TechRadar News

• Most white-collar jobs could be affected by artificial intelligence
• Organizational and analytical tasks are more at-risk, IPPR report finds
• AI policies should focus more on AI adoption

New research from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has revealed how profound the effects of AI are on knowledge workers, with more than two-thirds of tasks in white-collar roles at risk of being affected by artificial intelligence.

The report specifically details how generative AI is transforming jobs that rely on computer-based tasks, such as project management, marketing and administrative support.

It found up to 70% of the 22,000 analyzed tasks could be either “transformed” or “replaced” by AI.

White-collar jobs are at risk of AI transformation

“Organisational and strategic tasks” and “repetitive and non-repetitive cognitive and analytical tasks” were revealed to be among the most likely to see productivity and efficiency enhancements from AI, however now that AI is evolving from a novelty to a genuine aid, the IPPR is calling for better guidance.

The report’s author and IPPR’s Head of AI, Carsten Jung, said too many policies focus on either accelerating AI adoption or ensuring its safety, but very few actually set out a clear and purposeful direction for AI adoption.

“The launch of ‘AI agents’ shows AI is different from past technologies," Jung commented, "AI technology could have a seismic impact on economy and society: it will transform jobs, destroy old ones, create new ones, trigger the development of new products and services and allow us to do things we could not do before.”

IPPR is urging governments to set clear policies, establish measurable targets, partner with private sector and civil society to guide development and to ensure that AI advancements remain aligned with public interest.

Jung added: “Politics needs to catch up with the implications of powerful AI. Beyond just ensuring AI models are safe, we need to determine what goals we want to achieve.”

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• PSN has just recovered from a 24-hour outage
• Sony says the downtime was caused by an “operational issue” with network services
• Compensation is 5 free days of service for PlayStation Plus members

Sony has informed us of the compensation that PlayStation owners – well, PlayStation Plus members – will receive due to the major outage that struck PSN this weekend, which is thankfully now in the rearview mirror.

The PlayStation Network outage ran for 24 hours in the end, blotting out Saturday online gaming sessions across the globe (or Friday night in some places).

Finally, we were given a reason for the service dropping out, namely an “operational issue” with network services as explained by the PlayStation North American support account on X.

Network services have fully recovered from an operational issue. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank the community for their patience. All PlayStation Plus members will automatically receive an additional 5 days of service.February 9, 2025

The post on the social media outlet also apologized and gave us details on the compensation that’s going to be provided: “All PlayStation Plus members will automatically receive an additional 5 days of service.”

Not so smooth operator

Predictably, there’s quite a bit of unhappiness around the response here. Just a cursory glance through the replies to the announcement from Sony support gives you a good flavor of the disgruntled gamers out there. The main theme is ‘just five days, what about a month?’ – or ‘why aren’t you giving us a free game instead?’

Okay, the latter is pushing it, but I must agree that five days feels like, how can I put this tactfully… a minimal gesture?

I think Sony could have done better than that in mitigating what was clearly a lot of bad feeling from the broad PlayStation community around this weekend-spoiling (for some) outage.

Heck, even non-PlayStation gamers are chipping in on X and saying this feels stingy from Sony.

It’s worth noting that far from everyone has received the five-day bonus yet, and it’s likely in the pipeline for many.

(Image credit: Nattawit Khomsanit / Shutterstock) Communication breakdown

The other frustrating element during this PSN outage was the lack of any communication as to what was going on from Sony.

Everything was down – all PlayStation services on the status dashboard, which was nothing but red lights – and yet not a peep was heard from official channels about the cause (or suspected fault), or an estimated delivery time for the fix to the PlayStation Network.

In some ways, that’ll doubtless have been about the fear of getting something else wrong – giving false hope of a ‘fix soon’ that then doesn’t appear, and which only makes PlayStation owners angrier – but still, it wasn’t a good situation.

The final verdict emerging as just an “operational issue” is not much of a reason, either, and that term feels very vague. Yes, apparently it was a large spanner in the works with the network infrastructure somewhere – but what kind of gremlin was crawling about in there? A little more of a clue wouldn’t hurt, in terms of: how did this happen, and how might Sony guard against this in the future?

In fairness, a fuller explanation could be coming shortly. And service downtime happens – it’s inevitable, of course. But I feel it’s clear enough that the response during the outage, and this final outcome and compensation, could – and should – have been better from Sony.

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• AMD’s MI400 APU lands in 2026, boosting AI, HPC, and compute efficiency
• New design features two AIDs with eight XCDs, doubling MI300’s density
• Multimedia IO Die offloads IO tasks and may integrate Xilinx FPGA tech

AMD’s Instinct MI400 APU is set to arrive in 2026 - designed for AI, machine learning, and HPC workloads, the MI400 will build on Team Red’s chiplet-based modular architecture and is expected to increase compute density, power efficiency, and scalability.

It may also play a role in future supercomputing projects, including a possible successor to El Capitan, but so far, AMD has only confirmed that the MI400 will use the CDNA "Next" architecture.

However,ut a patch updating the API header for MES (MicroEngine Scheduler) v12, spotted by Coelacanth’s Dream (and reported by VideoCardz), provides some insight into its chiplet configuration.

Multimedia IO Die

According to the patch, the MI400 will feature two Active Interposer Dies (AIDs), each containing four Accelerated Compute Dies (XCDs), for a total of eight XCDs. This doubles the XCD count per AID compared to the MI300. By integrating more compute dies into fewer interposers, AMD could reduce latency and improve efficiency while increasing data throughput, which is critical for AI and HPC workloads.

However, as Coelacanth’s Dream points out, “if the MI400 follows a similar CPU Complex Die (CCD) and AID partitioning as the MI300, where some AIDs are dedicated to CPUs rather than accelerators, then the maximum number of XCDs in some configurations could be limited to four, potentially reducing the XCD count compared to the MI300A APU.”

An intriguing addition to the MI400 is the Multimedia IO Die (MID), which separates the multimedia engine from the AIDs. The MID will likely manage memory controllers, media engines, and interface logic, allowing the compute dies to focus on processing tasks. The patches suggest support for up to two MIDs, probably assigning one per AID.

This new component could be AMD’s first integration of Versal/Xilinx FPGA technology into its accelerator lineup. AMD announced in 2022 that it planned to incorporate Xilinx’s FPGA-powered AI inference engine into its CPU portfolio. It could also be an Alveo series data center acceleration card.

The patches additionally reference a Register Remapping Table (RRMT), allowing firmware to direct register transactions to specific AIDs, XCDs, or MIDs.

AMD has not yet released any official renders or specifications for the MI400 series, but with the accelerator expected to launch in 2026, following the arrival of the Instinct MI350 series (built on the CDNA 4 architecture) later this year, more details will hopefully emerge soon.

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• Acer PD1520Us offers 30,000 hours of lifespan for business and entertainment needs
• Supports full HD 1080p resolution and 4K compatibility
• The LED light source eliminates warm-up times, offering instant on/off functionality

Acer has unveiled PD1520Us, a compact ultra-short throw (UST) projector, tipping the scales at just 740 grams, making it potentially the smallest of its kind.

Though compact, the PD1520Us can project 100-inch images from just a few centimeters away. It's also mercury-free, making it a strong, environmentally-friendly alternative choice for a business projector, especially as UST adoption continues to gather momentum among businesses.

It also delivers full HD 1080p resolution with 4K compatibility and boasts a 30,000-hour lifespan. It features autofocus and auto 2D keystone correction, ensuring sharp, distortion-free images. Connectivity options include HDMI 2.0, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and support for iOS and screen mirroring.

Instant use and eco-friendly functionality

This UST projector eliminates the need for warm-up or cooling periods by being powered by an LED light source, offering instant on/off functionality.

For added convenience, Acer offers a 5200mAh battery kit, providing up to two hours of portable operation. The projector also integrates a smart platform, allowing users to install apps and access a wide range of content directly.

Priced at €699, the PD1520Us will hit EMEA markets in March 2025, with optional add-ons like the €99 battery kit and a €199 interactive module.

In case you missed it, CES 2025 saw a raft of UST projector announcements, including JMGO's O2S Ultra, which is also vying for the title of the world's smallest UST projector.

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• DeepSeek skyrocketed to fame, dethroning ChatGPT, and causing stock jitters
• It quickly grew from 88,000 to 49M visits, but is slowing now, Similarweb data shows
• Despite 614% growth, curiosity in DeepSeek is fading and ChatGPT remains king

Chinese AI upstart DeepSeek, which was trained for a fraction of the price of Western competitors, seemingly appeared out of nowhere when it topped the App Store charts, dethroning ChatGPT, and causing significant stock market turbulence. Like most so-called “overnight” successes, it has actually been around longer than many realize, but its rise has skyrocketed over the past fortnight.

