Technology

• Dr. Squatch has revealed a new line of Call of Duty collaboration products
• It includes two bars of soap and two deodorant sticks
• They have scents inspired by the characters Soap and Ghost

Male grooming brand Dr. Squatch has announced a new Call of Duty collaboration with a line of new products inspired by the most iconic members of Task Force 141.

It includes two bars of soap and two deodorant sticks. The Ghost Grit Bar Soap is a heavy-grit bar described as having 'deep earthy scents of pepper, leather, and smoky charcoal' while the Sarge Soap Bar boasts 'invigorating notes of Scottish juniper, pine, and moss' - presumably meant to call to mind the character's Scottish heritage.

I'm not a huge fan of gritty soap, so the Sarge Soap Bar definitely sounds the most appealing to me here. I also can't pretend that there isn't something funny about the inherently ridiculous nature of a Soap soap bar.

As for the deodorant sticks, there's the Ghost Sticc Deodorant, with a 'bold, earthy scent;' and the Sarge Sticc Deodorant, which is apparently 'crisp and revitalizing'. Key ingredients include field balm extract and ghost plant extract (which I suspect were chosen given their obvious associations with the characters) plus moisturizing coconut oil.

Inside each soap bar is a code to unlock an exclusive in-game item - a cool little calling card with the Dr. Squatch mascot dressed as Soap that I certainly wouldn't mind rocking in my online matches.

(Image credit: Dr. Squatch / Activision)

The products are available now via the Dr. Squatch website in three separate bundles in both the US and UK. You can choose between a two-pack of soaps that costs $16 / £16, a $22 / £21 two-pack with one soap and one deodorant stick, or a complete four-pack with both soaps and both deodorants that comes to $43 / £42.

This is far from the first Call of Duty collaboration, but it is quite an amusing one. The connection between (the character) Soap and soap seems pretty obvious in hindsight and the scents here don't sound half bad either. On top of this, anything that might encourage the average gamer to improve their personal hygiene can only be considered a win in my book.

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• ServiceNow fixed three flaws in July 2024, but researchers from GreyNoise saw a resurgence of abuse
• The flaws can be used for full database access
• Users should patch immediately to make sure they are protected

There has been a “notable resurgence” in the abuse of three concerning ServiceNow security vulnerabilities, experts are warning.

In May 2024, security researchers from Assetnote found vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2024-4879, CVE-2024-5178, and CVE-2024-5217, which ServiceNow patched the same day.

However, it seems that many organizations did not get the memo (which was released in July the same year, when CVEs were released as part of a coordinated effort with Assetnote), since their instances remained unpatched, and have now become a target, according to researchers from GreyNoise.

Chaining the bugs

The researchers found there has been a significant uptick in the attacks abusing these flaws, and although they couldn’t attribute the attacks to any known threat actors, they did note that almost three-quarters (70%) of the attacks targeted Israeli firms. Notable activity was also spotted in Germany, Japan, and Lithuania.

The vulnerabilities can be abused separately, but when they’re chained, they grant “full database access,” GreyNoise added, which puts vulnerable organizations at immense risk, since ServiceNow is used to handle sensitive employee information.

The attackers would inject a payload which checks for a specific result in the server response. If it gets the appropriate one, it deploys a second-stage payload that checks the contents of the database.

The last step is to dump user lists and account credentials. While most of the time the credentials are hashed, there are some examples where the credentials were dumped in plaintext.

That can lead to account compromise which, in turn, can carry devastating consequences, such as ransomware attacks.

ServiceNow is a cloud-based platform that provides enterprise IT service management (ITSM) and automation solutions.

It helps organizations streamline workflows, automate business processes, and improve efficiency across IT, HR, customer service, security, and other departments.

ServiceNow has almost 300,000 internet-exposed instances, making it quite a popular solution.

Some of its clients include Coca-Cola (uses it for streamlining IT service management), Dell (IT service automation and management), Deloitte (IT service automation and optimization), and the State of California ( managing state-wide IT services and operations).

Via TechCrunch

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Gamers will get better games, while developers enjoy a higher quality of life, the United Videogame Workers says.

