TechRadar News

• New documentation suggests we'll see Fire TV devices run on Android 14
• That's despite claims Amazon was moving Fire TV to a new platform
• A big product launch is planned for February 26

Amazon appears to be working on some new Fire TV Sticks that run on Android 14, and we could get our first good look at them before the month is out.

Eagle-eyed reporters for AFTVNews spotted the mention of new hardware on one of Amazon’s developer pages, titled ‘Developing for Amazon Fire TV Devices Running Android 14’.

The page opens by saying that “Android 14-based Fire TV is based on API level 34. The following sections explain some of [the] important changes that you should consider when you build apps for Android 14-based Fire TV.”

There are no specific models listed, but the term ‘Android 14’ reappears on another Fire OS page, and with a big Amazon product launch only a few weeks away, we’re curious about whether a new Fire TV lineup is about to appear.

We don’t yet have any Fire TV devices running on Android 14 – the version of Google’s ubiquitous operating system that launched in 2023 – and it looked like Amazon was keen to start shifting its streaming hardware onto the new Linux-based VegaOS, which runs on the latest versions of the Echo Spot and Echo Show.

However, the documentation suggests that Amazon’s Fire TV streaming sticks and smart TV collaborations could still run on a version of the Android platform, and with no current devices running it, it seems likely that new ones are coming.

The last Fire TV Stick was the HD model launched in 2024, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see some updates to older Fire TV hardware for the coming year.

(Image credit: Getty Images) You, me, and Alexa

The big launch event is on February 26, and is expected to showcase a next-generation, AI-powered iteration of the Alexa smart assistant – which could well be integrated into any new-for-2025 Fire TV hardware.

This new Alexa should be better at understanding natural speech, and handling multiple contextual prompts in sequence – allowing for a more streamlined, conversational interaction – and even act as an AI agent to perform tasks on your behalf.

These kinds of AI enhancements are still in public beta for the most part, and you may find yourself paying $5-10 dollars per month for the privilege of testing these not-yet-perfect features out. But it shows that Amazon is stepping up to the AI plate and making sure it’s part of this new frontier in smart assistants. Given how ubiquitous Alexa is across the best smart home devices, it’s something we should all take notice of.

Here’s hoping the new Fire TV brings back our ability to hide apps on the homepage, though…

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• Severance director Ben Stiller has delivered a promising update on season 3
• Stiller says a writer's room has been assembled and script work is already underway
• Apple hasn't officially confirmed that a third season of its hit series is in development

Ben Stiller has confirmed that work on Severance season 3 is already underway, despite the fact that Apple hasn't officially renewed its biggest TV Original.

As part of a profile piece in a recent issue of The Hollywood Reporter (THR), Stiller revealed that, even though an announcement hasn't been made, season 3 was in the early stages of development. Stiller, who serves as Severance's lead director and one of its many executive producers, says a writer's room has been assembled, and that progress is being made on next season's scripts.

Confirmation that Severance season 3 is in development will come as no great surprise to fans of the Apple TV Plus series. The sci-fi mystery-thriller was already one of the tech giant's biggest original shows following its critically-acclaimed first season. However, ever since Severance season 2 was released on January 17, its popularity has skyrocketed as more and more people have tuned in to take in its 'new weird' story, be enthralled by its compelling and complex cast of characters, and offer up their own theories on what's going on. It seems inevitable, then, that a third season will be announced sooner rather than later.

It's unclear if Severance's third chapter will be its last. Speaking to TechRadar prior to one of the best Apple TV Plus shows' return, creator Dan Erickson said he already knows how many seasons it'll take to tell Severance's whole story. He has an idea of what its final scene will be, too, for what it's worth. Considering how successful Severance has become, I'd be very surprised if its to-be-announced third installment is the show's final entry, especially when it's been such a money spinner for Apple TV Plus. That said, if it only takes three seasons to wrap up Mark Scout and company's various journeys, maybe it will be after all.

Will there be a three-year gap between Severance seasons 2 and 3?

Severance fans are hoping that we'll be reunited with Dylan and Irving before 2028 (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

I hope not! And it sounds like Stiller is in the same boat. Per Rebecca Keegan, the writer of THR's article, Stiller said that he would like Severance season 3 to launch on one of the world's best streaming services much sooner than January 2028. That would officially mark the three-year period between the debuts of season 2 and season 3.

Read more of our Severance season 2 coverage

- Severance star Patricia Arquette says Harmony Cobel's loyalty to Lumon will be tested in season 2
- Severance actor Tramell Tillman teases what lies in store for Seth Milchick in season 2 of the hit Apple TV show
- Yes, Severance season 2 episode 1 is hiding a Keanu Reeves cameo in plain sight
- 5 of the best Severance season 2 goat theories I've seen, from the bizarre to the quite plausible

There were multiple reasons why it took so long for Severance season 2 to see the light of day – the pandemic and 2023 Hollywood strikes being the two biggest factors for its delayed release. As long as there are no similarly big issues during season 3's development cycle, season 3 should be with us before we bid farewell to 2027.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. There are still six more episodes of season 2 left to enjoy after its latest chapter, aka 'Woe's Hollow'. I bet you've got plenty of questions after the shocking and confusing events of that entry, too, so read my Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained piece to find out what the heck just happened.

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• Sophos says the use of SVG files in phishing is on the rise
• SVG files bypass email protection and can display malicious hyperlinks
• The researchers shared a few tips on how to stay safe

Hackers are using .SVG files in new phishing attacks aimed at stealing people’s Office 365 login credentials, experts have warned.

A report from researchers at Sophos revealed the number of phishing attacks with .SVG files in attachments is on the rise. SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) files are XML-based images that can be scaled without losing quality, making them ideal for web design, icons, and illustrations. Unlike raster images (e.g., PNG, JPG), SVGs use mathematical equations to define shapes, allowing them to remain crisp at any size.

Since SVG files are usually loaded natively inside a browser, they can contain anchor tags, scripts, and other kinds of active web content.

Defending against SVG attacks

Sophos notes the body of the phishing emails is nothing extraordinary. It’s the usual invoice/new voicemail/signature required type of email, with an .SVG attachment, that usually only displays a sentence or two, and a hyperlink. Sophos says that it’s seen these messages, especially the contents inside the SVG file, grow more sophisticated as the campaign progressed.

In any case, opening the SVG file brings up a new browser tab, and in it a hyperlink. Clicking the hyperlink redirects the victim to a fake Office365 login page that steals the login credentials and relays them to the attackers.

There are two ways to defend against these phishing emails, Sophos said. The best way (aside from not clicking on shady email attachments) is to open a known, benign SVG file on the computer, and instruct Windows to always open it in Notepad, or a similar non-browser program.

“Even if you accidentally click a malicious SVG in the future, it’ll only open in Notepad, throwing another roadblock in front of (potentially) being phished,” Sophos explained. “If, at some point, you find you need to work with real SVG files, follow the same steps again, and choose the graphics application you plan to use.”

The second way is to use a reputable email security program. Sophos said a detection signature was developed for the various kinds of weaponized files it recently observed.

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In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, enterprises face mounting pressure to deliver innovative solutions faster, at a higher quality, while managing costs effectively. Traditional approaches to software development, which rely heavily on expanding development teams to meet growing demands, are becoming increasingly unsustainable.

As we stand at the cusp of a technological revolution, AI presents a compelling alternative that could fundamentally transform how we approach software development and modernization. This transformative technology is particularly relevant in an era where digital transformation initiatives are accelerating across industries, and the demand for software development talent far exceeds the available supply.

Through the strategic implementation of AI, enterprises are discovering new ways to break free from the traditional linear relationship between revenue growth and workforce expansion.

The role of AI agents in modern software development

The role of AI agents in software development represents one of the most significant technological shifts in recent years. These agents are fundamentally changing how software gets built and delivered across enterprises.

Accelerated development timelines: AI agents demonstrate the capability to generate code up to 70% faster than human developers. By automating routine coding tasks, developers can redirect their focus towards strategic aspects of development. Furthermore, these agents enable rapid prototyping, facilitating quick iterations and faster time-to-market for new features and products.