According to fresh Similarweb data, on November 9, 2024, when ChatGPT led AI platforms with 100.4 million global daily visits, followed by Bing.com with 57.3 million, Google’s Gemini with 7.5 million, and Character.ai with 6.5 million. DeepSeek was also present in the rankings, but much lower down with just 88,200 visits.

From there, DeepSeek began a slow but steady climb, reaching 336,800 visits on Christmas Day before hitting 1 million daily views on December 29. After that, its growth accelerated rapidly. On January 25, DeepSeek moved into third place in the AI rankings table with 8.2 million daily visits, surpassing Google Gemini in fourth with 7.1 million, but still trailing behind Bing with 56.4 million and the leader, ChatGPT, with 99.3 million.

Seeing a decline

DeepSeek’s best day was January 28, when it recorded 49 million daily visits. Since then, however, its numbers have been steadily declining. On January 29, visits dropped to 40.8 million, then fell further to 34.1 million on January 30, and it continued decreasing to 29.2 million on January 31.

Week-over-week, DeepSeek has experienced meteoric growth of 614.2%, but the recent downward trend suggests it may be losing momentum. Many users, driven by curiosity, have tried the platform but either found it lacking compared to more established competitors or simply didn’t find enough reason to continue using it regularly.

The distrust Western governments and businesses have of Chinese tech products won't have helped either. ChatGPT’s numbers dropped over that three-day period from January 29 also, but it comfortably remains top dog, with 121.9 million views on January 31.

Whether DeepSeek will recover and regain its momentum remains to be seen, but its rapid rise means it has already made a lasting impact in the competitive AI landscape.

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The Dyson V15s Submarine and WashG1 are both capable of mopping your floors. In fact, they're the only models in Dyson's floor-care lineup that can do so. In this article, we'll compare the two, so you can see which model will suit your needs best.

The V15s Detect Submarine launched in 2023 and is a hybrid vacuum and mop. It's a V15 Detect vacuum, with an extra floorhead just for mopping. The vacuuming capabilities are advanced, but mopping functionality is relatively basic, and both are operated via a trigger that needs to be continually depressed. You can get the full low-down in our Dyson V15s Submarine review.

In contrast, the WashG1 is a dedicated wet cleaner. It launched in 2024 and offers more advanced mopping capabilities: there are multiple mop modes to choose from; it will separate liquid from solid waste for easier disposal; and it has self-cleaning capabilities. It's operated via a single-press button. It can't vacuum at all, though. Find out more in our full Dyson WashG1 review.

Which model you go for will depend on your needs. The V15s Detect Submarine is great if you're short on space, and want a two-in-one appliance for vacuuming and mopping. It's also perhaps a better choice if you only have a bit of hard floor, because the water tanks are far smaller than those of the WashG1. However, be aware that a design flaw means it's very easy to spill dirty water back onto your newly clean floors.

Those with lots of hard floor or wanting to deal with bigger or more challenging spillages would be better opting for the WashG1; but it's a dedicated model that can't clean your carpets, too.

The WashG1 is specifically a wet cleaner, with no vacuuming capabilities (Image credit: Future)

Both are premium priced appliances, with the WashG1 the cheaper of the two. However, when you factor in that the V15s Submarine also comes with all the capabilities of the (not cheap) V15 vacuum, it appears to be slightly better value for money.

That's the short version; read on for a more in-depth look at how the Dyson V15s Submarine vs WashG1 compare.

The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine is a V15 stick vacuum with an extra floorhead for mopping (Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar) Dyson WashG1 vs V15s Detect Submarine: price

• V15s Submarine is more expensive, at $949.99 / £799.99 / AU$949
• WashG1 is cheaper at $699.99 / £599.99 / AU$1,549
• Both are premium appliances – Submarine is perhaps better value

In the US, the WashG1 has a list price of $699.99, while the V15s Detect Submarine is $949.99 at full price.

In the UK, it's £599.99 for the WashG1 and £799.99 for the V15s Detect Submarine.

Finally, shoppers in Australia can get the WashG1 for AU$949. There are a couple of different V15s options here – the standard model is called the Absolute and costs AU$1,549, and there's an upgraded option with features borrowed from the Gen5detect vacuum, for AU$1,649.

Those are all the list prices when purchasing direct from Dyson – it doesn't account for deals or differences in price when shopping via third-party retailers.

The V15s costs a fair bit more in all territories, but you're perhaps getting better value for money with the V15s, because you're also getting all the functionality of the V15 vacuum. Prices for the V15 on its own start from $749.99 / £649.99 / AU$1,449.

Note that the Submarine floorhead isn't compatible with any other stick vacuums, even the standard V15 – the software has been rewired in the V15s to support vacuuming and mopping.

Dyson WashG1 vs V15s Detect Submarine: specs Dyson WashG1 vs V15s Detect Submarine: design

• V15s Submarine is a V15 vacuum with an extra mop floorhead
• Dyson WashG1 is a dedicated wet floor cleaner; no vacuuming abilities
• WashG1 has larger water tanks and multiple mop rollers

The V15s Detect Submarine looks just like one of Dyson's newest flagship cordless stick vacuums, with a motor, filter, dust bin, and cyclone array. In fact, that's exactly what it is – the difference is entirely in the additional mopping floorhead.

The standard version is based on the V15 vacuum. In Australia only, there's also an upgraded version that's more similar to the Gen5detect, with a crevice tool integrated into the wand, and more advanced filtration.

The V15s Detect Submarine will typically come with two vacuuming floorheads (plus the separate mop). The Motorbar floorhead is suitable for both hard floors and carpet, and is the head that needs to be attached if you want to use automatic suction adjustment. The Fluffy floorhead is specialized for use on hard floors only, and has a built-in laser to illuminate hidden dirt. You'll also get a selection of detail tools (the exact bundle, including specific floorheads, will vary by territory, version and retailer, so do double-check before you buy.) All of this means the V15s can be used for a wide variety of vacuum cleaning tasks.

The mop floorhead contains one velvety roller, and clean and dirty water tanks. Unlike most of today's best wet-and-dry vacuums, there's no suction when the machine is in mopping mode.

The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine's mop floorhead has just one velvety mop roller (Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar)

The WashG1 has no vacuuming capabilities (so no suction at all) – and is a tool dedicated to only mopping. The only cleaner head comprises two high-density microfiber rollers for liquid spillages, with a plate that presses into them to squeeze out dirty water. The floorhead also includes secondary rollers with big nylon bristles, designed to tackle solid mess.

A key point of difference is that the WashG1 will separate solid and liquid waste as it cleans. So while the dirty water ends up in the dirty water tank, any solid debris is channeled into a tray that sits in the base of the floorhead, ready to be tapped into the bin. This makes emptying easier and is good news for long-term maintenance.

The WashG1 has multiple different rollers, and a tray for solid waste (Image credit: Future)

The setup of the clean and dirty water tanks on the V15s Detect Submarine and the WashG1 is quite different, and on balance the latter is much better.

The V15s has a small bottle for clean water, and the tank for dirty water is hidden behind the roller. This dirty water compartment isn't sealed, so when you're done mopping and remove the floorhead, you'll end up sloshing dirty water over your newly cleaned floor.

The water tanks on the V15s are small, and integrated into the floorhead (Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar)

On the WashG1, the dirty and clean water tanks are transparent and mounted on the front of the handle, making them more easily visible and accessible. Dyson also specifically addressed the Submarine's leaking issue when designing the WashG1. There, each tank is individually sealed with a screw top. I isn't quite perfect – the caps don't screw on especially deeply, and on test we found that unless handled carefully, the water inlet could also occasionally leak dirty water. Overall, though, it's far, far better than on the Submarine.

The tanks on the WashG1 are much larger and sit on the front of the handle (Image credit: Future)

Another thing to be aware of is that the water tanks on the WashG1 are far larger than those on the Submarine. The WashG1 will hold about a liter of clean water at a time, while the Submarine will hold only 300ml. The Submarine will manage roughly a large living room before you'll need to refill – if you have a number of rooms you want to mop, you'll get round faster and with fewer interruptions with the WashG1.

Controls and screen

The V15s Detect Submarine is operated by a trigger, which needs to be continually depressed for use, whereas the WashG1 has the far more user-friendly single-press button.

The Submarine has just one cleaning mode, plus there's no way to choose different water levels (even via the MyDyson app). In contrast, the WashG1 has many: three different hydration modes, alongside a no-water mode and a Max mode. That last one is the wettest of the lot, and is designed for ingrained dirt.

The V15s has one water mode, and the LCD screen shows remaining clean water (Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar)

Both models feature a small LCD screen on which to display a range of information. The V15s uses this to deliver real-time reports on what's being sucked up when in vacuum mode; in mop mode, it will display the percentage of clean water available, so you know when you're running out. Unfortunately, it doesn't convey when the otherwise hidden dirty water tank is nearing full, which exacerbates the spillage issue.

