflix

This isn't the first time that Netflix fans have criticized decisions made by the video-on-demand (VoD) company. Whether it's the now-annual Netflix price rises, angry users threatening to close their accounts over the removal of certain subscription tiers, the regular cancelation of fan-favorite shows like The Recruit, or Netflix's incredibly divisive decision to crack down on account sharing between households, consumers have grown increasingly exasperated with the most popular streamer around.

But therein lies the problem. Despite the ire Netflix draws when it makes unpopular decisions, it's still the biggest and most-used VoD platform on the market. By the end of 2024, Netflix reported it had 301.6 million subscribers. Its closest rivals, believed to be Prime Video and Disney+, can only boast around 200 million users and 150.2 million customers, respectively. Despite fan frustration over updates like its layout refresh, then, Netflix continues to dominate the streaming landscape.

Netflix is no longer publicly disclosing how many users it has, so we won't know if consumers are voting with their money and canceling their Netflix subscription in the wake of any changes made to the service.

With so many new Netflix movies, plus new seasons of some of the best Netflix shows around, set to debut on the platform before the end of 2025, I can't see millions of active users hitting Netflix where it hurts – i.e. its profit margins. The only way to make its executives sit up and take notice is by closing our accounts in protest over updates like this UI overhaul. Until people vote with their wallets, Netflix will continue to do as it pleases, regardless of whether fans like it or not.

Have you closed your Netflix account over its redesign? Do you actually like the overhaul? Or don't you care either way? Let me know in the comments below.

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• An NHS organisation was hit with a cyberattack
• The attack occurred in May 2024 but was never publicly disclosed
• Attack against NHS Professionals looks to have been a failed ransomware attempt

A cyberattack targeting NHS Professionals, a private company owned by the Department of Health and Social Care, resulted in the theft of its Active Directory data - however the breach was never publicly disclosed, despite the attack occurring in May 2024.

A report from the The Register, quoting a Deloitte incident report, notes attackers used a compromised Citrix account to gain initial access.

Once inside, attackers stole a “highly valuable ntds.dit file and engaged in further malicious activity”. The criminals moved laterally inside the organisation’s network using RDP and SMB share access, although it's not clear how they escalated their privileges up the domain admin level.

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A major event

NHS Professionals provides temporary staff to NHS trusts across England, and the site has over 190,000 healthcare professionals registered, as well as over 1,000 employees.

Insider comments say that the attack is suspected to be tied to Scattered Spider, and looked to be an attempted ransomware attack - perhaps similar to the ransomware attacks carried out by the group earlier in 2025 targeting three huge UK retailers.

The Deloitte report also cites a lack of multi-factor authentication (MFA) on domain accounts as one of the primary reasons that attackers were allowed access. Alongside this, the organisation didn’t have endpoint detection and response solutions deployed across all of its environment, meaning the criminals could move within the network undetected.

“Our cybersecurity systems and future mitigation ensured no disruption to our services, and we found that no data or other information was compromised, despite the attempt,” a National Health Service Professionals spokesperson confirmed.

"We worked quickly and closely with key partners NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Information Commissioner's Office, to investigate this incident.”

"NHS Professionals is committed to the highest standards of cyber security and complies with the strict requirements around information governance. We continue to remain vigilant as per our security policies and procedures."

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• The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 could both have a new version of Samsung's ProVisual Engine
• This could allow for higher-quality photos, better digital zoom, and better video stability
• The foldables have also both been certified in South Korea, suggesting they're launching soon

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 could arrive with a major under-the-hood upgrade that delivers improved photos and videos, based on a new leak.

We've previously heard that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 could have a new 200MP camera, but that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 might not be in for any such upgrades, with the same camera hardware as last year tipped.

However, the Z Flip 7 could still be capable of taking better photos than the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, as both upcoming foldables might have an improved version of Samsung's ProVisual Engine AI image-processing tech.

This is according to leaker @PandaFlashPro, who claims that a new version of ProVisual Engine is coming to both the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and the Galaxy Z Fold 7.

This upgrade will apparently allow for better photo quality, better digital zoom quality, and better video stability. So in other words, both photos and videos could look better on these phones than on their predecessors.