Cost optimization: With AI agents, organizations can achieve significant cost reductions through decreased development hours, lower overhead costs compared to maintaining large development teams, and minimized expenses related to debugging and quality assurance activities.

Enhanced quality and consistency: AI agents consistently follow standardized coding practices, incorporate automated error detection and prevention mechanisms, and leverage built-in optimization capabilities to ensure superior performance. Additionally, they maintain comprehensive project documentation through systematic generation processes.

Scalability benefits: AI agents can efficiently manage multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining consistent performance levels regardless of workload. They also demonstrate remarkable adaptability by quickly learning and implementing new programming languages and frameworks.

The challenges of fully autonomous AI agents

Fully autonomous AI agents in software development, while powerful, present several challenges that need careful consideration:

Limited human oversight: Without real-time intervention mechanisms during code generation, it becomes challenging to incorporate domain-specific knowledge and capitalize on strategic decision-making opportunities at crucial development stages.

Trust and reliability concerns: There's inherent uncertainty about the reliability of automatically generated code—potential security vulnerabilities could go undetected and there’s limited ability to validate business logic implementation. Furthermore, ensuring compliance with industry standards and regulations becomes more complex.

Integration complexities: Organizations struggle with seamlessly integrating AI agents into existing development workflows, maintaining consistency with established coding standards, adapting to organization-specific requirements, and managing potential conflicts with legacy systems and architectures.

Knowledge transfer limitations: Reduced opportunities for knowledge sharing and team learning, increased risk of organizational dependency on AI systems without building internal expertise, and challenges in maintaining and updating organizational best practices create long-term risks.

The power of human-steered AI agents

To address the challenges listed above, AI agents steered by human-in-the-loop can be used to leverage the strengths of both humans and AI:

Controlled automation: Human experts and developers can guide and validate AI decisions at critical points in the development process, facilitating controlled automation.

Quality assurance: Quality assurance is enhanced as human experts can review and refine AI-generated code in real time, ensuring high standards are maintained.

Context integration: A system that incorporates human-steered AI agents allows for effective context integration, incorporating business requirements and domain knowledge seamlessly into the development workflow.

Risk mitigation: Continuous human oversight reduces the likelihood of errors and ensures alignment with business objectives.

Knowledge enhancement: These systems exhibit continuous improvement through knowledge enhancement, as AI systems learn from human feedback and become more refined over time.

The true power lies in creating a collaborative environment that fosters a symbiotic relationship. Developers can focus on high-level architecture and strategic decisions while AI handles routine coding tasks and initial implementations. This collaboration creates a feedback loop where humans provide corrections that improve AI performance, and teams maintain control while benefiting from AI acceleration.

Driving enterprise revenue growth through AI-enhanced development

The implementation of human-steered AI agents enables enterprises to achieve substantial growth without the need for headcount expansion. Here’s how:

Cost-effective scaling: With AI-assisted development solutions, enterprises can now handle a significantly larger project portfolio without that linear relationship between headcount and output. AI takes care of routine, repetitive tasks, allowing existing team members to focus on higher-value activities, and helping reduce per-project costs.

Accelerated time-to-market: Through AI-assisted development, organizations can now launch new features and products in a fraction of the traditional time. Companies can now respond to market opportunities almost in real-time, rather than being constrained by development bottlenecks.

Resource optimization: The key to successful resource optimization lies in maximizing the potential of existing talent by allowing them to focus on high-value strategic initiatives rather than getting bogged down by routine tasks. Through intelligent automation, organizations can eliminate redundant and repetitive work that previously consumed valuable human resources. This shift enables teams to redirect their energy towards complex problem-solving, innovation, and strategic decision-making.

Competitive advantage: When organizations leverage AI-assisted development capabilities, they gain the ability to stay consistently ahead of market trends through rapid development and deployment of new features. This speed advantage, combined with significantly reduced development costs, enables businesses to offer more competitive pricing while maintaining their profit margins.

Conclusion

As we move forward, organizations must adapt to remain competitive in an increasingly digital world. AI agents, enhanced by human-in-the-loop, represent not just an evolution, but a revolution in how enterprises approach technical innovation. The key to success lies in finding the right balance between human expertise and AI capabilities. Organizations should:

Evaluate current processes: Assess your existing software development workflows and identify areas where human-steered AI agents could drive improvements.

Start small, scale fast: Begin with pilot projects to experience the benefits of human-steered AI agents firsthand.

Prepare your team: Invest in training developers to work effectively with AI agents, maximizing the potential of this powerful collaboration.

By following these principles, enterprises can position themselves for sustainable growth in the digital age, leveraging the power of AI agents steered by human-in-the-loop to drive innovation and efficiency in software development.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

• The Asus ROG Astral LC RTX 5090 tips the scales at $3,409
• Some other RTX 5090 and 5080 models also command a hefty premium over MSRP
• Stock of these GPUs remains vanishingly thin anyway

Nvidia’s RTX 5090 and 5080 GPUs are off to a shaky start, not just because of the fact that these new Blackwell graphics cards aren’t available to buy – they sold out immediately, more or less – but also due to pricing on third-party boards.

Wccftech has been scanning pricing across the Asus and MSI Blackwell ranges, and the findings will likely scare, if not terrify, gamers out there who are mulling a high-end GPU purchase.

When stock does come back in – there are smatterings of live pre-orders here and there right now, but not much else, although be sure to keep an eye on our guides on where to buy the RTX 5090 and also the RTX 5080 GPU – price tags are looking seriously steep.

The crown for the most eye-watering price of all is awarded to the Asus ROG Astral LC RTX 5090, a behemoth of a flagship that admittedly pulls out all the proverbial stops (the ‘LC’ refers to the incorporated liquid cooling system), but it’ll set you back $3,409 in the US currently at the graphics card maker’s own store.

Even the cheapest RTX 5090 GPU that Asus currently sells, the TUF Gaming model, is a weighty $2,749, which is over a third more expensive than the MSRP as set by Nvidia (and the asking price for its Founders Edition). Remember, this is the base model from Asus, you can’t go any lower.

At least with the RTX 5080, there is an Asus model at the MSRP of $999 on its web store, the Prime model – so that’s something. If you want the TUF Gaming model of the RTX 5080, though, this will set you back $1,484, quite a hefty hike for a variant that isn’t a top-end card. (The ROG Astral, air cooled, RTX 5080 touches $1,649, all prices correct at the time of writing).

MSI does somewhat better at keeping a lid on pricing, but there are some difficult to swallow price tags nonetheless. There are no RTX 5080 models at MSRP on MSI’s US store, and the cheapest is the Ventus 3X at $1,139, although that’s not a big jump. The top-end RTX 5080 Suprim Liquid SOC is pitched lower than the Asus ROG Astral, though, at $1,499.

MSI’s RTX 5090 graphics cards kick off with the Ventus 3X which is at $2,379 on its store, more reasonably priced than the baseline flagship from Asus, but still a 20% hike (almost) over the MSRP. If you’re looking at the RTX 5090 Suprim Liquid SOC, though, this graphics card is an eye-watering $2,789 on the MSI store.

(Image credit: Shutterstock) Analysis: Okay, so a liquid-cooled flagship was never going to be cheap, but…

Before the new Blackwell graphics cards emerged, the prediction was that they could be priced considerably higher than the MSRPs. And that has indeed broadly come true, although part of the problem here is that third-party board makers seem to have inflated prices even further after all the clamor and stock shortages around the RTX 5090 and 5080 GPUs.

As an example at the highest-end, the mentioned Asus ROG Astral LC RTX 5090 is the priciest of all Blackwell GPUs at $3,409. However, it was announced at $3,100 (on Reddit, and caused quite a stir at that price), so somehow, there’s been another $300 heaped on top of the already exorbitant asking price.

I’m not impressed with these kinds of shenanigans as it’s bad enough that stock is stupidly difficult to get hold of, and scalpers are causing huge price inflation by reselling RTX 5080 and 5090 graphics cards, without the actual board makers themselves deciding to try and push even harder for profits.