The WashG1 has various modes, and uses its screen to provide a range of info (Image credit: Future)

The WashG1 uses its screen to show the hydration mode you're using, and also provides a countdown of how much battery life remains. It display graphics informing you if you need to complete any tasks – so prior to self-cleaning, it will let you know if you need to empty the solid waste tray, for example.

In terms of tank sensors, Dyson has gone the opposite way to the V15s, and will inform you when the WashG1's dirty water tank is full but not when the clean water is empty. However, you can view this for yourself because the tank on this model is mounted on the handle.

Dock

You can dock the Submarine on a wall-mounted charger, to keep it out of the way. Plus, it comes with a drip tray for when the Submarine floorhead is wet. This is useful for catching spillages when removing the mop head, too. Alternatively, certain versions of the V15s (including our review model) come with a "Floor Dok Multi", which is freestanding and includes spaces for all the different attachments.

The WashG1 has a minimal floor dock (Image credit: Future)

The WashG1 can't be wall-mounted, although to its credit, the floor dock is very minimal – only marginally bigger than the floorhead, and very lightweight.

Dyson WashG1 vs V15s Detect Submarine: maintenance

• WashG1 has a self-clean mode; V15s does not
• Both have removable and washable rollers
• WashG1 also separates solid from liquid waste for easier disposal

The V15s Submarine's mop roller is removable and fully washable. In fact, the mop floorhead comes apart and can be completely rinsed out. (For vacuuming, the dust cup is the easy-empty Dyson style one.)

On the V15s, the whole mop section can be rinsed out (Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar)

A point of difference is that the WashG1 comes with a self-clean cycle. Taking two minutes to run, it's designed to be used after every mopping session, when you place the cleaner back on its dock. It runs clean water through the machine and uses a brush bar to clear any lingering solid debris from the rollers, then completes a no-water cycle to dry everything off a bit.

This needs to be supplemented with occasional deep cleans. For this, all the rollers can be removed and rinsed, as can the solid waste tray. The rest of the floorhead doesn't come off, though. The water tanks are large enough to get your whole hand in, making them super easy to clean, and there are no sharp corners where grime can build up.

Dyson WashG1 vs V15s Detect Submarine: performance

• WashG1 has multiple modes, and can handle more challenging cleans
• Dirty water tank of V15s is open and spills easily when removed
• WashG1's single-press operation is less fiddly than V15s' trigger

Dyson always shines when it comes to maneuverability, and both the V15s Detect Submarine and Wash G1 are easy to drive around your home and great at pivoting around furniture and getting into corners. The mop parts are motorized, so they gently propel each machine forward in use, which helps negate the effect of the extra weight added by the water tanks.

The weight is distributed differently on each machine. The V15s has a heavy vacuum motor and battery at the top, whereas much of the WashG1's weight is in the base. Operation of the WashG1 is simpler – you just press a button once, whereas on the V15s you need to compress the trigger continually as you clean.

The placement of the rollers is slightly better on the WashG1 versus the V15s Submarine. On the WashG1, the rollers fill almost the entire width and length of the floorhead, and there's a thin cover that prevents wet marks on your baseboards. On the V15s, there's slightly more of a gap along the short edges of the floorhead and the cover doesn't drop down so far at the front, meaning you can end up with damp baseboards. However, both are generally very good at getting up close to the edges of rooms.

The floorhead design is slightly better on the WashG1 (right) in terms of the roller placement (Image credit: Future)

In terms of vacuuming, the V15s Detect Submarine boasts superb suction and a very powerful motor, and the vacuuming accessories are well designed and useful. An auto mode adjusts suction based on the dirt level on the floor, for a thorough, battery-efficient clean.

Since there's no counterpoint on the WashG1, we won't get too in depth on the vacuum performance here – head direct to our Dyson V15 Detect review (the same base model) for more detail including the results of our suction tests – but the short version is we have no complaints on this front. It's one of the very best cordless vacuums on the market.

The V15s offers excellent vacuuming (Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar)

Moving on to mopping. Both the WashG1 and Dyson V15s Detect Submarine are great at tackling wet spills, small bits of debris, and mud. The WashG1 has multiple mopping modes and various rollers, which means it's better at tackling tougher messes over the Submarine, which only has one mode and one roller.

The Submarine also isn't really geared towards liquid and debris spillages – cereal and milk, for instance. If you do use it to tackle any small bits of solid waste, you'll need to make sure you clean it out thoroughly afterwards. Also bear in mind that because solids and liquids aren't separated, you'll need to account for that when getting rid of waste. The WashG1, on the other hand, helpfully splits solid and liquid, so you can pour the liquid down the sink, and throw solid waste into the trash.

This tray on the WashG1 collects solid waste (Image credit: Future)

The mop functionality of both models can tackle dust, but not as efficiently as a vacuum cleaner – so if you have only hard floors and opt for a WashG1, you might still want a vacuum cleaner in your arsenal. The Submarine, however, has a vacuum floorhead(s) for that.

Neither cleaner is especially aggressive in its agitation – neither will "scrub: your floors, nor get into grouting cracks. In addition, both are really designed for use on perfectly flat floors, rather than those that might be uneven (this is true of the vast majority of wet cleaners).

Both the WashG1 and V15s are cordless cleaners. The WashG1's maximum battery life is 35 minutes, which isn't as long as your average cordless stick vac, but remains decent. The motor will automatically pause when the handle is clicked upright, so battery isn't wasted. The V15s promises a maximum of 60 minutes of cleaning, but in vacuum mode. We don't have a record of how long it will last in mopping mode, but we'd assume at least as long as the WashG1.

Dyson WashG1 vs V15s Detect Submarine: which should I buy? Buy the Dyson WashG1 if...

You're dealing with lots of dirt

With its multiple wet cleaning modes, various rollers, and separation of solid and liquid waste, the WashG1 is set up to deal with more demanding mopping tasks and is far better at coping with messes that combine solid and liquid waste. You'll also appreciate the self-clean cycle.View Deal

You want to do lots of mopping at once

The WashG1 has far larger water tanks, so you'll be able to mop large areas without interruption. The V15s is good for maybe a large living room before you'll need to refill.View Deal

You don't want to press a trigger to clean

It might seem like a small thing, but the V15s' trigger operation is annoying in longer use – the WashG1's one-press button makes for much more comfortable cleaning.View Deal

Buy the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine if...

You're short on space

As well as combining two machines – vacuum and mop – in one, the Submarine can be wall-mounted when not in use. The WashG1 needs to dock on the floor. Do note that you'll need to store the Submarine's mop floorhead separately, though.View Deal

You also want to vacuum

The WashG1 is no good for your carpets, and even if you don't have any, if you ever wanted to also vacuum your hard floors, stairs or furniture, the V15s is more than up to the task.View Deal

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to balk at choice; don’t get me wrong, I like to have a few drinks to choose from at a bar or be able to decide how I like my steak cooked. But increasingly, there’s almost too much choice in this world. Heck, just choosing what to watch is a quagmire of streaming platforms to pick, let alone selecting a show or movie.

However, the choice I hate most is the need to choose between performance or graphics on the current-generation gaming consoles. This is really a more recent phenomenon in console gaming, ushered in by the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X that arrived mid-way through the last generation, and one that I think diminished the joy at the heart of console gaming.

This dichotomy of choice was hammered home with some time I got to spend with the PS5 Pro.

PS5 Pro cut my gaming woe

(Image credit: Future)

As someone lucky enough to have a PS5 at launch, I’ve not fully bought into this mid-generation refresh.

I appreciate the extra power, storage, and design tweaks the console offers but I don’t think it offered enough for me to consider an upgrade; the uptick in graphics fidelity on already great-looking PS5 games feels like a case study in diminishing returns. And super-high frame rates don’t matter to me all that much on consoles; it's nice to have but when I’m flopped on a sofa, I don’t need to have the snappiest gaming response.

Where the PS5 Pro did shine for me was the fact that in a lot of titles, it - and the magic of Sony's PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) tech - let me have both a 60 frames per second (fps) frame rate and the best graphics settings. Or in the case of Horizon Forbidden West a sensible hybrid of the two that balanced performance with fidelity.

When looking at The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, I could simply pick the PS5 Pro mode and get to playing. Outside of professional tech journalist curiosity, there was no need for me to flirt with the other graphics modes. This was great as it nixed the need to try different modes and agonize over which is best – I hate losing out on a graphical showcase but then some games really do need a smooth 60fps to feel playable; I'm looking at you Elden Ring.

Ultimately, with console gaming I just want to play a game in the fashion the developer intended it – if that means 30fps but with ray-traced lighting so be it, if it means 60fps with some fuzzy shadows, I’m equally happy. I don’t want to choose, I just want to play; tweaking and fine-tuning graphics is best left for PC gaming, which I feel is a wholly different experience.

Crushing choice paralysis

(Image credit: Future)

With my PS5, and indeed my Xbox Series X, each time I try a new game, I spend a good bit of time not immersing myself in the action but trying to decide which graphics mode was best, squinting hard at my LG C1 OLED – LG C-series OLEDs make some of best gaming TVs so check them out – to try and see whether a drop in model texture or slight lighting changes was worth halving my frame rate.

