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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 Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, February 5 (game #339).

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… I'm a person of my word

NYT Strands today (game #340) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• SUCK
• LUCK
• SILK
• CARD
• SLIM
• SLAM

NYT Strands today (game #340) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Great bunch of fellas

NYT Strands today (game #340) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: top, 3rd column

Last side: bottom, 3rd column

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

NYT Strands today (game #340) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #340, are…

• FRANK
• WILL
• DREW
• MILES
• CHASE
• CHUCK
• ROBIN
• JIMMY
• SPANGRAM: FIRST NAMES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I spent a lot of this puzzle drifting off, first thinking about what links all these names – 1970s sit-coms? Elvis Presley hangers-on? Eventually, I decided they were all first names that were also words for other things. They all sound like very solid trustworthy names, too. I wish I knew someone called CHUCK, I bet they’d be excellent.

I did think that JIMMY was the odd one out, until I remembered that it is an excellent word for forcing something open with a crowbar. Meanwhile, in Scotland “Jimmy” is what you call a man whose name you don’t know.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, 5 February, game #339)

• LATEX
• SMOKE
• DUST
• MOLD
• DANDER
• POLLEN
• FRAGRANCE
• SPANGRAM: ALLERGENS

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 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 Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, February 5 (game #605).

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 #606) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• GREAT
• LAMP
• DIZZY
• GIRAFFE
• COUNT
• LIGHT
• NOBLE
• FAINT
• GUITAR
• DUKE
• CAB
• GRAND
• SOFT
• BOTTLE
• LOFTY
• MILD

NYT Connections today (game #606) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Dainty words
• GREEN: Over-sized in spirit 
• BLUE: They all share a bodypart 
• PURPLE: Big in New Orleans

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 #606) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: DELICATE 
• GREEN: MAGNANIMOUS 
• BLUE: THINGS WITH NECKS 
• PURPLE: FIRST NAMES IN JAZZ 

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

NYT Connections today (game #606) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #606, are…

• YELLOW: DELICATE FAINT, LIGHT, MILD, SOFT
• GREEN: MAGNANIMOUS GRAND, GREAT, LOFTY, NOBLE
• BLUE: THINGS WITH NECKS BOTTLE, GIRAFFE, GUITAR, LAMP
• PURPLE: FIRST NAMES IN JAZZ CAB, COUNT, DIZZY, DUKE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I briefly hovered over NOBLE, DUKE and GRAND, thinking there could be a group linking wealthy people – la-di-da types with chauffeurs and mansions. However, I quickly saw sense and remembered my father’s classic jazz collection containing CAB Calloway, COUNT Basie, DIZZY Gillespie and Duke Ellington.

Ellington was called “the Duke” because of his refined mannerisms, elegant speech and slick suits, but it’s great to know that his bandmates had another name for him. They called him Dumpy, after his love of food – and habit of overeating. As well as music, he was a prolific eater, with his biography recounting that he would regularly wolf down three meals in a row and follow it with an “Ellington dessert” – “a combination of pie, cake, ice cream, custard, pastry, jello, fruit, and cheese”.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, 5 February, game #605)

• YELLOW: PARTS OF A COMPENSATION PACKAGE BONUS, INSURANCE, SALARY, VACATION
• GREEN: INDICATION FLAG, GIVEAWAY, SIGN, TELL
• BLUE: THINGS TO DO WITH A DECK OF CARDS CUT, DEAL, FAN, SHUFFLE
• PURPLE: WHAT "BILL" MIGHT REFER TO BANKNOTE, BEAK, INVOICE, WILLIAM

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 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 Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, February 5 (game #1108).

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 #1109) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 2*.

* 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 #1109) - 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 2.

Quordle today (game #1109) - 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 #1109) - 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 0.

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 #1109) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• M

• S

• F

• T

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

Quordle today (game #1109) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1109, are…

• MADAM
• SCAMP
• FAUNA
• TRACK

With every word containing an “A” I switched my second start word to STARE, which helped narrow things down a little. Having a limited number of vowels also helped bring down the number of possibilities – although I must admit it took me a bit of head scratching before I finally got FAUNA.

All in all I was pleased to finish with a line to spare.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1109) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1109, are…

• LIMIT
• ENDOW
• ROCKY
• BLINK

Quordle answers: The past 20

• 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
• Quordle #1091, Sunday 19 January: WREST, RINSE, SCOUR, CANNY
• Quordle #1090, Saturday 18 January: BLARE, ITCHY, BICEP, PIPER
• Quordle #1089, Friday 17 January: CATCH, WEARY, SWOON, LATHE

• Daisy, an AI grandma, wastes scammers’ time with small talk about scones, knitting, and nostalgia for 40 minutes at a time.
• O2’s experiment proves AI can disrupt fraudsters by keeping them on pointless, never-ending calls.
• Future versions of Daisy could feature different accents and personalities to further frustrate scammers.

Daisy, an AI-powered bot built to annoy scammers, was announced two months ago – and now O2 has released some examples of the AI grandma in action.

Scammers can waste your time even if they don't take your money, but O2 has proven that Daisy (or dAIsy) can mess with con artists just as well as they mess with others. Daisy loves reminiscing about the good old days, and she’ll happily waste a fraudster’s time talking about scones instead of handing over personal banking details. Instead of just blocking fraudulent calls, Daisy picks up, engages, and keeps scammers on the line, frustrating them with a never-ending stream of dithering small talk.

O2, a British telecommunications provider, developed Daisy at the end of last year to demonstrate how artificial intelligence could be used to fight back against phone fraud and it has proven to be quite successful since. The bot was trained using real scam call data, so it recognizes the tricks scammers use to manipulate their victims. But instead of falling for their tactics, Daisy responds with an expertly crafted mix of confusion, politeness, and sheer time-wasting. When a scammer tries to convince her to download a malicious program, she might spend five minutes looking for her glasses, then another ten reminiscing about how her grandson usually helps her with “all this newfangled technology.” By the time she’s asking whether they prefer biscuits or pastries, the scammer is already losing patience, and it's 40 minutes later.

Thanks Grandma

One of the calls O2 shared features a scammer attempting to convince Daisy that her computer is full of viruses. The fraudster, expecting an easy mark, instead finds himself stuck on the line with a woman who can’t seem to figure out where her Internet Explorer icon is. “Oh dear, I see something here that says ‘Save As’—does that help, dear?” she asks sweetly. When the scammer finally snaps that her “profession is bothering people,” she responds with an innocent, “Oh, I wouldn’t want to bother anyone. I just thought we were having a nice chat!”

O2 deployed Daisy into the wild, planting fake contact numbers on websites that scammers often target. Once the calls started rolling in, Daisy went to work, engaging fraudsters in conversations that led absolutely nowhere. Some scammers eventually caught on and realized they were speaking to an AI bot, but not before wasting a lot of time that they could have spent targeting real victims. In some cases, scammers even passed Daisy’s number around their call centers, each one trying and failing to get useful information out of her.