Is this just market dynamics – a reflection of thin supply and big demand? Well, yes, it is to an extent, and doubtless pricing will settle down eventually anyway, if you can be patient. (Indeed, there are still some big question marks over how long we might be waiting for pricing to even out to a more acceptable level overall).

Meanwhile, it’s clearly true that asking prices remain something of a moot point seeing as there are hardly any RTX 5090 or 5080 graphics cards for sale at all, whether at recommended pricing, or third-party pricing.

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• Android's security team partners with Mandiant FLARE for upgrade
• The capa open source binary analysis tool is being enhanced
• Gemini AI is being thrown in the mix, too

Google is ramping up its Android security protection with new app safety tools.

In a new blog post, Google’s Lin Chen announced the company’s Android Security and Privacy Team is partnering with Mandiant FLARE, to enhance the capa open source binary analysis tool. That way, the tool will be better at analyzing ARM ELF files, often used in Android malware.

Chen said this collaboration will help detect and highlight suspicious code behaviors in native files, enabling faster malware analysis and decision-making, with the help of Gemini AI.

Detecting malware in ELF

Describing how the new tools work, Chen shared a case study of an illegal gambling app disguised as a music app. This app, found on the Google Play Store, was secretly loading gambling websites for users in specific regions. It used different anti-analysis techniques (hiding key functions in a native ELF file, timezone detection, dynamic downloading and decryption of additional malicious code) to stay hidden in plain sight.

However, by leveraging static analysis and capa, Google's team identified these deceptive behaviors and successfully removed the app.

Capa detects malware capabilities in ELF files, and new rules have been developed specifically for Android, Chen further explained.

These rules identify behaviors like ptrace API calls (anti-debugging), extracting device and timezone info via JNI, downloading and decrypting code, using Base64 & Cipher API for encoding/encryption, allowing analysts to quickly locate suspicious functions, without needing to sift through mountains of obfuscated code.

Google also added Gemini AI to summarize the most suspicious functions highlighted by capa. The AI tool can do risk level assessments, insights into obfuscation, anti-debugging, and cloaking tactics, enabling a faster, and more effective, malware detection and rule-writing.

“Equipped with the fast-evolving Gemini, our analysts are able to spend less time on those sophisticated samples, minimising the exposure for malicious apps and ensuring the safety of Android ecosystems,” Chen concluded.

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The recent announcement by the UK Government that it would designate data centers as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), placing them in the same category as energy and water systems, is a clear recognition of the vital role they play in today’s economy and society. There are no official records of how many data centers there are in the UK, perhaps down to the sensitive nature of data itself, however, Statistica puts the current number at 514, the third highest number in one country worldwide, behind the United States and Germany.

It’s difficult to envisage any aspect of modern life that data centers don’t impact – from the way we communicate to our interactions with businesses and vital public services, including the NHS. We simply couldn’t function without them. While this government initiative is reassuring, its impact in real terms is questionable.

A data center itself is a building with power, cooling and network access. It’s the data and systems that reside within them which is of critical national importance. Safeguarding this is the responsibility of the data center's client - not the physical provider. However, the building provider can enforce physical security and ensure it’s at an appropriate level which mirrors cybersecurity defenses. Additional, specific issues need to be taken into account and adequately addressed, including approaches to cyber resiliency, power consumption and sustainability challenges.

The cyber resiliency challenge

It could be argued that the government is playing catch-up with its CNI initiative, particularly in relation to cyber security. In recent years, we’ve seen regulations come into effect, such as the National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) security framework in the US, and the European Union’s Digital Operation Resilience Act (DORA) and NIS2, which between them, have become defaults for how data is managed and secured. That’s not to say that the UK CNI initiative isn’t valuable, because it is. Crucially, it sends out a clear message to data center operators that they have a responsibility to take specific steps to prepare for cyber-attacks and have robust recovery plans in place.

In reality, despite having the best enterprise-grade cyber defenses and strategies in place, some attacks will be successful. This is made clear by the most recent figures published by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, revealing record levels of ransomware and cyber-attacks in 2023. It’s almost impossible to have foolproof cyber defenses, especially considering that attacks are constantly evolving and often originate from very well-resourced criminal gangs or even hostile nation states. For this reason, it has become best practice in the cyber security world to assume that it’s a matter of when, not if, a breach will occur. The CNI initiative, with the backing of the forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, will mandate that data centers implement robust security protocols and adhere to higher security standards to protect sensitive data. This increased focus on security can only be beneficial.

Understanding the impact of data center CNI designation on sustainability

According to a 2022 National Grid study, UK data centers consume between 2–3 terawatt-hours (TWh) of power per year - enough electricity to power up to 800,000 homes annually. However, consumption is increasing and is set to jump dramatically over the next 10 years. Energy consumption is a well known issue, and data center operators have been working to address the enormous challenges this presents, especially in relation to carbon emission and sustainability commitments.

In addition, data center operators and in many cases, their customers will now have to contend with additional burdens that arise from CNI designation. In many cases this new directive will result in some duplication of infrastructure through the addition of more systems and software to protect data. This in turn will result in increased power consumption and generation of e-waste, which runs counter to sustainability goals. Under this new dynamic, it will be more important than ever for operators to look to solutions that are the most efficient in terms of density. From a customer perspective, the best way to approach this challenge is to measure efficiency on a per watt basis.

As we grapple with the issue of ever-increasing data storage needs, which is driving even greater demand on power grids, there’s a great deal of focus from some of the technology sector’s biggest players to find solutions. Microsoft, Google and Amazon think that powering data centers with small-scale nuclear reactors might be a novel solution.

It's now pretty clear that power has become the main limiting factor when it comes to building and expanding data centers, and the increased focus on AI is only making the situation worse, as training and using AI models use significantly more compute and associated power than traditional software.

It is important to recognize there are ways to address power related challenges now, with all-flash storage technology. Within a data center, storage infrastructure generally accounts for 20-25% of energy usage. There is a huge opportunity to adopt high-density flash storage systems, which consume significantly less power compared to legacy HDD-based systems, and even ones based on “off the shelf” commodity SSDs.

The challenge of critical data differentiation

Deeper consideration of what constitutes critical infrastructure raises a parallel question about what constitutes critical data that resides in data centers. Not all data is of equal importance in the context of CNI, with NHS records, telecommunication network security, continuity for facilities like water, and other information which ensures our safety and security surely taking priority over non-critical data such as social media feeds.

Yet this is a very challenging issue to address and one that will require the implementation of agreed frameworks for data classification. Current data protection regulations like GDPR may be helpful in some respects here, as they offer clear guidance on the classification of personal data and the responsibilities of an organization in its handling. GDPR also helps organizations understand the types of data they hold, which is a first and critical step in understanding how that data might be prioritized once frameworks have been agreed. AIOps tools will most likely play a key, vital role in helping organizations looking to better understand the data they hold.

Reaping the benefits of CNI data center designation

In announcing CNI data center designation, the UK government is effectively recognizing a need to better protect the nation’s personal and institutional data. At the same time, they are effectively giving backing to the UK’s data center operators and encouraging more investment in the ecosystem, which is already substantial and predicted to expand over the coming years.

This is borne out in a report issued by techUK in November, after the CNI data center initiative was announced, which predicts over 40,000 new jobs in the sector by 2035 based on increased investment. This is of course very positive. However a critical next step in ensuring the effectiveness of CNI data center designation, and the realization of the UK data center's potential, is the development of an agreed framework on data prioritization classification, increased cyber resiliency and more robust sustainability practices.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

We're one week away from the most romantic time of the year – but, the home release of A24's latest romantic drama and a new Apple TV Original aside, there aren't many Valentine's Day-themed films and TV series to check out this weekend.

Nevertheless, there are a plethora of new movies and shows that you'll *ahem* fall in love with before Monday arrives. From the return of Invincible to Kaitlyn Dever's new Netflix drama, I'm confident that, with our help, you'll find something worth watching on the world's best streaming services over the next few days. – Tom Power, senior entertainment reporter

Invincible season 3 (Prime Video)

The world's best superhero series is already back on our screens. We had a near-three year wait on our hands between Invincible seasons 1 and 2, but the popular Prime Video show's latest chapter was co-developed alongside its forebear. Long story short: Invincible season 3 is here less than 12 months after the R-rated animated show's last entry.

