Technology

• The first trailer for Neon's Sam Altman biopic Artificial has been revealed
• The Andrew Garfield-led movie will be released in late 2026/early 2027
• It covers Altman's controversial rise to prominence as OpenAI's co-founder

The first trailer for Artificial, a movie about controversial OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, has been revealed.

Unveiled yesterday (September 8), the teaser for the Neon-distributed film strikes an unusually sinister tone for what's being billed as a biographical comedy-drama.

Indeed, from the gun-laden room that lead star Andrew Garfield, who'll portray Altman, visits, to Garfield's unsettling voiceover that plays over Artificial's publicly-released footage, it's certainly foreboding in nature. I get the feeling, then, that it'll be a dark-comedy dramatization of Altman's rise of prominence, the launch of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT, and his brief and somewhat disputable ousting as OpenAI CEO in late 2023.

Artificial will initially debut in US theaters on December 25, 2026, before receiving a wider international rollout in early 2027. UK viewers, for example, will have to wait until January 22, 2027 to catch one of many new movies that'll arrive in the months ahead.

Artificial cast and crew: who's involved?

Garfield (left) will be joined by a whole host of famous faces in Artificial (Image credit: Neon)

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (Challengers, Call Me By Your Name) is on directing duties, while Saturday Night Live writing alumnus Simon Rich has penned its screenplay. Meanwhile, Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn has also created original music and songs for Artificial.

Where the movie's cast is concerned, Garfield, who impersonates another Silicon Valley techbro following his portrayal of Eduardo Savarin in The Social Network, aka the 2010 dramatization about Facebook's creation, is arguably its most recognizable star — and based on what little footage we've seen thus far, he appears to have Altman's mannerisms, vernacular, and other unique traits down to a tee.

Here's who else you'll see in Artificial:

• Yura Borisov (Anora) as Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's chief scientific officer and co-founder
• Monica Barbaro (Crime 101) as Mira Murati, OpenAI's chief technology officer
• Cooper Hoffman (The Long Walk) as Greg Brockman, OpenAI's chairman
• Ike Barinholtz (The Studio) as Elon Musk
• Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) as Geoffrey Hinton, the so-called 'Godfather of AI'
• Jason Schwartzman (The Grand Budapest Hotel) as TBC
• Chris O'Dowd (The IT Crowd) as TBC

What is the plot of Artificial?

Artificial will seemingly focus on a specific period of OpenAI's history (Image credit: Neon)

Here's the official logline for Artifical: "[The movie] chronicles the incredibly consequential days leading up to the sudden firing and reinstatement of Sam Altman, as the fate of who gets to control the technology at the centre of an AI arms race hangs in the balance."

It's unclear how much of Altman's backstory, his various relationships with his OpenAI colleagues, and ChatGPT's launch and subsequent sociopolitical impact will be covered as part of Artificial's story. One thing is for sure, though: given that it dramatizes events concerning Altman and OpenAI, the discourse that will surround Artificial's release will be impossible to ignore.

The map covers 75% of the sky, and you can explore all sorts of cool celestial objects once you know where to look.

• Google is investing over $15 billion into Finland over two years
• Nuclear energy, wind power and battery storage are top of mind
• The company is also improving local forests, adding new saunas

Google has announced plans to invest around $15.1 billion into Finland's AI and digital infrastructure over the course of the next two years, making it its largest single investment in Europe to date.

The company said the extra capacity is needed to meet growing local demand for services like Gemini, Maps and YouTube, but instead of just growing its data centers, Google is also allocating money for grid upgrades, clean energy projects, battery storage and more.

The country's cool climate and low-carbon electricity are especially attractive for hyperscalers as they try to improve the efficiency of data centers against a backdrop of heightened public and regulatory scrutiny.

Google is investing heavily in its Finnish data centers

The Hamina campus, which it's been running for around 15 years, is especially notable because it uses both seawater-based cooling to minimize its water consumption impact, as well as an offsite heat-recovery scheme to redirect waste heat into local properties.

Local communities in Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos, and Vaala are set to receive a combined $36 million in funding to support upskilling and education, while as many as 37,000 jobs are expected to become available throughout the 2027-2028 construction phase.

On the energy front, Google has signed a 22-year power-purchase agreement to support the extension of the Loviisa nuclear plant and has drawn up plans to add new onshore wind capacity and a new 94MW battery facility to bridge the gap between renewable energy availability.

Google Global Infrastructure VP Bikash Koley also stressed the company's other community and environment investments, including native forest and wetland regeneration, accessible recreational trails, public saunas and fishing piers.

For Finland in particular, Google claimed to have invested around $4 billion in Hamina and related infrastructure alone since acquiring the site, a former paper mill, in 2009.

God, the search for Joe (Zoe Saldaña) is taking its sweet time, isn't it? At this rate, things still won't be resolved by next week's Lioness season 3 finale.

The CIA has narrowed its rescue search to the Houston area, but fallout from dismantled Russian networks in Washington has led to some tense confrontations and a pretty disastrous decision for one of our leading senators.

But surely this week has to bring better things... right? And when does Lioness season 3 episode 7 arrive on Paramount+?

What time can I watch Lioness season 3 episode 7 on Paramount+?

Lioness season 3 episode 7 will drop on one of the world's best streaming services in the US and Canada on Sunday, September 13 at 12am PT / 3am ET.

Here's when it will be released in other nations globally:

• US – 12am PT / 3am ET
• Canada – 12am PT / 3am ET
• UK – 8am BST
• India – 12:30pm IST
• Singapore – 3pm SGT
• Australia – 5pm AEST
• New Zealand – 7pm NZST

When do new episodes of Lioness season 3 come out?

(Image credit: Paramount+)

Lioness season 3 will have a total of eight episodes, with new entries airing weekly. That gives us the following schedule:

• Episode 1: out now
• Episode 2: out now
• Episode 3: out now
• Episode 4: out now
• Episode 5: out now
• Episode 6: out now
• Episode 7: September 13
• Episode 8: September 20

• Chrome will get new updates every two weeks to minimize real-world attacks
• Smaller, incremental changes should also make it easier to track any issues
• Other major browsers are also shifting to two-weekly release cycles

Google has confirmed that Chrome has officially moved from a four-week Stable release cycle to a two-week one, with effect from September 8 2026 with the launch of Chrome 153.

Besides adding new features, the main objective is for Google to give us performance and security fixes more promptly in an era of increased complexity and heightened vulnerabilities.

And it's exactly those security concerns that pushed Google to want to double Chrome's update frequency in the first lace, with the company now having to deal with a higher volume of patches than ever before.

Chrome will get updates every two weeks

Together with a higher volume of attacks in general, Google has also benefitted from AI-powered vulnerability discovery tools, giving developers more work to do than before. "With automated AI discovery tools and community bug reports generating higher patch volume, shorter release cycles make managing security fixes significantly simpler," the company wrote.

Crucially, the faster cycle reduces the time between a fix landing in Chrome's public codebase and it actually reaching end users, making it less likely for a bug to be exploited in the wild.

Chrome has been adhering to a four-week cycle since 2021, but the world is a very different place in the space of just half a decade.

With the higher pace of releases, Google also anticipates a smaller scope of changes, which could actually be a good thing because it could be easier for developers to identify what went wrong in the event of any issues.

Desktop, Android and iOS versions of Chrome will all be impacted by the change, with Chrome 154 already slated for a September 22 release.

