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IBM has announced the release of its latest family of AI models, promising a strong balance of power and cost efficiency for enterprises.

The company says its Granite 3.0 models offer smaller and more business-focused use cases, as opposed to many existing large-scale general-purpose language models that are already available.

More broadly, IBM also announced other AI improvements such as its latest watsonx Code Assistant, powered by Granite code models, which supports languages like C, C++, Go, Java and Python.

IBM Granite 3.0 models

IBM envisions the power of Granite 3.0 by combining what are essentially reasonably small models with enterprise data to unlock task-specific performance that rivals larger models, without the associated cost. The company declared that, across a range of testing, Granite 3.0 proved to be 3x-23x cheaper than large frontier models, which it failed to name.

The company did state that its 8B Instruct model – the larger of the two new 8B and 2B models – was able to keep up with similarly sized options from Meta and Mistral on benchmarks set out by Hugging Face’s OpenLLM Leaderboard.

At the same time, IBM also announced updates to its Granite Guardian 3.0 to allow developers to implement safety guardrails by checking user prompts and LLM responses. This includes checking for things like social bias, hate, toxicity, profanity, violence and jailbreaking. Another test confirmed that IBM’s solution gave Granite Guardian 3.0 8B improved accuracy on harm detection over Meta’s three generations of Llama Guard models.

All of the Granite 3.0 models are available for download on HuggingFace, with the 8B and 2B language models and the Granite Guardian 3.0 8B and 3B models also available fro commercial use through IBM’s watsonx.

Via Reuters

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Marantz, the Japanese hi-fi stalwart, has just announced its first all-in-one wireless speakers: the Horizon and the larger, beefier Grand Horizon. They're big, circular beasts made with a luxury look and materials, and packing in huge amplification power and a lot of speakers. And they'll come at a high price when they launch in January 2025, with the smaller Horizon costing $3,500 / £3,250, and the Grand Horizon costing $5,500 / £5,250. (No Australian pricing has been confirmed yet.)

The circular design works in combination with the speaker arrangement, which is filled with multi-angled drivers to deliver Dolby Atmos audio, as well as expansive stereo sound. The Grand Horizon is equipped with eight drivers in total, comprising three tweeters (firing up, left and right), four mid-range drivers (firing up-left, up-right, down-left and down-right), and one "Gravity" bass driver in the center. That's all backed up by 860W of peak amplification power. This is contained in a 493 x 255 x 529.2mm (19.41 x 10.04 x 20.83 inch) body, with a built-in plinth made of marble.

The smaller Horizon is 364 x 210 x 387.5mm (14.33 x 8.27 x 15.26 inch), and so features fewer speakers. Here, you've got two tweeters and three mid-range drivers, and the Gravity bass driver – all with up to 745W of peak power. Unlike the Grand Horizon, there will be an optional tripod stand for the smaller Horizon, which costs a cool $700 / £650. Both models can be wall-mounted, though we don't know when these brackets will be available yet (engineers are working on how to deal with the pressure levels these things generate).

For connections, you've got a stereo RCA in, optical, HDMI eARC and USB-C. The HEOS wireless platform provides Bluetooth and Wi-Fi as well, with support for AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect (in case you are, inexplicably, using this with Spotify). Various streaming services can play on it directly via the app.

In comparison to the other best wireless speakers, they're basically the Charizard to the Sonos Era 300's Charmander – bigger, stronger, more elite – and backed by the sound engineering that Marantz is famous for.

I got to hear them in person, and I can tell you that the Grand Horizon in particular is easily the best-sounding one-box speaker I've ever heard. But I also heard something else shortly after that put that giant price into sharp perspective.

(Image credit: Future) Huge sound from huge speakers

I listened to the Grand Horizon in a sizable room (though probably not an unrealistic size of room for the kind of audience likely to buy this) at around 75% volume, and it provided the biggest, most enveloping sound I've heard from a single speaker.

The sound is highly detailed, with lots of nuance and range to it. It can sound sweet and clear when it should, but equally you can pick up every croak in a gravelly voice. It manages to deliver great energy and rhythm while still being incredibly revealing too – this isn't made to be plain and analytical, but it's still a realistic and carefully-handled listen.

Bass is luxuriously deep and can be roaring – at this volume, it feels a little like having your own club system. But it’s 100% precise and controlled, and doesn't drag the sound down into low frequencies – it carefully adds resonance power to acoustic instruments to make them convincing, weighty and realistic in a rare way. In the demo, the bass didn't really transfer into the floor either, so you can ramp it up for chest pushing fun without it feeling ridiculous elsewhere in the house.

In stereo, the sound is nicely dispersed and broad while still feeling deliberate and specific. The speaker then does an interesting job with really spatial tracks – you can hear a halo of music spreading over the wall around it, though it still sounds like the center of everything.

There's clear positioning happening, and though obviously this won't be around you in 3D space the way it would be from a Dolby Atmos home theater system, it provides a clear sense that different sounds in the mix are coming from a panorama in front of you.

(I should note here that, at the moment, Dolby Atmos will only work over HDMI eARC, but streaming support is planned for later.)

(Image credit: Future)

I listened to this demo using 44kHz, 16-bit tracks, in the Grand Horizon's Auto sound mode. This is the default, and it's considered to be a balanced mode, but you can also choose Sound Master mode, which is considered more of a 'pure' mode, tuned by Marantz music maestro Yoshinori Ogata, and will give you sound that's a little more forward and audiophile-friendly.

There's also a 'My Mirage' mode, which is a customizable option. You don't adjust treble or bass; you adjust 'Warmth', 'Spaciousness' and 'Clarity'.

Marantz suggests adjusting it based on use cases – if you always sit in the same position in front of it, maybe you close down the Spaciousness option, and treat the rest to your taste. But if you use it in a big room for a party, you want the same sound profile everywhere in it, so you go full on the Spaciousness, which should achieve that. I didn't try these out, though.