Its first three episodes are out now and new installments will release weekly until the season 3 finale on March 6. Before you tune into one of the best Prime Video shows' third outing, read my Invincible season 3 review to see what I thought of its first six episodes. I can't contain my excitement to see Mark Grayson and company again – here's hoping the wait for the Amazon show's already confirmed fourth season isn't an extensive one! – TP

• Watch Invincible season 3 on Prime Video

Apple Cider Vinegar (Netflix)

I've just binge-watched Apple Cider Vinegar and it's one of the best Netflix limited series I've seen in a while. In fact, it's so good I might even add it to our best Netflix shows round-up.

Alright, so what's it about? Kaitlyn Dever plays Belle Gibson, an Australian wellness influencer who claimed she cured her terminal brain cancer with diet and wellness products. You might think it's a bold claim – and you'd be right, because Belle did not have cancer and actually tricked a community into believing her story and profited off the back of it. The series dramatizes Belle's rise and fall, and continually reminds us that it's "true-ish", with some names and scenarios changed.

Throughout, you'll learn more about Belle, her victims, and the investigative journalists who worked tirelessly to bring her down, exposing her lies and the fact she managed to scam people out of money, encouraging them to buy her app, her cookbook, and – worst of all – donate to charities that she financially benefited from instead. – Lucy Buglass, senior entertainment writer

• Watch Apple Cider Vinegar on Netflix

We Live in Time (Max)

Following its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival last September and a successful theatrical run in the US and UK, We Live In Time has racked up glowing reviews – at the time of writing, it has a 79% Rotten Tomatoes from the critics and an 83% rating from audiences. Now, it's available to stream on Max (in the US, anyway).

Many have praised the phenomenal performances from Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, who play singletons who fall in love after a surprise encounter. The movie spans multiple decades, which means we'll follow the pair through different stages of their lives as they build a home and start a family.

Given that the movie's director – John Crowley – is behind several highly-rated romance films, including the period drama Brooklyn starring Saoirse Ronan, I have high hopes that this will carve out a new space in our best Max movies guide. – Amelia Schwanke, senior entertainment editor

• Watch We Live in Time on Max

Clean Slate (Prime Video)

Next up on Prime Video’s stellar catalog of original content is Clean Slate. The comedy series follows Harry (George Wallace), an old-school Alabama car wash owner who's surprised when his estranged child returns home as a proud trans woman called Desiree (Laverne Cox). As their reunion brings together a cast of amusing friends and neighbors, Desiree and Harry must process their new relationship as father and daughter.

This sweet and cozy sitcom sounds right up my street and its powerful premise has the ability to be one of Amazon's best TV Originals. Despite there being 90 movies added to the platform in everything new on Prime Video in February 2025, I certainly won’t be missing this release. – Grace Morris, entertainment writer

• Watch Clean Slate on Prime Video

Kinda Pregnant (Netflix)

We’ve all told a little white lie in our lives, but I think the majority of us can agree that we’ve never gone to the extreme lengths of pretending to be pregnant – unless you’re Amy Schumer’s character in this bizarre new Netflix movie Kinda Pregnant. The rather absurd plot tells the story of Lainy (Schumer), who decides to fake a pregnancy when she becomes jealous of the attention that her pregnant best friend is receiving. If that wasn’t bad enough, she also falls in love while knee-deep in the lie.

Critics and viewers aren't fans of the rom-com’s outrageous twist (its horrendous 18% Rotten Tomatoes score speaks to that). But, while it clearly misses out on being one of the best Netflix movies, I’m intrigued to see Kinda Pregnant’s portrayal of the highs and lows of motherhood, and the power of female friendship. – GM

• Watch Kinda Pregnant on Netflix

Love You to Death (Apple TV Plus)

This new Apple TV Plus comedy drama series follows follows Raúl, a man who was recently diagnosed with cancer and Marta, who just discovered she is pregnant. The two reconnect after attending the funeral of a high school classmate where they end up embarking on a whirlwind romance. Together, they try to navigate this often strange world together and this rom-com is set apart from others considering they're at two very different stages of their lives; with Raúl dealing with a challenging diagnosis and Marta preparing to bring a new life into this world. It's hardly a fairytale, and that's exactly what makes it so great.

The humor here is necessary to balance out the darker subjects and it seems to tackle both very well indeed. With Valentine's Day next week, it's a good pick if you want something a bit different that still has that classic rom-com feel to it. With only 7 episodes it's pretty bingeable, but we'll have to see if it makes it onto our best Apple TV Plus shows list. – LB

• Watch Love You to Death on Apple TV Plus

The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl (Disney Plus)

Who else thinks 1994's The Lion King movie is the best animated Disney film of all-time? I know I'm not alone on this one and, while everyone will have different reasons for why they love it, one highlight that we can all surely agree on is that it has a phenomenal original soundtrack.

I've been lucky enough to hear these songs live as part of its stage play adaptation, which was a special experience, but to be able to listen to the soundtrack by a live orchestra is something else entirely.

That's why I'll absolutely be streaming The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl concert special tonight on Disney Plus to celebrate the animation's 30th anniversary. The concert, which will see a 70-person orchestra perform alongside dancers and puppets, even features a reunion of the original voice cast, making it a must-see for fans. – AS

• Watch The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl on Disney Plus

For more streaming suggestions, read our guides on the best Hulu shows, best Paramount Plus movies, best Prime Video movies, and best Max shows.

• IKEA has launched a version of its smart home app for Apple Watch
• The app lets you control your IKEA smart lights from your wrist
• Support for other smart devices may be added at a later date

IKEA has released a new version of its smart home app for Apple Watch. The app hasn't been announced officially yet, but has appeared in the App Store and lets you control your IKEA smart lights from your wrist.

As Polly Allcock of Notebookcheck notes, the change log for the IKEA Home Smart app doesn't mention the new watchOS app, but screengrabs show that it will let you toggle your smart lights on and off, adjust their brightness, choose lighting scenes, and pick custom colors from a palette.

IKEA Home Smart for iPad, iPhone and Android also lets you control other devices, including smart speakers, blinds, and air purifiers, but the screengrabs of the WatchOS version only show options for smart lights. It's possible that more devices will be added with a future update.

To use the app, you'll need watchOS 10.6 or later, plus an IKEA Dirigera hub, which lets you connect your IKEA devices to one another, and works as a Matter bridge.

You may only be able to control IKEA smart lights through your Apple Watch at first, but support for other devices could be added later (Image credit: IKEA) More bright ideas

Don't have IKEA lights? Not to worry, you can use your Apple Watch to operate any smart bulbs and lamps that are compatible with Apple HomeKit. The exact options available will depend on which lights you own, but you'll usually be able to turn them on and off, dim them, and change their color with a tap and a swipe. See Apple's guide for full instructions.

Govee makes some of the best smart lights we've tested, and its Govee Home app for Apple Watch lets you toggle lights on and off, tweak their brightness, and check the status of other devices like smart thermostats and thermometers.

There's no longer an official Philips Hue app for Apple Watch (Signify, the company behind Hue, dropped it a few years ago), but you can still operate your Hue lights from your wrist using Apple HomeKit, or one of the many third-party apps on the App Store such as Hue for Watch.

How do you prefer to control your smart lights, and which apps do you recommend? Let us know in the comments.

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• New legislation could ban DeepSeek from government devices
• DeepSeek poses a threat to US national security, experts say
• US Navy and NASA have already banned the app

DeepSeek's AI app, which recently sent waves through the global AI market by offering a seemingly more powerful model developed at a comparatively lower cost than its competitors, should be banned from US government devices, lawmakers have said.

Two congress members are seeking to introduce a bipartisan bill to ban the app from government devices as it poses a national security threat to the US.

The bill, introduced by US Representatives Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Darin LaHood (R-IL), is titled the “No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act.”