In a world where scammers operate at an industrial scale, wasting their time is more than just a minor inconvenience; it’s a real disruption to their business model. The more time they spend talking to Daisy, the less time they have to con actual people. Even if Daisy doesn’t single-handedly bring down the scamming industry, she does her bit and can help raise awareness of how common it is for scammers to try and trick people.

O2 hasn't mentioned any plans to roll Daisy out on a larger scale, but the experiment has proven that AI has the potential to be a powerful tool in combating fraud. Future versions of Daisy could include different accents, personalities, or even local slang to make her even harder to detect as an AI. Until then, we’ll have to settle for the idea of an AI grandmother wasting scammer time, armed with nothing but a warm demeanor and an endless supply of off-topic anecdotes.

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• Replacement Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pens have a similar price tag to S24 Ultra ones, despite the lack of Bluetooth
• A teardown has also revealed that the S25 Ultra may be capable of charging a Bluetooth S Pen
• Yet Samsung has stated it has no plans to sell a Bluetooth one

There’s a lot to love about the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, but one thing a lot of people very much don’t love is the changes to the S Pen, which unlike the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s, lacks Bluetooth – meaning it also lacks various Bluetooth-enabled features.

This was likely a cost-cutting exercise by Samsung, which claimed in defense of the change that not many people made use of the Bluetooth features anyway. But if you need to buy a replacement S Pen, none of those savings will be passed on to you, as the company is charging just as much for its Bluetooth-free S Pen as for the more high-tech Bluetooth model it offered with previous phones.

Specifically – as spotted by 9to5Google – Samsung has added this new S Pen to its store at a price of $50 / £49 / AU$62.30. That's the same price as the previous model in the US, while in the UK this new S Pen actually costs marginally more than the £47 S Pen for the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

At full price it’s also slightly more expensive in Australia, but Samsung is selling it at a reduced price there for whatever reason, bringing it below the price of the S24 Ultra’s S Pen. So the current price isn’t too objectionable in Australia, but in the US and the UK buyers might find it hard to stomach.

The parts are in place

And this isn’t the only odd S Pen news, as in a teardown video, JerryRigEverything has found that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra still seemingly has an inductive charger inside the S Pen slot. This would be used to charge the S pen if it had Bluetooth, but with the stylus we actually got there’s seemingly no need for this charger.

So why has Samsung still included the inductive charger? JerryRigEverything posits that rather than being a charger it could just be there to sense whether the S Pen is in its dock or not, but also notes that it looks almost identical to the charging component in previous Ultra phones, so likely is capable of providing power to a stylus.

Another possibility is that Samsung plans to sell a Bluetooth S Pen separately, and in fact a Samsung blog post specifically said that would happen, but bafflingly the company has since stated that no Bluetooth versions will be made available.

So maybe Samsung initially planned to sell a Bluetooth S Pen separately and then changed its mind, but we can’t say for sure. If so though, it’s always possible that the company will change its mind again – especially as there’s a fan petition for a Bluetooth S Pen.

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• EA has confirmed that the next Battlefield game is targeting a release by March 31, 2025
• It is being helmed by Battlefield Studios, a group of five EA developers
• You can currently sign up to Battlefield Labs for a chance to play early and give feedback

EA has confirmed that the next entry in the Battlefield franchise will likely be released before April 2026.

The news comes from the company’s latest earnings report, which refers to the new Battlefield Labs initiative and states that it will allow for “player-driven testing and innovation ahead of the franchise’s expected fiscal year 2026 release.” Fiscal year 2026 runs from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, so we now know to expect it to come out some time between those two dates.

If you want an early taste of the next Battlefield game, EA is currently accepting registrations for the aforementioned Battlefield Labs. Described as the company’s “most ambitious community development collaboration ever”, the initiative will give a select few fans the chance to playtest the next Battlefield game and directly influence its development through feedback.

The game is being developed by the newly formed Battlefield Studios, a group of four EA developers. This includes Criterion Games, known for helming the Need for Speed series, original Battlefield creators Dice, Battlefield Portal studio Ripple Effect, and Dead Space developer Motive.

EA also recently showed off a sizzle reel of early gameplay footage, which suggested a return to a modern day setting and a more grounded, gritty atmosphere. This is in stark contrast to the most recent instalment, Battlefield 2042, which focused on larger-than-life hero characters in colorful futuristic environments.

Despite receiving several major updates intended to address its overall mechanics and tone, Battlefield 2042 failed to find much of a footing with long time series fans. Although highly promising, we’ll have to wait and see whether the next Battlefield game can truly deliver the grounded military experience that many seem to crave.

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• The Google TV free channel count is down by 9
• One of the culled channel is the Bob Ross Channel
• Dozens of new channels were added last year

The trend of Google TV adding more and more free channels for audiences in the US had to come to an end sometime, we suppose – and so it's come to pass that nine channels have been cut from the selection.

As spotted by 9to5Mac, the cull doesn't include the most recently added, holiday-related batch of channels, which is something of a surprise. The Bob Ross Channel has been heartlessly cut though, so fans will have to get their painting fix elsewhere.

The other channels that have gone are The Hill TV, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan, the Dove Channel, Comedy Dynamics, the Bob Ross Channel, Shades of Black, OutTV Proud, Dazn Ringside, and Dazn Women’s Football.

This free channel offering comes via the Freeplay app on Google TV devices (although that app has temporarily been paused), and Google has never ditched so many free channels at once – usually it's just one or two that are removed quietly each time.

Let's go FASTer

The Google TV Streamer (Image credit: Google)

The rise of Free Ad-supported Streaming Television (FAST) has been a rapid one, and Google hasn't been alone in offering a ton of ad-supported content for viewers who might be tiring of paying for their streaming services.

Our best free streaming service list will guide you to platforms including Tubi, Pluto, and Roku, where you can enjoy a wide range of movies and shows without paying a dime (and some operate internationally too, unlike the US-only Google TV Freeplay).

However, these free, ad-supported services share something in common with the likes of Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney Plus: content can leave the platforms as quickly as it arrives, so it's never certain how long you've got to finish your binge-watching.

Given how many FAST channels Google TV still offers, it's still in credit – dozens of new channels were added over the course of 2024, and Google also launched its Google TV Streamer device in August.

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While the AirPods Pro 2 are already the best AirPods available, it looks like future versions could get better in ways we hadn't really expected.

On February 4 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple a new patent (via PatentlyApple) relating to its line of in-ear audio hardware, which could see a future AirPods Pro model get more extensive touch controls – even if you’re using them with a pair of gloves, theoretically.