The PS5 Pro acted as a medium to remove this choice. I could simply turn on the console and get to gaming, without all the graphics mode shenanigans; that’s the way console gaming should be.

But the downside to all of this is it’s got me thinking that the PS5 Pro should have been the PlayStation Sony released in the first place.

Make console generations great again

(Image credit: Future)

Now that might seem like an absurd comment as it would mean basically waiting an extra four years for a new PlayStation and extending the life of the PS4 past the decade mark. But given the PS5 launched amid the COVID-19 pandemic and all that came with it in terms of console shortages and game development being disrupted, I’d argue that we could have waited longer for a new console generation.

Furthermore, I’m keen to see new consoles that offer a real generational leap, something I feel the PS5 and Xbox Series X didn’t quite provide. I love the loading speeds of SSD storage and some of the things the DualSense controller can do are great.

Yet, I’ve not really seen many games that have felt truly next-gen, not just in terms of visual clout but also smart systems. And I feel this was crystallized with the number of games that launched as cross-generation titles in the first two years of this console generation.

True 4K 60fps gaming still feels like a stretch for this console generation - especially natively - and understandably so given the sheer pixel-pushing demands of 4K. It’s only with the PS5 Pro and advanced upscaling techniques that we can get close to that console gaming nirvana.

My solution to this is one that happened with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 generation, especially with the latter. That generation lasted eight years, offering a big jump in graphics and capabilities from the previous generation and a move towards Full HD gaming. At the time this was seen as a long generation, with no mid-gen ‘Pro’ models. What we got, as a result, was developers really pushing the machines to their limit in a fashion that felt rather exciting at the time.

(Image credit: emodpk/Shutterstock)

Case in point, 2012’s Halo 4 looked almost like a new-generation game on the Xbox 360, with it really pushing what the console could do at the end of its life.

The PS3, the younger machine of that generation, was also pushed to the max by the time The Last of Us arrived in June 2013, a mere handful of months before the PS4 was revealed. Naughty Dog’s pivot into a post-apocalyptic setting looked, and still looks, great on the PS3 and really showcased what developers could do as their knowledge of the console architecture matured.

Now I feel we’re in a situation where mid-gen refreshes somewhat stymie the idea and ambition of pushing hardware to the max, and also make the leap to another generation feel less impactful; for a gamer of my vintage, this feels underwhelming.

My hope is that this current console generation won’t come to a close until we have the hardware to really bring in a big jump in visual fidelity and performance at a palatable price. And if that means pushing the PS5 and PS5 Pro until their fans sound like a jet engine, so be it.

Of course, (glances sideways) that’s not going to stop us from speculating on what we’d like to see from the PS6…

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• High-power lasers and ethanol create scrambled holograms to encrypt data
• AI was trained to decrypt the data with 90-95% accuracy
• The optical encryption tech won't hit the market soon as some shortcomings inhibit its practicality

A team of Greek scientists has developed an optical encryption system that could potentially render traditional hacking methods obsolete.

In a research paper published by Optica, the researchers behind the system revealed it combines artificial intelligence (AI) and laser-generated holograms to provide high-level data protection that could be virtually impossible to crack.

Unlike traditional encryption methods, which rely on mathematical algorithms, this optical approach uses the physical properties of light, making it resistant to attacks from even the most advanced computers, including quantum machines.

How it works: scrambling light for security

“From rapidly evolving digital currencies to governance, healthcare, communications and social networks, the demand for robust protection systems to combat digital fraud continues to grow,” said research team leader Stelios Tzortzakis, from the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas and the University of Crete.

To this end, the team's optical encryption system relies on the chaotic pattern produced when a high-power laser interacts with a small container of ethanol due to scrambled light beams. This process, enhanced by thermal turbulence within the liquid, ensures that the original information is hidden beyond recognition, making it nearly impossible to decode using conventional methods.

For a way to retrieve the encrypted data, the researchers turned to AI. By training a neural network to recognize and decode the scrambled holograms, they achieved a 90-95% accuracy rate in retrieving the original images.

"We came up with the idea of training neural networks to recognize the incredibly fine details of the scrambled light patterns," Tzortzakis continued.

"By creating billions of complex connections, or synapses, within the neural networks, we were able to reconstruct the original light beam shapes. This meant we had a way to create the decryption key that was specific for each encryption system configuration.”

“The method we developed is highly reliable even in harsh and unpredictable conditions, addressing real-world challenges like tough weather that often limit the performance of free-space optical systems."

Finally, he said that "[the team's] new system achieves an exceptional level of encryption by utilizing a neural network to generate the decryption key, which can only be created by the owner of the encryption system.”

The team has tested the system by encoding and decoding thousands of images, including of animals, tools, everyday objects, and handwritten digits. However. the technology isn't quite ready for commercialization, as the current laser system used in the encryption process is bulky and expensive, thereby limiting its practicality and affordability.

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Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, February 8 (game #608).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #609) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SUPER
• BOWL
• PARTY
• PERSON
• JUMBO
• TRON
• ALIEN
• MONSTER
• DUNE
• SPOON
• GIANT
• CHARACTER
• INDIVIDUAL
• POT
• AVATAR
• LADLE

NYT Connections today (game #609) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Very large
• GREEN: Broth essentials
• BLUE: independent human 
• PURPLE: Big screen titles

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #609) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: MASSIVE 
• GREEN: USED WHEN SERVING SOUP 
• BLUE: SOMEBODY 
• PURPLE: SCI-FI FRANCHISES 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #609) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #609, are…

• YELLOW: MASSIVE GIANT, JUMBO, MONSTER, SUPER
• GREEN: USED WHEN SERVING SOUP BOWL, LADLE, POT, SPOON
• BLUE: SOMEBODY CHARACTER, INDIVIDUAL, PARTY, PERSON
• PURPLE: SCI-FI FRANCHISES ALIEN, AVATAR, DUNE, TRON

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Inevitably, the NYT put some timely misdirection into today's game, including SUPER BOWL PARTY as the first three words in the initial grid. But was there a Super Bowl-themed group? No, there was not. That would be far too simple.

As it happens, I whizzed through today’s puzzle anyway, and was shocked to get the purple group first, thinking initially that the four SCI-FI FRANCHISES must be some kind of cunning trap. Not entirely sure you can call TRON a franchise, but I’ll set that debate aside.

For MASSIVE, I thought I was looking for description of the enormous screens they have at some NFL arenas – like the whopping 50-yard wide JUMBO at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.

Thank you, Connections, for making me feel clever.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 8 February, game #608)

• YELLOW: INFO ON A BASEBALL CARD BIO, PLAYER, STAT, TEAM
• GREEN: SCRUNCH, AS FABRIC BUNCH, GATHER, PUCKER, RUFFLE
• BLUE: TIME ADVERBS LATER, NOW, SOON, THEN
• PURPLE: — FOOD FAST, FINGER, JUNK, SOUL

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, February 8 (game #342).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #343) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… We are the champions!

NYT Strands today (game #343) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• PORT
• SPORT
• BOOM
• SACK
• PURSE
• WOOL

NYT Strands today (game #343) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• The final game

NYT Strands today (game #343) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 4th row

Last side: right, 4th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #343) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #343, are…

• PARTY
• TROPHY
• TACKLES
• TOUCHDOWNS
• COMMERCIALS
• SPANGRAM: SUPERBOWL

• My rating: Easy
• My score: 1 hint

The world will be watching when Super Bowl 59 kicks off in New Orleans on Sunday, and unlike any other sporting event on the planet a large proportion of those watching will be tuning in for the half-time show. Or to count the multiple shots of Taylor Swift in the stands (the most dangerous drinking game of the Super Bowl is to take a drink every time the cameras pan in her direction).

Away from the pitch the most incredible element to those outside the US is the commercials and the money spent to secure a coveted spot, making it the pinnacle of the advertising calendar as well as the sporting one.

It’s not hard to see why companies pay so much. 30 years on and I still think of frogs whenever I see a can of Budweiser.

Also, tangent, spangrams that end in the middle of the puzzle — not a fan.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, 8 February, game #342)

• WORKING
• HOUNDS
• HERDING
• TOYS
• TERRIERS
• SPORTING
• SPANGRAM: DOG GROUP

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Saturday, February 8 (game #1111).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1112) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1112) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1112) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1112) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2+2.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1112) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• T

• S

• T

• S

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1112) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1112, are…

• TAPIR
• SHAKE
• TOKEN
• SEVEN

A day where everything clicked for me today and the words unfolded into each other very nicely – SEVEN giving me the green “EN” for TOKEN which revealed the “K” in SHAKE.