Protect US AI market by banning DeepSeek

The two representatives are both senior members of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, with the bill being introduced after the DeepSeek app was branded a threat to US AI stocks, with recent research from Feroot Security alleging the app is feeding user information to companies under the control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“Our personal information is being sent to China, there is no denial, and the DeepSeek tool is collecting everything that American users connect to it,” Feroot analyst Ivan Tsarynny told the WSJ.

Some bans have already been introduced, with the state of Texas already banning the app from government devices, and the US Navy and NASA banning the app from their employee devices. If the bill is passed, the US would be following in the footsteps of countries such as Australia, Italy, and South Korea which have already introduced similar legislation.

“We simply can’t risk the CCP infiltrating the devices of our government officials and jeopardizing our national security,” Gottheimer said. LaHood echoed these sentiments, stating, “This commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation will ban the app from federal workers’ phones while closing backdoor operations the company seeks to exploit for access.”

“It is critical that Congress safeguard Americans’ data and continue to ensure American leadership in AI,” La Hood said.

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• Spotify has inked a new deal with Warner Music Group
• That could include a long-awaited Hi-Fi tier for super-fans and audiophiles
• Competing services have begun offering Hi-Res Audio as standard, though

Spotify is about to get more complicated, if a new announcement from the music streaming service is anything to go by.

On February 6, Spotify and Warner Music Group announced a new partnership deal to "deliver new fan experiences, a deeper music and video catalog, further paid subscription tiers, and differentiated content bundles."

The deal is likely to see even more music and video content added to Spotify's 80,000 track library, with support for a new 'superfan' premium tier expected to launch some time in 2025.

While this may finally give Spotify subscribers access to Hi-Res Audio – something that Tidal and Apple Music have offered for years – it also represents another complication in Spotify’s increasingly sprawling content offering.

A strength of Spotify has been its simplicity: it hasn’t split up its user base between various pricing options, other than ‘free’ and ‘paid’, and casual users don’t have to contend with whether to opt for Hi-Fi audio their smartphone speakers and budget headphones are incapable of recreating anyway.

Spotify also doesn’t need you to suss out various other content services at the point of subscription, as with Apple One or Amazon Prime’s group offerings. And if you stuck to the free tier, it’s very very easy to just pick a song and start playing.

But, as the service has ballooned in its scope and ambition, pursuing high-profile podcast hosts and expanded video content, Spotify has only got more complicated. There are now, in some countries, separate tiers without access to audiobooks, alongside various options for individuals and families, and a new superfan tier is only going to lengthen the list of options and bundles on offer.

(Image credit: Future) Cash grab

I’m also irritated by the suggestion of a further paywall for Hi-Res music. These days, both Apple Music and Tidal include Hi-Res Audio as part of its basic package, which does not seem to be Spotify’s strategy here – higher-quality audio is something to be further paywalled, rather than something to draw users to the platform in the first place.

Given that Spotify offers notably less money per stream ($0.00437) to artists than either Apple ($0.0056-0.0078) or Tidal ($0.013), let alone Qobuz (a plush $0.022), it’s hard to imagine those well-monetized superfans will funnel more cash to artists rather than Spotify's coffers.

But Spotify’s market position means that it’s unlikely to be punished for paywalling a feature included by default in its competitors’ standard plans.

Spotify is the dominant music streaming service, aided by a free, ad-supported streaming tier that brings its subscriber count to over 650 million – many hundred times larger than that of Apple Music or Tidal. Spotify is simply the place most people listen to music today.

I’m happy for Spotify users who’ve been waiting too long for Hi-Res Audio to hit the service. But this new strategy would only make me wonder why I haven’t moved over to another platform yet.

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• Global tablet market is now up 9.2%, PC market up just 3.8%
• The middle of 2024 saw 18% and 11% quarterly increases, Canalys finds
• Apple sells two in five tablets globally

The global tablet market had a much-needed boost in 2024, growing by 9.2% after a challenging year of decline in 2023, new figures from Canalys have claimed.

The firm noted although tablet shipments in the first quarter only rose by 1% year-over-year, the market then saw significant quarterly increases of 18%, 11%, and 5.6% in the subsequent quarters.

It also marks spiked consumer interest in affordable tablets, with the PC market growing just 3.8% throughout 2024.

Tablet sales are booming… finally

Although we’re still not at the pre- and intra-pandemic levels of 2020, total shipments by volume have been dropping in the world of tablets every year since, but 2024 marked the first year in the positive. In fact, with the exception of 2020, 2024 was the only other year of tablet sector growth since at least 2016.

Back then, Canalys Research Manager Himani Mukka commented: “The tablet industry has had a positive start to 2024, and the rest of the year should bring further relief after a difficult 2023.”

This year, Mukka added: “As the PC market pivots toward a commercial refresh cycle, there is also a recovery in demand for tablets.”

More than half (52%) of the channel partners selling commercial tablets expect shipments to continue rising in 2025, but Canalys predicts a more “constrained performance.”

Canalys tracked over 16,800 Apple tablet shipments in the fourth quarter, highlighting the prevalence of the iPad within the market. Its 42.3% market share, up from 39.2% in 2023, is more than double Samsung’s 17.8% share in second place.

2024 was an extremely busy year for Apple, with a refreshed iPad Mini launching in October and the M2 iPad Air and M4 iPad Pro launching side-by-side in May. iPadOS also brought new Apple Intelligence features to the beloved devices in the final few months.

Though it may be propped up by Apple, Canlays also noted the effect of Chinese manufacturers on the tablet market. Huawei and Xiaomi took a combined 13% of the market in 2024.

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• Take-Two Interactive has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 6 is still on track for a fall 2025 release
• Many fans had feared a potential delay
• Take-Two CEO said the company “feel really good” about being able to hit it

Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive has stated that Grand Theft Auto 6 is still on track for a fall 2025 release.

In its most recent financial results, Take-Two listed GTA 6 as a fall 2025 PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S release. Many users on social media had speculated that the game would receive a delay, but this does not appear to be the case for the time being.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick also spoke to IGN ahead of the release of the report and stated that while “there’s always a risk of slippage” the company “feel really good” about being able to stick to that fall 2025 window.

Zelnick was also asked how development of the game was going. “I think the game is eagerly anticipated both internally and externally,” he replied. “We know that Rockstar seeks perfection. I never claim success before it occurs.”

GTA 6 is easily one of the most anticipated games of the year, with market research firm DFC Intelligence predicting that it will be “one of the biggest entertainment launches in history" and could generate more than $1 billion in just pre-orders alone. Game publishers are also reportedly not announcing firm release dates in order to try and avoid releasing new titles around the GTA 6 launch fearing that the buzz would drown them out.

Even so, Zelnick went on to say that “arrogance is the enemy of continued success [...] and we know that the competition is not asleep.”

The first trailer GTA 6 was officially unveiled by Rockstar Games on December 4, 2023. It showed that the game would take place in the fictionalized state of Leonida around the sun-drenched Vice City first seen in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Leaks indicate that it will star two protagonists, one named Lucia, who will pull off criminal capers together.

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• CISA adds an Outlook improper input validation bug to KEV
• The deadline to patch is February 27 2025
• Criminals are using it for remote code execution

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a 2024 Outlook flaw to its catalog of known vulnerabilities, warning users about in-the-wild abuse, and giving federal agencies three weeks (until February 27) to patch up or stop using the tool entirely.

CVE-2024-21413 is an improper input validation flaw plaguing Microsoft Outlook. It was discovered in 2024 by Check Point’s researcher Haifei Li, and was given a severity score of 9.8/10 (critical). Cybercriminals could craft special email messages, loaded with a certain type of hyperlink, that would allow them to run arbitrary code remotely. By exploiting this vulnerability, attackers can bypass Outlook's Protected View (a feature designed to open potentially harmful files in read-only mode) and instead open malicious files in editing mode.

Microsoft patched the bug in late 2024, and warned users that the Preview Pane can also be used as an attack vector. In other words, victims don’t even need to open the email to get infected - previewing it in Outlook would suffice.