More broadly, Google says Chrome isn't the only browser getting more frequent updates. Microsoft, Mozilla and Brave are also making similar changes, and they're all undergoing those changes right now.

Enterprise infrastructure has always adapted as scale increased. Virtualization tackled server sprawl, cloud computing reduced the need to provision physical resources for every application, and automation made increasingly complex environments manageable. Artificial intelligence presents a different kind of scaling problem.

The discussion around enterprise AI has largely centered on models, GPUs, and inference performance, but those technologies represent only a fraction of what organizations must operate. Every production AI deployment creates a continuous flow of data that must be ingested, protected, moved, analyzed, retained, governed, and eventually archived.

Those activities place demands on infrastructure that are very different from the workloads storage systems were originally designed to support.

This is becoming increasingly apparent as organizations move beyond pilot projects. AI is no longer a single workload running on isolated infrastructure. A single application may include high-speed storage for model training, object storage for inference data, lower-cost capacity for operational datasets, immutable storage for cyber resilience, and long-term archives to satisfy regulatory requirements.

Traditionally, those functions have been handled by separate products with separate management tools, security policies, and operational teams. That architecture worked reasonably well when data moved slowly and applications followed predictable lifecycles. AI changes both assumptions.

Training datasets expand continuously. New models are introduced far more frequently than traditional enterprise applications. Inference workloads fluctuate as demand changes. The same dataset may move repeatedly between active processing, backup, compliance, and archival over its lifetime.

Each transition introduces another operational task, another opportunity for inconsistency, and another point where administrators must intervene. Before long, the effort required to manage the infrastructure begins to rival the effort required to build the AI applications themselves.

Complexity becomes the real infrastructure challenge

For years, the answer to operational complexity was automation. Administrators automated provisioning, scripted maintenance, and orchestrated repetitive tasks. Those capabilities remain valuable, but they were designed to execute predefined actions under predefined conditions.

AI environments are considerably less predictable. Infrastructure must continually adapt to changing workloads, shifting performance requirements, evolving security policies, and rapidly growing data volumes, often without the benefit of stable operating patterns.

That is where autonomous data infrastructure represents something more substantial than another automation framework. Rather than treating storage as a collection of independent systems, it starts with the assumption that the platform itself should continuously optimize how data is managed throughout its lifecycle. Capacity, performance, protection, and cost become policy decisions rather than infrastructure projects.

Data moves between performance tiers automatically according to business requirements instead of being exported, migrated, and re-imported into separate platforms. A single namespace spans workloads that historically required multiple storage systems, allowing infrastructure to evolve without repeatedly forcing administrators to redesign the environment.

That architectural change may ultimately prove more important than the automation itself. Many organizations underestimate how much operational complexity accumulates simply from running multiple storage platforms. Every environment has its own authentication model, monitoring tools, lifecycle policies, upgrade schedules, recovery procedures, and performance characteristics.

As AI expands across the enterprise, those management layers multiply alongside the data. Reducing the number of operational boundaries often creates greater long-term value than introducing another layer of orchestration.

The same principle applies to cyber resilience. AI has increased the value of enterprise data far beyond traditional business records. Training datasets, model checkpoints, vector indexes, and inference pipelines have become strategic assets in their own right. Protecting them requires more than backup software. It requires infrastructure that assumes failures and attacks will occur and is designed to recover without depending on manual intervention.

Governance becomes part of the data lifecycle

The conversation also extends beyond security to control. As AI initiatives become more strategic, organizations are under growing pressure to understand where data resides, who can access it, and which legal and regulatory frameworks govern it.

That is especially true for enterprises operating across multiple countries or in highly regulated industries, where data residency requirements, digital sovereignty initiatives, and industry-specific compliance obligations increasingly influence infrastructure decisions.

Rather than treating these as separate governance exercises, modern infrastructure must make location, retention, and access policies part of the data lifecycle itself, enabling organizations to meet regulatory requirements without introducing additional operational complexity.

One of the more significant design decisions behind autonomous data infrastructure is that immutability exists within the storage engine itself rather than being implemented solely through administrative policy. Instead of modifying existing data in place, new versions are written separately while previous versions remain intact.

Combined with distributed self-healing that rebuilds only affected objects instead of entire disks, this creates a fundamentally different operational model for resilience. Recovery becomes part of normal system behavior instead of an exceptional event requiring administrators to coordinate lengthy repair efforts.

Infrastructure operators become infrastructure architects

Perhaps the most interesting implication has little to do with storage technology itself. Infrastructure teams are already responsible for environments that are growing faster than headcount, and AI is accelerating that imbalance. The objective is not to remove people from operations, but to reduce the amount of time highly skilled engineers spend on repetitive maintenance that adds little strategic value.

As more routine activities become policy-driven and continuously optimized, infrastructure professionals can devote more attention to architecture, governance, capacity planning, and aligning technology decisions with business priorities.

That evolution mirrors what is happening across software engineering, networking, and cybersecurity. AI is steadily shifting human expertise away from repetitive execution and toward system design, governance, and strategic decision-making. Autonomous data infrastructure reflects the same progression.

Rather than asking administrators to manage an ever-growing collection of storage products, it treats the infrastructure as an adaptive system that operates within policies established by the people responsible for it. The most effective approach is not to take humans out of the loop, but to keep them in control of the decisions that shape security, compliance, and business outcomes while allowing the platform to execute routine operational tasks autonomously.

Viewed from that perspective, autonomous data infrastructure is less about storage than it is about preparing enterprise IT for the next decade. AI has exposed the limitations of architectures built around isolated products, manual coordination, and steadily increasing operational overhead.

Organizations will continue investing in faster GPUs and more capable models, but those investments will deliver their greatest value only if the infrastructure beneath them becomes equally capable of managing complexity. The next generation of enterprise infrastructure will not simply store data more efficiently. It will actively participate in operating the environments that modern AI depends upon.

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• Audio-Technica knows what it's doing with open-back headphones
• However, this is the company's first ever wireless open-back offering
• …and also, they feature active 'noise reduction'

All it takes is a quick glance at our Audio-Technica ATH-ADX700 review to know that Audio-Technica knows precisely how to make a great set of open-backed headphones.

That said, this is the first time the company is cutting the wire, when it comes to delivering such audio architecture. Today, (September 9), the company is expanding its open-back headphone line-up with the new ATH-AL5NC, its first ever wireless open-back headphones.

At their core are specially designed 53mm drivers, promising "detailed, expansive sound", while the open housings should improve airflow and reduce heat around the ears, if your closed-back cans often feel a little toasty.

Tipping the scales at 240g (for reference, the Sony WH-1000XM6 weigh 254g), they’re light too. Longer listening sessions at home should be comfortable, whether listening to your hi-res music, working or, as suggested by A-T, gaming.

And here's a new duo in this space: despite their open-back design, the ATH-AL5NC also feature Sound Leakage Reduction, helping to reduce the amount of sound escaping into those shared spaces (the London Underground carriages spring to mind), alongside "noise reduction" (available in wireless and wired modes) to minimize everyday background distractions.

Audio-Technica ATH-AL5NC: key specs and features

(Image credit: Audio-Technica)

Want the cold, hard specs? Of course you do. Other key features include up to 75 hours of battery life, or 50 hours with noise reduction enabled (so it is an active technology, involving the creation of antiphase to counteract noise), plus up to eight hours of playback from a 15-minute quick charge.