As for TAPIR – it took me a while to wrestle in from my noggin, but there aren’t that many words that end in “IR”, a beast as rare as its name.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1112) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1112, are…

• ELATE
• BIDDY
• ASSET
• EMCEE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1111, Saturday 8 February: AFOOT, ALIKE, HUMUS, TOWEL
• Quordle #1110, Friday 7 February: PETAL, ABASE, AMONG, CORER
• Quordle #1109, Thursday 6 February: MADAM, SCAMP, FAUNA, TRACK
• Quordle #1108, Wednesday 5 February: SIXTH, VERVE, BLURB, CACTI
• Quordle #1107, Tuesday 4 February: BIRTH, DRAWN, MILKY, JOIST
• Quordle #1106, Monday 3 February: SLEET, TENSE, SEIZE, SCAMP
• Quordle #1105, Sunday 2 February: LOUSY, PENNE, CHUMP, SALVE
• Quordle #1104, Saturday 1 February: FACET, BLISS, FLUFF, FRANK
• Quordle #1103, Friday 31 January: PARER, SYNOD, BRAWN, BANJO
• Quordle #1102, Thursday 30 January: WEEDY, CHIRP, STALE, SUGAR
• Quordle #1101, Wednesday 29 January: CROWN, SCENE, AGILE, CRANK
• Quordle #1100, Tuesday 28 January: TOKEN, DAISY, INANE, PLIED
• Quordle #1099, Monday 27 January: ANGEL, GLOBE, MAYOR, BRAVE
• Quordle #1098, Sunday 26 January: WATER, ORBIT, BRIDE, TOUCH
• Quordle #1097, Saturday 25 January: GIVER, GROOM, GUSTO, MAKER
• Quordle #1096, Friday 24 January: GRIND, STOCK, SERVE, TOUCH
• Quordle #1095, Thursday 23 January: RUGBY, SASSY, WORRY, BANAL
• Quordle #1094, Wednesday 22 January: SLANT, TRUNK, WOOZY, EATEN
• Quordle #1093, Tuesday 21 January: CHART, VIGOR, PRINT, SPAWN
• Quordle #1092, Monday 20 January: SIXTY, THONG, TATTY, ROBIN

• PlayStation Network has been down for just over 12 hours
• While the outage appeared to settle after an initial spike, it has worsened again in the last few hours
• We don't yet have an official cause or ETA for when PSN will get back to normal

Editor's note: We've now launched a PlayStation Network outage live blog to bring you updates on the problems.

The PlayStation Network has been down for just over 12 hours at this point, in what appears to be a major outage, and one that’s still very much ongoing, sadly.

Based on reports from Downdetector there was a huge spike of complaints initially, peaking at over 14,000 reports, and that appeared to settle down somewhat – notably without being completely resolved – before another smaller peak has been hit, and sustained, over the last few hours.

Those wanting to grab a weekend session of Call of Duty on PlayStation, or whatever their preferred online poison, may find that tricky right now.

Some users are telling us that they are successfully getting onto PSN, but there are plenty of other reports on X from gamers who can’t log in – and the official status looks, shall we say, shaky.

An unfortunate array of red lights

According to the PlayStation North American support account on X, “some users might be currently experiencing issues with PSN,” but there are no further details given, or any idea of an ETA for a fix here.

We are aware some users might be currently experiencing issues with PSN.For more details: https://t.co/NJX2xGusZMFebruary 8, 2025

That post on X just points to the PlayStation Network service status dashboard, which currently displays a rather worrying array of red lights.

There are reported sign-in issues for PSN, and we’re advised: “You might have difficulty signing in or creating an account for PlayStation Network. We’re working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.”

The red flag in the ‘Gaming and social’ part of the dashboard notes: “You might have difficulty launching games, apps or network features.” Again, a resolution is promised ASAP, but as you’re probably aware, these are boilerplate messages. It’s not like Sony wouldn’t be working to fix this quickly, is it?

For now, though, we remain rather in the dark at to any causes, but given that the red lights extend beyond PSN gaming and log ins, to also encompass the PlayStation Store, as well as PlayStation Video and Direct, this is looking like it might be a thorny one. Particularly given the prolonged nature of the outage so far.

We’ll keep a close eye on the situation and update this story if we hear anything more concrete from PlayStation support. But about all gamers can do right now is keep their fingers firmly crossed that this doesn’t turn out to be as complex as some of the indicators here are suggesting – and just keep trying to log in.

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• Nvidia’s RTX 5090 and 5080 graphics cards are experiencing nasty issues
• This could be tied in to the latest drivers, given problems are seemingly also affecting RTX 4000 GPUs
• Nvidia is “investigating the reported issues” and hopefully we’ll hear more from Team Green before long

Nvidia is investigating reports of problems with its new RTX 5000 GPUs which is causing some graphics cards to crash. The issues appear to be occurring repeatedly for some, in a variety of circumstances, potentially leaving Team Green with a major headache around its new cards.

The troubles began when Nvidia pushed out a new graphics driver (version 572.16) and people started experiencing crashes with some PC games. After that came reports of the RTX 5090 misfiring badly, including crashes happening, or the GPU not being recognized by the host PC. (And even the odd tale of a Blackwell flagship being bricked, but we must be very careful around those rare assertions).

The problems now seem more widespread, and are apparently affecting both RTX 5090 and 5080 models, with repeated crashes occurring as noted – often freezes leaving you staring at a black screen.

Part of the difficulty here is the wide range of circumstances that these different problems are manifesting in. From apparently non-functional GPUs to issues with multi-monitor setups, there’s a bewildering array of nuances to the individual complaints from RTX 5090 and 5080 owners.

Nvidia told PC Gamer that it is now “investigating the reported issues with the RTX 50-series,” and I’ve got a feeling that this presumably deep dive into what’s going on here is going to take some time.

(Image credit: Nvidia) Analysis: Clean install to cure driver blues?

Clearly, the volume of reports across the usual forums (Reddit, and Nvidia’s own message board) has prompted Nvidia to let us know it is indeed taking action on this front. Until we hear further feedback from Team Green, all we can do is trawl through a whole pile of suggested fixes, some of which work for some folks, but not for others.

However, this can of worms does appear to be related to the latest driver, an idea backed up by a scattering of reports of problems with RTX 4000 graphics cards and this most recent GPU driver. As PC Gamer theorizes, these gremlins might pertain to old driver files kicking about in the background, clashing with the new setup somehow after the user has installed this latest driver.

That’s why our sister site advises a full driver wipe (using Display Driver Uninstaller, or DDU, to fully remove every bit of the old graphics driver; this doesn’t happen with a normal install – tiny bits of driver detritus can remain) before setting up your shiny new RTX 5000 GPU.

So, driver-wise, your choices are to roll back to the previous Nvidia graphics driver before this latest release, or do a full wipe (using DDU as mentioned) before reinstalling the latest driver, keeping your fingers firmly crossed.

Or, just live with your gaming PC as it is – if the crashing isn’t excessively annoying in your particular case – in the hope that Nvidia deploys a hotfix soon enough. It’s possible this could happen, as one recently arrived to solve the crashing issues with a couple of games in the latest driver.

Meanwhile, if you’re in ‘live with it’ mode, there are some common workarounds you can try which are simple and have done the trick for some folks. They include turning off HDR in Windows 11 (assuming you have it on, of course) and reducing the refresh rate of your monitor to 60Hz.

The latter appears to have worked for a fair few people to resolve some, if not all, of the crashing. So that’s one to have a shot with, definitely. It might also help to explain why multi-monitor setups are seemingly potentially more wonky, as if there are monitor-related issues in the driver, then obviously they’re more likely to happen in that scenario.

Bear in mind that as advised in the past, some RTX 5090 owners have found a solution in going into the BIOS and dropping down their graphics card from using PCIe 5.0 to PCIe 4.0. That will mean the GPU runs slower, but not in a major way, and if it means a crash-free experience then clearly that’s a much better path forward for now, as a temporary fix, until Nvidia comes out with its report (and hopefully a fix).

As already noted, I’ve a feeling that the solution might be a tricky one here, so I’m not overly optimistic about a quick hotfix – but you never know.

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• Nextcloud Talk ensures full data control and privacy
• AI features help streamline workflows and enhance productivity
• Interactive whiteboards allow for real-time brainstorming sessions

Many companies rely on popular platforms like Microsoft Teams, but there are concerns about data privacy and digital sovereignty which have led to the demand for alternatives that offer more control and flexibility.

For example, Microsoft Teams only recently introduced an alert for messages from external contracts after a spate of phishing attacks using the platform.

Nextcloud Talk, an open source online collaboration platform that prioritizes data protection, promises to offer workers the ability to work securely from anywhere while maintaining full data sovereignty and control over sensitive information.

Secure collaboration tools are essential for modern teams

Unlike browser-based tools that require constant tab-switching, the Nextcloud Talk desktop app integrates directly into a user’s workflow, providing real-time notifications and easy participation in calls. With this dedicated app, teams can access communication tools like chat, video calls, and webinars all in one place.