Significant risk

The vulnerability was found in different Office products, including Microsoft Office LTSC 2021, Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, Microsoft Outlook 2016, and Microsoft Office 2019.

While there was no evidence of in-the-wild abuse at the time the patch was released, its addition to KEV means the vulnerability is now being actively used by miscreants.

"These types of vulnerabilities are frequent attack vectors for malicious cyber actors and pose significant risks to the federal enterprise," CISA says.

Aside from the Outlook vulnerability, the agency added another four bugs, including a 7-Zip Mark of the Web bypass flaw, a Dante discovery process control flaw, a CyberoamsOS SQL injection flaw, and a Sophos XG Firewall buffer overflow bug. Federal agencies need to patch all of these before March 2025.

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• Microsoft Edge's uninstall document promotes the browser over Google Chrome, without any actual removal instructions
• It features a checklist on supposed advantages over Google Chrome
• There's no official way to uninstall Microsoft Edge, as the control panel only allows for a 'repair'

It's no surprise that Microsoft is making more attempts to shift PC users away from other browsers in favor of its own Edge option yet again - but its latest scheme could be a new low point.

As spotted by Windows Latest, a new 'uninstall document' was released by Microsoft, supposedly explaining how to remove Microsoft Edge from your PC, but surprisingly, it doesn't. Instead, it compares Edge to Google Chrome with a checklist (pictured below) of features that it claims are available on Edge but not Chrome (which isn't completely true) - essentially, it's doing the opposite of what most people would expect a document about uninstalling an app to do..

It’s a shame that this comes after Microsoft’s well-received privacy updates for Chrome incognito mode, which is a huge positive for its users. However, it’s now hit a low with this 'uninstall' document that users won't like at all. Microsoft already aggressively pushes Edge via pop-ups and ads in Windows 11, which many users consider to be invasive and annoying. Meanwhile, Chrome remains the most popular browser despite Microsoft’s boasts of Edge’s high user numbers in 2024, so it’s not a surprise that many may want to uninstall Edge.

It shouldn't come as a big surprise, since Microsoft has used numerous tactics to win users over to its browser - but this feels particularly disingenuous.

(Image credit: Microsoft) Reminds me of membership cancellation pages...

Trying to get rid of something, only instead to be bombarded with reasons for not getting rid of it, will feel awfully familiar to many people who have tried to cancel a subscription. Try to cancel your PlayStation Plus subscription, for example, and Sony will try to tempt you to stay with an offer on a 12-month premium subscription.

Amazon is also notorious for this - if you try to cancel Prime, you have to click through multiple pages convincing you to stay - and it was actually sued for this, mainly because its marketing tactics were viewed as deceptive and coercive by the FTC (US Federal Trade Commission).

So, Microsoft is far from the only company that is trying to change the minds of its customers wanting to ditch a product. However, there’s no denying that this move seems particularly strange - you'd expect a document which is supposed to give you instructions to uninstall a program to do just that, rather than the opposite by trying to get you to keep using it. It also feels a bit cheeky using the word ‘uninstall’ if there’s literally no way to officially uninstall Edge.

Personally, I think that essentially forcing users to keep a program installed on their PCs will instead push them further away from using it. Saying one thing but doing another could come back to bite Microsoft...

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• Caselani’s Type-Ami adds retro charm to one of the smallest EVs on sale
• Complete vehicle costs $13,400, or DIY kits come in at $5,200
• Nine different color options are available

For all of the Citroen Ami’s many charms, striking good looks don’t exactly rank top of the list. But one Italian coach builder has a solution for the awkward little quadricycle.

Based in the tiny town of Sospiro, Italy, coach builder and fabricator Caselani takes modern Citroen products and clads them in fiberglass so they look just like the iconic Type-H Van panel vans of the late 1940s.

The corrugated metal outer body panels and angular lines will forever go down in the history books as a classic piece of industrial design, but the plucky panel vans have recently enjoyed a resurgence thanks to swathes of hipster coffee and food trucks that have used them as a base for tasty operations.

Caselani will fabricate a modern interpretation of one of those (based on Citroen Berlingo, Relay and Dispatch vans) but it is the Ami project that really stands out from the crowd.

For a start, it takes a brave soul to use an Ami as a food truck, which means the Type-Ami is purely designed to raise smiles.

(Image credit: Caselani)

For €13,900 (around $13,400 / £11,600 / AU$21,300), Caselani will sell you a complete vehicle, including the option to swap the plastic seats and steering wheel trim for diamond-quilted faux leather.

That’s about $3k more than the standard Ami, but customers can choose from six classic 1950s colors, or opt for one of three more modern metallic hues. Oh, and you get jazzy 'steelie' style wheels thrown in, too.

If you already own one of the diminutive 8bhp, 28mph top speed city-slickers, you can option the DIY body kit for €4,440 (around $4,500 / £3,700 / AU$7,200), which adds the corrugated side panels, gloriously pug-nosed front end and a rear with ‘Type-Ami’ stamped in period correct white lettering.

It all comes with the right screws and brackets to self install, if you fancy many scraped thumbs and lots of swearing.

The lovable Ami gets even more appealing

(Image credit: Caselani)

As a reminder, the Citroen Ami is classed as a heavy quadricycle in France and, thanks to its 8hp electric motor and limited top speed, it can legally be driven by 14-year-olds... for around 46 miles before the 5.5-kWh lithium-ion battery dies or mom texts to warn that dinner is on the table.

But far from simply being a young teenager’s ticket to freedom, the Ami has gained popularity in Europe as cheap urban mobility, featuring on a number of inner-city car sharing schemes and finding homes with private buyers that want a fuss-free way to get to the shops and back.

The H-Van project is clearly a bit of fun that started as a one-off for the company’s founder, Fabrizio Caselani, but was soon made publicly available when the customer enquiries started flooding in.

Is the H-Van body kit completely pointless? Probably. But has that stopped me from wanting one? Absolutely not.

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• British engineering company IMI plc notifies London Stock Exchange of a recent cyberattack
• The company did not share the details, but this seems to have been a data breach

Top British engineering company IMI has confirmed suffering a cyberattack, filing a new report with the London Stock Exchange, notifying the securities exchange of “unauthorized access”.

“IMI is currently responding to a cyber security incident involving unauthorized access to the Company's systems,” the filing reads. “As soon as IMI became aware of the unauthorized access, the company engaged external cyber security experts to investigate and contain the incident.”

Other than that, the company did not share any details. It said it was taking “necessary steps” to comply with regulatory obligations, and that it will provide an update “when appropriate”.

Data breach

When reached out by TechCrunch, the company did not want to discuss the matter further, so we don’t know the nature of the attack, who the miscreants are, or how they managed to break into IMI’s infrastructure.

However the publication did find out, from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office, that the company provided it with a data breach report, so it’s safe to assume that at least some company data was stolen.

The ICO is currently “assessing the information provided,” it was said.

IMI was founded in 1862 as Imperial Metal Industries. Its core business areas include precision engineering (advanced motion and fluid control solutions for industrial automation), critical engineering (valves and actuators for the energy and power industries), and hydronic engineering (heating, cooling, and climate control solutions for buildings).

The company serves sectors like oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, power generation, and transportation. In fiscal 2023, the company reported $398 million in profits before tax, up 6% compared to the year before.

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• Google Messages will likely add the ability to unsend messages in its next update
• Previously users could only delete messages from their own device
• The feature is as-yet unreleased, with no fixed release date

Google Messages will soon allow you to unsend messages for other people, rather than just deleting them from your own device, if a new feature found in an upcoming update makes it to release.

An APK teardown by Android Authority found that users will soon be given two options when trying to delete a message, with the existing “Delete for me” function joined by “Delete for everyone”.

Google Messages is the stock messaging app of Android, and as such can be found preloaded on all the best Android phones, from the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra to the Google Pixel 9 Pro to the OnePlus 13.

This new unsend feature is already common in modern messaging apps like WhatsApp and within social media messaging services like Instagram DMs. However, until now, deleting an RCS message on Google Messages only removed it from one’s own device – the recipient or recipients could still see the message as originally sent.