You also get 24-bit/96 kHz high-resolution audio, LDAC support, multipoint connectivity for staying connected to two Bluetooth devices at once, a low-latency mode for gaming and video and an integrated microphone for calls and meetings. And those last four perks are not features you'll regularly find among audiophile-grade open-back headphones, or even the best wired headphones generally.

Customisable EQ and Soundscape modes are also available through the A-T Connect app and (of course) you get optional wired listening, with a bundled 1.2m cable featuring an in-line mic.

Something for our best noise-cancelling headphones buying guide? Not so fast; "noise isolation" is perhaps not quite the same as "noise cancellation", despite the 'NC' used in A-T's naming structure. Although the company hasn't expanded on this, adding true ANC in a set of headphones that are open through the ear cups (with perforated grilles to let sounds to move directly through their driver housings) really would be a feat of engineering.

The Audio-Technica ATH-AL5NC are available from today (September 9), priced at a refreshingly reasonable £219, which is around $299 or AU$410.

How good are they for this money? We're working on getting our hands on a set. As soon as we know, so shall you.

Apple's hotly anticipated ‘Surprise and Shine’ event is just minutes away, and we're on the ground in California to bring you all the big announcements as they happen.

Leading the list of rumored-to-be-unveiled products is Apple's first foldable iPhone — expected to be called either the iPhone Duo or iPhone Ultra — which, if it does arrive, would represent the biggest iPhone shake-up in recent history. This dual-screen device could also skyrocket the popularity of foldable phones more generally, so Samsung and Google executives are surely paying close attention.

Elsewhere, Apple looks set to refresh its wearable, earbud, and smart home lines with new Apple Watches, AirPods, and HomePods, respectively — and we may even see a new version of the Apple TV 4K, which hasn't been updated since 2022.

Today's event kicks off at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST — or 3am AEST on September 10 if you're in Australia — but in the meantime, we'll be rounding up the latest leaks, rumors, and predictions about new CEO John Ternus' first Apple Event.

Jump to the live updates here

Apple Event 2026 — rumored announcements

• Foldable iPhone Duo (or Ultra)
• iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max
• Apple Watch Series 12
• Apple Watch Ultra 4
• AirPods 5
• Apple TV 4K (2026)
• HomePod mini 2

Apple Event 2026 — how to watch

Today's ‘Surprise and Shine’ Apple event is taking place at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park, California, but you'll be able to follow along via the livestream video embedded above or via Apple’s official event page.

Proceedings kick off at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, which is 3am AEST on September 10 if you're in Australia.

If you press the ‘Notify me’ button on the video embedded above, you’ll get a reminder when the event is starting, and, of course, you'll be able to re-watch the stream once the event finishes (we're expecting things to wrap up around 12pm PT / 3pm ET / 8pm BST, or 5am AEST in Australia).

Live updatesSeptember 9, 2026 – 5:14 AM

Good morning, folks! It's Apple Day — the most important date in the annual tech calendar and the busiest day of the year for the TechRadar office (sigh).

I'll be bringing you the latest iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch rumors ahead of the event's kick-off later today, and trust me: there's a lot to cover.

September 9, 2026 – 5:16 AM

First, a quick reminder of what's happening: Apple's ‘Surprise and Shine’ event is scheduled to start at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST today (that's 3am AEST on September 10 if you're in Australia).

This is the 2026 edition of Apple's annual product showcase, and we're expecting to see as many as nine (yes, nine) new products unveiled.

September 9, 2026 – 5:19 AM

Of those nine rumored products, the most hotly anticipated is Apple's first foldable iPhone, which we've been referring to as the 'iPhone Ultra' for close to a year now. But at the very last minute, the rumor mill has spat out an unexpected new name for this folding device...

September 9, 2026 – 5:21 AMCould the iPhone Ultra be the iPhone Duo?

According to seasoned Apple tipster Mark Gurman, the iPhone Ultra will in fact be called the iPhone Duo. It's pretty hard to believe that such a drastically different name has emerged just hours before the product itself is due to be unveiled — so we're still a tad skeptical about its authenticity — but Gurman has an excellent track record when it comes to Apple predictions.

Apple landed on the iPhone Duo name for the foldable iPhone and a $2,000 starting price, eating the additional memory costs. Storage capacities will reach 2 terabytes and roughly $3,000. It’ll ship in October, has support for the Apple Pencil and come in dark blue + white. https://t.co/58VLtVNka6September 9, 2026

September 9, 2026 – 5:26 AM

Gurman adds in the same X post that the iPhone Duo will have a starting price of $2,000, rising to $3,000 for the 2TB model. And, yes, in case you were in any doubt: those numbers would make the Duo the most expensive iPhone of all time.

September 9, 2026 – 5:40 AM

Another important note: Gurman says Apple's first foldable iPhone will have Apple Pencil support. Steve Jobs won't be happy...

(Image credit: Apple)September 9, 2026 – 6:07 AM September 9, 2026 – 6:43 AMLet's talk AirPods

(Image credit: Future)

Moving away from the iPhone for the moment, let's talk AirPods. Today, we're expecting Apple to announce two new AirPods models: the AirPods 5 without ANC (active noise cancellation), and AirPods 5 with ANC.

Both models are set to use Apple's new H3 chipset, which should improve audio processing and reduce latency, though it remains to be seen how different the AirPods 5 with ANC will be from the AirPods Pro, which already offer ANC.

In any case, we're not expecting to see any camera-equipped AirPods launch today, despite rumors suggesting that such a product is indeed in development.

September 9, 2026 – 7:06 AM

(Image credit: Apple)

Today might also be the day we finally get a successor to the HomePod mini. This smaller, more affordable version of the standard Apple HomePod (which now exists as the HomePod 2) was released way back in November 2020, but hasn't been updated since.

More than 20 (!) new iPhones have launched in that same period, so to say the HomePod mini 2 has been a long time coming would be an understatement.

Rumored upgrades for the HomePod mini include a faster chipset (duh!), superior audio quality, and Siri AI functionality.

September 9, 2026 – 7:32 AMA clear message from Samsung

(Image credit: Samsung)

If you walk around London, New York, or Seoul today, you may spot Samsung's new tongue-in-cheek advertising campaign, dubbed ‘Welcome to Foldables’.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 manufacturer is clearly hoping to remind people that it has spent a decade developing foldable technology, and that Apple — if it does release its first foldable today — is late to the party.

That said, Samsung isn't totally against Apple's late entry into the foldables market. Speaking to Bloomberg last year, Samsung's President and COO of the company’s Mobile eXperience (MX) division, Won-joon Choi, said: "I think healthy competition with other companies will bring more innovations, and then bring more benefits to consumers. So we are welcoming others to join this category, which we created back in 2019 [...] Having another global company join this category, I think it's good for the industry, and also, it's going to be great for consumers."

September 9, 2026 – 7:55 AMDon't forget about the iPhone 18 Pro

A quick word on the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, which will likely be the forgotten children of today's Apple Event while also being the best-selling Apple products of the next 12 months.

Gurman says both phones will have smaller, more functional Dynamic Islands, an upgraded vapor chamber (read: they won't get as hot), and "major" new camera hardware. Rumors suggest a variable aperture feature could be chief among this new hardware, which would make the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max some of the best camera phones around.