Touch controls are a tricky thing for in-ear headphones: unlike the roomier over-ear models, which have plenty of space to accommodate large touch panels, in-ear headphones need to react to quite small, precise movements.

The existing AirPods Pro 2 earbuds do support touch controls for volume, playback, and ANC modes, but through a limited series of presses and vertical swipes along the protruding stem.

This new patent, however, looks to replace the small vent in the AirPods Pro casing with an external touch sensor, likely enabling more controlled adjustments to volume, playback, and the like.

The diagrams included in the patent seem focused on vertical movements, like those used to adjust volume along the stem of existing AirPod models. It's possible that this sensor would allow Apple to ditch the stem sensor for a more reliable, responsive version, though the end product could potentially allow for a wider variety of inputs.

(Image credit: Apple / United States Patent and Trademark Office)

Crucially, this sensor doesn't seem to require capacitive touch inputs, like those enabled by the conductive touch of your finger, but rather through the motion of an 'object' moving up or down along the sensor's 'geometric' edges.

This suggests that users can deploy touch controls even with a gloved hand, allowing for easier volume and/or playback adjustment in colder weather – something at the forefront of our mind in the ongoing winter.

At the moment, you can play/pause/change ANC modes on the AirPods Pro 2 by pinching the stems, and this works with gloves on – but the volume control doesn't, which is a slightly frustrating inconsistency.

It’s been three years since the launch of the AirPods Pro 2, and it’s highly likely we’ll see the AirPods Pro 3 release some time in 2025. Just because something is patented, of course, doesn’t mean it’s about to be imminently deployed, but if Apple were able to squeeze this smart tweak to touch controls into the next version, it would be a nice quality-of-life upgrade.

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• Acrobat AI Assistant adds new "contract intelligence" feature
• Consumers and business owners often find unexpected terms after signing
• Contract intelligence will generate summaries and generate citations to validate them

Adobe has updated its Acrobat AI Assistant with a handy new feature that will help its users break down and understand important contractual information in PDF files.

The aptly-named contract intelligence update automatically detects contracts and summarizes complex language to make them easier to understand, highlighting key terms and generating citations as it goes to validate the summaries it produces.

The AI tool is also designed to compare up to 10 contract versions, checking for consistency and any discrepancies.

Acrobat AI gets contract intelligence

According to Adobe research, seven in 10 (69%) consumers have signed a contract without fully understanding what’s inside, with nearly two in three finding unexpected contract terms after signing on the dotted line.

In the announcement, VP for Product Marketing at Adobe, Michi Alexander, details how contract intelligence can reveal deposit rules and pet policies on apartment leases, cancellation policies within gym contracts and hidden fees in phone contracts.

Apart from consumers, the tool is also designed for small business owners, 91% of whom work with contracts at least monthly. Just like consumers, three in five SMB owners have discovered unexpected terms in their contracts after signing.

Common reasons for mistakes include the length and complexity of contracts, which are addressed with Adobe’s updated service.

The upgrade forms part of the wider Acrobat AI Assistant, which costs $4.99 per month with an annual commitment, and it’s already rolled out to paying customers.

Alexander summarized: “With AI, individuals and businesses can approach contracts with greater transparency, turning what was once a source of stress into an opportunity for inquiry, clarity and confidence.”

The launch of contract intelligence comes not long after Adobe upgraded its e-signature experience in Acrobat, by preserving document structure to improve reliability across all device types and adding new visual progress indicators to prevent users from missing fields.

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Every year, the end of Autumn marks a period of major sales. Starting with Singles Day and Black Friday and continuing to the Christmas shopping spree, consumers are desperately searching for big discounts. According to a UK-based survey, 67% of respondents feel that growing living costs pressure them to look for deals, and 71% believe this helps them save money. But does it, really?

For years, tech products have been among the most susceptible to manipulative pricing, figuring in previous fake discounts research in the UK, France, and the US. Conducted during Black Friday 2024, the latter study found that 37% of the hottest tech products saw significant price hikes just before the event, making Black Friday’s offer look like a major deal. However, the study tracked fewer than a hundred products, prompting the question of whether this trend can be observed more widely.

To get a more comprehensive review of the tech market deals, we decided to employ Oxylabs’ extensive data collection infrastructure and examine the prevalence of manipulative discounts in two major US marketplaces. We used our Web Scraper API to track almost 10 thousand unique tech products from August 13 to November 29, 2024, and here is what we found.

What is a fake discount? From legal definition to consumer utility

During our research, we tracked publicly available pricing data from 9714 unique products using US locations. We were especially interested in Black Friday 2024 and the discounts offered on this particular day. We based our research on legal definitions established in California, as it is considered to have the most explicitly defined rules — under Californian law, a ‘fake discount’ is observed if the seller cannot prove that discounted items have been regularly offered at their advertised former prices for a period of 3 months right before the discount.

After analyzing case law and recommendations, we decided to treat advertised former prices as “regularly offered” (or prevailing) in those cases when they were explicitly present at least 50% of the time during the 3 months period right before the discount. The drill was simple: if product X's advertised former price was 270$ on Black Friday day, we checked if this product was actually offered for 270$ at least 50% of the time (45 days) in the 3-month period prior to the event.

We observed pricing data on an hourly basis, meaning that every unique product URL has been monitored 24 times per day. All tech products were randomly selected from different product departments; however, we made sure our analysis covered the most popular tech categories, such as video games, computers, cell phones, wearable technology, etc.

Furthermore, when analyzing data, we noticed that some discounts might not violate the laws but still be exploitative and unethical towards the consumer. Thus, we decided to perform additional research and check if consumers really benefited from the Black Friday promotions in major US marketplaces. To do so, we analyzed whether people could buy discounted Black Friday products for less money one week, two weeks, a month, and two months prior to this event. Because if they really could, waiting for Black Friday to hunt a major tech deal saved them no money.

Suspicious discounts — 75% of cases

The first thing that struck us when analyzing data was that out of 4645 discounted tech products offered on Black Friday day, only 2786 met the main criterion — they were sold in the marketplace for at least 90 days during the observed 3-month period. All others occurred on the marketplaces fleetingly, sometimes being listed for a few days only.

Out of these 2786 products, 75% (2099 tech products in total) didn’t meet the main legal criterion — their advertised former prices were not regularly offered for a substantial period of time before the Black Friday discount. The worst situation could be observed in the following categories: wearable technology (86.1%), cameras and photography equipment (81.1%), computers and their accessories (81.2%), and video games (80.4%). The cell phones category saw the least violations — 65% of cases.

Seeing these numbers, we wondered how tech categories compare to non-tech ones. During the entire research period, starting with August 13, 2024, we monitored prices for over 61 thousand different products in both tech and non-tech categories. Aggregated analysis of tech and non-tech products showed that 60% of the deals didn’t meet the main legal criterion, compared to 75% when analyzing only tech products. It roughly confirms that tech products are more susceptible to ‘fake’ deals — a suspicion already raised by previous research.