"Confirmed"The Galaxy Z Fold 7 | Flip 7 will use Samsung’s New Generation #GalaxyAI Pro-Visual Engine, which will later be Expanded to the Galaxy S25 Series.Main improvements.Better Image OutputBetter Digital Zoom QualityVideo StabilityJune 12, 2025

ProVisual Engine debuted in the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, and it’s a suite of AI tools that works in the background to improve photo and video quality – as well as powering things like Generative Edit, which lets you alter photos you’ve taken.

So it’s not a new thing, but if this leak is right then the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 will get a new and improved version of the tech. However, the source adds that this upgraded version will subsequently land on the Samsung Galaxy S25 series as a software update, so you might not have to buy one of the company’s upcoming foldables to get it.

Certified to launch

In other Samsung foldable news, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Fold 7 have both been certified by SafetyKorea (as spotted by XpertPick).

These certifications don’t tell us much, but it’s mandatory for phones to receive this certification before being sold in South Korea, so this both confirms that the phones are in the works, and suggests they’ll land soon, since this certification would usually happen quite close to launch.

That makes sense, since based on past form we’d expect both handsets to launch in July, with one leak pointing to a July 10 announcement.

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According to the USDA, you can store raw chicken in the fridge for two days, but there's more to this story. Here's what you need to know about the shelf life of poultry.

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• Half of developers thought about quitting due to poor tech stacks this year
• A tech stack is more than productivity – it defines many developers
• Storyblok CTO calls for full modernization roadmap

The majority (58%) of developers are considering quitting due to poor and legacy tech stacks that reduce their efficiency and productivity, new research has claimed.

86% of the 200 developers surveyed by CMS firm Storyblok say they're embarrassed by their current tech stack, with nearly half (47.5%) considering quitting in the past year as a result of their tech stack, and nearly one in three (31%) considering doing so in the past month alone.

Developers' biggest frustration is having to maintain legacy systems and fix bugs on them (27.5%), while many are also fed up of having to deal with non-technical stakeholders (21.5%). In third place, 14% raised a lack of clear requirements and shifting priorities distracting them from a clear end goal.

Developers aren't happy with in-house tech

Besides the tech dissatisfaction, the developers highlighted how the tech stack they're working with affects their personal image.

Three-quarters (74%) of the survey's respondents claimed that their tech stack significantly influences their professional identity, with one in five (19.5%) going as far as saying it defines them. On the flip side, only 2.5% say it doesn't matter, highlighting the importance of adequate tools and solutions.

In terms of their current tech stacks, half (51%) of developers are frustrated with a lack of key functionality and maintenance difficulty (47%), while many noted an incompatibility with newer technologies and innovations like AI (31%).

"The message to businesses is clear - outdated tech stacks are making your developers unhappy to the point of quitting," noted Storyblok CTO Alexander Feiglstorfer.

With only 4% of respondents believing their current CMS fits their needs, and two in three (67.5%) stating that it holds them back, a better developer experience (29.5%), modern tech stack integration (23.5%), performance and scalability (17.5%) and AI integration (12.5%) are among the most desired improvements.

Feiglstorfer added that pay rises are just a temporary fix to pacify developers, and that companies should commit to a "modernization roadmap" to improve developer satisfaction and retention.

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The IT infrastructure that underpins today’s businesses is unrecognizable from even a few months ago. Every organization, planned or unplanned, has migrated to the cloud with AI intertwined given each enhances the other's capabilities.

Cloud and AI are undeniable game changers for businesses; however both introduce complex cyber risks when combined. Cloud security measures must evolve to meet the new challenges of AI and find the delicate balance between protecting against complex attacks on AI data and enabling organizations to achieve responsible AI innovation.

The marriage of Cloud and AI

Cloud computing provides the infrastructure and resources needed to power AI algorithms, while AI makes cloud services more intelligent, efficient, and user centric. Underpinning this is the development team, running at full speed, creating and deploying new applications that reshape operations, enhance scalability, flexibility, and scrape cost savings where it can. But for those working to secure these shifting environments, it’s like trying to catch smoke. What is secure today may move, morph or even disappear entirely.

According to the Cloud AI Risk Report, cloud-based AI is prone to avoidable toxic combinations that leave sensitive AI data and models vulnerable to manipulation, data tampering and data leakage. As an illustration, this could leave AI training data susceptible to data poisoning, threatening to skew model results. Researchers calculated that almost 70% of cloud AI workloads contain at least one unpremeditated vulnerability.