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will have a smaller and upgraded Dynamic Island that can support three tasks at once (up from two currently), major new pro camera hardware and software, plus an upgraded vapor chamber. https://t.co/58VLtVNka6September 9, 2026

September 9, 2026 – 8:22 AM

(Image credit: Future)

Back to the iPhone Ultra/Duo/whatever you want to call it, let's talk about what features it reportedly won't have. According to various rumors, there's a chance Apple's first foldable will lack Face ID, a telephoto camera, MagSafe, the Action button, and a physical SIM card slot.

Now look, I can live without the Action button, a SIM card slot, and a telephoto camera, but no Face ID or MagSafe? I'm not sure I would spend $2,000 on an iPhone without those two features, which feel pretty essential to how I use my iPhone every day.

September 9, 2026 – 8:59 AMThinking of selling your iPhone 17 Pro? Do so ASAP

(Image credit: Apple / Future)

Here's some last-minute advice for you: if you're planning on selling your current iPhone 17 Pro or Pro Max to fund an upgrade to the iPhone 18 Pro line, you should head out to your local tech store and do so ASAP. Why? Because current iPhones could fall in value by up to 30% once the new models launch.

“Many people will make the mistake of waiting to see what new features the next iPhone range has before trading in their old device, but our data clearly shows that waiting just a few weeks could mean a significant hit on the amount customers can get for it," Joe Armstrong, Head of Trading at musicMagpie, tells TechRadar. "Those who wait until October may see handsets drop by an average of £48 and up to £122."

It's the same story in the US and Australia, and while Armstrong references October as the hard trade-in deadline, your absolute best bet is to sell your current iPhone before 12pm PT / 3pm ET / 8pm BST today.

Of course, selling before the iPhone 18 Pro has even been announced would leave you with no phone until the new models begin shipping later this month, but some retailers will allow you to lock in a sale price today and keep using your phone for a few more weeks. That's the ideal scenario during this precarious time of year for iPhone trade-in values.

September 9, 2026 – 9:23 AMFirst official look at the iPhone Ultra?

New Apple CEO John Ternus has just posted what appears to be a tease for one of the company's new iPhones on X. There's no Tim Cook-style "Good morning!" here, nor even a reminder of today's event start time. Instead, Ternus has shared a 14-second clip of a spotlight shining down on the corner of what looks like an iPhone. Is this a hint that the iPhone Ultra/Duo won't have four straight edges à la the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, or a reference to the rumored variable aperture feature on the iPhone 18 Pro?

pic.twitter.com/CLu9eRDP5bSeptember 9, 2026

September 9, 2026 – 9:27 AMThe Apple Store is down

(Image credit: Future)

Oh, and the Apple Store website is now closed for maintenance, which typically happens right before the company refreshes its product lineup. Not long to go now!

September 9, 2026 – 9:33 AM

Regarding Ternus' teaser post on X, some Apple fans are pretty convinced it refers to the iPhone 18 Pro's variable aperture, rather than the company's first foldable iPhone. Perhaps we'll get a second teaser video before the event kicks off at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST?

Pro phones to come to variable aperture!Notice how the light source widens up and then convergesJust a guess !September 9, 2026

September 9, 2026 – 10:02 AM

In terms of what won't be unveiled today, we're not expecting Apple to announce new MacBooks, iPads, or Vision Pro-style VR hardware. Software upgrades will most likely take a backseat, too, after iOS 27, Siri AI, and WatchOS 27 were all announced at WWDC 2026 back in June (though it's worth noting that these new OS packages will almost certainly be released alongside their corresponding hardware products in September).

September 9, 2026 – 10:29 AM

(Image credit: Future)

TechRadar's Editor at Large, Lance Ulanoff, has touched down in Apple Park. His first stop? The official Apple Store, which appears to be temporarily boarded up in preparation for new products.

September 9, 2026 – 10:45 AMThe Boys Are Back in Town

(Image credit: Future)

Lance has now been joined by Jacob Krol, TechRadar's US Managing Editor for News. Between them, they'll be bringing you hands-on impressions and videos of everything Apple is announcing today — including, we hope, the company's first foldable iPhone.

September 9, 2026 – 11:01 AM

OK, I'm pretty sure I know what the winning response will be (it rhymes with "grindstone culture"), but cast your vote below for your most anticipated announcement from today's Apple Event:

September 9, 2026 – 11:04 AM

Just two hours to go! A reminder that today's event kicks off at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST (or 3am AEST if you're in Australia, but if you're reading this from Sydney: go back to sleep).

September 9, 2026 – 11:18 AM

Here's Lance and Jake on their predictions for today's event:

A post shared by Jake Krol (@jake31krol)

A photo posted by

September 9, 2026 – 11:21 AM

And here's part 2 of the pair's predictions:

A post shared by Jake Krol (@jake31krol)

A photo posted by

September 9, 2026 – 11:26 AM

The sun is out at Apple Park! Incidentally, it was raining cats and dogs during last year's event, so perhaps the universe is telling us we're in for a more exciting set of announcements in 2026.

(Image credit: Future)September 9, 2026 – 11:41 AMWatch out for watches

The Apple Watch Series 11 (Image credit: Future)

The foldable iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro won't be the only stars of today's event: Apple Watches also look set to get an overhaul, starting with the Apple Watch Series 12.

Now, if you're expecting major design upgrades, prepare to be disappointed. According to the latest rumors, the Series 12 will look similar to its predecessor, the Apple Watch Series 11 — though one rumor does hint at ceramic case options, which would be a nice touch. We’ve also heard that the Series 12 could have a new LTPO display instead of the classic OLED, but we’re taking this claim with a pinch of salt.

For now, we’re expecting the biggest upgrades to come inside the watch. Specifically, the Series 12 is tipped to house Apple’s new S12 chipset, which should be powerful enough to support Siri AI, as well as a larger battery for a much-needed battery life boost.

September 9, 2026 – 12:01 PM

(Image credit: Apple)

The premium Apple Watch Ultra is also tipped to get another update today, but again, it won't necessarily look any different from the current model. Some speculate that the Watch Ultra 4 will be identical in appearance to the Watch Ultra 3, while others claim it will have a bigger screen and slimmer build.

Of course, the biggest updates will likely come under the hood, with the Watch Ultra 4 set to get a new chipset — a no-brainer given Siri AI’s imminent rollout — and a suite of new sensors for more accurate health tracking.

September 9, 2026 – 12:13 PMLook out for new health-tracking software

While both new Apple Watch models will almost certainly get hardware upgrades, Apple is also expected to unveil new wellbeing tracking tools for health-minded users. A new default Readiness app is expected to launch for the Apple Watch home screen, delivering a new and improved recovery experience for users — because what you do after a workout is just as important as the workout itself.

The Workout app could be getting an overdue facelift, too. The new version will reportedly let you record individual reps and sets for strength routines to help you keep track of your progress. I’ve been using my iPhone's Notes app in the gym for years, so this is one feature I’m hoping will make an appearance at today's event.

Another handy health tool we’re expecting to see unveiled is always-on heart rate data tracking, which will monitor your activity and recovery over 24 hours using only your heart rate. This sounds exciting, but given that only the Ultra 4 is expected to get new sensors, it’s likely that this feature will be exclusive to Apple's most premium wearable.

September 9, 2026 – 12:16 PM

(Image credit: Future)

Just 45 minutes to go — Lance and co. are being ushered into the Steve Jobs Theater to take their seats.