At this point, we can draw two conclusions. First, three out of four discounted tech products in two major US marketplaces on Black Friday could have been fake discounts or, at best, manipulative deals. Unfortunately, we cannot prove it undeniably due to the reasons presented below, which brings us to the second part of the research.

Legal yet exploitative? The consumer utility

If the product was listed for a shorter period than 90 days, to see if the discount is genuine, one must check whether the advertised reference price was a prevailing market price, i.e., perform competitor analysis. However, anyone with experience in ecommerce web intelligence knows that acquiring reliable competitor pricing data retrospectively is nearly impossible. There is also an option to check if the seller clearly and conspicuously stated in the advertisement the date when the alleged former price did prevail. However, it is unclear where and how this data should be presented on the marketplace’s website.

Thus, we witness a huge gap in legal regulation, at least in the US. In the case of digital commerce, the 90-day period is excessive as the majority of small sellers do not keep the products in the marketplace for so long — global ecommerce is too dynamic. However, in cases when sellers do not follow this requirement, it is extremely complicated for consumers or regulatory institutions to factually prove a ‘fake discount.’

To see if consumers really benefit from the questionable Black Friday tech ‘deals,’ we performed additional analysis and checked whether the consumers could save money buying the same products before the Black Friday event. Web intelligence we gathered showed that the discounted Black Friday price was the lowest price during the entire week prior to Black Friday in only 27% of cases. The remaining 73% of tech deals were not saving consumers any money.

The situation looks more positive when we look at product prices at least a couple of weeks before Black Friday event:

• 2 weeks prior to Black Friday — Black Friday price was the lowest price in 72% of cases;
• One month prior to Black Friday — Black Friday price was the lowest price in 78% of cases;
• Two months prior to Black Friday — Black Friday price was the lowest price in 83% of cases;
• Three months prior to Black Friday — Black Friday price was the lowest price in 85% of cases.

And yet, we can still infer from this data that only 1 out of 4 consumers could undoubtedly benefit from waiting specifically for the Black Friday instead of buying a product on any other day a week before the event. Moreover, we cannot be sure that the product’s price wasn’t artificially inflated at some point before the Black Friday as the first part of our research showed most deals do not strictly comply with legal regulation.

Hunting for deals in the age of AI

Although a significant percentage of suspicious discounts in major US marketplaces indeed surprised us, the trend isn’t new. Moreover, it has already been observed in other countries. In 2022, the European Commission inspected Black Friday sales, revealing that around 25% of price reduction announcements were inconsistent with EU law. An earlier study that monitored Black Friday deals in the UK showed that 85% of the discounted products had cost the same or less six months earlier.

Unfortunately, legal regulation alone is not enough to protect consumers. On the one hand, AI-driven web intelligence solutions enable regulators to keep tabs on thousands of websites simultaneously and monitor pricing changes on a large scale with relatively small resources. On the other hand, if the laws are too vague or don't meet the new reality of the digital economy, they become fictional documents preventing efficient ways to enforce the rules.

AI tools make it easier for sellers to perform complex pricing manipulations. Unfortunately, manipulative discounts aren't the only trap awaiting online shoppers in 2025. A recent study by originality.ai showed that during Black Friday, almost a third of product reviews from major ecommerce platforms, including Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, were likely AI-generated. This makes it even harder for consumers to understand if the seller is reliable and the product is worth the money.

With AI bringing both positive and negative effects to the e-commerce industry, consumers should stay aware of many different manipulation tactics and think twice before getting caught in the hunt for ‘deals.’ Major tech news websites have regular articles about good tech deals in big marketplaces — this information might help if you are planning to buy some gadget. It feels just rational to try to save a penny, but it's worth remembering that some tech deals, especially during major shopping events, might be nothing more than ghost discounts.

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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

• A new Garmin public beta has dropped for the Fenix 7
• It features a new heart rate tweak and fixes to mapping
• Garmin has disabled the ECG feature in its public beta

After a disastrous week that saw an outage render most of its devices useless for 24 hours, Garmin is trying to get back on track with its continued rollout of beta features. The latest is the 20.14 public beta for owners of one of the best Garmin Watch models, the Fenix 7 range.

The change log includes some fixes and tweaks to a couple of key features, but installing beta software on the Fenix 7 series still disables the ECG feature.

Starting with what is included, Garmin notes the following updates:

• Added open connections notification to heart rate broadcast app.
• Fixed abnormal cadence issue when using metronome.
• Fixed color of BMX cycling profile.
• Fixed map not fully drawing.
• Fixed map settings not updating when changed.
• Various bug fixes and improvements.

That's a welcome list of fixes for mapping and a nice heart rate update, but as mentioned, installing the latest public beta will see you lose access to ECG. Here's what we know right now.

Garmin's Fenix beta drops ECG

(Image credit: Michael Sawh)

"Moving forward, the Beta software available for the Fenix 7 series will have the ECG feature disabled," Garmin said on its website. So if you want to continue using the ECG feature on your Fenix 7 series, you should steer clear of the public beta for now.

Garmin has confirmed that if you install the beta and change your mind, you can backdate your watch to restore its functionality.

Garmin also says that the feature "ECG feature will be made available again on versions of beta software that we anticipate becoming Live updates," and says users should see the ECH feature become enabled again in Beta software "toward the end of our quarterly beta cycles."

Garmin has been noting this for a while in its beta updates, but it has caught users out before, so it's important to be aware as many people rely on the ECG feature to monitor medical conditions.

Garmin recently rolled out its ECG feature to the EU and Australia, with support for models including the Garmin Venu 3 and the new Fenix 8.

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• EA's CEO has hinted that Madden and EA Sports FC are destined for Switch 2
• He believes the sports franchises "could bring real energy" to the console
• The full Switch 2 reveal is due to happen on April 2, 2025

Yep, you can probably expect the two biggest sports games in the world - Madden and EA Sports FC - to come to Nintendo Switch 2.

As reported by VGC, Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson was posed the question of which franchises could make the jump to Nintendo's upcoming console at a recent earnings call.

Wilson stated that having a new platform available "gives us the ability to access and acquire new players. Typically, we’ve had franchises perform very well on Nintendo platforms."

Then, on the topic of the company's two largest sports franchises, Wilson added: “Certainly, our expectation is that products like FC and Madden and others might find real energy on the platform, as they have done in the past."

While Nintendo's current console has yet to receive any version of Madden, it has played host to a number of FIFA and EA Sports FC titles. Typically, though, these have been severely scaled back in terms of features and/or visual fidelity. It does seem that a more powerful Switch 2 could open the doors for more of EA's franchises to make the cut.