Commentary: The M4 MacBook Air has all the power and ports I need. But I could use one Pro feature that's still not an option for Apple's thin-and-light laptop.

Earlier this week we celebrated the news that Samsung’s One UI 7 update finally has a release date for older devices as the company marked April 7 as the day it would begin rolling out to Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy Z Flip 6, and Galaxy Z Fold 6 devices. This news wasn’t well received by users of older handsets, unfortunately, but now they too could have a reason to get excited.

Samsung had already teased that the update would steadily roll out beyond 2024’s flagships to older and less powerful devices including the Galaxy S24 FE, the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5, the Galaxy Tab S10 series and the Galaxy Tab S9 series, but now it seems even older phones will also get One UI 7.

At least that’s what Samsung’s Singapore team believes as its announcement also lists: Galaxy S22 Series, Galaxy S21 Series, Galaxy S21 FE, Galaxy Z Fold4, Galaxy Z Flip4, Galaxy Z Fold3, and Galaxy Z Flip3 devices as being eligible.

However, these older handsets will seemingly have to wait a little longer as the blog post tips April 14 as One UI 7’s launch date – a week later than its initial rollout.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Image credit: TechRadar)

There’s seemingly no reason why Singapore’s phones would get the update and not the same devices in other parts of the world, so we expect OneUI 7 will be hitting Galaxy S22 and S21 phones next month in the US, UK, and Australia too.

However, don’t expect the update to include the same features on every device. Older handsets lack the hardware power to perform several AI tasks.

Writing Assist and Drawing Assist will come to handsets as old as the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5, and Galaxy Tab S9, while Audio Eraser will skip these older phones and only come to the Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy Z Flip 6, and Galaxy Z Fold 6, Galaxy S24 FE and Galaxy Tab S10 series.

Is it confusing? Yes. Unfortunately, on-device AI necessitates performance levels that older devices can't achieve.

The only way to secure these new features for yourself will be to snag a newer Samsung smartphone – and to help with that you can check out today’s best Samsung Galaxy S25 deals.

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Siri is failing at fielding basic questions, and fixes aren't coming soon.

• Metal Eden is set to launch on May 6
• It's coming to PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S
• A free demo featuring two missions will arrive on April 8 for those platforms

Reikon Games has revealed that a new public demo for upcoming sci-fi first-person shooter (FPS) Metal Eden will arrive for free on April 8.

It will feature the first two missions of the game: Mission 0 and Mission 1, Paradise Lost. Mission 0 is something of a tutorial, introducing the basic combat and parkour mechanics of the game and kicking off the story. Mission 1 then focuses on increasingly complex challenges, with a range of enemies introduced.

This first proper mission also outlines the player upgrade system through Body Modules and Weapon Upgrades. The demo will be available indefinitely on all platforms where Metal Eden is launching, which includes PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S. The full game will arrive on May 6.

Set in a futuristic world, Metal Eden sees players embody the cybernetic protagonist Aska - an advanced Hyper Unit sent on a doomed quest to rescue the citizens of the dystopian city Moebius.

I had the chance to try an early build of the game ahead of its official reveal and was impressed on the whole. It's got great graphics and I was impressed with not only the huge variety of weapons on offer, but also the ability to change how each one looks and feels through the meaty upgrade tree.

Add on the punchy parkour, which lets you run, jump, and slide off almost every surface in the battlefield, plus some weighty melee combat and you have a very moreish formula.

With a total of eight levels to master, it seems like it could be a fantastic starter course for FPS fans to dig into ahead of the launch of Doom: The Dark Ages later this year.

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• Developer Remedy has shared a new trailer for FBC: Firebreak
• The game is a co-op FPS control spin-off
• It is set to release later this year

Developer Remedy Entertainment has released a new gameplay trailer for its three-player co-op first-person shooter (FPS) FBC: Firebreak as part of the latest Future Games Show.

Set in the same universe as third-person action game Control, FBC: Firebreak sees players working together as part of Firebreak: an elite team within the fictional Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) responsible for protecting the agency against the most dangerous paranormal threats.