September 9, 2026 – 12:39 PMThe current foldable competition

The Xiaomi 18 Fold (Image credit: Future)

Switching focus back to Apple's first foldable iPhone, there are currently three similarly sized devices available on the market right now: the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, the Xiaomi 18 Fold, and the Huawei Pura X Max.

The first of that trio is the big competition for the iPhone Duo/Ultra. The Z Fold 8 is available globally, and it's been well-received by reviewers and customers as a sturdy, pocket-friendly phone designed for content consumption above all else. Apple will surely ensure its foldable iPhone one-ups the Z Fold 8 in some way, but we're not sure how just yet. I'm banking on a less-visible crease or a superior camera array.

The Xiaomi 18 Fold and Huawei Pura X Max are only available in China, but both may look more similar in appearance to Apple's foldable iPhone than the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Both phones have two rounded corners when closed and four when open, while Samsung's phone is straight-edged whichever way you slice it.

September 9, 2026 – 12:41 PM

(Image credit: Future)

Lance and Jake have taken their seats inside the Steve Jobs Theater. It's getting real now.

September 9, 2026 – 12:41 PM @techradar

♬ original sound - TechRadar September 9, 2026 – 12:51 PMTim Cook is in the building

(Image credit: Future)

Former (which feels weird to write) Apple CEO Tim Cook is in the building for new CEO John Ternus' first big Apple Event. A penny for his thoughts...

For years, ambitious European technology founders heard the same advice: to build a global software business, you'd eventually need to move to Silicon Valley. The Bay Area had venture capital, experienced operators, and many of the world's largest technology companies.

Today, some of the world's fastest-growing AI companies are proving otherwise. Lovable, based in Stockholm, has just achieved a $13.3 billion valuation and reaches nearly two-thirds of employees of the Fortune 500. ElevenLabs, founded in London, achieved an $11 billion valuation in early 2026 and surpassed $500m ARR later in the year.

AI has rewritten the economics of building a company: foundation models, coding assistants and automation tools let small teams create, iterate and scale with far fewer people than previous generations needed. Success now hinges on attracting exceptional talent, not on being near Sand Hill Road.

That changes the question for Europe. It's no longer whether we have the talent or the capital to build globally significant technology companies. We do. It's whether that talent becomes founders, or stays employees.

Europe has the talent

London has become one of the leading hubs for frontier AI talent outside the United States, supported by organizations such as Google DeepMind, the Alan Turing Institute, and Imperial College London. The capital's King's Cross area has become a focal point for AI research, startups, investors and global technology companies.

Elsewhere, cities including Paris, Berlin and Munich continue to cultivate world-class engineers, researchers and product leaders. I have lived in the US before, but I chose to found my own company in London for exactly this reason: the talent I needed was already here.

The fight for future founders

The expansion of American AI companies into Europe underlines the strength of that talent pool. OpenAI and Anthropic have both expanded their London research and engineering operations, joining Google DeepMind and Microsoft AI in competing for the same engineers, researchers and product leaders that emerging startups need.

These companies can offer salaries, resources and career paths that no early-stage company can match, and for many skilled operators, joining one is the logical choice.

The cost is largely invisible. Every experienced operator who spends a career inside a global AI company instead of starting one is a company Europe never gets to build. The result is fewer breakthrough companies and fewer founders to inspire the next generation.

Operators make the best founders

Many of the strongest founders start out as operators. Before launching their own companies, they spend years learning how to build products, attract customers and scale organizations, developing judgement against real business problems.

I've seen this progression in practice. Before co-founding ElevenLabs, Piotr Dąbkowski worked alongside me at Tessian, a cybersecurity company, where he was building AI-powered products years before the current wave. The judgement he developed there as an operator helped shape what became one of Europe's most valuable AI companies.

In the AI era, successful founders are defined by more than technical expertise. They have commercial judgement and an instinct for seeking out problems that need solving. These qualities make them valuable employees today and position them to become successful founders tomorrow.

They're also exactly what I hire for. We look for traits over skills: people who seek out responsibility before anyone hands it to them, and who want to understand how the whole business works rather than just their corner of it. Technical skills matter, but those are the operators most likely to build something of their own one day, and they create enormous value long before they do.

Back them at the point of the leap

As technology becomes more accessible, entrepreneurial ambition becomes the scarce resource. So support for aspiring founders has to begin long before they start seeking venture capital. Many experienced operators already have the expertise, networks and market insight to build successful businesses. What they lack is the confidence, encouragement or early backing to leave a stable job.

At my own company, we've put money behind this belief. Anyone who has been with us for five years can make a single pitch and get $250k to go and build their own company, along with office space and the backing of people who've worked beside them for years.

There's no cap on how many founders we'll fund. It isn't a perk designed to wave people out the door. It's a recognition that the people best placed to back a first-time founder are the ones who've watched them work, and that when I left my last company to start this one, I had to pitch strangers instead. Programs like Entrepreneur First have shown the value of backing exceptional individuals before they even have a company. Europe needs more mechanisms like this, wherever they come from.

This is how ecosystems compound. Former PayPal employees, the so-called "PayPal Mafia", went on to found or help build companies including LinkedIn, Palantir and YouTube. Europe is beginning to generate its own founder networks, with former Skype employees founding companies such as Wise, Bolt and Starship Technologies. Back one generation of founders and they build the next.

Europe has the fundamentals in place: exceptional talent and a maturing investment ecosystem. The missing link is the pipeline from operator to founder, and today's scaleups are the ones who can build it. Every operator who takes the leap expands Europe's capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship, and makes the whole ecosystem more self-sustaining.

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• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Songs of the Past spotlights Dandelion and will tell a "complete" story
• Jakub Rokosz, Fool's Theory CEO and Songs of the Past game director, says CD Projekt Red wants to "give justice to Dandelion"
• Senior quest designer Despoina Anetaki adds that "it felt like a chapter was missing"

CD Projekt Red has said The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's third and final expansion, Songs of the Past, will "complete" the game's story by giving Dandelion the bard the spotlight he deserves.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, Jakub Rokosz, Fool's Theory CEO and Songs of the Past game director and former Witcher 3 senior quest designer, explained that rather than the expansion serving as a bridge to The Witcher 4, as some fans might have expected, it actually completes Wild Hunt's story by delivering a new chapter that the team felt was missing.

However, the developer declined to comment on whether the expansion will have any direct connection to The Witcher 4, so we'll have to wait and see.

"We always wanted to give Dandelion the proper spotlight he deserved," Rokosz said, acknowledging that it's odd for an 11-year-old game to receive a new expansion. "So we knew that there was no space in the base game to give him justice. That's what I wanted to say: Give justice to Dandelion."

Songs of the Past will center Dandelion in Geralt's final journey in The Witcher 3, where players will explore Letten, the bard's homeland, and be wrapped up in another supernatural mystery.

"We knew that at some point we wanted to address this thing, because Dandelion is a very important character in Geralt's life," Rokosz continued. "There's a misconception of him being this comedic relief, and this is his only role in the Witcher series, whereas that's not true. He's a very deep and intelligent character. He used to be a professor at Oxenfurt [Academy], and he writes beautiful poetry, so we want to show the players what's behind that mask of a joker, where he came from, what his family is about, what's the world [like] where he grew up."