(Image credit: Marantz / Masimo) The problem is slick separates

I came away from my time with the Grand Horizon feeling totally impressed by the sound for a single-unit speaker, though given the size, price and the amount of engineering involved, that's not really a surprise.

The problem that the Grand Horizon has, though, was highlighted to me shortly after I heard it, when I went to a different Marantz demo. Here was Marantz's new M1 streaming amp ($1,000 / £899) paired with a set of Bowers & Wilkins 607 S3 speakers ($899 / £549), and the scale, power and quality of the music was extremely close to what I heard from the Horizon.

For a third of the price of the Grand Horizon (and in a room that was not very optimized for testing speakers) I found myself thinking that this combo delivered expansiveness and detail to rival the Grand Horizon, and with more than enough power for most rooms. Sure, you won't get the Dolby Atmos positioning effect, but that's a nice to have, far from an essential.

This setup honestly wouldn't be much harder to accommodate in a room than the Grand Horizon – it's just that you'd have to deal with some speaker cabling, and it's fair that some people would want to avoid that.

You also don't get the striking design of the Grand Horizon, with its ring of LEDs that lights up when you approach (and indicates the volume level in a circle), its lovely Midnight Sky (black) and Moon Ray (off-white) finishes, and cool EcoFiber covering. The Moon Ray is made up of different shades, and even a sparkly finish to the fabric.

The Grand Horizon is incredibly impressive, and if you fit the 'money no object' brief of these articles and want a single speaker with stunning sound, I would happily recommend it – but I came away from my demos scheming about creating a new amp and speakers setup, not planning on how I could afford a Horizon.

The Horizon and Grand Horizon will be released on January 14, 2025.

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It seems like a fix is finally on the way for an issue that has frustrated iPhone 16 users since day one.

Since Apple launched the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max in September, users have reported frequent unpredictable restarts. The recent iOS 18.0.1 update seemingly hasn’t alleviated the issue.

As How-To Geek reports, the freezing and restarting bug is typically reported to be triggered by system apps, but this may be due to their high frequency of use. Restarts have also been reported when the iPhone is in StandBy mode, but it’s not clear if this is the trigger either.

Though this bug hasn’t stopped the iPhone 16 family from finding spots in our lists of the best phones, best iPhones, and best camera phones, it’s understandably annoyed some users.

For example, Reddit user u/amor121616 said that their iPhone 16 Pro had crashed five times in the space of an hour in a post to the r/iphone community – the same post has garnered 71 responses in the last month or so, many of which corroborate the original poster’s complaints.

Luckily, Apple has confirmed that iOS 18.1 – the long-awaited Apple Intelligence update – will fix the random restarting issue, which hopefully means that the restarts are not caused by any kind of critical hardware defect.

iOS 18 is off to a shaky start

As MacRumors reports, iOS 18.1 brings with it a slew of other bug fixes – some minor, and some urgently necessary.

As well as fixing the restart bug, the iOS 18.1 update should quell overheating issues while watching 4K video in the photos app, podcast tracking issues, and problems with using the iPhone as a car key.

These bugs aren’t the only ones we’ve heard about since the iPhone 16 family launched, however. Reports of more general overheating, refresh rate problems, and Control Center crashes have proliferated on social media.

When you factor in the uncharacteristically messy rollout of Apple Intelligence, it seems that the first months of the iPhone 16 family’s life cycle may be remembered as somewhat chaotic.

Nevertheless, we’re glad to see that a fix is on the way for the restart bug. For the latest updates on Apple’s selection of smartphones, be sure to keep up with our iPhone coverage.

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Stephen King’s debut novel Carrie has been adapted into numerous movies – the most notable being the 1976 movie with Sissy Spacek – but Prime Video could be the first to reimagine its story for a drama series. With horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan (who worked on one of the best Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House) lined up to write and executive produce the series, King’s iconic psychological horror could have a permanent residency on one of the best streaming services.

While we don’t yet have a release date, nor information on who will assume the titular role, Amazon MGM Studios has described Flanagan’s upcoming project as “bold and timely” according to The Hollywood Reporter, which shared that Trevor Macy of Intrepid Pictures will also be executive producing the show alongside Flanagan. Deadline has also reported that Flanagan will be collaborating with Stephen King himself to retell the story of his coming-of-age high school horror.

From the studio’s description of the upcoming series, it seems as though this Stephen King adaptation will remain faithful to the original 1974 novel, which follows timid high school student Carrie White. Following the death of her father and being stuck under the supervision of her hyper-religious and controlling mother, she’s branded as an outcast at school falling victim to bullying while discovering her knack for telekinesis.

However, this isn’t the first time that Flanagan has worked on an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s novels, as he served as director on Doctor Sleep (2019) which is currently one of the best Stephen King movies on Max. In addition to directing the movie adaptation of King’s Gerald’s Game (2017), which scarred me during my week of watching psychological horror movies, Flanagan has flaunted his influence on the horror genre time and time again with other movies such as Hush (2016) and Netflix horror series Midnight Mass (2021). Will his venture into this new Carrie series help, or hinder his reputation?

Who will step into Carrie’s shoes this time?

Chloe Grace Moretz is the most recent actress to play the character, starring in Kimberly Peirce's 2013 movie adaptation. (Image credit: Sony Pictures / Prime Video )

As mentioned above, Sissy Spacek was the first one to bring King’s character to life in Brian De Palma’s 1976 movie Carrie which also starred John Travolta, and Piper Laurie has her controlling mother. Twenty years later, The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) was released as a sequel to the 1976 movie but had no mention of the character of Carrie White. It starred Emily Bergl as protagonist Rachel, another timid high school girl whose supernatural powers mirror those of the original Carrie character.