The game features Jobs, repayable missions with uniquely designed challenges, objectives, and environments. The gameplay trailer gives us a glimpse at Paper Chase, one such Job where deadly sticky notes have begun replicating at an alarming pace. We see a wide variety of enemies, including a terrifying giant sticky note creature that spews streams of the stationary item between attacks.

You can see the trailer for yourself below.

Remedy has also explained one of the game's key mechanics: Crisis Kits. These are different sets of gear designed to compliment both your preferred playstyle and the rest of your team. There's the Jump Kit, which focuses on controlling the battlefield with electrical attacks, the melee-focussed Fix Kit, and the water-based Splash Kit.

Every Crisis Kit comes with a unique tool powered by a strange item recovered by the FBC. This includes a garden gnome that is capable of being launched to summon a lightning storm, a regenerating piggy bank you can stick on the end of a wrench for added damage, and a teapot loaded on to a fluid launcher to create blasts of boiling hot water.

Everything looks like a lot of fun and I'm certainly looking forward to diving in with friends. FBC: Firebreak is set to launch in summer and is coming to PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PlayStation 5. It will be part of PC Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog (via PS Plus Extra and Premium) on day one.

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• Windows 11 has a new preview build that improves performance with ZIPs
• Unzipping now happens faster in File Explorer, particularly with ZIPs crammed with a ton of small files
• Complaints about sluggish performance with unzipping have been around for quite some time, though, and this fix has been a long time coming

Windows 11 has a new preview out and it does some useful – albeit long-awaited – work in terms of accelerating the rate at which files are pulled out of ZIPs within File Explorer, plus there are some handy bug fixes here – and a minor feature that’s been ditched.

All this is happening in Windows 11 preview build 27818 (which is in the Canary channel, the earliest external test build).

As mentioned, one of the more notable changes means you’ll be able to extract files from ZIPs, particularly large ZIP archives, at a quicker pace in File Explorer.

A ZIP is a collection of files that have been lumped together and compressed so they take up less space on your drive, and unzipping such a file is the process whereby you copy those files out of the ZIP.

File Explorer – which is the name for the app in Windows 11 that allows you to view your folders and files (check here for a more in-depth explanation) – has a built-in ability to deal with such ZIP files, and Microsoft has made this work faster.

Microsoft explains in the blog post for this preview build: “Did some more work to improve the performance of extracting zipped files in File Explorer, particularly where you’re unzipping a large number of small files.”

It’s worth noting that this is a performance boost that only applies to File Explorer’s integrated unzipping powers, and not other file compression tools such as WinRAR or 7-Zip (which, in case you missed it, are now natively supported in Windows 11).

Elsewhere in build 27818, Microsoft has fixed some glitches with the interface – including one in File Explorer, where the home page fails to load and just shows some floating text that says ‘Name’ (nasty) – and a problem where the remote desktop could freeze up.

There’s also a cure for a bug that could cause some games to fail to launch after they’ve been updated (due to a DirectX error), and some other smoothing over of general wonkiness like this.

Finally, Microsoft informs us that it has deprecated a minor feature here. The suggested actions that popped up when you copied a phone number (or a future date) in Windows 11 have been disabled, so these suggestions are now on borrowed time.

(Image credit: Future / Jeremy Laird) Analysis: Curing sluggishness rather than ushering in super-zippy performance

Windows Latest noticed the change to ensure ZIP performance is better in File Explorer with this preview, and tested the build, observing that speeds did indeed seem to be up to 10% faster with larger, file-packed ZIPs.

Clearly, that’s good news – and it’s great to see Microsoft’s assertion backed up by the tech site – but at the same time, this is more about fixing poor performance levels, rather than providing super-snappy unzipping.

Complaints about File Explorer’s unzipping capabilities being woefully slow in Windows 11 date back some time, particularly in scenarios where loads of small files are involved – so really, this is work Microsoft needs to carry out rather than any kind of bonus. If Windows Latest’s testing is on the money, a 10% speed boost (at best) may not be enough to placate these complainers, either, but I guess Microsoft is going to continue to fine-tune this aspect of File Explorer.