(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Senior quest designer Despoina Anetaki added that it doesn't matter that the expansion arrives 11 years later, only that the whole story has been told.

"What's really important to us is not so much like should we release an expansion 11 years later; it could be, I don't know, 20, 100 years later," Anetaki said. "What matters is that the story we tell is complete. This is part of The Wild Hunt, and it felt like a chapter was missing, like something was not there. One more thing we wanted to tell, right? And Dandelion's story was one of those, right?"

The developer revealed that the team went back to the original Witcher novels and used the source material to make something that could "excite fans" and "something that could excite us most of all, because it was a difficult question when this idea was first pitched to the team."

Anetaki explained that the team had to figure out what would pull Geralt out of his retirement, and it had to be important enough to warrant a full-length expansion. That reason was Geralt's best friend, Dandelion.

"Once we identified that important thing," the developer added, "it all clicked together, and it became very clear that yes, we need to make this expansion because it makes us as fans of The Witcher really excited about it, and I hope that the players will also feel that."

Songs of the Past doesn't have a release date yet, but it's slated to launch in 2027. In the meantime, fans can look forward to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, which arrives this month on September 29.

We could soon find ourselves in the age of actively cooled yet fanless laptops that are able to run mainstream mobile processors at full power.

• Creative Assembly has explained how it designed a faithful Warhammer player experience for Total War: Warhammer 40,000
• Battle product owner Dave Petry says the team didn't directly recreate the tabletop systems, but tried to "authentically simulate" them
• Creative Assembly continued its "trusting" relationship with Games Workshop, which shared its "infinite knowledge"

Creative Assembly worked closely with Games Workshop to ensure the Total War: Warhammer 40,000 player experience was as "authentic" to the tabletop game as possible.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, lead designer Joy Dey and battle product owner Dave Petry discussed the upcoming strategy game's combat system and shared how it was able to faithfully translate the feeling of Warhammer's tabletop systems.

Rather than a complete one-to-one recreation, Petry explained that the goal was to "authentically simulate" the feel of the tabletop's combat.

"We really, really care about trying to authentically simulate the feeling of the type of combat, whatever period or kind of warfare that it is, right?" Petry said. "So in a historical, obviously, war on Earth, and generally we have the sorts of weapons that you have on Earth. When it's fantasy, it's magic and mages and all that sort of stuff, and obviously, with the science fantasy and 40k, the biggest reference point you have to that is the tabletop.

"But it's not necessarily like the be-all and end-all of it," he continued. "We're not transposing the tabletop, right? We're trying to create an authentic sense of the lore and the kind of combat that's there, but the love for the tabletop absolutely is present."

Petry said that, like so many fans, he's been playing and collecting Warhammer 40k since he was young and confirmed that references and nods to the universe, like names, abilities, and lore, are in the upcoming strategy game. However, he said some elements of the tabletop game "just don't fit" with the game's real-time simulation

Creative Assembly also focused on making the game feel "familiar" to the Total War franchise; combat has also been scaled up, and he explained that macro positioning, where the player's forces are, flanking, and enemy morale are all things that come into play.

Petry said positioning in particular is being treated as "an interpretation of the lore and the universe, with the tabletop being one of the most important references."

The developer also added that Creative Assembly continued its long-standing collaboration with Games Workshop to ensure authenticity, saying their "special relationship" has helped the studio combat issues it was dealing with.

"[If] we can't find the thing that quite works for [the game], or this piece of lore sounds similar, but doesn't quite work," Prety added, "And for them to be able to come back with their infinite knowledge of all of this stuff and go, 'Well, you're right. This doesn't quite fit, but over here we have something that actually might be able to do the job.'

"And that close or trusting collaboration has, I think, enabled us to create something that captures that authentic feeling."

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 launches in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.

• Marantz unveils MCR 60n mini hi-fi hub
• Amp and streamer which includes MM phono stage and HDMI eARC
• Designed to be compact, so it won't take up as much space as a hi-fi stack

If you're under the assumption that your small home or rental apartment means you can't enjoy an advanced hi-fi set-up, Marantz's new release might have you re-thinking things.

The beloved heritage hi-fi giant has released a new device: The Marantz MCR 60n — and no, despite the name, it's not solely designed to play My Chemical Romance or songs written in Manchester.

This combined streamer and amplifier has been devised as a "mini hi-fi player", according to the brand. While we weren't told its actual size, its footprint is noticeably smaller than a turntable's in the accompanying images.

It'll go on sale on September 15, 2026, and there are two models. For $1,000 in the US (about £740, AU$1,500) you can get the standard model, and there's one available in Europe with a DAB radio squirrelled in, for £800 (about $1,100, AU$1,1600).

So it's not cheap per se, but perhaps its range of features — and household name status — will make up for that.

Welcome to the Black Parade

(Image credit: Marantz)

The biggest phone event of the year has arrived. Today (September 9), Apple is holding its ‘Surprise and Shine’ event where — among many other things — we’re expecting to see the foldable iPhone Ultra unveiled.

This phone has been rumored for years, so it’s almost hard to believe that it could finally be launching today, but all signs suggest that it is — and it won’t be alone, as other phones, plus new wearables and AirPods, look set to be unveiled too.

So, below, we’ve detailed how to watch today's Apple Event, along with all the things we expect to see announced in Cupertino. And to follow along with the announcements as they happen, head to our Apple Event 2026 live blog.

How to watch Apple’s iPhone Ultra launch

Today's major Apple launch is being held at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park, Cupertino, California. As with all these events, it will also be streamed online, so you don’t have to attend in person to witness it.

It starts at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, which is 3am AEST on September 10 for people in Australia. So there’s a good chance you’ll either be at work or asleep while it happens, but you’ll be able to view a recorded version of the video after the live stream has ended, and we’ll also have full coverage of the event here on TechRadar, so you can always just stick with us for our analysis and impressions.

As for how to watch, that’s easy: simply hit play on the video embedded above. Alternatively you can head to YouTube, or Apple’s event page. You’ll also be able to view the livestream on Apple TV.

So, there are lots of ways to watch today's event, and if you press the ‘Notify me’ button on that video, you’ll also get a reminder when the event is starting.

What to expect at Apple’s iPhone Ultra event

(Image credit: Apple; Future)

The iPhone Ultra is almost certainly going to be the most eye-catching announcement at Apple’s Surprise and Shine event. This foldable phone will reportedly have a passport-like form factor similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, with a 7.8-inch foldable display and a 5.5-inch cover screen.

But in addition to this, we’re also expecting Apple to announce the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max. These will likely have similar designs to the iPhone 17 Pro series and the same screen sizes, but a powerful new chipset and potentially a variable aperture camera.

And it’s not just phones at this event — we’re also expecting to see the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4. The main updates here could be the addition of Touch ID and an upgraded chipset, and the Ultra 4 might also gain new sensors.

The AirPods 5 could also land here, as might Apple’s first smart home display, and we might also see updates to the company’s HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K lines.

Beyond hardware, we also expect all of Apple’s next software versions to launch in finished form at today's event, including iOS 27, iPadOS 27, watchOS 27, macOS 27, and tvOS 27, with the headline feature in most of them likely to be Siri’s AI overhaul.

And finally, today's Surprise and Shine event will be the first public outing for Apple’s new CEO, John Ternus, so it will be interesting to see how he comes across.