Rather concerning was the discovery that three out of four organizations using one specific cloud provider for AI services were found to have overprivileged default configurations. Dubbed ‘The Jenga-style’ concept, the research found a tendency for cloud providers to build one service on top of the other, with “behind the scenes” building blocks inheriting risky defaults from one layer to the next, with any single misconfigured service putting all the services built on top of it at risk. The result is users left largely unaware of the existence of these behind-the-scenes building blocks as well as any propagated risk.

Threat Actors are circling

When we talk about AI usage in the cloud, more than sensitive data is on the line. If a threat actor manipulates the data or AI model, there can be catastrophic long-term consequences, such as compromised data integrity, compromised security of critical systems and degradation of customer trust. In addition, training and testing data is an attractive target for misuse and exploitation, as they may contain real information such as intellectual property, personal information (PI), personally identifiable information (PII) or customer data related to the nature of the AI project.

Threat actors are not just targeting AI but also harnessing it. Reports confirm that they have a number of powerful AI tools at their disposal, including AI-driven virtual assistants that can streamline and amplify their attacks. So far this year, there have been reports of threat actors harnessing AI to write malware for ransomware attacks. In fact, FunkSec, according to CheckPoint, is one such group that is believed to use AI-assisted malware development. The danger is that this could see inexperienced actors able to spin up and refine tools quickly to launch their own criminal escapades.

AI powered defenses

AI can be used to search for patterns, for the team to inspect what is happening within the organization's infrastructure and explain results in the simplest language possible. This can help the security team know what is important, the attack paths that could be travelled should a threat actor gain access, and where to best prioritize efforts to shut off these paths to reduce cyber risk. Solutions such as data security posture management (DSPM) and AI security posture management (AI-SPM) are becoming integral to many organizations.

Gartner defines DSPM as “... visibility as to where sensitive data is, who has access to that data, how it has been used, and what the security posture of the data stored or application is.” Put simply, DSPM solutions discover, classify and remediate data risks in cloud environments.

AI-security posture management (AI-SPM) is a cloud native application protection platform (CNAPP) domain that gives security teams full visibility and security of AI workloads, services and data used in training and inference without deploying an agent. It identifies and prioritizes AI resources based on sensitivity, access and risk relationships, providing the context needed to isolate the most critical AI exposures.

In summary

Though standalone DSPM and AI-SPM services act as powerful spotlights to illuminate data and AI resources, if they’re not combined with broader cloud security measures, they can't prevent unauthorized access or breaches that exploit vulnerabilities in the cloud infrastructure.

While the combination of AI and cloud offers immeasurable benefits, it introduces risks that could jeopardize sensitive data and data integrity, ultimately diminishing customer trust and business bottom lines. Organizations need DSPM and AI-SPM to pinpoint their valuable data and AI resources and cloud security solutions to build a secure vault around them.

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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

• Monster Hunter Wilds' second major title update is coming soon
• It's scheduled to release at the end of June 2025
• A new event quest is scheduled to arrive next week, too

Monster Hunter Wilds developer Capcom has now confirmed that the game's next major content patch - Free Title Update 2 - is set to arrive at the end of June.

While no specific release date has been given as of yet, the official Monster Hunter X / Twitter account made the announcement alongside a teaser image of one of the update's highly-anticipated returning monsters - Lagiacrus.

Aside from Lagiacrus - who debuted in Monster Hunter 3 and hasn't been seen since Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate - there are a few things we know are coming in Free Title Update 2 thanks to Capcom's Director's Letter.

Posted to the official Monster Hunter website, the letter (written by game director Yuya Tokuda) confirms the second major update will bring a new high-difficulty Arch-tempered monster. Some weapons are also set to receive improvements, such as the Hammer and Dual Blades.

Several quality of life updates are also on the way, including improved navigation in the Grand Hub, "improved Seikret usability", photo mode adjustments and - perhaps best of all - layered weapons.

That last one, similar to layered armor, will let you cast a different appearance onto your equipped weapons. That's going to be awesome for players running a particular build that also might not like the way their weapon looks by default.

Additionally, Capcom has announced a new event quest will be arriving on June 17. Completion of the quest will earn you a Wudwud equipment set for your Palico companion, allowing you to dress them up as one of the adorable Scarlet Forest denizens.

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Will your AI confidently deliver the right answers or stumble through outdated knowledge while your customers grow increasingly frustrated?

Artificial intelligence (AI) may be changing how businesses interact with customers but there's a critical element that often gets overlooked: the knowledge that powers it. The quality of AI responses directly depends on the information it can access – a relationship that becomes increasingly important as more organizations deploy AI for customer service.