A made-for-TV movie directed by David Carson premiered on NBC in 2002 casting Angela Bettis as Carrie White. It came the third reimagining of King’s novel, and stands as the lowest rated version on Rotten Tomatoes with an embarrassing score of 20%. Chloe Grace Moretz is the most recent actress to assume the role, starring in Kimberly Peirce’s 2013 movie with Julianne Moore and Ansel Elgort.

The next actress to take on the challenge remains a mystery, and poses the question to who will have the guts to resurrect an iconic character that’s been subject to poor revisions. We’re now in an age where horror icons like Jenna Ortega are stealing the spotlight with their modern scream queen status, so this is Flanagan’s chance to one-up Tim Burton and introduce us to the next wave of horror actresses.

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Searching for a sign that vinyl's resurgence is only gaining momentum – and not waning by 33⅓, as was reported a few days ago? Have at this, my LP-loving brothers and sisters: WH Smith is about to start stocking vinyl in 80 of its stores again. It's something the beloved British high-street staple stopped doing in the 90s, when it seemed that CDs were the future…

As first reported by The Standard , WH Smith store locations that will stock vinyl include Chester, Canterbury, Edinburgh, Gyle and York.

WH Smith – which began life as a news vendor in London's Little Grosvenor Street opened by Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna, in 1792 – first started selling vinyl albums in the 1950s. Interestingly, the company remained under the ownership of the Smith family until the 1970s and (according to Wikipedia) the last the family member left the board in 1996.

Circling back to the vinyl, why is WH Smith doing this now? In December of last year, the British Phonographic Industry stated that vinyl sales had risen for the 16th consecutive year – and better yet, figures showed sales were growing "at their fastest rate this decade". If you prefer cold hard stats, the report showed an 11.7 per cent increase to 5.9 million units in 2023 – a significant increase on the 2.3 per cent rise the previous year, in 2022.

Smells like teen spirit…

I know, it's like announcing Woolworths is about to reopen, complete with dedicated pick 'n' mix aisle. Only it'll be me (ripped high-waist jeans; freshly-crimped hair piled on top of my head – not unlike Felicity Kendall's in my lead image) filling my trolley with 12-inch LPs rather than separate bags of toffee bon-bons and fizzy watermelon slices.

What'll be Top of the Pops in Smith's vinyl section? I'll take a wild guess at Taylor Swift's 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, Oasis' re-issued The Masterplan and Fontaines D.C.'s newest Romance for starters.

Want to get on the stacks-of-wax trip but don't have a means to spin plates just yet? Our pick of the best turntables is a great place to start, including one-box plug 'n' play beginner options or something more long-term – see also our guide to the best stereo speakers.

All that's needed to complete my retro-escapist audio journey is for Apple to start selling my beloved iPod Classic again. But maybe I'll do as my US colleague suggests and secure my Clairol-crimped hair with an iPod Shuffle instead, before heading down to WH Smith for a crate rummage… happy hunting!

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A growing number of cyberattacks are being launched with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLM), new research has claimed.

A report from Imperva noted between April and September 2024, its Threat Research team analyzed thousands of attacks, finding retail sites collectively experience more than 500,000 AI-powered attacks every day.

These attacks, the researchers explain, often originate from AI tools such as ChatGPT, or Gemini, alongside bots designed to scrape websites for LLM training data. Cybercriminals were said to be using these tools mostly in business logic abuse attacks, DDoS attacks, bad bots attacks, and API violations.

Business logic attacks

Business logic abuse was described as the most common AI-driven attack, taking up almost a third (30.7%) of all incidents. It involves abusing legitimate features of different apps and APIs to carry out cyberattacks. DDoS are a close second (30.6%), while bad bot attacks take up a fifth (20.8%). The bots are designed to scrape pricing data, run credential stuffing, as well as inventory hoarding.

"In previous years, we've seen security threats like Grinch bots and DDoS attacks cause major disruptions during the holiday shopping season, affecting both retailers and consumers alike. Now, with the widespread availability of generative AI tools and LLMs, retailers are contending with a new wave of sophisticated cyberthreats,” said Nanhi Singh, General Manager of Application Security at Imperva.

Singh added retail businesses need robust defenses, and a comprehensive strategy, otherwise, they are risking losing sensitive personal information, including credit card details, people’s addresses, and other account information. Identity theft and similar attacks can lead to a tarnished image, loss of business, lawsuits, and regulator fines.

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ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice mode is now available in Europe, months after coming to the US and the UK.

OpenAI revealed the update with a casual tweet on X.com as a reply to user Sophie Escrivant, who enquired, “Any update for us in Europe?”

OpenAI's reply confirmed that European users can now try Advanced Voice mode:

Well yes.All Plus users in the EU, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein now have access to Advanced Voice. https://t.co/AC6mdd1LkfOctober 22, 2024

The company's reply, “Well yes. All Plus users in the EU, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein now have access to Advanced Voice”, is one of the most casual announcements of a major rollout we can remember! It’s unclear whether OpenAI will now grant all user requests, or if this was a one-off.

What is Advanced Voice mode?

Advanced Voice mode is the ability to use ChatGPT by speaking to it, instead of typing, and also have it reply to you in one of its nine different voices. While the original ChatGPT already had a voice mode, that lets you talk to the chatbot and translate your speech into text, the new Advanced Voice mode is much more like a real conversation with a human. You can talk about more complex topics, and also interrupt the answer it’s giving you if you find it is going on too long (which it does tend to do).

Advanced Voice mode requires a paid subscription to ChatGPT Plus which costs $20 p/month (around £16 / AU$30), but you do get 10 minutes a month of free access on the free tier. To access Advanced Voice mode you just tap the Advanced Voice mode icon that is to the right of the prompt window. If you’re reading this in Europe and don’t see the icon there, then update your app and have another look. The screen then changes to show a glowing blue orb, which indicates that ChatGPT is listening.

