TechRadar News

• Google’s Gemini app now controls smart homes through a Google Home extension
• Gemini can understand natural language to complete tasks
• The aim is to make smart homes more intuitive and easier to manage

Google wants Gemini to control your smart home devices and has upgraded the Gemini app with a new Google Home extension to manage all of your connected devices the same way you'd ask the AI assistant to answer any other query. So if you have the Gemini app and devices controlled by Google Home, you can link Gemini to your Google Home account.

The extension links Gemini with your lights, thermostats, and any other smart home devices, but with the benefit of Gemini's more flexible conversational ability. That means you could say, “It’s too bright in here,” and have Gemini dim the lights instead of needing to command setting the lights to 50% specifically. You can also manage multiple devices with more casual language. Rather than individually tweaking device settings, you can say, “Dim the living room lights, turn on the bedroom lamp, and lower the blinds.” Gemini can grasp the three commands for three sets of devices and act accordingly.

The same goes for media controls. Gemini can adjust volume, playback, and other aspects of your music and video players with the same flexibility. And if you’re trying to secure your home, Gemini can automatically open the Google Home app when dealing with cameras and locks, so your sensitive data stays secure.

One standout feature is its ability to answer burning questions like, “Did I leave the porch light on?” Gemini will check and let you know, saving you from awkwardly walking outside in your pajamas to check for yourself. Thanks to Gemini Live, you can even control some devices directly from your phone’s lock screen.

A Gemini home

Google has battled Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and other smart home assistants for years, but Gemini and its natural language controls might give the company an edge as people await Amazon's planned Alexa upgrade or experiment with similar assistants from smaller brands.

Smart homes have always been about convenience, but Google seems to be banking on people wanting a home that pays closer attention to residents and their needs. For now, that attention is limited to practical tasks like dimming lights or playing music. But as AI continues to evolve, who knows? Maybe one day you’ll tell your house, “I’m stressed,” and it’ll brew you a cup of tea, dim the lights, and cue up a soothing playlist.

Even with imperfections, Gemini’s new feature is a promising step toward the company's dream of incorporating Gemini in every aspect of your life. Gemini is becoming an everyday assistant that knows the difference between you asking to make things cooler by turning off the thermostat and making things cooler by turning on mood lighting and Barry White.

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• Google wants Gemini AI to be the star of every part of your life
• Gemini Live is here, free, and feeling chatty

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Seeing double

NYT Strands today (game #328) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• BALL
• SOME
• SELL
• WOOL
• WITH
• TELL

NYT Strands today (game #328) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Pairs

NYT Strands today (game #328) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 5th row

Last side: right, 5th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #328) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #328, are…

• BALLOON
• COFFEE
• SUCCEED
• COMMITTEE
• WHIPPOORWILL
• SPANGRAM: LETTERS

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 2 hints

A lovely spelling test for us today, as we searched for double-double-letter words – or, in the case of COMMITTEE and WHIPPOORWILL, triple-double-letter words.

I had never heard of the latter before, so it took me quite a while to get right. I’ve since learned that it’s a bird and it’s named after its distinctive WHIP-POOR-WILL call.

Meanwhile, there is only one English word with four sets of double letters – SUBBOOKKEEPER. I’m surprised Strands didn’t include that one.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, 24 January, game #327)

• QUICK
• BRILLIANT
• BRIGHT
• CLEVER
• INTELLIGENT
• SPANGRAM: THATS GENIUS

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.

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 clues.