AI is really good at accessing unstructured and structured data and collating it into a well-packaged natural language response. Unlike when you do a Google search, and it comes back with multiple responses (where the level of those answers is largely driven by advertising or other sponsorship) AI looks at the body of knowledge that supports the question being asked.

So, when talking about knowledge-driven AI for customer experience, it's the idea that AI isn't accessing the full scope but rather a well-structured knowledge base. This means companies must carefully choose what information AI can leverage, especially when dealing with decades worth of data.

For example, a customer asking how to make a payment might receive outdated instructions about writing a cheque if the knowledge base contains too much legacy content. By providing a well-structured database which is rich enough to give as many answers as possible but also limiting AI to that particular knowledge base, you can really focus on giving AI the right information to deliver the answers you want customers to receive.

The specificity advantage

When building AI knowledge bases, starting small and narrow before expanding works better than beginning with everything and trying to narrow down. Companies often make the mistake of giving AI access to their entire information universe.

This approach typically creates more problems than it solves. Contact centers especially struggle with AI accuracy when the knowledge base contains outdated information or when AI draws from too many different sources at once. This limitation becomes obvious when you consider AI-generated images. When AI attempts to create images of people, it often produces noticeable errors – too many fingers, oddly positioned hands, or unnatural facial features. AI conversations follow the same pattern.

They appear fine at first glance, but closer inspection reveals gaps in understanding, inappropriate tone, and mechanical empathy. The information provided might be technically correct but lacks the nuance and specificity that customers need. Just as with images, these conversation models improve over time, but the fundamental challenge remains – AI needs well-structured information to avoid these pitfalls.

Experiential learning over algorithms

Ultimately, AI delivers its most reliable performance when confined to specific knowledge and topics. Unlike human agents, AI performs best when it follows a script. This creates an interesting contrast with what we've learned in the BPO industry. Our experience shows that human agents excel when given freedom to go off-script and apply their natural problem-solving abilities.

The best human interactions happen when agents bring their full selves to the conversation. AI, however, functions more like a trainee who needs clear boundaries. You want to keep AI narrowly focused on approved scripts and content until it develops more sophistication. Human agents can provide answers beyond their formal training.

They navigate complex systems, find creative solutions and interpret customer needs in ways that aren't documented. These skills develop through experience and remain challenging for AI to replicate. Today's AI systems can't navigate through interfaces like humans can. They can't click through multiple screens, follow complex processes or interact with CRM systems the way human agents do. AI only knows what exists in its knowledge base.

This limitation highlights why incorporating the lived experience of human agents into AI knowledge bases delivers such dramatic improvements. AI also differs from humans in its approach to uncertainty. It never lacks confidence, even when wrong. AI will state incorrect information with complete certainty if its algorithms determine that's the optimal response.

Human agents learn differently. When customers express frustration or correct a mistake, human agents experience that uncomfortable "oh my gosh" moment that embeds the learning in their conversational memory. Even with limited information, humans adapt quickly. Most AI systems lack this emotional feedback loop, which raises an important question: how do we configure AI to incorporate negative feedback into its knowledge in a meaningful way?

Information architecture is an investment

Creating effective AI knowledge bases requires ongoing attention across several dimensions. The foundation must be structured, current content that accurately reflects your products and services. This isn't a one-time effort but a continuous commitment to maintenance and accuracy. Equally important is establishing appropriate boundaries – giving AI enough knowledge to be helpful while limiting its ability to access irrelevant or outdated information. Improvement must be continuous rather than occasional.

By monitoring where AI struggles and systematically addressing those gaps, organizations keep their systems relevant and effective. Integrating successful human agent interactions represents another critical factor. When you capture what works in human conversations and incorporate those patterns into your AI knowledge base, performance improves significantly. Finally, robust feedback mechanisms allow AI to learn from customer responses without being susceptible to manipulation, creating a system that improves over time.

AI technology will continue evolving, but its effectiveness will always depend on the quality of its knowledge foundation. Organisations that invest in properly structured, well-maintained knowledge systems will see better results from their AI implementations. The future isn't just about deploying more sophisticated AI technologies but building better knowledge ecosystems these technologies can leverage. Your AI is only as good as the knowledge base it's built upon, and getting that foundation right is essential for delivering the customer experience you actually want.

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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

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for June 13.