Wilson stressed that nothing is set in stone as of yet, saying there's "nothing in our models at this juncture. But our expectation is that any time a great new console comes into the marketplace that gives us access to new players and new communities, that we have the IP that will benefit from that.”

It remains to be seen just how much Electronic Arts will support the Nintendo Switch 2, but it certainly would be nice to have series like Need for Speed, Battlefield, and of course Madden available for play on the go.

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In today’s fast-paced world, businesses face a perfect storm: rising customer expectations, talent shortages, and economic turbulence. The playing field isn’t level - while legacy organizations struggle to adapt, nimble start-ups are leveraging cutting-edge tech to disrupt industries. For established players, digital transformation isn’t just an option - it’s a lifeline.

However, even with the most detailed roadmaps and the best intentions, business transformation is not a guaranteed success. In fact, around 70% of these projects fail to deliver positive results – something that has already cost over $2.3 trillion globally. Early buy-in is crucial, but difficult to achieve when stakeholders do not see tangible results in the initial phases of a project.

Therefore, those looking to undertake transformation projects need to look for technologies and techniques that will enable them to achieve long-term ambitions as well as the first quick wins. This could generate more excitement around the transformation – both internally and externally - and ultimately help to prevent future failure.

Marketing Tech: The Game Changer for Business Transformation

Business leaders are often under heavy scrutiny when it comes to justifying investment in marketing technologies, even those that help businesses to better understand their customers. Advocating for buy-in internally can be tricky, with some stakeholders incorrectly viewing marketing as a cost burden rather than a revenue generator. However, this antiquated way of thinking is not in line with today’s reality.

Just as marketing has become a key driver of business strategy, marketing technologies are emerging as a crucial component of business transformation. The data and insights provided by next-gen marketing tools alongside techniques such as market landscaping are enabling businesses to map out long-term goals as well as effectively respond to immediate market shifts.

Why Data is the Cornerstone of Transformation

No good decision is made without data. Every business operating in today’s digital world knows its value. However, despite this, recent research discovered that only half (51%) of businesses believe that they have their data set up in a way that enables them to make the most of their customer insights.

In today’s landscape margins are tight and mistakes are costly. Knowing your audience inside-out could be the difference between a transformation that soars and one that stumbles. This is why human-led data-driven insights should be the guiding force behind any business transformation.

Often, marketing teams are light years ahead when to comes to using such insights. This is because their success depends on knowing exactly what makes customers tick. After all, a campaign’s success is reliant on understanding the people it is trying to reach. The data-driven insights into human behavior already being used by marketing can inform wider business transformation strategy and help businesses to predict future trends, strategize more effectively, and be more proactive in catering to their audience’s needs.

Imagine a global fashion retailer struggling to stay competitive in a rapidly shifting market. By leveraging marketing data, the company identifies that a growing segment of its audience is prioritizing sustainable and ethically sourced products. Marketing teams can use these insights to craft highly targeted campaigns that emphasize the brand’s eco-friendly practices and new sustainable product lines.

But the data's impact doesn’t stop there. These same insights can spark a broader business transformation: it can be the catalyst for restructuring the organization's supply chain to align with sustainability demands, introducing a recycling program, and offering greater transparency on material sourcing. As a result, not only will customer loyalty surge, but the retailer will also capture a new, eco-conscious audience, doubling its revenue in this category within two years.

Building Agility Through Marketing Tech: Strategies for Success

Markets are volatile and what’s relevant today might not be tomorrow. Businesses should adopt an approach of ‘agile resilience’ to be better prepared for whatever comes next. This means designing flexible frameworks that will allow for recalibration as new data and insights emerge, staying aligned with long-term objectives, while still being able to respond to immediate shifts.

By integrating marketing technologies like Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), with artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, business leaders can analyze in real-time, and predict future, structured and unstructured data at scale. These tools make it easier than ever to pre-empt consumer behavioral changes and plan for where, when, and what shoppers will spend money on. This enables business leaders to become scenario planners, anticipating market shifts and pre-empting competitors’ next moves, to create business transformation strategies that are directional, but also agile.

Similarly, through scenario planning and market landscaping, businesses can be ready to react if competitors move into new markets and spaces. A dynamic market view not only sets a strong foundation for future campaigns, but it also sustains momentum in transformation initiatives. For instance, scenario planning can feed into a future-back approach, starting with a clear vision of what the business needs to become in the long run and then defining the tangible steps required to get there. This keeps every transformation initiative aligned with the end goal, even as market conditions shift.

As new technologies emerge, so do new ways to track success. Leaders undertaking business transformation projects should remain inquisitive and look beyond traditional metrics. For example, the attribution models traditionally used by marketers can be utilized to track which channels are proving most effective or carry out churn analysis. It’s even possible to incorporate real-time information – such as weather patterns and geopolitical data – into these models, to build a more holistic view. For example, an ice cream brand might choose to incorporate data on weather patterns. This would enable them to predict where and when the next spike in demand would be and ensure that stock and marketing materials can be proactively directed to the right places at the right time.

Ensure all decisions are data-driven

There is no doubt that change is on the horizon - and business transformation projects are set to feature heavily for businesses of all shapes and sizes moving forward -with almost 2 in 3 businesses believing that at least half of their future revenue will come from offerings that are not yet in their portfolio.

However, it’s important to recognize that business transformation is an ongoing process. It is a journey, in which businesses strive to better understand their audience’s needs, rather than the final destination. The future belongs to businesses that dare to evolve. By marrying bold vision with agile execution, and letting data lead the way, organizations can unlock a new era of transformation - one that’s as resilient as it is revolutionary.

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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

• Rumors suggest that a Canon PowerShot V1 is en route, with a 24MP sensor that's "close to Micro Four Thirds" in size
• It could be joined later this year by a PowerShot SX70 HS bridge camera successor
• Those two additions would make for a hugely varied PowerShot V-series lineup

There's a lot of hype right now about the rumored Canon PowerShot V1. The new point-and-shoot camera is supposedly set to land as early as March, and would signal a renewed commitment from Canon to making compact cameras – which could be a smart move, given that compacts are enjoying something of a comeback.

We don't have too much product info to go off right now, but the suggested sensor size is only going to get compact camera fans more excited. According to Canon Rumors, the PowerShot V1 will feature a 24MP sensor that's "close to Micro Four Thirds" in size, together with a 3x optical zoom lens.

For perspective, that sensor size is a fair bit larger than the 1-inch type used in existing point-and-shoots like the viral PowerShot G7X Mark III, and other models like the PowerShot G5X Mark II. However, it's not the largest sensor Canon has gone with for its compact cameras – that award goes to the APS-C sensor used in the PowerShot G1 X Mark III.

So which sensor size is the sweet spot? I reckon that Canon is onto a winner if it is indeed taking the middle option of Micro Four Thirds for its upcoming point-and-shoot – here's why.