There are plenty of other issues to iron out with File Explorer too, as I’ve discussed recently – there are a fair few complaints about its overall performance being lackluster in Windows 11, so this is a much broader problem than mere ZIP files.

Furthermore, Microsoft breaking File Explorer for some folks with last month’s February update doubtless didn’t help any negative perceptions around this central element of the Windows 11 interface.

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• There's a new update for the Philips Hue app that adds support for QR codes
• Scanning codes on lights lets you add them to rooms in the app more easily
• You can also use QR codes to add switches, cameras, and other devices

Philips Hue bulbs and lamps are some of the best smart lights around, and they're already pretty easy to set up; but a new app update has made things even easier, letting you add several lights to a room at once.

Once you've installed app version 5.38, which is available now for Android and iOS, you'll be able to simply scan the QR codes on several Hue devices to add them to the app together, rather than doing them one at a time.

That should be handy if you've splurged on a new set of smart bulbs in the Amazon spring sale, and will reduce headaches if you move house and need to set everything up again.

The editor of Hueblog.com has already experimented by adding a dimmer switch to their (no doubt extensive) setup, and reports that it works perfectly.

You can now use QR codes to add lights to a room in the Philips Hue app, plus other devices like dimmer switches (Image credit: Signify)

If the device you want to add doesn't have a QR code, you can bypass the new option by tapping the 'No QR code' button, and the app will find it for you the old-fashioned way, then allow you to assign it to a room.

Still no AI

This is a helpful addition to the Philips Hue app, but we're still waiting for the major software update that will add the generative AI assistant that Signify (the company behind Philips Hue) promised back in January.

According to Signify, the assistant will be able to create "personalized lighting scenes based on mood, occasion or style," and will let you use natural language to describe what you want rather than using a photo as a starting point or picking shades from a color wheel.

The company hasn't announced when the new tool will arrive, but it should be available before the end of the year – hopefully in time to let you describe your perfect festive lighting, and have all your fixtures adapt automatically. I'm dreaming of a bright Christmas.

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• Apple’s iPhone 18 might get a major chip upgrade after all
• This claim comes from an analyst who has revised their initial prediction
• Apple might also be working on a stronger front glass panel for iPhones

A few days ago, Apple analyst Jeff Pu claimed in a research note that Apple’s A20 chip – which will come to the iPhone 18 lineup – would offer disappointing performance increase over past chips. Now, Pu has just reversed course on this idea.

In the original report, Pu claimed that the A20 chip will be made with a 3-nanometer process dubbed N3P. While this is expected to bring improvements to performance and efficiency, they’re only likely to be modest changes compared to the iPhone 17’s A19 chip, which is also likely to be made using a 3nm process.

That was odd because it clashed with another report from Pu’s employer GF Securities, which outlined that Apple would use a 2nm process in the A20.

After being contacted by MacRumors, Pu has updated the report to clarify that the A20 could actually be made using a 2nm process. If correct, this would likely mean much more significant performance increases, and could make the iPhone 18 a tempting prospect if you’re thinking of upgrading your device.

Protecting your iPhone screen

(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

There’s more good news for iPhone fans in the form of a fresh patent uncovered by Patently Apple. Here, Apple describes a new technique that would strengthen the iPhone’s front surface with a mixture of glass and other components.

In the patent, Apple explains that combining several different materials can result in a front iPhone screen that's resistant to scratches, can cut down reflections, and can prevent the screen from becoming burnished over time.

This is done by taking the front glass and applying a hard coating that's resistant to scratches and burnishing. Below that, an 'interference layer' made up of several compounds can be included, which helps to cut down on reflections when you look at the screen. The idea is to give your iPhone a range of different protections without making the display too thick or heavy.

It’s an interesting idea, but we might have to wait a little while until we see it. Apple only filed the patent in September 2024, so it’s very unlikely that this tech has found its way into the iPhone 16 range. Whether it will arrive in the iPhone 17 is anyone’s guess, but with six months to go until Apple reveals its next iPhones, we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled.