Nextcloud says its platform focuses on high-security communication. Unlike many collaboration platforms that depend on US-based providers, Nextcloud Talk ensures that all data is fully compliant with GDPR, making it an ideal choice for organizations and public institutions looking to remain compliant when processing data in the EU.

It also supports deployment in airgap environments, where communication networks are isolated from external networks for maximum security, ensuring that sensitive conversations and files remain secure.

Furthermore, it also comes with AI features that help users to simplify everyday tasks. Its AI can generate summaries of video conferences and chat logs, allowing users to quickly review key points from meetings. It can also assist in creating to-do lists, helping teams stay organized and on track with their projects.

Collaboration often requires more than just communication, it also involves brainstorming and sharing ideas in real time. To support this, Nextcloud Talk offers an interactive whiteboard feature that allows teams to visually collaborate during calls, and real-time in-call document editing

For those who have had to sit through one too many chats about the weather, Nextcloud Talk has introduced a feature that automatically ends calls after a set time, encouraging teams to maintain effective and focused meetings without dragging on unnecessarily.

"Companies need powerful collaboration tools – but most solutions are not GDPR-compliant and lock organizations into dependence on U.S. tech giants," says Nextcloud CEO Frank Karlitschek.

"We address the limitations of other platforms by delivering true digital sovereignty and full transparency. Our tools enable organizations to manage their communication with complete control over their data, independently and securely," Karlitschek added

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The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is one of the best phones in Australia, and in 2025 it’ll be a difficult handset to beat as our attention turns to the Google Pixel 10 Pro and the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max coming later this year. It only improves upon the best cameraphone of 2024, the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and it continues a trend set by the S24. In 2025, software took over the stage almost entirely in San Jose at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event.

Yes, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra received a new rounded design that makes it look more like its standard S25 and S25 Plus counterparts. Samsung also decided to axe Bluetooth features from the S Pen with the S25 Ultra, which enabled users to take photos with the phone’s included stylus (super useful for group shots and selfies, though Samsung said it’s not a popular feature). Hardware undoubtedly changed and indeed the phone did receive its annual CPU/GPU performance buff – but in 2025, Samsung’s more interested in software.

With the launch of One UI 7, Samsung’s app icons, widgets, status bar and other core software features have gotten a refresh. They feel more efficient, space-aware and better in line with the customization that many users crave from their smartphones. When I first received this phone, my colleagues and I were saddened at how limited the ‘Good Lock’ OS-modifying tool had become with One UI 7, but after toying with the operating system, I’ve come to realize that I could finally get by without it.

Better yet, the introduction of the Now Bar and the all-new Now Brief are actually useful productivity features that look good on the display, and they’re my favorite features of the launch.

Whether or not Samsung’s useful Now Brief page, which generates an AI-assisted snapshot of the rest of your day (or next day), effectively encompasses what has become the popular perception of AI (incorporating the use of large-language models and the like) feels beside the point. This is a genuinely useful feature and to some extent, I’m disappointed that it has been tarnished by the ‘AI’ tag that justifiably puts a bad taste in people’s mouths.

To that end, we can ignore the elephant in the room no longer – the messy state of affairs that is AI on a Samsung phone. Such phones are torn between Galaxy AI tools (many of which function on-device) and Google Gemini, and there’s cause for concern in this discrepancy.

So let’s chat Samsung’s latest OS polish, its handy new tricks, and its spotty AI-fication.

(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / TechRadar) Hello, beautiful

I’ll quickly admit that Samsung’s approach to UI design up until now hasn’t been my favorite. Coming from iOS in 2022, the Google Pixel range won me over with the uniform aesthetic that makes it the closest thing to an iPhone on the Android side of the fence. Samsung’s phones, albeit partly due to their overstuffing of bloatware with a fresh install, tend to have a more tech-savvy aesthetic – showing more icons on a space, settings icons at all times across the settings bar (top of the display) and generally sharing more information than is necessary for a casual user.

That doesn't seem to be the case with the Samsung Galaxy S25 series and One UI 7. With this launch, subtle but sweeping changes have been made to the home screen, including app icon scale choice, dark icons in dark mode when ‘Color Palette’ is applied to apps, and expanded folders (which you can tap to open apps without opening said folder).

One of my big reservations about Samsung phones up until now has been the cluttered Status Bar, showing oh so many symbols that don’t need to be displayed at all times (for example, the 5G icon, NFC icon and Bluetooth icon, to name a few). These icons have now been relegated to the status bar only when accessing the quick settings and notifications menu (accessed by swiping down), while app notifications continue to persist on the left of the status bar (unless disabled).

(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / TechRadar)

Widgets and lock screen/notifications menu pop-ups have also received a glow-up, and are now rounded at the corners and displaying more information on the home screen. However, to activate these notification ‘cards’ on the lock screen, you’ll need to do so in your lock screen settings (switching over from icons to cards).

It’s the little things that add up, surrounding the introduction of two big things. The Now bar comes first; it’s a multi-function widget that appears contextually at the bottom of the lock screen. I really love how it expands when tapped while playing music, displays timers and how it communicates Google Maps info. It’s great having it so low on the screen, so it’s more accessible one-handed. It feels more intuitive than Apple’s Dynamic Island which it seems inspired by.

(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / TechRadar)

Moreover, Now Brief is a genuinely useful addition to the One UI suite of features. In the morning, at mid-day and at night, the phone will produce a ‘Now Brief’ rundown of upcoming events (including weather reports, travel information and calendar notifications) and a recap of your last several hours (including sleep data, missed calls and photos taken).

It’s a useful tool for putting all your contextually appropriate alerts in the one spot for your review, and it pains me that it’s not even more useful. I’d love for it to pull information from more apps – recommending me to continue listening to a podcast, select audiobook or keep watching a Disney+ series. The best it’ll do on these fronts is recommend you a Spotify playlist or push you in the direction of YouTube Shorts.

I’d also like it to be a little less… wrong? After waking up one morning, it recommended me a ‘liquid EDM’ playlist. I've been known to l listen to the odd EDM song here or there, but it seems like a wild genre to wake up to.

But it’s in Now Brief that we approach the cluttered state of Samsung’s AI suite.

Samsung’s AI confusion

And then there’s Google Gemini. On One UI 7 and the S25 range, Gemini has replaced the default Google Assistant (Bixby who?), and while I do like Gemini as a virtual assistant, its coexistence with these other AI tools is potentially confusing to a casual user.

That being said, Samsung has added cross-app actions to the S25 range with Google Gemini. You can ask Gemini to perform a complex series of commands, such as finding the information on several businesses online to be added to your Notes app, and it will be done so fluidly (as demonstrated by our friends at Tom’s Guide). The only third-party apps currently supported are Whatsapp and Spotify, but this awesome time-saving feature genuinely has the potential to help get stuff done quickly.

(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / TechRadar)

Erring on the critical side, I think we’re being a bit liberal with what we’re appropriately calling an ‘AI feature’. For example; Google Circle to Search continues to be one of my favorite features of Android phones in 2024. It’s supposedly underpinned by AI, but it’s unclear how AI actually factors into the function of this tool. After all, it’s basically a simple-to-access spin on Google Lens with support for on-screen circling.

Similarly with Now Brief, it’s not clear just how much of it benefits from so-called AI features. A day-to-come or day-passed snapshot is simply a splash screen displaying your upcoming events, weather alerts, a smattering of content recommendations and health figures from throughout the day.

It might seem bereft to criticize AI features on the merit of being ‘AI-powered’, but I have one major concern. Since the launch of the Galaxy S24 range, Samsung has noted that it may, eventually, start to charge for its AI features. At the time of writing, the official company tagline is:

“Fees may apply for AI features at the end of 2025. Certain Galaxy AI features require [a] Samsung and Google Account. [An] internet connection may be required to use some features. AI Features will be provided free of charge until the end of 2025 on supported Samsung Galaxy devices.”

My concern is that access to some of these genuinely useful features will be paywalled alongside the AI tools that many people won’t actually get any use from.

I have no problem paying a subscription for a genuinely useful product or service if I’m actually getting value from it. Between Circle to Search and Now Brief, I now have two AI features that I like.

And I don’t think I could sensibly pay for either.

(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / TechRadar) Samsung needs to steer carefully

While Samsung has spent a fair amount of time beautifying its operating system, its AI software is starting to become a different story altogether. No doubt people are using such features at their own discretion, but so far there hasn’t been a must-have AI tool built into One UI (or any phone OS for that matter).

On the bright side, One UI 7 brings with it a nice aesthetic refresh, and in a hardware lull year, it’s the best I could have wanted from Samsung.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 range is available now.

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This week was a weird one in the world of tech, but we're still here to help you catch up on all the biggest tech news stories you might have missed in the past seven days.

On the normal end, we got a date and time for Nintendo's Switch 2 Direct presentation (April 2, 2025), and on the 'I can't believe we're syaing this end,' Apple got flustered by the iPhone's first-ever official porn app.