Last week, Philips Hue showed off a huge collection of new smart lights and accessories to decorate your home and make your TV-watching experience more immersive. There were so many new launches, in fact, that you might have struggled to keep up with them all. To help, I've rounded all the coolest new releases for you in one place — complete with links to the official Hue store so you can pick them up yourself, or register for updates when they go on sale if they're not yet available.

My personal favourite is the new Philips Hue Play Screen Sync, which lets you synchronise Philips Hue Play lights with the action on your TV screen, regardless of its source (unlike a Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, which only works if you're using HDMI input). The Screen Sync uses a fisheye camera to capture what's on screen, and then uses your smart lights to extend the colours into the rest of your room.

Philips Hue has also partnered with smart lighting company Nanoleaf to bring you two colour-shifting Wall Panel Starter Sets, which you can mount on your wall in any configuration you like, and if you want something more architectural, take a look at the new Liane 360-Degree Rope Light, and Signe Gradient Pole. Scroll on for all the details.

The newest Philips Hue launches

Philips Hue Play Screen Sync

Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box 4k

Philips Hue Festavia Curtain Lights

Philips Hue Festavia Icicle Lights

Philips Hue Festavia Net Lights

PHILIPS HUE / NANOLEAF Wall Panel Starter Set Hexagon

PHILIPS HUE / NANOLEAF Wall Panel Starter Set Triangle

Philips Hue Signe Gradient Pole

Philips Hue Liane 360-degree Rope Light

Philips Hue Signe Gradient Pendulum

Philips Hue Signe Gradient Pendant

Philips Hue Omniglow Outdoor Lightstrip

• First new 'PEN' digital rangefinder with the OM System name unveiled
• It costs from $999.99 / £849 (Australia pricing TBC)
• New 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Mark III kit lens launched alongside the camera

Olympus fans, the day has finally come — OM System has relaunched the Olympus PEN series, and put its name on it, with the new OM System PEN.

The new PEN carries the torch of the iconic Olympus PEN-F, with a classic and compact retro form factor and a low-cost plastic body to keep costs down (rather than aluminum). I must say it looks every part the travel and everyday mirrorless camera, with an equally and surprisingly attractive entry-level price point more in line with the PEN E-P7's.

Whereas the (slightly pricier) five star-rated EM-5 Mark II has a viewfinder bump (which also looks great in my opinion), the OM System PEN is a rangefinder-style mirrorless camera, with the same 2.36m-dot OLED viewfinder that sits flush in the body instead.

And the specs are just as attractive as the IPX1-rated dust- and splash-proof body: the same 20.4MP micro four thirds sensor with 5-axis image stabilization rated up to 5.5EV, 121-point phase detection autofocus with subject detection AF for people and animals, plus a host of computational photography modes that are an absolute blast to play with — my OM-3 review paints a picture of how fun modes such as Live ND can be.

(Image credit: OM System)

OM System has also added various color profiles, including two 'Cinema' picture modes designed for 4K video recording, and once again included a color/monochrome switch on the camera's front which packs numerous film-inspired looks.

The camera uses OM System's BLS-7 battery, which delivers a generous 410 shots on a full charge, while USB-C charging further enhances its travel-friendly credentials.

When you consider the retro IPX1-rated body, built-in viewfinder, and stabilized sensor, the PEN feels like exceptionally good value, even if it features a dated micro four thirds sensor which is smaller than APS-C and full-frame, and adds very little that is actually new.

For me, however, the format has always delivered a compelling mix of quality, power and features, and is an easy recommendation for people stepping up from a smartphone, who will find the computational modes addictively fun and familiar.

OM SystemOM SystemOM SystemOM SystemOM SystemOM System

It was the PEN series that we have been waiting for OM System to refresh since it acquired the Olympus name, and now that day has come the new compact mirrorless model does not disappoint.

Pricing-wise, the new PEN becomes OM System's entry-level model — $999.99 / £849 bags you the camera body, in silver or black, or for an extra $100 / £100 the kit with the new mark III version of the 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, which was launched alongside the camera, with both due to go on sale from October 1. I'll update this page with Australia pricing when I get it.

I can't wait to get my hands-on the camera — if it's anything like the previous OM System cameras I've reviewed, it'll be a lot of fun to test. For me, the OM System PEN looks like a serious best beginner mirrorless camera of the year contender.

If you’re truly serious about coffee in Australia and looking to introduce a coffee maker into your kitchen, then Breville is a brand you’re likely to consider.

It’s easy to see why — not only is Breville a regular feature in my guide to the best coffee machines in Australia, but it also makes reliable, easy-to-master machines that, most importantly, brew a great cuppa.

The Barista Express is one such machine, and while it is a few years old now, it’s still an easy recommendation, especially now that it’s available for AU$595 on Amazon.

Barista Express (Charcoal): was $719 now $595
The Breville Barista Express might require a bit of trial and error to dial in the perfect settings, but it educates you as to what makes a perfect brew. Plus, once the optimal settings are found, you’re rewarded with a delicious espresso time after time. View Deal

The Breville Barista Express has all the necessities of a great coffee machine: an integrated grinder, adjustable settings — grind size, dosage and water volume — and a powerful steam wand for texturising milk, whether it’s dairy or non-dairy. There’s no assisted tamping as you’ll find in the Barista Express Impress, for example, but a manual tamper is provided, along with single-wall and double-wall baskets, along with a razor tool for levelling ground coffee in the portafilter.

However, while Breville might provide all the tools you need for a great coffee, our Breville Barista Express review does admit that it can take a bit of time to find the best settings for the beans you use and for your personal preference. This does mean you’ll need to sacrifice a few espresso shots, but the results are more than worth it.

What’s more, the Barista Express is a relatively compact coffee machine that should cause little issue in even smaller kitchens, and it’s eligible for Breville’s free Barista Gift Pack promotion, which includes a 1kg bag of coffee beans and a Bean Keeper canister to keep them fresher for longer.

The AU$595 price on Amazon only applies to the Charcoal model, while other colours cost at least AU$100 more. Do note that Amazon has a list price of AU$999, which was the case when the machine launched in 2022, but Breville has since revised it to AU$719.

Want more suggestions?

The Breville Barista Express isn’t the only talented espresso machine with a discount on Amazon right now. Other options include the unique Philips Baristina and Philips LatteGo 4400 Series, both of which I’ve spoken highly about before.

Here are some other standout deals for you to consider:

• Philips Baristina – was AU$559 now AU$444
• Ninja Luxe Cafe (Oat Milk) – was AU$849.99 now AU$677
• Breville Bambino Plus – was AU$729 now AU$487
• KitchenAid Semi Automatic – was AU$999 now AU$799.20
• Philips LatteGo 4400 — was AU$1,199 now AU$787.99

• Ukrainian drones forced American soldiers to rethink movement, concealment, and battlefield survival
• Blackhawk troops changed their tactics after persistent aerial surveillance exposed their movements
• American armored vehicles suffered losses despite attempts to conceal them from drones

A 10-day US Army combat training exercise in Germany has drawn attention after reports claimed Ukrainian drones overwhelmed an American mechanized company during the drill.

At the center of it is Blackhawk Company, part of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, which spent the ten days training at a range in Hohenfels.

The company commander, Capt. Allan Watson, disputes that account, insisting the report failed to capture what his soldiers actually accomplished over those days.