The Advanced Voice mode is listening. (Image credit: OpenAI) All the major languages

The rollout of Advanced Voice mode has been very slow and gradual, with the UK getting the mode long before the rest of Europe. ChatGPT attributed the slow rollout to local requirements when we asked why, commenting: "Some parts of the world require additional external reviews before launching new products. This is a common practice to ensure the feature aligns with local requirements. These can take a little time. We hope to share an update soon." Well, that time has arrived!

ChatGPT can speak all the major European languages. When asked what it can speak it lists English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Greek, Polish, Russian, Czech, and Hungarian. But it also seems to work for some of the less-known languages. For instance, user ASM noted, “Great! Working well in Catalan and Spanish”.

The news of ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice mode release was greeted with a positive reaction by other users on X.com, with the user Prashant commenting what most people were probably thinking, “Finally, EUROPE can use advanced voice without VPN”.

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Asus has announced that the ROG Phone 9 will launch on November 19, and come equipped with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset.

The company will launch the new gaming phone at its virtual “AI On, Game On” launch event, which suggest AI will play a role in the phone’s gaming experience.

Asus is likely to become one of the first phone makers to release a Snapdragon 8 Elite-equipped phone, and has presented the phone in live demos at the Snapdragon Summit 2024.

The ROG Phone 9 makes use of the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s second-generation Qualcomm Oryon CPU and Qualcomm Adreno GPU, and is “designed to offer an immersive, lag free gaming experience”.

This Oryon CPU has been the focus of much fanfare thanks to its two performance cores clocked at 4.32GHz – apparently the fastest mobile CPU cores on the market.

The ROG Phone 9 follows up the ROG Phone 8 Pro, our current pick for the best gaming phone, and we expect to see it join or replace its predecessor once we’ve had a chance to put it through our rigorous testing process.

In terms of design, Asus calls the ROG Phone 9 “gamer-centric”: an angular camera bump, textured back panel, and what appears to be a dot matrix display on the rear of the phone give it a unique look in keeping with the wider Republic of Gamers brand.

And while Asus are promising the “smoothest gaming experience with immersive features”, we’ve yet to see any performance benchmarks beyond the general specifications of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset.

Snapdragon 8 Elite - the race is on

As mentioned, the ROG Phone will likely be one of the first phones to ship with Qualcomm’s new flagship chipset, and we expect to see the Snapdragon 8 Elite pop up in many of the best phones going forward.

Xiaomi is tipped to be the first company to release a phone powered by the new chipset, though with the upcoming Xiaomi 15 series unlikely to see a US release the ROG Phone 9 still has a chance of being the first globally released Snapdragon 8 Elite phone.

As we previously reported, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is probably the rumored Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in all but name, and will likely represent an incremental upgrade for the de facto leader in the Android chipset world.

For the latest updates on the ROG Phone 9, be sure to follow our Asus phones coverage – and for all the latest from this year’s Snapdragon Summit, be sure to check out our phones coverage and computing coverage.

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We’ve been eagerly anticipating updated M4 Macs for what seems like months now – and the recent iPad mini 7 launch has sparked some concern that Apple might be running out of time to launch the devices in 2024. Fortunately, they are still on track to arrive soon, according to one prominent leaker.

The “imminent” updates are coming to the MacBook Pro, the iMac, and the Mac mini, according to Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, who frequently shares accurate information about Apple’s future plans and releases.

In a further sign that upgrades are on the way, Gurman states that “inventory at Apple retail stores is very low on iMacs, Mac mini and MacBook Pros, Magic Keyboards, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad.” This is often a sign that Apple is planning to replace these existing products with new versions, and it’s something that Gurman himself has previously reported on.

Indeed, there have also been claims that the peripherals Gurman mentions – the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad – are also due for an update. This would make a lot of sense, since Apple still hasn’t outfitted them with USB-C ports, which it has recently added to the majority of its other devices.

Event or quiet announcements?

(Image credit: Romancev768)

Gurman has previously predicted that Apple will release new Macs fitted with M4 chips on or around November 1. Given there’s just over a week until that date, there’s not enough time for Apple to host an in-person Mac event, given how little time it would give attendees to organize travel.

Instead, Apple could host an online event with a few hands-on locations for members of the press. This is the approach the company took for its Scary Fast event last October, which was also focused on new Mac releases.

Alternatively, Apple might decide to simply announce its new M4 Macs using a series of press releases. This might seem odd given that the Mac mini is expected to get an all-new design, as you’d think Apple would want to spend time on-stage showing off the product’s new look.

But Apple has already introduced the M4 chip – it arrived in the latest iPad Pro in May 2024 – so one of the biggest changes in the upcoming Macs has already been known to the world for the last six months. Perhaps that means an event isn’t necessary.

However Apple decides to reveal its new Mac lineup, it seems these devices are still coming in the near future – keep your eyes peeled for more news over the next few days.

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More than two-thirds (68%) of cybersecurity professionals across Europe are facing burnout, potentially leaving businesses at risk of attack, new research has warned.

A report from SoSafe report found of the 1,250 security leaders surveyed, around one-third each reported severe burnout (32%) and moderate burnout (36%), with the UK standing out for its high stress levels.

However, SoSafe is warning vulnerabilities being caused by stressed and burnt out workers is fueling the cybersecurity crisis, with threat actors actively exploiting this section of the landscape to gain access to internal systems and data.

Cybersecurity burnout

Four in five respondents identified their own departments as primary targets for cybercriminals, far ahead of finance (one in three) and sales (one in five).