Once you've caught up on all that and more, be sure to check out our picks for the seven new movies and TV shows to stream this weekend (February 7).

7. Nintendo set a Switch 2 presentation date

(Image credit: Nintendo)

We now know exactly when the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct is happening on April 2. Thanks to Nintendo’s official social media channels over on X / Twitter, it’s been confirmed that the anticipated broadcast will happen at 6am PT / 9am ET / 2pm GMT / 3pm CEST. This really comes as no surprise, as Nintendo Direct presentations typically land in the morning for US audiences and mid-afternoon in the UK and Europe.

As for the contents of the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, the company remains tight-lipped. We don’t think it’ll be a deep exploration of the system’s specs, but the presentation should give us a decent idea of the new hardware's improvements. It also seems reasonable to expect a look at new Nintendo Switch 2 games, potentially including a better look at that new Mario Kart title we saw in the official reveal teaser.

• Read more: The Switch 2 Nintendo Direct now has an official date and time

6. Dyson's new handheld vacuum turned out to be… not so new

(Image credit: Future)

Dyson has added a handheld vacuum to its range, but it turns out the Dyson Car+Boat is really just a V8 stick vacuum shipped without its wand and floorheads. We couldn't help but feel a little cheated, and not just because the V8 launched a decade ago, in 2016.

That disappointment aside, the new addition actually performed very well in our official Dyson Car+Boat review. Although it's not the newest Dyson stick vacuum, it is the smallest and lightest of the current range, and when pitted against other handhelds, the Car+Boat easily wins out. The battery life is double that of most handheld vacuums, and it's powerful enough to blast through even the most challenging cleanup tasks.

In short, the Car+Boat is an ultra-capable handheld vacuum, we just wish we were getting more of that trademark Dyson innovation instead.

• Read more: Turns out Dyson's new handheld vacuum is a decade-old V8

5. OpenAI fought back against DeepSeek R1

(Image credit: Scale AI, CAIS)

It didn’t take long for OpenAI to flex its muscles following the incredible success of Chinese start-up DeepSeek. Just last week, we were talking about the US AI company’s concerns following the launch of a completely free reasoning model, DeepSeek R1, that was just as good, if not better, than OpenAI’s o1 offering.

Now, not only has OpenAI revealed Deep Research, an incredible AI agent that works as your own personal analyst, ready to tackle any research you throw at it and come back with results, but Deep Research has also eclipsed all rivals on the world’s hardest AI exam.

If that wasn’t enough, OpenAI also announced this week that ChatGPT Search, its competitor to Google Search, would no longer require a login, allowing anyone to use the free AI search engine without the need to give up any personal information. It’s fair to say the company took DeepSeek’s attempt to shake up the AI industry personally, and now it’s us, the consumers, who are reaping the rewards.

• Read more: OpenAI's Deep Research smashes records for the world's hardest AI exam

4. Amazon teased Alexa upgrades

(Image credit: Amazon)

Amazon invited people to an exclusive product launch event in New York City later in February. While many details from the invite made us reasonably confident it would be for the long-awaited Alexa AI upgrade we’ve been waiting for, Amazon spelled it out for us as it was discovered that combining five invites would show you ‘alexa’ in a cursive font.

We’re not certain what this new Alexa will be capable of, but leaks have suggested it’ll finally start to catch up with the likes of ChatGPT, Gemini, and other LLMs, which have left the smart assistant in their dust.

More specifically, they tease that Alexa will be better at understanding and responding to natural human speech, such as multiple prompts presented in a row. It’ll also be able to perform more tasks autonomously as an AI agent. Unfortunately, it might also cost $5-$10 a month – but we’ll have to take all these details with a pinch of salt until Amazon’s event in a couple of weeks.

• Read more: Alexa AI is landing soon – 3 things to expect from the new voice assistant

3. Apple launched Invites

(Image credit: Future)

Apple has been making slow and steady Calendar app improvements across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, but it just made organizing parties 100 times easier with the brand-new Apple Invites app for iCloud+ users.

It’s designed to be a one-stop shop for creating the event invite, from setting an event description to correctly capture the vibe to building a guest list and managing who has RSVP'd and who isn't coming. It can even serve as an easy one-stop shop for guests who can see all the event info without everyone needing to message the host the same questions individually.

iCloud+ is a central part of this, as you need it to send invites and create an event but anyone can receive them even people on Android.

• Read more: Apple’s Invites app gives iCloud+ subscribers an better way to organize parties

2. Apple got mad about the iPhone’s first porn app

(Image credit: AltStore PAL / Future)

That isn’t a sentence we expected to write this week, but it’s 2025, so all bets are off. Yes, the iPhone’s first official porn app (called Hot Tub, of course) has just landed in the EU, and Apple isn’t best pleased – to put it mildly.

Hot Tub arrived thanks to EU regulations that recently opened the door to third-party iOS app stores like AltStore, where you can download the app (or so we’ve heard). Apple was quick to point out it’s “deeply concerned about the safety risks” and disapproves of the controversial porn aggregator.

An added dimension to the story is that AltStore is funded by Apple’s nemesis Epic Games, who recently battled it over Fortnite. We can feel a Netflix documentary coming on…

• Read more: The iPhone’s first official porn app has just landed in the EU – and Apple really isn’t happy about it

1. Apple’s robot stole our hearts

Apple also showed off its ELEGANT (Expressive and Functional Movement Design for Non-Anthropomorphic Robot) lamp this week – and this real-life Pixar lamp is wonderfully cute.

Videos showcased the robot’s functional meets expressive approach, which saw it perform tasks with a bit of flair – at one point, the robot was asked to grab something out of reach, and rather than simply realizing it wasn’t long enough, the lamp tries to stretch a few times before shaking its head and admitting it can’t complete the task.

While playing music, it danced along, and while helping a user build a 3D printer, it performed micro-adjustments that made it seem alive before playing a video of the instructions when it saw they were struggling. Apple hasn’t announced any plans to launch this as something you can buy one day, but we’re hoping we’ll one day get an Apple iLamp announcement.

• Read more: Apple built a super-cute, expressive robot lamp

• The latest Oppo Find N5 image shows a near-invisible crease
• We should see the phone called the OnePlus Open 2 internationally
• A launch is happening within the next two weeks

We know that we're just days away from the launch of the Oppo Find N5 – which will almost definitely be available in some markets as the OnePlus Open 2 – and a new teaser image of the foldable hints at one way it could best the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.

The image was posted by Pete Lau, Chief Product Officer at Oppo and previously the founder of OnePlus. It shows the Oppo Find N5 on the left, up against an unnamed foldable – which looks very much like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 launched last July.

When it comes to crease visibility, the Oppo Find N5 is the clear winner. This is something Oppo and OnePlus have form for too: in our OnePlus Open review, we praised the foldable for having a screen crease that was "nearly invisible and barely tactile".

It would seem the Oppo Find N5 and OnePlus Open 2 will be even better in this regard. It looks as though the phone will outdo the Galaxy Z Fold 6 in terms of screen size too – the Samsung handset has a main display measuring 7.6 inches, corner to corner (and the OnePlus Open had a 7.82-inch panel).

Coming soon

IPX6 ✅ IPX8 ✅ IPX9 ✅Immensely durable, rain or shine. #OPPOFindN5 pic.twitter.com/Yg0G3Qm8Z0February 7, 2025

Lau has also been promoting the improved waterproofing on the upcoming Oppo Find N5. The phone is apparently "immensely durable, rain or shine", and should offer more protection against the elements than the Oppo Find N3 (and OnePlus Open).

We've already heard from other Oppo executives that waterproofing is going to be one of the key features on the upcoming foldable phone. Much has been made of its thinness too: even thinner than an M4 iPad Pro, apparently.

Camera upgrades over the previous model have also been rumored, and if you add in a processor bump as well, this sounds like it could be a contender for the top spot in our best foldables list – but we'll have to wait and see.

Oppo has given us a rough idea of when its Find N5 handset will make an appearance – around February 19 or February 20 – but we don't have an exact date yet. The phone is getting a global launch, but certain parts of the world should also see the device appear as the OnePlus Open 2 later in 2025.

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• A new feature could almost miraculously cut energy consumption of data centers by 30%
• Interrupt request suspension dynamically alters CPU power usage and can be done via OS
• Hyperscalers are likely to be the big winners and it will be interesting to see how it impacts AI

Data centers reportedly account for between 2-4% of total electricity consumption around the world, something hyperscalers are understandably looking to reduce wherever possible.

Potential solutions include implementing next-generation architectures like Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) and employing advanced cooling techniques.

Professor Martin Karsten at the Cheriton School of Computer Science, within the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, has a cheaper, easier solution. He claims that data center energy consumption could be cut by up to 30%, simply by changing a few lines of Linux code.