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 #594) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• GINKGO
• SLOPE
• EMOJI
• ANGLE
• DENT
• TYCOON
• RECESS
• MOGUL
• LODGE
• LUNCH
• POD
• KARAOKE
• CLASS
• CYCLE
• LIFT
• HOMEROOM

NYT Connections today (game #594) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Timetable 
• GREEN: As seen at Powder Mountain 
• BLUE: Heard in Tokyo
• PURPLE: Must try harder

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 #594) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: SCHOOL PERIODS 
• GREEN: FEATURES OF A SKI RESORT 
• BLUE: WORDS DERIVED FROM JAPANESE 
• PURPLE: WORDS AFTER THE PREFIX "TRI-" 

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

NYT Connections today (game #594) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #594, are…

• YELLOW: SCHOOL PERIODS CLASS, HOMEROOM, LUNCH, RECESS
• GREEN: FEATURES OF A SKI RESORT LIFT, LODGE, MOGUL, SLOPE
• BLUE: WORDS DERIVED FROM JAPANESE EMOJI, GINKGO, KARAOKE, TYCOON
• PURPLE: WORDS AFTER THE PREFIX "TRI-" ANGLE, CYCLE, DENT, POD

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 mistakes

Seeing GINKGO I immediately thought one group had to be about Japan. In my first guess I left out KARAOKE and included MOGUL instead – my thinking is that it was a trick, as there was a recent news story about a town in England called Stockport which is claiming to be the birthplace of karaoke, rather than Japan. But I was wrong. Obviously

The legend goes that a shopkeeper called Roy Brooke invented karaoke – basically singing along to hits of the day – in the early 1990s, but it was stolen by some visitors from Japan, who went on to market it around the world.

Karaoke is still massive in Stockport, where 12 pub teams compete against each other every Monday to be crowned the Karaoke Champions of Stockport. And that bit, at least, is a true story!

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 24 January, game #593)

• YELLOW: CONTEMPLATE BROOD, MUSE, PONDER, REFLECT
• GREEN: RUDE THINGS TO DO INTERRUPT, LITTER, POINT, STARE
• BLUE: VOCATION CRAFT, LINE, TRADE, WORK
• PURPLE: -_PATCH CABBAGE, NICOTINE, ROUGH, SOUL

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,000 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 #1097) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* 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 #1097) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

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

Quordle today (game #1097) - 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 #1097) - 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 3.

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 #1097) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• G

• G

• G

• M

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

Quordle today (game #1097) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1097, are…

• GIVER
• GROOM
• GUSTO
• MAKER

I attacked today’s Quordle with GUSTO, putting down the first words that popped into my head – and it worked a treat, as I checked out on my eighth go.

It’s odd when you get spidey senses about words, but the truth is I got lucky today by guessing a word that began with the letter G (GAMER), thus unlocking three part-completed words.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1097) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1097, are…

• POSIT
• PERCH
• PAPER
• LEVER

Quordle answers: The past 20

• 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
• Quordle #1088, Thursday 16 January: PARTY, BLUNT, TWEED, PLANT
• Quordle #1087, Wednesday 15 January: RISEN, PLATE, RURAL, ENVOY
• Quordle #1086, Tuesday 14 January: SWARM, SCRAP, ONION, BELCH
• Quordle #1085, Monday 13 January: EYING, GIDDY, CHEAP, PETAL
• Quordle #1084, Sunday 12 January: BRIEF, PETAL, WOMAN, FELON
• Quordle #1083, Saturday 11 January: ASCOT, FIBER, ROGUE, SMELL
• Quordle #1082, Friday 10 January: BIGOT, INLET, LEECH, TUNIC
• Quordle #1081, Thursday 9 January: RESET, HUMOR, TENOR, IMAGE
• Quordle #1080, Wednesday 8 January: MINCE, SADLY, RISEN, VOUCH
• Quordle #1079, Tuesday 7 January: CREED, FILET, ROUTE, TAPER
• Quordle #1078, Monday 6 January: PIVOT, WOOLY, GRUNT, GROOM
• Quordle #1077, Sunday 5 January: BORAX, JUDGE, CADET, SALON

• Asus recently released its Q-Release Slim feature for GPUs
• Said feature is reportedly damaging GPUs
• There's no current fix for this issue from Asus

Asus’s Q-Release Slim was first revealed in August 2024 during Gamescom. It is an eject feature on 800-series AMD and Intel motherboards that makes removing graphics cards much easier. However, the recently released feature is reportedly causing major headaches for buyers.