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• Apple is facing a lawsuit due to false advertising
• Clarkson Law Firm claims Apple 'misled customers' with Apple Intelligence-powered Siri
• It comes after Apple delayed the AI-powered voice assistant

Apple Intelligence continues to dominate headlines for everything but its AI capabilities, as Apple now faces a lawsuit for false advertising over its AI-powered Siri.

The lawsuit, which Axios originally reported, claims Apple has falsely advertised its Apple Intelligence software that launched alongside the iPhone 16 lineup of smartphones.

The lawsuit claims that Apple has misinformed customers by creating "a clear and reasonable consumer expectation that these transformative features would be available upon the iPhone's release,"

Now, six months after the launch of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, some of the Apple Intelligence features showcased in promotional campaigns have been delayed, with no expected release schedule.

Most notably, the lawsuit highlights an ad starring The Last of Us actor, Bella Ramsey, where Ramsey showcased Siri's AI capabilities including personal context and on-screen awareness to help them schedule appointments. That ad, which was available from September has now been removed from YouTube following the announcement of Siri's delay.

Filed in San Jose, California, by Clarkson Law Firm, which has previously sued Google and OpenAI, the lawsuit targets Apple's iPhone features that haven't shipped yet and not the capabilities of Apple Intelligence features like Genmoji that have.

You can read the full lawsuit online, but the key argument reads, "Contrary to Defendant's claims of advanced AI capabilities, the Products offered a significantly limited or entirely absent version of Apple Intelligence, misleading consumers about its actual utility and performance. Worse yet, Defendant promoted its Products based on these overstated AI capabilities, leading consumers to believe they were purchasing a device with features that did not exist or were materially misrepresented."

We'll have to wait and see if anything comes of this legal battle, but considering Apple has only delayed Siri's upgrade, we could see the AI improvements launch before anything comes to pass.

Apple Intelligence's redemption arc

Just yesterday, reports of a Siri leadership shakeup started to surface. And, with exec Mike Rockwell expected to be named as the person to oversee the launch of Siri's AI upgrade, there's reason to be optimistic.

Rockwell is known for his impact in bringing Apple Vision Pro to market, and it shows a real effort from the company to overhaul the current Siri approach so that consumers finally get the capabilities promised.

If Rockwell's direction can get Siri back on track, then Apple Intelligence as a whole could still be a success. After all, once the dust settles, if Apple has a capable AI offering in its smartphones, we'll all quickly forget about the lawsuits and the bad press.

That's not to say we shouldn't hold Apple accountable for advertising features that are still not available on a device six months after launch, but if any company deserves a chance at redemption it's the Cupertino-based firm.

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Six years on from its initial reveal, System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster is finally releasing for consoles and PC later this year, following the first System Shock's remaster in 2023.

After a name change (it was originally called System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition) and six years of careful but challenging development, the highly-anticipated remaster is finally coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on June 26, 2025.

A lengthy PlayStation Blog, written by Nightdive Studios communications manager Morgan Shaver, goes into detail on why the remaster has taken so long to develop. In summary, it's a combination of incomplete source code and developer Nightdive's penchant for attention to detail.

Nightdive's Alex Lima chimes in here, saying that "extensive reverse engineering" was required to have System Shock 2 playable on modern hardware.

“The game engine that System Shock 2 uses is large and complicated,” adds Nightdive's Lexi Mayfield. “It was originally designed for PCs from the late 1990s with a mouse and keyboard and was only used for three games. As a result, porting the game to PlayStation was a long and arduous process, from both a coding and interface perspective.”

(Image credit: Nightdive Studios)

For System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster, players can expect improved visuals as well as support for advanced shaders and much higher refresh rates, leading to much better presentation and performance overall.

Originally a PC exclusive, the game has also received controller support for the first time ever now that it's coming to consoles. Actions like leaning around corners, quick-swapping items, weapons, and psi powers have been "streamlined" for controllers. A new quickbar and context menu should also mean players will spend less time fiddling around their busy inventories.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of the original System Shock 2. I love almost everything about it, from its terrifying mutated human enemies, horrific atmosphere, and an incredible soundtrack that bounces between moody horror and fast-paced, pulse-pounding techno.