Entering a battlefield dominated by drones

Blackhawk Company entered a 14-by-27-kilometer range where Ukrainian personnel from the 412th Regiment supported opposing forces during initial operations.

The Ukrainian elite formation, called Nemesis, had battlefield experience and used aerial systems to observe American movements across the range.

The American unit claims to lack the counter-drone equipment its soldiers would have preferred throughout the event.

Rather than relying on unavailable equipment, soldiers altered how they occupied positions, moved vehicles, and concealed personnel from aerial observation.

Bradley vehicles moved beneath dense vegetation, while troops used steep ground and difficult routes to reduce their exposure from above.

The company also studied its movements from an aerial perspective, changing routines that might have made detection easier for enemy operators.

Despite those changes, American vehicles were destroyed during simulated combat, including Bradley vehicles plus tanks, while some crews were also counted as losses.

Watson, however, rejected the idea that these losses proved heavy armor had become unsuitable for modern combat environments.

He said armored vehicles remained useful because they provided mobility and protection while allowing soldiers to move through difficult terrain during operations.

Adapting tactics changed the exercise

The commander said drones could locate American forces, but exploiting that information still required personnel operating at ground level.

That distinction became important as the exercise progressed, because Ukrainian aerial surveillance did not remove the need for conventional reconnaissance.

On the sixth day, Blackhawk Company shifted from defensive tasks toward offensive operations, while the Ukrainian formation later operated alongside American troops.

Watson said the soldiers became increasingly confident as they adjusted to conditions that challenged assumptions formed through earlier training.

The Ukrainian participants also shared methods for operating inexpensive drones over long distances and linking battlefield observation with rapid engagement.

“They put on a masterclass in sensor-to-shooter kill chain management and speed,” said Capt. Allan Watson, Blackhawk Company commander.

Watson also said the experience showed that technology alone does not determine battlefield outcomes, because human decisions remain essential during combat.

For Watson, the principal lesson was not that drones had replaced armored formations, but that units must adjust tactics when aerial surveillance becomes persistent.

However, this is also not the first US military exercise where Ukrainian drone teams have caught American forces off guard.

In an earlier exercise in Germany, US troops were defeated so quickly that exercise officials allowed those units to re-enter the scenario.

These events were designed to expose weaknesses, test countermeasures, and help American forces prepare for drone-heavy warfare.

Ukraine’s experience against Russia has made its drone units especially capable in unmanned systems and electronic warfare operations.

The repeated setbacks, therefore, raise a more direct question about whether US forces should adapt more quickly and improve their capabilities.

Rather than explaining away each defeat as a training outcome, American forces need to treat these exercises as warnings.

Via Task&Purpose

• The LOCUST X3 laser is developed by AeroVironment, Inc.
• It is designed as a “group 3 killer” – meaning it is intended to tackle particularly dangerous drones
• The Xbox controller makes the LOCUST X3 laser simpler to target

A new US Army contract worth around $465 million has been awarded to AeroVironment, Inc. for its LOCUST X3 anti-drone weapon, a 30-kilowatt laser that can be mounted on military vehicles.

Designed to take down mid-sized attack drones, the LOCUST X3 can specifically handle what the Department of Defense refers to as “Group 3” – unmanned aerial vehicles weighing 1,350 pounds and capable of lifting 125 pound payloads over a distance of 8 miles.

Interestingly, AeroVironment, Inc. has designed the LOCUST X3 to be relatively easy to control. Operators (which may be soldiers, sailors, airmen, or even Space Force guardians) can target the anti-drone laser using an Xbox controller.

“The apex predator”

Incredibly, this is the first high energy laser weapon to be awarded a production contract in US history, following several years in development, which included military testing.

Wahid Nawabi, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer at AV said: “The transition of directed energy from experimentation to an enduring, fielded capability reflects years of collaboration, innovation, and operational success alongside the U.S. Army.”

Aaron Westman, senior director for business development at AeroVironment, Inc., outlined how the LOCUST X3’s role is viewed by the company. “It can really kill a lot of threats. Its job is to really, let’s say, thin the herd to be able to kill high volumes of threats.”

John Garrity, vice president of directed energy systems at AeroVironment, Inc, expanded on the use of an Xbox controller for targeting the anti-drone system.

“To a young soldier, sailor, airman, guardian that’s using these systems, it’s not unlike what they’re using at their own house for video games," he noted.

“Group 3 killer”

The purpose of the LOCUST X3 is to dispatch attacking drones relatively efficiently. But what does “Group 3” actually mean?

Garrity told reporters that “LOCUST X3 is intended to be the Group 3 killer. When we talk about Group 3, that’s just one of the more prevalent threats that you see in warfare today, seen in conflicts in Iran and in Ukraine with Shahed drones.” The LOCUST X3 is intended to be a one part of the US Army’s response to done attacks, with other weapons contributing to the multi-layered defense against Group 1-3 UAV threats.

The one-way Shahed-136 drones have been used against US troops in the Middle East. The LOCUST X3 is positioned as a solution to this, and not just due to its portability. It also has longer range than many similar countermeasures.

US interceptor missiles are believed to be largely depleted thanks to the conflict with Iran. Anti-drone weapons like the LOCUST X3 are viewed as a forward-thinking alternative.

• 69% of Americans oppose AI data centers near their communities, a national poll finds
• Public support for nearby AI data centers has fallen sharply since 2025
• Only 4% strongly support new data centers in their communities today

American resistance to AI data centers has intensified sharply over the past year, several national surveys released in 2026 have found.

A new Decision Desk poll conducted by SurveyMonkey found that over two-thirds (69%) of respondents oppose construction of these facilities near their homes.

Nearly half of those surveyed (45%) said they would strongly oppose a data center built anywhere close to their own neighborhood.

Data centers do not have widespread American public support

Separate research from Heatmap Pro, carried out by Embold Research in mid-August 2026, points to an even sharper decline in public backing, as its poll of 2,045 registered voters found 75% opposed building a facility near their community.

Only 4% of respondents said they would strongly support a proposed data center in their area, a drop from 13% recorded a year earlier.

Resistance now cuts across age, income, party affiliation, and the split between rural and urban communities nationwide.

Republicans remain 43 percentage points net negative on the issue, independents sit at 65 points negative, and Democrats register 75 points negative.

Rural voters, a group that has trended Republican in recent years, are 63 points net negative as well.

Officials across the political spectrum have taken notice. New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered a one year pause on new facilities, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott froze several pending projects pending a required audit.

Heatmap Pro figures reveal that over 530 counties and municipalities have restricted or banned data center construction.

Political and economic fault lines

President Trump has pushed back publicly against the trend, framing local opposition as economically self-defeating.

“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign.”

However, Republican supervisor Dawn Vogel backed a local moratorium earlier this year, putting her at odds with Trump's national agenda.

“I don’t think this is a Republican or Democratic issue…It’s an issue of what’s the best use for the land, what’s the best use for our natural resources,” Vogel said.

“You can have all the data you want to in the world, but if you don’t have water to drink, you don’t have humans to use the data.”

Lawmakers who once championed data centers as economic development tools are now revising their positions under mounting public pressure.

Ohio Senator Jon Husted, an early advocate, introduced legislation this year requiring data center operators to cover added electricity and water costs.

The gap between economic promises and local resource concerns appears to be driving much of the shift.

However, labor unions have generally taken a more favorable stance, citing steady construction jobs and strong wages tied to the facilities.