According to HXL and Andreas Schilling from HardwareLuxx (reported on by Tom’s Hardware), Q-Release Slim has been causing damage to graphics cards by scraping off the sides of the connector. This could potentially ruin your expensive graphics cards, including the recent RTX 5090.

The Q-Release Slim is supposed to be an improved version of the Q-Release launched back in 2021 for high-end Asus ROG motherboards. It lets you quickly eject cards by titling them while pulling upwards. However, the fault lies in the peg side of the PCIe slot on the motherboard, which has a metallic piece embedded in it that scrapes against the connector. If the card is ejected frequently, this can result in significant damage — something reviews and overclockers tend to do.

Uniko’s Hardware offers more insight into the matter, including several photos from the bilibili channel. The first is of the design flaw reportedly causing this issue, while two more are before and after the original card’s condition versus the damaging results of using the Q-Release Slim eject 60 times.

We’ve also reached out to Asus concerning this issue and will update this story with any statements from them.

This isn’t the only issue plaguing Asus either

This isn’t the only recent report concerning Asus motherboards either. Patch notes slipped out early, which revealed a BETA bios fix for a “microcode signature verification vulnerability,” apparently affecting Asus gaming motherboards.

Tavis Ormandy, the security researcher who spotted the leak, stated, "It looks like an OEM leaked the patch for a major upcoming CPU vulnerability, ie: 'AMD Microcode Signature Verification Vulnerability.’” He then continues, “I'm not thrilled about this. The patch is not currently in Linux firmware, so this is the only publicly available patch."

By the time Asus edited the patch notes to remove mentioning AMD’s microcode issue, AMD had already confirmed the vulnerability to The Register. "AMD is aware of a newly reported processor vulnerability. Execution of the attack requires both local administrator-level access to the system, and development and execution of malicious microcode," the company stated.

It seems that Asus motherboards have been embroiled in some serious trouble, which could spell disaster for both processors and graphics cards. Hopefully, the manufacturer can correct the issue soon, as the timing couldn’t be worse — with the release of the RTX 5000-series and new processors on the horizon.

• AMD confirms processor security flaws after Asus patch slips out early
• Painful GPU extraction woes could be a thing of the past with new motherboards
• Some of the most iconic AMD chips have a serious security flaw — which the company says it probably won't patch now

Back in August 2023, Meta revealed an ‘all-in-one’ AI translation model capable of understanding close to 100 different languages.

Dubbed SeamlessM4T (Massively Multilingual and Multimodal Machine Translation), this is Meta’s attempt at creating a ‘universal translator’ akin to the Babel Fish in Douglas Adams’ classic sci-fi series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

The team behind the SeamlessM4T tool has now detailed its work in a piece in the journal Nature, revealing the advanced system delivers an all-in-one solution for text-to-text, speech-to-text, speech-to-speech, and text-to-speech translations across an impressive, and growing, array of languages.

Over 400 years of raw audio

SeamlessM4T, which, among other things, is being used to automatically dub videos on Facebook and Instagram, currently supports speech-to-speech translation from 101 to 36 languages, speech-to-text translation for from 101 to 96 languages, text-to-text translation for 96 languages, text-to-speech translation from 96 to 36 languages, and automatic speech recognition for 96 languages. This unified approach overcomes the limitations of traditional cascaded systems, which often require separate subsystems for speech recognition, translation, and text-to-speech synthesis.

By streamlining these processes, Meta says SeamlessM4T outperforms existing models, achieving up to 23% higher BLEU (Bilingual Evaluation Understudy) scores in translation accuracy and demonstrating impressive resilience to background noise and speaker variations.

To create SeamlessM4T, Meta started with 4 million hours (over 400 years) of multilingual raw audio originating from a publicly available repository of crawled web data. The team developed SeamlessAlign, a multimodal corpus containing over 470,000 hours of aligned speech and combined the dataset with cutting-edge machine learning techniques, including SONAR (Sentence-level Multimodal and Language-Agnostic Representations) embeddings, which enable multilingual and modality-agnostic encoding for text and speech.