The star of the show is undoubtedly SHODAN, a rogue AI that serves as System Shock 2's primary villain. SHODAN is delightfully evil, her warped speech patterns constantly flitting between creepy and silly without ever going overboard in either department. She's so good at both taunting and mocking the player, making for a constantly entertaining and intimidating threat.

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• Oppo has teased its new Watch X2 Mini
• The larger version is just a rebadged OnePlus Watch 3
• So this could be our first glimpse at the smaller version of the Watch 3 OnePlus promised earlier this year

Oppo has just teased a first look at its new Watch X2 Mini, and I'm hopeful that it could be our first glimpse of the new smaller version of the OnePlus Watch 3.

Just a few days ago, Oppo CEO Qiao Jiadong took to the Chinese social media platform Weibo to confirm that the company has three new products on the way, including a "small-size full smartwatch" (translated).

Now, Oppo has officially teased the Oppo Watch X2 Mini from the same account. It reveals a gold colorway, possibly a re-designed digital crown, and chamfered edges.

While you might not be interested in the new Oppo Watch X2 Mini, you might be curious to hear that the Oppo Watch X2 is actually just a rebadge of the OnePlus Watch 3. The two smartwatch makers are owned by the same parent company.

As such, this could be our first glimpse of the new smaller version of the OnePlus Watch 3, which is the best Android smartwatch for battery life in 2025.

OnePlus Watch 3's smaller version: What we know

(Image credit: Future)

This could well, then, be our first look at the new smaller version of the OnePlus Watch 3, which might well share the same design. But it doesn't tell us much else about the watch.

As reported by NotebookCheck, the smaller X2 mini is likely to feature a 42mm case, which would suggest that the OnePlus Watch 3 will be the same size. That would make perfect sense given that the larger model is 46mm, making the 42mm the likely complimentary size.

Naturally, both watches will have a smaller display and less battery life than the larger X2/OnePlus Watch 3. However, Oppo and OnePlus have cracked an excellent dual-processor system that gives that watch industry-leading battery life in this category, and this should still feature – and a smaller touchscreen will also draw less power.

Size aside, OnePlus also says it's working on LTE support beyond China for the OnePlus Watch 3, so stay tuned for that too before the end of the year.

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• The UK Government has released new guidelines for post-quantum migration
• The timeline outlines a target of full migration by 2031
• SMEs should find this more simple due to updated guidance

The UK Government has released its guidelines on protecting technical systems from future quantum computers.

The National Cyber Security Centre set a timeline for the UK industry and government agencies to follow with key dates, firstly, by 2028 all organizations should have a defined set of migration goals, and an initial plan, and should have carried out a ‘full discovery exercise’ to assess infrastructure and determine what must be updated to post-quantum computing.

By 2031, organizations should carry out the highest priority migration activities, and have a refined plan for a thorough roadmap to completing the change. Finally, by 2035, migration should be completed for all systems, services, and products.

Large-scale threats

The UK Government labelled the move a ‘mass technology change that will take a number of years’ - but why is the migration needed?

The Government outlines that the threat to cryptography from future ‘large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers’ is now well understood, and that technical systems will need to evolve to reflect this.

“Quantum computers will be able to efficiently solve the hard mathematical problems that asymmetric public key cryptography (PKC) relies on to protect our networks today,“ the guidelines confirm.

“The primary mitigation to the risk this poses is to migrate to post-quantum cryptography (PQC); cryptography based on mathematical problems that quantum computers cannot solve efficiently.”

The report warns that the total financial cost of PQC migration could be ‘significant’, so organizations should budget accordingly, including for “preparatory activities” as well as the migration itself.

For SMEs, the PQC should be more straightforward and seamless, as services will typically be updated by vendors, but in the case of specialised software, PQC-compatable replacements or upgrades should be identified and deployed in line with the above timetable.