Small change, big impact

Working with Joe Damato at Fastly, Professor Karsten has developed a small, non-intrusive kernel change of just 30 lines of code that uses IRQ (interrupt request) suspension to reduce unnecessary CPU interruptions and improve Linux’s network traffic processing. This tweak has now been published as part of Linux’s newest kernel, release version 6.13.

This code change, which reportedly improves Linux networking efficiency and boosts throughput by up to 45% without increasing latency, is based on a research paper called “Kernel vs. User-Level Networking: Don’t Throw Out the Stack with the Interrupts”, which Professor Karsten authored with former master’s student Peter Cai in 2023.

"We didn’t add anything,” Professor Karsten said of the code change. “We just rearranged what is done when, which leads to a much better usage of the data center’s CPU caches. It’s kind of like rearranging the pipeline at a manufacturing plant so that you don’t have people running around all the time.”

The Professor believes this small adjustment could have a huge impact. “All these big companies - Amazon, Google, Meta - use Linux in some capacity, but they’re very picky about how they decide to use it. If they choose to ‘switch on’ our method in their data centers, it could save gigawatt-hours of energy worldwide. Almost every single service request that happens on the Internet could be positively affected by this.”

Aoife Foley, IEEE senior member and professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast, welcomes the potential savings but observes that it’s going to take a lot more than just changing a few lines of code to address the broader energy challenges.

“There is a long way to go yet," she says. "These facilities represent huge electricity demands, adding pressure to electricity grids and increasing the challenge of energy transitions, especially in smaller countries. Although it is impossible to calculate precisely, the entire ICT sector is estimated to account for about 1.4 per cent of CO₂ emissions globally. Infrastructure and operations leaders have a responsibility here and need to consider the unnecessary waste associated with data storage and commit to generating power from more renewable sources.”

Yandex recently released an open source tool called Perforator, which takes a similar approach to Professor Karsten’s research, helping businesses optimize their code, reduce server load, and ultimately lower energy and equipment costs.

Sergey Skvortsov, who leads the team behind Perforator, told us: “This latest research confirms what we have long believed: optimizing code is one of the most effective ways to reduce data center energy consumption. Perforator helps businesses identify and fix inefficient code, cutting CPU usage by up to 20% and reducing infrastructure costs - without sacrificing performance. With data centers consuming up to 4% of global electricity, tools like Perforator can play a crucial role in making tech infrastructure more sustainable.”

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Google really wants you to know that Gemini 2.0 Flash is a big deal. It's the first generally released member of the Gemini 2.0 family, and the company is hyping it up as faster, smarter, and more powerful than ever, hinting without outright claiming it should replace OpenAI’s ChatGPT in people's hearts and smartphones.

Gemini 2.0 Flash is essentially a high-efficiency version of the model that is faster but supposedly maintains as good an accuracy rate. I decided to play around with Gemini's new model, testing it out in some basic ways the average person would use it. To spice things up, I sent the same prompts to ChatGPT.

Working it out

(Image credit: Screenshots of Google Gemini and ChatGPT)

I started with a prompt about fitness as it's the kind of thing a lot of people turn to the internet to help with. I think a good AI chatbot should not only suggest a reasonable workout routine but also explain the reasons for its suggestions, variations on the exercise, and more information about how to be healthy and avoid injury.

I wanted to see which chatbot would provide the most well-rounded response, but both honestly did quite well. Gemini included links and tips for its workout, while ChatGPT had a whole weekly schedule for workouts and its own set of helpful advice on getting in shape safely. I had to call it a tie, though the multi-day schedule from ChatGPT did stand out somewhat.

Translation Total

(Image credit: Screenshots of Google Gemini and ChatGPT)

(Image credit: Screenshots of Google Gemini and ChatGPT)

Translations are always a popular use of AI chatbots, and this prompt covers three vastly different languages: one classical, one historical, and one fictional. Latin requires proper grammatical structure, while Middle English isn’t just modern English with “ye” thrown in; it has distinct grammar and vocabulary. Of course, Klingon follows an entirely different syntax, created artificially with its own fake etymology. A smart AI should recognize these differences and ask for and provide natural-sounding translations of a common saying instead of just swapping words.

ChatGPT broke down each translated phrase and explained the word comparisons, including references to changes in phrasing. Gemini was more concise but included explanations for each translation in terms of alternate phrasing and spelling, as well as calling out when it might be a bit too literal. The Latin translations were the same, but the Middle English and Klingon versions differed. To be honest, I like the Gemini Middle English version more than ChatGPT's, but the other aspects also put Gemini over the top as the winner here.

Crossword Key

(Image credit: Screenshots of Google Gemini and ChatGPT)

For the final test, I used logic, word association, vocabulary, and pattern recognition. In other words, a crossword puzzle. Any AI chatbot should be able to quickly identify words that match letter patterns and match the definition.

Crossword clues can be tricky because words often have multiple meanings. Both handled it well, though Gemini decided to go for the British spelling for unknown reasons.

Gemini Flash matches ChatGPT

Both Gemini 2.0 Flash and ChatGPT offer incredibly advanced AI models, and for most users, the difference comes down to preferences, ecosystem, and specific use cases rather than raw ability. Any clear technological edge that might have existed a year ago has essentially closed for the average person. Even 'personality' differences are likely due to the prompts used as much as any underlying programming.

If you primarily operate in Google's ecosystem, Gemini 2.0 Flash has obvious appeal. Its integration with Google Search, Google Docs, Gmail, and other Google services makes great for anyone who relies on these tools daily. You can use it to draft emails, summarize documents, and even assist with research, all within the Google suite. If speed and efficiency are priorities, Gemini is there for you.

On the other hand, ChatGPT is well-established and has deep partnerships. In particular, ChatGPT is embedded throughout Microsoft Office tools like Word and Excel. ChatGPT is often more conversational and expressive in my experience, though again, that is likely contingent on the prompts used.

At the core, both models have reached a level where their intelligence feels equally matched. There’s no longer a clear “better” option. You have to decide which AI fits more seamlessly into your daily life. Google and OpenAI are in an ongoing race, constantly refining their models and adding new capabilities. Gemini might take the lead in one update, only for ChatGPT to counter with an even stronger feature. There’s no wrong answer or best option. Whether you choose Gemini 2.0 Flash or ChatGPT, you’re getting one of the best AI models ever built. You just have to decide who you want to translate your Klingon for you.

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Sonos has had a tumultuous few months, all of which date back to what was now clearly a rushed app design that led to a terrible experience for many customers and a long, messy process of repairing those relationships. It overshadowed the long-anticipated launch of the Ace over-ear headphones, though the more recently launched Arc Ultra soundbar’s impressive specs did shine through.

More recently, CEO Patrick Spence left, and a new leadership was ushered in. Earlier this week, it was announced that Sonos would further reduce its overall headcount, laying off 200 employees. Still, the new interim CEO Tom Conrad is shedding a bit more light on the internal changes – and much of it can be read in a way that’s returning to form.

While Conrad is quick to repeat that a lot more work needs to be done, he’s almost looking back in a good way. “I'm returning Sonos to a scrappier and more focused enterprise,” said Conrad, who’s focused on changing how Sonos operates. “I've reorganized our product and engineering staff into functional teams for hardware, software, design, quality and operations and away from dedicated business units devoted to individual product categories. This allows us to bring together rightsized cross functional projects that maximize our efficiency as we continuously evaluate, prioritize and focus on the highest value market opportunities,” explained Conrad.

(Image credit: Sonos México)

It’s a re-do on a previous structure that clearly did not work in a fluid way, most notably with folks mostly just working on individual parts of the business. Quite possibly just the app or maybe even more segments, that didn’t come together to improve the entire ecosystem of Sonos. That was likely a miss, and we saw some of the potential outcomes come to fruition, but Conrad and the teams left at Sonos have now been reorganized to better look at the brand as a whole.

For instance, the app is likely no longer siloed, with a team focused solely on it; rather, it might be more integrated across the entire lineup. How can the app better work with the Arc Ultra while improving interoperability with future products or creating a new flow to help you regroup existing, connected products when new ones are introduced?

Conrad described the setup at Sonos as being layered with redundancies, which likely made it hard to work across departments and, therefore, across product lines. Similarly, with a focus on “improving the Sonos experience to a place that exceeds the expectations of all of our customers,” he’s ensuring the company is operating in a way to hit this, or at least setting it up with that hope.

In the same vein, Conrad also stated that even with the near-constant app updates and other changes, "our core experience still needs significant improvement.” And that certainly should bring some hope to Sonos customers, long-standing ones and future ones. The restructure, while tough, and it is never good to see employees let go at any business, might help Sonos right the ship a bit more and ensure that a disaster on the level of the app doesn't occur again.

As for what might be next, our Managing Editor of Home Entertainment, Matthew Bolton, gave his expert analysis on the rumored streaming box.

And you can see the full transcript of the Sonos Quarter One of 2025 earnings call here.

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