The Leica D-Lux 8 is a compact point-and-shoot, and its features could inspire the rumored Canon PowerShot V1 (Image credit: Leica) Not too big, not too small

Sensor size has a big impact on both image quality and design, especially with point-and-shoot compacts that feature a built-in lens. The larger the sensor size, the more pleasing image quality is overall, but there are also design drawbacks.

The PowerShot G7X Mark III has a 20MP 1-inch sensor with a 4x optical zoom 24-100mm f/1.8-2.8 lens. That sensor size measures 13.1 x 8.8mm and only select smartphones can match it for size, such as the Xiaomi 14 Ultra – Canon's camera has the image quality edge, but not by a long way.

Canon's PowerShot G1 X Mark III has a bigger-still APS-C sensor that measures around 22.3 x 14.9mm, but it's a bigger camera, and its 3x optical zoom 24-72mm lens has a much more limited f/2.8-5.6 maximum aperture and inferior close focusing skills, making it less handy in low light or for macro photography. I remember testing the G1 X Mark III and wishing that I could open up the lens more.

Then there's the rumored PowerShot V1's Micro Four Thirds sensor, which would measure around 18 x 13.5mm. I reckon this is the sweet spot for image quality, camera size and lens design. I expect the suggested 3x optical zoom lens to measure up to the one found in the Leica D-Lux 8, a point-and-shoot camera that also has a Micro Four Thirds sensor, and which has a 24-75mm f/1.7-2.8 lens.

That camera was a minor update of the D-Lux 7, and its tech is essentially based on the dated Panasonic Lumix LX100 II. The D-Lux 8 is one of a few high-quality compacts that you can buy today, but it costs around $1,595 / £1,450 / AU$2,790. Canon's PowerShot V1 is rumored to cost somewhere between $600-800. Even at that upper price end, there would no other compact camera to match the V1, assuming the rumored specs are true, in which case it's set to be an absolute treat.

And it could be joined by another new PowerShot later in 2025 – a modern-day successor to the aging PowerShot SX70 HS bridge camera. Canon Rumors is pouring cold water on the chances of another 65x optical zoom model, and suggests that the zoom range will be much less. Still, if the next PowerShot turns out to be in the mold of Panasonic's 'travel zooms', such as the Lumix ZS99 / TZ99, that would be no bad thing – and Canon would have an enviable compact camera lineup once more.

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I have to admit I was a latecomer to Hacks, the multi-award-winning comedy-drama that stars Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder as a world-famous stand-up comedian and her assistant / aspiring comedy writer, respectively. Within the first few episodes, I could immediately tell why it had won so many awards: the writing is sharp, the delivery of jokes is even better, and there’s a healthy dose of character development that has you both rooting for (and against) the pair throughout.

Considering a lot of Hacks’' three-season (and almost fourth) success – including earning a spot on our list of the best Max shows – is down to the writing, I thought I’d check out some other shows from the team behind the camera while I eagerly await the new season.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to look too hard, as my partner already knew of The Other Two, which lists Paul W. Downs – one of the main writers and stars of Hacks – as a screenwriter. Paul is also heavily involved in another excellent sitcom Broad City, a sitcom I had previously heard of, and subsequently binged (which also deserves your attention).

I hadn’t come across The Other Two at all, but given Downs was a part of the team, I figured I a sleeper hit on my hands. And boy was I right.

A familiar story, ripe for satire

The Other Two is pure satire through and through. It follows the lives of aspiring gay actor Cary and his sister Brooke in the wake of their teenage brother Chase’s overnight rise to fame through social media. Chase’s meteoric rise to internet stardom is immediately a storyline many of us will understand. Every man and his dog now has a podcast, TikTok account or a jam-packed Instagram feed, with many hoping to achieve global notoriety (and freebies from companies and brands).

Due to the ubiquitous nature of social media and how quickly someone can become a viral influencer, it’s apparent that Cary and Brooke are, deep down, jealous of Chase’s overnight success. Despite working hard, they never seem to be able to catch their big break.

On the side, they have their loving and doting mother (played by Molly Shannon) who, at first, struggles to split her time between her adult children and making sure 13-year-old Chase is safe in ‘the industry’. That is, before she uses Chase’s fame to catapult herself to the title of the most famous woman in the world.

The whole story arc across the three seasons (10 episodes per season, all around 30 minutes each) is easy to follow. There’s no “wait, who’s that again?” going on here. This allows the jokes to take center stage, and man are there a ton of jokes in this show. Take a look at the trailer for the first season below.

• Watch The Other Two on Max in the US
• Watch The Other Two on Binge in Australia

Dumb can be clever

I love dumb humor, and it’s littered throughout The Other Two. So many of the jokes are akin to your typical dad joke, but they’re not just random words thrown together in the hope they’ll get a laugh (something I personally find industry heavyweight Will Ferrell guilty of). Instead, they’re far more intelligent and so cleverly written. Throughout the entire show I found myself saying to my partner, “I wonder how many rewrites that one joke had” because I could just tell that specific words or references were chosen for distinct reasons. The result is one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen.

Pin-sharp comedic timing

Of course, good writing is only as good as the cast delivering the lines and I think the casting here is absolutely perfect. Heléne York and Drew Tarver, who play Brooke and Cary Dubek are totally believable as brother and sister, with an instantly likeable nature. Although, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say my partner and I did find ourselves struggling to side with Cary’s in the final season. He’s a narcissistic character, but the narcissism levels are dialled up to 11, which did become a little grating.

Molly Shannon is an excellent mom to her kids, taking on the role of ‘most famous woman in the world’ like a duck to water. Ken Marino, who has an endless list of TV and film acting credits, plays Chase’s manager and I can only liken him to a golden retriever. He has oodles of love to give, but can be so hilariously dim-witted that you're always excited to see him on-screen.

Wanda Sykes and Richard Kind also have recurring roles in the series and given their comedic backgrounds, you just know they’re going to deliver some knockout jokes. There's a whole host of guest stars throughout the show’s run, including “Marvel’s Simu Liu” (how he’s referred to in the show) as Molly Shannon’s boyfriend in season three.

A true weekend watch

To top it all off – and as I’ve already alluded to – it’s such an easy TV show to binge-watch, with three seasons comprising 10, roughly 30-minute episodes. That’s approximately 15 hours all up — meaning you could feasibly watch the entirety of it in one weekend. I did, and I have no doubt I’ll do it all again in the future.

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OpenAI is upgrading the ChatGPT phone number you can text with on WhatsApp to be a lot more like the mobile app and web portal. From now on, you won't need to type out everything you want to say to the AI chatbot. Now, you can send a photo or record a voice memo that ChatGPT will "see" or "hear" and respond via the usual text form.