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• Google's Pixel Watch 3 now features Loss of Pulse Detection in the US
• The company has revealed how it created the feature
• It's all about opportunistic detection, and preventing unwitnessed cardiac events

Google's Loss of Pulse Detection recently began rolling out to the United States after receiving clearance from health authorities in February. Now, Google has revealed how exactly it created the life-saving feature, and just what makes it so important.

The Google Pixel Watch 3 is the best Android smartwatch on the market owing to its excellent performance, stylish design, and decent battery life. At launch, it was unveiled with Loss of Pulse Detection, which can alert emergency services and bystanders if the wearer suffers a cardiac arrest.

Now, Google has revealed some of the behind-the-scenes work that went into the feature in pursuit of solving "a seemingly intractable public health challenge."

As Google notes, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) events cause millions of deaths worldwide, with one-half to three-quarters of events going unwitnessed.

Per Google, "About half of unwitnessed OHCA victims receive no resuscitation because they are found too late and attempted resuscitation is determined to be futile."

OHCA and successful resuscitation is all about time. The chain of survival, which ends with advanced care, starts with access to emergency services or bystanders who can deliver CPR or administer treatment with a defibrillator. However, timely awareness that someone is experiencing OHCA is crucial.

Witnessed events have a 7.7x higher survival rate than unwitnessed events, which is why Loss of Pulse Detection is so vital.

How Google made Loss of Pulse Detection

(Image credit: Google)

Google says that its Loss of Pulse Detection relies on a multimodal algorithm using photoplethysmography (PPG), a process that uses light to measure the changes in blood volume, along with accelerometer data from onboard sensors.

There are multiple "gates" that must be passed because the events are so rare, and false positives are less than ideal.

Before an alert goes out, there's data from the PPG sensor (normally used to monitor your heart rate), a machine learning algorithm to check the transition from pulsatile (having a pulse) to pulseless, and further sensor checks to confirm the absence of a weak pulse using further LEDs and photodiodes.

It's all a very technical way of saying your Pixel Watch needs to be absolutely sure your heart has stopped beating before triggering an alert, rather than alerting because a user has taken off their watch, for instance.

Google says that during development it partnered with cardiac electrophysiologists and their patients, including patients with scheduled testing of implanted cardiac defibrillators, where Google measured planned temporary heart stoppages.

Google says that the other vital aspect of developing the feature, aside from accuracy, is responsibility. It detailed further the efforts it has made to minimize false positives, and also notes that skin tone is not a barrier to the efficacy of the feature.

Google also says the design accounts for maximizing battery life, using data from sensors that would already be activated to trigger subsequent further checks, rather than running a background monitoring system all the time.

The full blog is a fascinating insight and well worth the read. As noted, Loss of Pulse Detection is now available in the US, along with all the other territories it is already live in, including the UK and 14 other European countries.

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• Gmail reveals new way of displaying search results
• Users can choose between "Most relevant" and "Most recent" results
• Gemini AI looks at details such as favorite contacts to determine what is relevant

Finding the email you need in a crowded Gmail inbox should finally be a lot easier thanks to another AI-powered new update.

The email provider is rolling out a new, smarter search function that will list results in terms of relevance, rather than just in chronological order.

Factoring in details such as recency, most-clicked emails, and frequent contacts, the company says this means the emails you’re actually looking for should be far more likely to be at the top of your search results.

Gmail "Most relevant"

(Image credit: Google)

“With this update, the emails you’re looking for are far more likely to be at the top of your search results — saving you valuable time and helping you find important information more easily,” the company wrote in a blog post announcing the news.

Users will still be able to search for the most recent results, with Gmail adding a toggle to switch between "Most relevant" and "Most recent" results, based on how they like to search.

Google says the move can help reduce search time, pinpointing the information people are looking for more quickly and accurately.

The feature is rolling out now to personal Google accounts across the world, and will be available on the Gmail app for Android and iOS, with business users also set to receive the feature soon.