Among the factors leading to this widespread sentiment were the high-pressure environment (33%), long hours (29%), excessive workloads (28%) and constant firefighting (25%). SoSafe also noted evolving and emerging risks, many of which are fuelled by generative AI, which are seen as a concern by 84% of the respondents. Geopolitical instability (77%) and supply chain vulnerabilities (85%) were also contributing factors.

Figures cited by the report suggest 274,000 cybersecurity positions are currently unfilled in the EU, part of a global shortage of a staggering 3.9 million professionals. One-quarter (24%) also considered this as a major contributor to burnout.

The dangers of burnout are just as pronounced on the individual as they are on the company – overworked staff are linked to security breaches and other organizational risks.

"Given the challenges that security teams are facing, it's crucial to adopt solutions that not only automate their tasks efficiently but also ensure sustainable risk reduction," said Dr. Niklas Hellemann, psychologist and CEO of SoSafe.

"To achieve this, companies must actively involve their employees, who are the most versatile part of their security strategies. The focus should be on changing behaviors rather than merely transmitting knowledge, as this is key to creating a resilient cybersecurity culture."

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Many of the best video doorbells can give a variety of spoken messages - telling a neighbor to go away, for example, or asking a courier to leave a package by the door - but home security company Swann has now gone a step further with an AI-powered doorbell that can give custom responses generated on the fly depending on who's calling.

SwannShield is a new virtual assistant for your front door that will issue responses created on the fly rather than pre-recorded messages. That means it can answer questions from visitors, let them know who's home, or tell intruders to get lost depending on what they ask and how.

You can choose the overall demeanor of your doorbell, making it polite, disinterested, or even aggressive, and although Swann is a global company headquartered in Australia, the AI-generated replies will be delivered with a British accent.

(Image credit: Swann) Who goes there?

To help SwannShield give the most useful responses, you can provide it with certain details ahead of time, including your address, the names of residents, and where packages should be left. Its mobile app will also let you see transcripts of conversations with callers, so you can check what it's been saying in your absence.

SwannShield is currently compatible with the SwannBuddy4K doorbell, and will hopefully be rolling out to more devices over the coming months. We're hoping to test the SwannBuddy4K soon and put the new assistant through its paces (hopefully without offending our neighbors too much).

If you already have a SwannBuddy4K, you should get SwannShield with your next over-the-air firmware update.

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A leaked video thought to show a trial production of Nvidia’s rumored upcoming RTX 5090 GPU in an Indonesian factory has been confirmed to not be the next-gen graphics card, instead it shows a Zotac Gaming RTX 4070 Ti Super Solid – a graphics card that already exists.

The footage, posted on Bilibili (via VideoCardz), showed a Zotac Gaming-branded GPU being connected, powered on, and the production team applauding a successful test.

It appeared to corroborate predictions that the RTX 5090 will launch following an announcement during CES 2025, and if that is the case, you’d expect Nvidia partners like Zotac to be working on their own spins of the GPUs. One detail that got people rather excited about the video was that it looked like it dispelled the rumor that the RTX 5090 would require two 16-pin connectors because of the card’s increased power draw, as the GPU shown only used one.

Wishful thinking

Of course, now we know that the GPU in the video was an RTX 4070 Ti Super, as Zotac itself has confirmed this in a statement it felt pressured to make because the video had gone viral, and that means the dual 16-pin rumor is still well and truly alive.

The video, says Zotac, was an “internal training recording”. This calls into question Zotac’s supply chain security, particularly because the company has previously been involved in early leaks of Nvidia’s RTX 4090.

That footage emerged in September 2022, and, similarly to this one, showed Zotac GPUs being assembled and tested in a factory – which is why so many people were willing to believe that history was repeating itself and Zotac had accidently leaked the 5090.

Some people might believe there’s a possibility that Zotac might be bending the truth to protect itself. The video shown could very well be of Nvidia’s next-gen flagship GPU, and if the leak is legitimate, it could land Zotac in hot water, so issuing a statement denying the GPU is the 5090 could be seen as a way to avoid falling out with Nvidia over yet another leak. I don’t think this is the case, however, as it would be a massive risk on Zotac’s behalf to lie to its consumers like this, so it’s best to take its statement at face value and accept that the video does not show a secret, unanounced GPU. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the 5090 isn’t real or coming soon.

If you’re interested in the RTX 4070 Ti Super Solid, it’s an improvement on the popular 4070 Ti, offering improved 4K gaming performance. It was built using the AD102 chip, the most powerful of Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace lineup, and the one that powers the flagship 4090 GPU. This is an upgrade from the 4070 Ti’s less powerful AD104 chip. The Super Solid features 16 GB of VRAM improving on clock speeds and offers an upgraded cooling system. There’s no question that it is a powerful GPU, but it’s no 5090.

It’s a little bit disappointing that we didn’t in fact see Nvidia’s next-gen card. But it doesn’t mean that the RTX 5090 isn’t currently undergoing testing for its rumored CES 2025 release as there are enough believable rumors out there that suggest the 5090 is real and it’s coming soon. We just have to hold on tight.

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A new version of the Tesla iPhone app has revealed that the company may be working on a companion app for Apple Watch users, which could include a digital key functionality designed to work with all the best Apple Watches.

Elon Musk suggested an Apple Watch app for Tesla owners could be on the cards earlier this year, and now we've just got our first glimpse.

As reported by MacRumors, "Tesla last week updated its iPhone app with new Control Center controls on iOS 18. In addition, the latest version of the app added hidden code references to an upcoming Apple Watch version of the app."

According to the report, the code shows functionality for using an Apple Watch as a digital key that can be used to unlock your Tesla vehicle remotely.

A big Apple Watch upgrade for Tesla owners

(Image credit: Future)

Using an Apple Watch to unlock a Tesla isn't unheard of, as it's a feature that has been available on the third-party Stats app for Tesla for a couple of years now.