You'll be able to do things like take a picture of a foreign-language sign and ask for a translation or send an audio clip of your toddler’s latest philosophical ramblings and ask for a text transcription. It’s not quite as capable as the more standard portal, but it's very close. The phone number 1-800-CHATGPT still works, too, but by its nature as a phone call, it already takes audio input but can't accept images.

You've been able to use ChatGPT on WhatsApp since it debuted in December, but some may have been annoyed at having to fumble with the keyboard. Being able to snap a picture or send a quick voice note to get ChatGPT's help will be a real boon for them. Accepting voice messages and photos within an app that many people regularly use during the day makes it much easier for more spontaneous interactions, the way you'd randomly send a photo of voice recording to a friend when you think to do so.

For instance, imagine you’re out for a run and suddenly remember an idea you don’t want to forget. Instead of stopping to type it out, you can send a voice message to ChatGPT, asking it to summarize your thoughts into a note for later. Or let’s say you’re trying to fix something at home, and instead of awkwardly explaining the problem, you snap a picture and ask ChatGPT if it can offer troubleshooting tips.

ChatGPT remembers you

The update also introduces account linking. That means the AI will remember you and your previous preferences and interactions if you have a ChatGPT account through the app or web portal, whether at the free tier or with a subscription to ChatGPT Plus or Pro. Previous limitations, such as the 15-minute-a-month cap on AI calls, are being loosened. This update could entice those who like the idea of ChatGPT but have been reluctant to download the app or go to the website.

WhatsApp is one of the most widely used messaging platforms in the world, and adding more ChatGPT features there and removing the extra step of opening another app or switching contexts could be OpenAI's subtle pitch to WhatsApp users without ChatGPT accounts. Instead of needing to open ChatGPT separately, it’s now embedded in a place where they already spend time texting their family and friends. Why not an AI assistant, too?

OpenAI has mentioned that messages may be reviewed for safety purposes, so users should keep that in mind before sending anything too personal or sensitive. Still, for everyday tasks, creative brainstorming, and answering random questions on the fly, this update makes ChatGPT feel more integrated into everyday life than ever before.

Any upgrade that makes an AI chatbot feel like a natural, conversational tool within your favorite apps and less like a standalone tool with an app you only open when you need something specific is going to be of interest to OpenAI and its rivals.

Whether WhatsApp fans start reaching out to ChatGPT whenever a thought crosses their mind like “What’s for dinner?” or “Can you turn my 2 AM voice ramblings into something coherent?” remains to be seen.

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• Fujifilm ZUH6000 supports projection onto walls, ceilings, floors without moving the projector or adjusting the lens
• Concealed pop-up lens mechanism resembles a turtle’s retractable neck
• Projected to hit the market in June 2025, but pricing remains under wraps

Fujifilm has introduced its latest innovation in projection technology, the Fujifilm Projector ZUH6000, an ultra-short-throw (UST) 4K projector equipped with a folded two-axial rotatable lens.

This latest addition to the Z Series is designed to project high-definition images with improved color accuracy and smooth gradation.

Compared to its predecessors, it reportedly enhances color reproduction by 1.5 times, with red hues seeing a twofold improvement.

A retractable lens inspired by nature?

Measuring 486 mm in width, 496 mm in depth, 175 mm in height, the ZUH6000 is hardly a portable projector, but you're getting a lot of fidelity.

At the heart of the ZUH6000 is a high-performance DLP chip, enabling it to project 4K-resolution images (3840 x 2160 pixels). It supports a brightness of 6000 lumens which is lower than the 8000 lumens brightness of the Z8000 that Fujifilm released in 2021.

The ZUH6000's two-axial lens allows the lens to rotate 90 degrees around the mounting axis and 360 degrees around the lens axis. The lens can also be concealed, leaving only the pop-up mechanism exposed which is reminiscent of a turtle’s ability to retract and extend its neck.

It also supports a lens shift function which offers up to 82% vertical and 35% horizontal adjustment. This flexibility enables projection in multiple directions, as well as fine-tuning the position of the projected image without physically moving the projector or altering the lens direction.

A 1.1x optical zoom mechanism ensures efficient and precise image positioning, making it ideal for complex spatial designs.

Although there is no official information on the price of this device, it is scheduled for release in June 2025.

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Major new information about Sonos' much-rumored set-top streaming box has leaked via The Verge, and as a long-time Sonos user, I was borderline salivating at the promised features here – it sounds like the device I'd be dreaming of when thinking what I'd want a Sonos streaming box to be. In fact, it started sounding too good to be true, and then you get to the pricing and a reminder about the software behind it, and it starts falling apart.

Let's start with the great stuff. The box is said to be a small black square when seen from above, slightly thicker than a deck of cards – so quite similar to the Apple TV 4K. It will apparently connect to your TV, and will act as a wireless streaming hub for the best Sonos speakers, meaning that your lovely Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar wouldn't have to be connected to your TV via a cable.

We're moving towards the era of wireless soundbars, and I've said before that if Sonos can't find a way to make its soundbars go wireless with big-brand TVs, it's doomed. But, wireless soundbar connectivity is the least interesting part of it.

Apparently, Sonos will enable users to do what they've dreamed of for ages and have multiple wireless Sonos speakers in a separate surround configuration, with no soundbar required. The report says that Sonos is finalizing which speakers will be compatible, but basically the idea is that you could have a Sonos Era 300 to the left and right of your TV providing left and right channels as well as Dolby Atmos upfiring channels and you could have the same behind you for a 4.0.4 configuration, as an example.

Add a Sonos Sub, and you've got meaty bass; hopefully, you could add something like a Sonos Ray as a center channel, too, because I'm not especially into these 'virtual' center configurations, such as the Sony Bravia Home Theater Quad offers when used with a non-Sony TV.

The ability to use Sonos speakers as left and right channels is something that the hardcore users on the r/sonos subreddit ask for basically daily and Sonos has always gently resisted in response. But it sounds like we're moving in that direction, and I would love for this to be as flexible as possible.

Get ready fellas, your time to really shine is coming. (Image credit: Future)

The streaming box, apparently codenamed Pinewood, is also said to offer multiple HDMI ports, which will pass video through to the TV so it acts as an HDMI switch. I love this idea as someone whose TV has only two HDMI 2.1 ports, and one of them is the HDMI eARC port, meaning that a soundbar is eating up my precious 4K 120Hz space.

It's such a clever way for this to stand out over the Apple TV 4K (2022) or Google TV Streamer and it is a genuinely useful and unique feature. You'll get more HDMI ports by using this product, not losing one; it's a great value proposition and solves real problems.

The final dream offering is one that I'm far more skeptical about as a claim. Supposedly, the streaming interface will offer a truly unified search, recommendations, and control interface drawn from all the best streaming services, including Netflix.