It seems the Google Messages version of this feature won’t be quite as quiet as the competition – unlike WhatsApp, Instagram, and others, Google Messages will actively notify the recipients that a message has been deleted.

For our technically-minded readers, the new feature was found in unreleased code destined for Google Messages version 20250131_02_RC00. The unsend feature has specifically been added in line with RCS Universal Profile v2.7.

Google Messages has a prominent place in the Android ecosystem, and recently became the default messaging app for Samsung Galaxy phones. As PhoneArena notes, it’s important that Google’s messaging service maintains the features users expect as the competition becomes more concentrated.

WhatsApp remains the world’s most popular messaging service, with over two billion users worldwide, but Google Messages isn’t far behind – a Google blog post from 2023 celebrated the app passing one billion RCS-enabled users.

As my TechRadar colleagues may be able to attest, I know the feeling of having a joke in a busy group chat not stick the landing – I’m glad to see that Google Messages is giving users the option of a second chance when they need it (even if it does come with a rather conspicuous announcement).

And though it seems very likely to launch with the next version of Google Messages, the unsend feature described remains unreleased without a fixed release date, so the details contained in this story could change with time.

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• GeForce Now does not have any plans available at all right now
• Day passes will be back in a couple of weeks, we’re told
• The wait for full subscriptions could be much longer, due to Nvidia’s transition to a new payment system for the service

Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming service is currently not open to any new subscribers – on any of its plans – and apparently that situation is not going to change anytime soon.

Polygon reports that it has heard from Nvidia spokesperson Stephenie Ngo that day passes are coming back before too long, with Ngo informing us that new sign-ups for the single day experiences should return in “roughly two weeks.”

However, it’ll be a good while longer before the full subscriptions (monthly and biannual) that most gamers want come back into play, and we aren’t told exactly when. So those who are fed up with not being able to buy an RTX 5080 or 5090, and are thinking about going to the streaming side of the gaming pond instead, are rather out of luck.

We are given a reason for this disruption via an official announcement delivered on the GeForce Now subreddit. It’s because Nvidia is transitioning from a third-party payment processing system to take over these duties itself.

The firm said: “We expect the transition will take a minimum of 5 weeks.”

Ouch. There’s good news for existing subscribers, though, who won’t be billed during this period.

Nvidia noted: “Starting January 31, 2025, billing will be waived while we transition payment services. Even though you won’t be billed, your account remains in good standing.”

(Image credit: NVIDIA) Analysis: High demand plus payment change combo

Aside from the free time given to existing subscribers, which is clearly a nice bonus for those using the streaming platform already, this is also good news (in theory) for the service longer term. The hope is that it shows a commitment to GeForce Now, as bringing this system in-house is no small matter for Nvidia, as we can see from the length of the downtime here. In other words, it’s a move that was doubtless not taken lightly.

Still, that’ll be small comfort to those who might want to sign up for a subscription plan right now or in the near future.

There’s no clarity as yet as to whether GeForce Now subscribers will have to re-enter payment details for their subscription, but this shouldn’t be much of a hassle, even if it is required with the new system.

All this comes off the back of Nvidia temporarily halting most subscription plans a couple of weeks ago, seemingly due to high demand on the servers. Given this, it seems perhaps an odd time to also shift payment providers, but maybe Nvidia is taking the opportunity to perform server or infrastructure upgrades at the same time as repositioning its payment system.

Who knows, your guess is as good as mine – but hopefully after this next month or two of bumpiness in terms of subscription availability, it’ll be back to business as usual for GeForce Now and those who’d like to fully join the cloud gaming club. Quite possibly before there’s any big jump in the stock levels of Nvidia’s high-end Blackwell graphics cards, to be fair.

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Full spoilers follow for Severance season 2 episode 4.

You were warned, Severance fans. Before the critically-acclaimed series returned on January 17, numerous members of the press – myself included – said that season 2 episode 4, titled 'Woe's Hollow', would emotionally stun you. Indeed, I teased as much in my Severance season 2 review, but I wasn't convinced that many fans had taken any notice.

Now that 'Woe's Hollow' is out on Apple TV Plus, though, the critically-acclaimed series' fanbase is losing its collective mind over what happened in Severance season 2's latest chapter. As the dust settles on one of the show's best episodes so far, I'm here to answer your biggest questions about its ending, which mysteries it solves, and discuss some new theories that I have in the wake of its release.

This is your final warning: huge spoilers immediately follow for Severance season 2 episode 4. Bookmark this page for later, go and watch it right now, and then re-open this article once you've made it through the end credits.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: wait, that's not Helly R...

"Goddamn it, Seth, do it!" #Severance pic.twitter.com/Pv9wq1Ox6nFebruary 7, 2025

Ever since episode 1 of the hit Apple TV Original's second season landed on one of the world's best streaming services, fans have suspected that something was amiss with Helly R. Many of us believed that she hadn't returned to Lumon alongside her fellow 'innies' and that Helena Eagan, the daughter of Lumon's current CEO, had infiltrated the Macrodata Refinement (MDR) team to spy on them for the nefarious biotech corporation. That's one of seven big theories I proposed following the release of Severance season 2's first episode.

Well, it turns out I and many others, including Irving B, were right. Irving B has been suspicious of Helly R since MDR discussed what they saw in the outside world in Severance's season 1 finale. Thanks to a weird dream he has (more on this later), plus the fact that Helena cruelly mocks him during a tense campfire conversation midway through this episode, Irving B determines that Helena is masquerading as Helly R. Confronting her the next day near Woe's Hollow's waterfall, he almost drowns Helena in a last-ditch, desperation-filled attempt to force Lumon's hand and confirm his suspicions.

Long story short: Irving B is right. Helena was planted as a mole within MDR to keep tabs on them and seemingly woo Mark S (the 'innie' of Mark Scout), so he gives up on finding Gemma, the wife of his 'outie', and uncovering more of Lumon's sinister working practices.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: what is the Glasgow Block?

"Yes... DO IT, Seth!" (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

Okay, but how did Helena manage to infiltrate MDR? The elevator, which leads to the Severed Floor, contains the technology that causes a severed employee's 'outie' to be replaced by their 'innie' when they begin their latest shift at Lumon. So, how was Helena able to bypass this when she "goes to work" at Lumon? And why didn't Helly R appear alongside her co-workers when the 'innies' were transported to the real world for the field trip (or ORTBO, as Severed Floor manager Seth Milchick calls it) that takes place in episode 4?

It's all down to the Glasgow Block. Another program at Lumon's disposal, it seemingly allows the company's unsevered managers to prevent a severed worker's 'innie' from materializing in certain situations. You know, like when the daughter of your company's CEO has been tasked with spying on some severed employees... Anyway, we know this is the name of this software because Milchick tells someone (presumably back at Lumon HQ) to turn it off as Irving B drowns Helena.

Interestingly, 'Glasgow' is one of the program names that we first glimpsed in the final episode of Severance's first season. Remember when Dylan G used the Overtime Contingency (OTC) to send Mark S, Irving B, and Helly R into the real world? When he's cycling through Lumon's override systems in its security room, 'Glasgow' is one of the pieces of software that appears alongside OTC. Clearly, Lumon has had the Glasgow Block application lined up for a while in case it needed to use it for myriad reasons. That raises questions about what the other programs do and whether we'll see them in action in future seasons.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: did Kier Eagan really have a twin brother called Dieter?

Praise Kier!... or, rather, don't (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

'Woe's Hollow' doesn't just confirm that Helena was spying on MDR and what the Glasgow Block is. Indeed, the latest episode of one of the best Apple TV Plus shows also lifts the lid on some apparently critical details about Kier Eagan, aka Lumon Industries' founder who's worshipped by many of its employees. Revelations about Kier include him writing a fourth, secret appendix that few Lumon workers know about, his first encounter with Woe, one of the so-called Four Tempers, and that he supposedly had a twin named Dieter.