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• Another Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge benchmark has appeared
• It suggests performance on a par with the Galaxy S25 Ultra
• The phone is likely to be launching sometime in April

Super-slim phones are great from an aesthetic standpoint, but the shrunken form factor can lead to performance constraints – so its reassuring to see a new Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge benchmark leak that suggests it's going to be up to speed with the rest of the series.

As per the benchmark (via SamMobile), the Galaxy S25 Edge looks set to come with the 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite inside. That's the variant set to a higher clock speed that we've seen in other Samsung devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S25.

What's more, the single-core score of 2,969 and the multi-core score of 9,486 suggest that performance is going to be on a par with the Galaxy S25 Ultra – the phone we described as "the ultimate Android" in our Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review.

There are some caveats here: this could well be a Galaxy S25 Edge running unfinished software, for example. But it's good to see these early results pointing in the right direction, ahead of the phone's expected launch in April.

Staying cool

The other phones in the series, including the Galaxy S25, are already available to buy (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The chipset fitted inside a phone doesn't always tell the whole story of its performance potential: to prevent that chipset from overheating and crashing the phone, it'll be accompanied by various safety measures and cooling features.

How effective that cooling is – and thus how fast the chipset can run – depends on multiple factors, but generally speaking, the more space available, the better the cooling (which is why desktop PCs can be much more powerful than laptops).

While the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is rumored to be a mere 5.84mm thick, front to back, it's also expected to be taller and wider than the standard Galaxy S25. That could well mean Samsung can fit in a more advanced cooling system.

All should be revealed within the next few weeks, when Samsung unveils the phone in full – after giving us brief glimpses of what it looks like. It seems very likely Apple will follow with its own super-slim phone later in the year, the iPhone 17 Air.

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• Pixel models from the Pixel 6 onwards are achieving improved benchmark results
• This is likely down do newer GPU drivers being added in recent software updates
• In less positive news, the Pixel 6a lacks satellite communication features

There’s both good and bad Pixel news today, but the good news will affect more people than the bad, so let’s start there.

Reddit users are finding that Pixel phones with Tensor chipsets (meaning everything from the Google Pixel 6 onwards) are achieving much higher GPU scores on Geekbench 6 than they did at launch. This is widely being attributed to the Android 16 beta, but Android Authority reports seeing similarly upgraded performance on Android 15.

So chances are you don’t need to grab a beta version of Android to see improvements, but rather that recent stable software updates have massively boosted GPU performance.

The exact boost varies depending on model, but Android Authority claims its Pixel 6a unit saw a nearly 23% GPU performance increase, while elsewhere there are reports of a 62% improvement for the Pixel 7a, a 31% improvement for the Pixel 8, and even a 32% improvement for the recent Google Pixel 9.

Android Authority speculates that Google achieved this through including newer GPU drivers in recent Android updates, as while all recent Pixels use an Arm Mali GPU, they don’t always ship with the latest available GPU driver version.

How much impact these performance improvements will have in the real world remains to be seen, but they’re nice to see, and could help extend the lifespan of older Pixel models.

No Satellite SOS for the Pixel 9a

The Google Pixel 9a (Image credit: Google)

Now for the bad news, and this relates specifically to the new Google Pixel 9a, which we’ve learned doesn’t support Satellite SOS. Google confirmed as much to Android Authority, and this is a feature found on other Google Pixel 9 models which allows you to contact emergency services in areas without Wi-Fi or cell signal.

So it’s a potentially life-saving tool, and while Google didn’t say why it’s absent here, it’s likely because the Pixel 9a uses an older Exynos Modem 5300, rather than the 5400 used by the rest of the Pixel 9 series.

While this is a feature that you’ll hopefully never need to use, it would be reassuring to have, and this isn’t the only omission in the Pixel 9a, as we also recently learned that it lacks several AI tools offered by the rest of the Pixel 9 line.

In fact, this phone has had a slightly troubled launch, with not just these omissions emerging, but also a delay in sales of the phone while Google investigates a “component quality issue”.

Still, the silver lining there is that this delay allowed time for these omissions to be uncovered, so you might think twice about buying the Google Pixel 9a. Certainly, we’d wait until we’ve had a chance to put it through a full review before purchasing one.

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