Netflix is a real prickly customer to work with in this regard. It doesn't allow something like Apple's TV app to pull in shows you've been watching and let you pick them back up because it doesn't want you to use another app as your 'home base.' It doesn't like its shows to appear in universal search tools. What it wants is for you to go to Netflix for everything, where it can recommend 100% Netflix shows and movies.

Could Sonos be the company that finally persuades Netflix to play nice and not be the sole center of your streaming universe? It doesn't feel likely, but it's possible… for reasons that bring us to the first of the big flaws of this whole affair.

Premium with Ads

According to The Verge's article, the streaming box has a “beautiful” interface design, but the whole thing has been developed with an ad-tech firm. So maybe Sonos has gotten Netflix on board for its fancy interface because it's prepared to give the streamer better data about your habits, and Netflix will compromise in exchange for making more money by showing people better ads.

That's just speculation on my part, but something would have to change things for Netflix, and the whole ad element really weighs heavily over the whole project.

If the Sonos interface is full of ads, or people feel like it's hoovering up all their data, we've said before that the whole streaming box endeavor feels doomed – and while that was before we knew about the promised authentic wireless surround sound and the HDMI switching, it was also when we thought the price would be $150-$200.

Now, let's get to the real problem: the rumored price of $200-$400. This is a category where Apple – Apple! – keeps its offering under $150. And if the software is indeed designed around ads, a super-premium price just isn't going to be accepted.

The likes of Google TV and Amazon Fire TV are also designed around ads. Still, the devices they're on are generally very inexpensive, so you actually feel like the ads are subsidizing you getting something for a great value.

If the Sonos streaming box comes anywhere near the $400 mark, it will be for a niche audience only when it could be something far more popular.

To be fair, adding a load of HDMI ports obviously adds expense and complexity, and apparently, Sonos will include cutting-edge Wi-Fi 7 for the best performance.

And I also have to note that the price of four $449 Sonos Era 300 speakers with a $400 streaming box would be $2,200, which is the exact same price as the Sony Bravia Theater Quad, which would be a direct equivalent. So it's not out of line compared to a like-for-like product at all.

But it means that only the wealthier hardcore are going to be interested when otherwise, this could be so good for so many people.

Here's hoping that Sonos will bring the dream side of things that I want and will find a way to keep the price realistic – because if it can make things work, the best soundbars might be on notice from a Sonos streamer and surround combo.

You might also like…

• Sonos Ace headphones review: they'll probably with work with box too!
• Sonos may have finally fixed its app’s biggest remaining problem
• 2024: The year Sonos slipped

• From obscurity to global fame, DeepSeek’s rise spooks global giants
• It now sits in second position behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT
• DeepSeek’s 24-hour reign as the top AI term sparked market chaos

On January 28, DeepSeek R1, a mere eight days old at the time, became the world's most popular AI term on Google Trends for 24 hours.

It surpassed well-known AI terms such as ChatGPT, Llama, Gemini, and CoPilot, capturing global attention and causing unprecedented volatility in stock markets.

This sudden rise sent shockwaves through stock markets, particularly affecting shares of major companies like Nvidia and ASML, which saw significant declines. The fear among investors regarding DeepSeek's “disruptive” potential led to massive sell-offs, resulting in billions lost across various sectors in a single trading day. Nvidia was hit the most, suffering a record-breaking $600 billion share price drop.

DeepSeek now second but remains popular

After its 24-hour rise, 'DeepSeek R1' has now dropped to second position behind just ChatGPT in many territories, but remains top in Russia and unsurprisingly, China.

Deepseek's global popularity is still growing. According to Similarweb, within a few days, the global daily visits to DeepSeek doubled from 6.2 million to 12.4 million while downloads on Google Play Store now exceed 10 million.

DeepSeek R1 has gained popularity not just for its performance but also for its remarkably low development costs, reportedly around $6 million, compared to the billions spent by its US counterparts Nvidia, Google and OpenAI.

What's more striking is that, in many cases, it outperforms ChatGPT, challenging the status quo in the AI tech industry.

Nevertheless, as DeepSeek’s popularity rises, so do its woes. Several countries have taken significant steps to restrict or ban its use, citing concerns over data privacy and national security.

As of February 2025, Taiwan has banned government agencies and critical infrastructure from using DeepSeek. Italy's Data Protection Authority has blocked DeepSeek from mobile app stores, while the U.S. Navy has banned its personnel from using the app.

Other countries, including South Korea, Ireland, France, Australia and the Netherlands are also reportedly considering further action.

You may also like

• Nvidia calls DeepSeek an 'excellent AI advancement' and praises the Chinese AI app's ingenuity
• OpenAI says DeepSeek used its models illegally, and it has evidence to prove it, new report claims
• DeepSeek and the race to surpass human intelligence

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 Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, February 4 (game #604).

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 #605) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• FAN
• FLAG
• WILLIAM
• TELL
• BONUS
• BANKNOTE
• CUT
• DEAL
• BEAK
• SALARY
• INVOICE
• GIVEAWAY
• INSURANCE
• SIGN
• SHUFFLE
• VACATION

NYT Connections today (game #605) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Redundancy deal
• GREEN: Pointers
• BLUE: Spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds
• PURPLE: Mr Clinton’s first name

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 #605) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: PARTS OF A COMPENSATION PACKAGE 
• GREEN: INDICATION 
• BLUE: THINGS TO DO WITH A DECK OF CARDS 
• PURPLE: WHAT "BILL" MIGHT REFER TO 

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

NYT Connections today (game #605) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #605, are…

• YELLOW: PARTS OF A COMPENSATION PACKAGE BONUS, INSURANCE, SALARY, VACATION
• GREEN: INDICATION FLAG, GIVEAWAY, SIGN, TELL
• BLUE: THINGS TO DO WITH A DECK OF CARDS CUT, DEAL, FAN, SHUFFLE
• PURPLE: WHAT "BILL" MIGHT REFER TO BANKNOTE, BEAK, INVOICE, WILLIAM

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Some days the Connections grid is a fog of words that make no sense whatsoever and I can see absolutely no links. Other days, the mists clear slowly to reveal one or two vague commonalities. Very occasionally I see the groups of four immediately and I’m in and out in a minute, thinking I’m a right clever clogs (but knowing I am far from alone in mastering the rare easy game).

Today was one of those days. Not quite as straightforward as WILLIAM Tell shooting an arrow at an apple on his son’s head, but pretty close.

There'll be overtures composed about this puzzle.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, 4 February, game #604)

• YELLOW: CONSERVE KEEP, PRESERVE, SAVE, STORE
• GREEN: SMOOTH USING FRICTION BUFF, FILE, GRIND, SAND
• BLUE: SPORTS GAMBLING TERMS FAVORITE, PARLAY, SPREAD, UNDER
• PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "FINGERS" BUTTER, CHICKEN, LADY, STICKY

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.