However, Tesla's impending update will bring official functionality to Apple Watch models, letting users unlock their car even if their iPhone has run out of battery or if they don't have it on their person.

Tesla's 2012-2020 Model S and 2015-2020 Model X do not support phone keys, requiring an internet connection to use remote start, so it seems likely those models also won't be supported by the new Apple Watch unlocking feature.

Unfortunately, there's no firm timeline for the Tesla Apple Watch app launch, but its recent appearance in code suggests it's close at hand.

Apple continues to expand its own support for digital car keys. Recently, it emerged that the feature would expand to vehicles made by Volvo, Polestar, and Audi. That would add some big names to a list that already includes BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and more.

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Remedy has revealed the PS5 Pro enhancements for Alan Wake 2.

In a new blog post, the developer confirmed that it will take "full advantage" of the recently announced PS5 Pro to enhance its 2023 horror game further.

For starters, Alan Wake 2's Quality and Performance modes will be upgraded for the mid-generation console and will utilize Sony's upscaling method, PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR).

The PS5 Pro Quality mode will be 30fps and feature ray tracing reflections, as well as have an output resolution of 4K.

Meanwhile, the Performance mode won't feature ray tracing but will allow 60fps and an output resolution of 4K, and will target approximately the same image quality (render) settings as the base PS5's Quality mode.

"The Performance Mode on the PS5 Pro features significantly higher output resolution and has more visual detail compared to the base PS5," Remedy said. "The overall image stability, fog, volumetric lighting, and shadow accuracy have been improved on the Pro."

Remedy shared its process in upgrading Alan Wake 2 for the PS5 Pro, explaining that increasing the rendering resolution was among the easiest routes to improve image quality. It also experimented by upgrading the 60fps Performance mode output from 1440p to 4k and adding PSSR, which "positively impacted image crispness and stability under motion."

"Increasing the internal rendering resolution consumes a lot of processing power, no matter how powerful your hardware is," the team explained. "However, in our experiments, even putting all the added power to increased rendering resolution provided a barely noticeable difference in the output image or its quality. Adding more pixels to gain visual quality is not straightforward with the new AI-based upscaling methods."

The studio said that since Alan Wake 2 is "visually incredibly detailed and rich", it was a "tough fit for ray tracing, especially compared to our previous game, Control".

Still, the studio welcomed the challenge of upgrading the game for PS5 Pro, saying, "With ray traced effects, the detail of the world in Alan Wake 2 can be observed even more accurately than before on the console, and the image is more stable in complex lighting situations."

"We've always wanted to bring cutting-edge visuals to our games, but everything is always a balancing act between the frame rate, visual quality, technical and hardware constraints, development resources and what we wish to artistically achieve with the game," Remedy added.

The team went on to talk about the benefits of ray tracing but said that it "comes with a cost" since "each ray must be traced, and its hit evaluated and shaded".

"In a game like Alan Wake 2, its complex light-material interactions and rich environments can make tracing, shading, and denoising even a single ray tracing effect too expensive to justify the cost depending on the hardware," it said.

"Geometrically Alan Wake 2 is a very dense game. The usage of a GPU-driven rendering pipeline and its fine-grained culling with the skinning ran on GPU made it possible to create densely populated forest scenes with layers and layers of foliage and trees encountered during Saga’s gameplay segments taking place in the lush environments of the Pacific North-West."

Alan Wake 2 is one of the best horror games you can play on PS5 right now, and its second expansion, titled The Lake House, launches today.

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The PlayStation 5 Pro patch for The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered has landed, giving us a more concrete idea of the kinds of features that the game will utilize on the upcoming console.

As revealed in a new post on the Naughty Dog website, the newest The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered update, patch 1.2.0, adds PS5 Pro support. On the PS5 Pro, you will be able to access a new rendering mode that uses PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) AI upscaling.

The added “Pro” graphics setting option will render at a resolution of 1440p, upscaled to 4K via PSSR, and target 60 frames per second. The developer clarifies that the existing Performance and Fidelity modes will still be available but will now offer smoother performance and higher framerates than the base console.

The PS5 Pro is set to launch on November 7, with PS5 Pro pre-orders currently ongoing. The console looks like a serious upgrade compared to the launch model, boasting a significantly faster GPU and CPU. It also supports new features like advanced ray tracing and PSSR.

A number of PS5 Pro games have been confirmed so far and will feature a special label in the PlayStation Store.

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered was released back in January, offering an enhanced version of the 2020 PS4 game designed to take full advantage of the PS5. In addition to being sold as a separate package, eligible owners of the PS4 version can upgrade to Remastered for just $10 / £10 on the PS Store.

The patch also includes a small number of minor bug fixes, which you can see below:

General

• Fixed an issue where some trophies would not unlock after importing PS4 save data
• Fixed an issue where Abby’s torso could disappear when switching between her bonus skins

Gameplay

• [The Tunnels] Fixed an issue where Dina could be grabbed an additional time while escaping in the subway

No return

• Fixed an issue where the stun bomb was not being accurately counted toward the player's “Stun” stats
• Fixed an issue where some weapon kills were not accurately tracking toward player's stats when performing stealth kills in between those weapon kills
• Fixed an issue where shiv kills were not being accurately counted toward the player's “Shiv” stats

Audio

• [On Foot] Fixed an issue where music tracks would not progress as intended when speedrunning

Accessibility

• Added additional support so more PlayStation 5 console Accessibility settings are now reflected in-game
• [The Tunnels] Fixed an issue where code for the locked room could not be located using Enhanced Listen Mode
• [No Return] Fixed an issue where enemies specified by a Gambit were not properly identified when using High Contrast Mode

Localization

• Various minor localization fixes across multiple languages

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Right now, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 are the two flagship foldables sold by Samsung – and two of the best foldables, period – but as we go through 2025 we may see a tri-fold model and a budget version of the Flip make an appearance.