Of course, that begs the question: was Dieter a real person? I'm not buying that for one second. For one, Kier's claims about what happened to Dieter are incredibly outlandish. In the fourth appendix, Kier writes that, essentially, Dieter was turned into a tree after committing the cardinal sin of, well, masturbating. Go figure.

In my view, Dieter never existed – instead, he's the 'evil twin' to Kier's morally righteous persona that Kier must exorcise, whether that's through taming the Four Tempers or doing something else. Despite its sci-fi vibes and aesthetic, Severance is as much of an exploration of religious symbolism and ideologies (the battle of good versus evil and cultism to name just two), and man's duplicitous nature – after all, this is a show where people have an 'innie' persona and an 'outie' persona. Dieter, then, is just Kier's evildoing persona that he fabricated and then "defeated" to become the upstanding, virtuous individual he's depicted as within Lumon.

Want one last piece of evidence? Dieter is derived from its fellow German name Dietrich, which roughly translates to "people ruler". What does Kier Eagan do, even though he's long since passed from this world? Laud it over Lumon. He's the ruler of the people who work for him. Get it?

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: what is the Montauk Project?

Severance's Montauk Project may have ties to some real-world mysteries (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

Severance season 2's fourth episode might have solved some big mysteries, but it also creates new questions and theories that need answering.

One of those is the Montauk Project. After he falls asleep, Irving B dreams that he's in a far more sinister version of the forest that MDR's company retreat is being held in. Surrounded by thorny shrubbery, he walks towards an unsettling sound, which turns out to be a group of moths that are flittering around a computer monitor. Or, rather, four monitors, because he stumbles upon an office layout not unlike the set-up that the MDR team has at Lumon.

There, Irving B sits at his desk and stares at what's on the screen. In the top left hand corner, the word 'Montauk' can be seen. Rows of numbers also litter the screen, but they're soon jumbled together to form the face of Helena Eagan. Some of the numbers also turn into letters that spell out her surname – clues that confirm to Irving B that he's right in his assumptions about Helena's infiltration.

Comment from r/SeveranceAppleTVPlus

But I digress. Unfortunately, there's no indication about what Lumon's Montauk Project is. I don't recall seeing it as one of company's 'innie' programs like the OTC or Glasgow Block from season 1 episode 9, so it's unlikely to be another piece of software that allows them to control the 'innies'. I doubt it's got something to do Project Cold Harbor, either, which is the project that Mark S needs to complete at Lumon and somehow has ties to Gemma.

'Montauk' is a name with real-life historical significance, though. For starters, there's a real-world conspiracy theory called The Montauk Project, which alleges that the US government conducted experiments surrounding psychological warfare and time travel in Montauk, New York. There's also The Montauk Monster incident – an event that saw an unidentifiable rotten animal carcass wash up on the shores of the New York City district in July 2008. MDR see a similarly styled carcass on their way to Woe's Hollow, which is a neat callback to this real-world mystery. It's possible, then, that references to Montauk in Severance season 2's fourth chapter are just the creative team's way of adding to the fictional and real-world puzzles within the show itself.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: is Irving B dead?

I'm not convinced that Irving B is dead (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

It certainly seems that way. After almost drowning Helena to force Lumon to admit she's been spying on the MDR team, a furious Milchick tells Irving B that there's no choice but to "retire" him. As we know, that's code for "yeah, your 'innie' is toast". Considering Irving B almost committed "collegial murder" (Milchick's words, not mine"), it seems his time is up as a Lumon employee for his 'innie' and 'outie'.

Fortunately, Severance's creators spare us the pain of seeing Irving's 'innie' draw his last breath. Indeed, the screen cuts to black as Milchick tells Lumon to, well, sever Irving for what appears to be the final time. So long, Irving B.

That said, I don't actually think Lumon destroys a person's 'innie' when it 'retires' them – and it's got something to do with the previously mentioned Glasgow Block. You see, in the real world, there's a scientific tool called the Glasgow Coma Scale. It's used to determine a person's level of consciousness after a serious brain injury or some other traumatic experience.

they killed irving b bc he was too smart, too clever, too wise. little do they know he’s gonna make a comeback and burn the severance building like he promised #severance pic.twitter.com/4FN4fxFvj5February 7, 2025

I theorize, then, that the Glasgow Block is the program utilized by Lumon when it wants to 'retire' an 'innie'. That doesn't mean that said 'innie' is bumped off, though. Instead, I think they're simply placed into a comatose state. If required, Lumon can simply reawaken an individuals 'innie' if it needs them to.

If I'm right, that means that all of the supposedly dead 'innies' are still somewhere inside the brains of Irving B, Burt G, and any other severed employee who's been let go by Lumon. Long story short: there must be a way to bring them back and I wouldn't be shocked if one of the company's other 'innie' programs has the capacity to do so.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: why did Irving tell Dylan to "hang in there"?

Will Dylan G understand what Irving B said to him? (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

Before Irving's 'innie' is shut down (I refuse to believe he's dead), a guilty Dylan G shouts down to him to apologize for not believing him over Helena. Irving B responds by telling Dylan that it's okay and that he just needs to "hang in there".

This is an incredibly important callback to Severance season 2 episode 1. After Mark S' co-workers are welcomed back to Lumon and as they sit through that bizarre 'Lumon Is Listening' video (yes, that's Keanu Reeves voicing Lumon's anthropomorphic building in Severance season 2's premiere), a poster with the words 'Hang in there' can be seen on one of the walls. It also recreates the scene from season 1 episode 9 where Dylan G holds onto the two OTC switches to activate it.

Hang in there poster (Break room) from r/SeveranceAppleTVPlus

What does all of this mean? Irving B has hidden something behind that poster and wants Dylan G to find it. Remember: in last week's episode, Irving B told Dylan G that he'd sketched the painting (the one that his 'outie' has made numerous times) of the long, dark hallway with an elevator leading down.

I believe Irving B has been playing the long game here. He knew he was going to fired by Lumon if (or, rather, when) he forced them to admit Helena had been spying on MDR, so he put plans in place for his colleagues to continue their quest to find out what Lumon was really up to. Long story short: I think Irving B has hidden his sketches behind that poster. if Dylan G is clever and brave enough to find them, he can tell Mark S and Helly R about the sketches, and they can use them to find the elevator and, potentially, Gemma.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: hang on, are those clones of the MDR team?

That's... not creepy at all (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

Given other shocking events that transpire in 'Woe's Hollow', it's easy to forget another deeply unsettling moment that happens earlier in season 2 episode 4. As the MDR team begin their journey towards the titular location, they're apparently aided by silent versions of themselves, who point them in the direction of Woe's Hollow.

Severance fans have long believed that Lumon Industries' primary objective is unlocking the secret of human cloning. There are numerous threads on the main Severance Reddit page theorizing this is the case, with some viewers suggesting the series' adorable goats are all clones, Ms Casey is a clone of Mark's wife Gemma, and that the Severed Floor's newly installed deputy manager Ms Huang is a clone of Gemma or even what would've been Mark and Gemma's daughter. The purpose of all of this? To resurrect Kier by implanting his consciousness in a clone of his own body.

If – and it's a big if – this is the crux of Severance's story and/or biggest mystery, it would explain why MDR sees cloned versions of themselves as they try to find Woe's Hollow. Sure, these 'clones' could just be a mirage, but I'm struggling to determine how Lumon would make the 'innies' have hallucinations of themselves. I suppose they could be animatronics (Lumon has used them before), but the clone theory just makes more sense to me.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: how will MDR react to events at Woe's Hollow?

Mark S is going to have a very difficult conversation with Helly R in episode 5... (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

If Severance doesn't provide answers to questions 4 through 7 in its next episode, it's a sure fire bet that it'll provide answers to this and all of the below?

How will Helly R react to the fact that Helena has been masquerading as her? Will Mark S tell her that he slept with Helena (he thought she was Helly, for what it's worth) and, if so, will it destroy their burgeoning romance? Will Milchick keep his job as Severed Floor manager? And is Dylan G going to take Irving B's advice or will he sacrifice it in favor of seeing the wife of his 'outie' again?

It's going to be a long week to get answers to all of these questions and more. So, as Irving B said: "hang in there".

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