That's according to a new report by ZDNet Korea (via well-known tipster @Jukanlosreve, who has a relatively good track record for mobile predictions). The report digs into Samsung's supply chain plans for foldable displays over the next few months.

We're relying somewhat on Google Translate here, but the article suggests there's been "sluggish demand" for Samsung's 2024 foldables – although the company is still thought to have shifted around 7-8 million Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 units.

The report concludes by saying that Samsung is "discussing" launching a tri-fold foldable similar to the Huawei Mate XT in 2025, as well as a "popular" (more affordable) version of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 we're already expecting to see.

Maybe, maybe not

Samsung is considering launching a budget Flip and a triple-fold device next year.https://t.co/rs6W4j3gSHOctober 22, 2024

There is some additional commentary from @Jukanlosreve worth mentioning here, suggesting that the "budget" Galaxy Z Flip is actually an "enhanced" Galaxy Z Flip – perhaps more of a special edition release, so bear that in mind.

The same source also points to another report out of South Korea suggesting there are actually no plans for a "popular" Samsung foldable with a lower price. It would seem to be a case of wait and see for the time being.

What we do know is that Samsung just pushed out a Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition phone, exclusive to South Korea (at least for now). A similar Flip model has also been rumored, and could be seeing the light of day in the near future.

That shows Samsung is still willing to experiment with its foldable line-up – and we suspect it will be keen to catch up to Huawei with its own tri-fold next year too, with other manufacturers already testing out the same form factor.

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Forget that official Xbox handheld that's phased in and out of the rumor mill over the past year; a modder has now beaten the company to it.

Over on X / Twitter, woodworker and hardware engineer Redherring32 has built a portable version of the original Xbox console - the one that was first released all the way back in 2001. Its creator says that it "isn't a PC handheld, it isn't emulation, this is a real motherboard from a real Xbox."

Redherring32 goes on to explains that the handheld features a 480p display and USB-C play and charge support. Wireless Xbox Live functionality is also planned via the addition of WiFi 6. That'd certainly give it some parity with the best handheld games consoles available today.

I built a portable Xbox.This isn't a PC handheld, it isn't emulation, this is a real motherboard from a real Xbox. It has a 9” 480p display, pure digital video/audio, 100W USB C charge and play, and I'm currently adding WiFi 6 for wireless Xbox Live functionality.Yes, really. pic.twitter.com/yK7p0vPqUnOctober 18, 2024

In followup posts, Redherring32 explains that this original Xbox handheld build "is a first of its kind." They attach screenshots of the trimmed-down motherboard and many more of the inner hardware workings that make the device tick. Said trimming was a process the modder claims to have had to learn from scratch, taking them a little over four months to complete just that one part of it.

And while this original Xbox handheld isn't going to be put into mass production - which is a crying shame given how awesome it looks - Redherring32 says "everything will be open source in the coming weeks," including URLs to GitHub and BitBuilt pages for the PCBs and an Xbox trimming guide so that folks at home can attempt to make an Xbox handheld of their own. 

The modder concludes by saying they're working on a showcase video for the handheld that should also include gameplay. Certainly keep an eye out for that if - like me - you're particularly nostalgic about the best retro games consoles like the original Xbox and are keen to see what its software would look like running on a bespoke handheld device.

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Digital accessibility refers to designing and developing digital products, such as websites, mobile apps, and electronic documents, so all users can easily use and interact with them — including users with disabilities. For example, developers provide alternative text for images for visually impaired users, place captions on videos for hearing-impaired users, and ensure those with motor disabilities can navigate websites using only a keyboard.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a comprehensive set of digital accessibility standards published by the Web Accessibility Initiative and the World Wide Web Consortium. These guidelines are the foundational benchmark against which digital accessibility is measured. WCAG consists of thirteen guidelines organized around the four principles that web content must be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust for users with disabilities. 

These principles and resulting checkpoints provide the basis for three tiers of conformity to its standards: A, AA, and AAA. The A level is the minimum level of conformance, AA is the standard for most websites, and AAA is the highest level of conformance. The criteria for each rating are cumulative, meaning that products must fully adhere to A requirements to be considered AA, for example.

Only one part of the picture

However, digital accessibility guidelines like WCAG are only one part of the picture. As digital interactions become increasingly integral to our lives, companies must do more for ethical, legal, and practical reasons. WCAG should be seen as the floor not the ceiling in terms of building accessible applications. The best brands go beyond compliance and strive for true inclusivity, understanding that features designed for accessibility can significantly enhance the user experience for everyone, not just those with disabilities.

This focus on inclusivity matters because an estimated 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the world’s population, experience significant disabilities, according to the World Health Organization. These disabilities include a wide range of conditions, including vision impairment, mobility, auditory, neurological, cognitive, medical, and psychological, all facing unique challenges regarding digital accessibility.

The Olympic Games in Paris featured 329 events across 35 venues, all streamed live, making it essential that the games were inclusive for everyone. That said, NBCUniversal led the way in Olympic accessibility coverage by including features such as enhanced closed captioning, extended audio descriptions, and improved digital content accessibility. This implementation set a new standard for the Games and raises the bar for inclusive broadcasting year-round.

Despite these efforts, individuals with disabilities continue to face significant digital accessibility barriers in their daily lives that hinder their ability to participate fully. From inaccessible mobile login portals to filling out electronic documents, the challenges are endless and highlight the urgent need for continuous improvements in accessibility.

Know your customer

Developers cannot create great user experiences by reading guidelines and standards. Especially when it comes to creating truly inclusive products, success starts by talking to Persons with Disability (PwD). Enable teams to communicate with and gain an understanding of PwD, be they sight, hearing, or mobility impaired, in both the design and testing phase of projects. This is not just a good practice, it's a necessity for creating truly inclusive digital products. Including all voices in design and implementation are a source of innovation to design products better.

Also, more and more companies are implementing empathy labs, but are forgetting to recognize that these simulations are not an adequate substitute for engaging with PwD. Empathy labs, which aim to simulate various disabilities through interactive experiences designed to help people better understand and empathize with the challenges faced by PwD, often fall short of capturing the full spectrum of these challenges.

While building empathy labs is a good step for companies, involving PwD in every stage of the software development cycle to directly hear and involve them is highly recommended. It’s a way to directly work with them instead of attempting to walk in their shoes. Integrating lived experience feedback into the product design process gets to the point quickly in terms of product decision making.

Empower your teams

Companies that excel in delivering quality digital experiences for PwD have established a culture of inclusivity by making accessibility an operational priority. They are committed to continuously educating developers about best practices for accessibility. They may ask simple questions, like how often developers think of accessibility and how much they already know, before investing in the training needed to fill the gaps. 

Part of this involves making sure developers recognize the need for an ongoing program for accessibility testing rather than thinking of accessibility as a box to tick when convenient. Regular testing of digital products for accessibility should use multiple tools, including automated and manual testing and user testing with people with disabilities. It also means maintaining an ongoing commitment to accessibility by regularly reviewing and updating digital products to ensure they remain accessible as technologies and standards evolve.

Creating digitally accessible content

The post-COVID shift toward delivering digital-first experiences, where digital platforms and tools are the primary means of interaction, made digital accessibility more of a priority than ever — and improvements still need to be made. Digital accessibility requires an ongoing commitment to building inclusive experiences, starting in the product development and code-writing phase. Most importantly, it requires input from PwD in design and testing, without whom truly inclusive digital experiences are unattainable.

We list the best customer feedback tools.

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 delighted to announced that entries for the CES Picks Awards 2025 are now open!

Spread across TechRadar Pro, Residential Systems, and TWICE, the CES Picks Awards honor the best and most influential consumer technology at CES 2025.

These awards provide an opportunity for you to earn the publicity and accolades your business deserves as we enter the new year, and we are offering an early bird offer for any products nominated before November 19, 2024, 23:59 ET. $595 per product nominated, for consideration by your chosen Future US/UK magazine (TWICE, Residential Systems or TechRadar Pro).

If your product was launched since the last CES show in January 2024, or if you’ve brought game-changing upgrades or new features over the last 12 months, we would love to see your product at the show for consideration of winning an award.

Click here to start your nomination!

Innovate. Nominate. Celebrate.

Awards will be judged and awarded by the publishers of TWICE and Residential Systems (Future US) and TechRadar Pro (Future UK) based on descriptions provided by you via the nomination form and are announced at the same time as CES, helping winners to stand out among the competition at a crucial time in the calendar.

Winning a prestigious Picks award keeps your clients and employees happy and motivated, boosts your reputation, benchmarks you against your competitors and gives your fantastic new products the recognition they deserve.

Any products nominated after the early bird offer expires will be charged at $695 per product nominated per publication to which you submit for consideration. Companies may enter numerous products for consideration, provided they complete the online nomination form and pay the necessary entry fee(s).

Why enter?

Thousands of new products are introduced at and around CES each year, and this program helps make yours stand out. Winning a prestigious award keeps your clients and employees happy and motivated, boosts your reputation, benchmarks you against your competitors and gives your fantastic new products the recognition they deserve.

Winners will receive a whole host of benefits, including a winner trophy for display at CES 2025 and beyond, promotion on their selected brand’s website, publications and newsletters as an official CES Picks award winner, a fully licensed winner’s badge, which can be used to promote winning nominations, both domestically and internationally, and a winner’s package to aid any in-house promotion, this will consist of a press release and social post

All entrants – whether selected as a winner or not, will receive social & award nominee badges to promote their entry into the CES Picks Awards.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity – All entries must be received by December 20, 2024, 23:59 ET, unless otherwise noted. We look forward to receiving your nominations!

Visit the official Picks Awards page for complete details and to nominate today!

For inquiries about CES Picks Awards 2025, the categories, costs, eligibility, or anything else about the awards, please contact Beckie Sirs at (beckie.sirs@futurenet.com).

Some of the biggest antivirus software providers around today have warned users to update their platforms immediately to stay safe from worrying security threats.

Bitdefender and Trend Micro have both released high severity notices to update after Man-in-the-Middle and Local Privilege Escalation vulnerabilities were found to be leaving customers exposed.

In total, six Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) were listed, five relating to Bitdefender and one for Trend Micro Deep Security Agent - users of Bitdefender Total Security have been advised to use version 27.025.115 or newer to protect themselves, and Trend Micro Deep Security Agent users are advised to be on product version 20.0.1-17380.

Keep up to date

Although Trend Micro is only addressing one vulnerability, it is a serious cybersecurity issue - as Local Privilege Escalation means standard users can gain system-level access, stemming from insufficient control over authentication processes.

The five vulnerabilities patched by Bitdefender stemmed from the HTTPS scanning function, which failed in proper certificate verification. This could allow threat actors to intercept the communications between users and sites by inserting themselves into internet connections in a ‘Man-in-the-middle’ attack.

Cyberattacks have become more frequent since the pandemic, and CVE is expected to grow 25% this year - which means roughly 2,900 new vulnerabilities per month. Shockingly though, around 45% of all CVEs reported in 2023 were unpatched, leaving users exposed.

Security flaws happen, and they’re always going to. The best thing you can do to keep your systems and your business safe is to patch as soon as you can and ensure you run the newest version of your software to mitigate the risks.

Via Heise

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