Meta says that by addressing social and ethical challenges through the use of safeguards, SeamlessM4T can be a valuable tool for global communication. These safeguards reduce gender bias - errors in grammatical gender determination - and mitigate the problem of added toxicity - where offensive words appear in translations but not in the original source.

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I had a chance to see Dreame's newest robot vacuum, the Dreame X50 Ultra Complete, in action. With its cutting-edge features, this brand is the one to watch. In fact, it might even make me switch allegiance from my current favorite bot brand, Roborock.

We saw plenty of impressive robot vacuum innovations at CES 2025 in January, but the X50 Ultra Complete has the most... well, complete feature set I've seen.

The standout headline feature is that it has tiny little mechanical legs. These lift the bot and help it hoist itself over tall thresholds in the home. This 'ProLeap System' means the X50 Ultra can tackle steps up to 4.2cm tall in a single bound or up to 6cm tall in two. In action, it looks kind of like the wooing ritual of an exotic bird. It's really quite majestic.

Slightly less graceful is the bot's descent down steps. There is a "shock-absorption system" designed to soften collisions and absorb sound, as well as a little wheel in the front that means the X50 is not quite face-planting, but it still comes down with a bit more of a bump than I was expecting or am wholly comfortable with.

What's afoot?

Beyond those little feet, there's more to show off, though. It also has a navigation puck that can pop up and down (a feature appearing on one of the newest Roborock bots). That enables it to use LiDAR navigation without permanently raising the height of the bot.

With the puck retracted, the height of the robot vacuum is just 8.9cm tall, shallow enough that it can sneak under low-sitting furniture, where dust and hair might otherwise collect. It'll then pop back up again when space allows.

Those are two 2025 innovations, but there are further features that have appeared on previous Dreames – including 2024's highly-rated Dreame L40 Ultra robot vacuum and Dreame X40 Ultra Complete robovac – and help round out what is an extremely capable setup.

For example, the spinning mop pads attach using magnets, which means the X50 Ultra Complete can drop them off in its base when they're not required and then return to pick them up again as needed, with no manual intervention required from you.

That means there's absolutely no danger of wet mop pads dragging over your carpets (the mop pads can also lift up to avoid this, but it's not such a failsafe approach if you have thick rugs, for example).

(Image credit: Future)

To ensure the edges of rooms aren't missed, the Dreame X50 not only has an extending side brush to sweep debris into the robot's suction path (fairly common on premium bots), but also a mop pad that can kick out to the side.

I saw the Dreame X50 Ultra, alongside the brand's other products, at the grand opening of its first flagship store in Birmingham, UK – a "significant milestone" in the brand's expansion into the UK.

We're in the process of testing the Dreame X50 Ultra and will report back if it's as good as it looks. It will go on sale in the UK from February 7 at a list price of £1,299. It'll be available to purchase directly from Dreame (in-store and online) as well as via Amazon.

US release information and pricing has been requested, and we'll update this when we hear back.

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• The FBI’s missive follows three previous ones in as many years
• Statement is aimed at educating businesses and warding off domestic collaborators
• Suggested remedies include employing endpoint protection on computer systems and checking applications for “typos and unusual nomenclature”

The FBI has claimed North Korean IT workers are extorting US companies which have hired them by leveraging their access to steal source code.

In a statement, the agency warned domestic and international firms employees turned threat actors, “facilitate cyber-criminal activities and conduct revenue-generating activity” using stolen data “on behalf of the regime.”

It recommended endpoint protection, and monitoring network logs to identify where data has been compromised across “easily accessible means” like shared internal drives and cloud storage drives.

FBI guidance on remote hiring processes

The FBI also recommended a litany of actions that all amount to taking care to know who you’re hiring, which sounds like good practice even if you’re not especially worried about unwittingly hiring a threat actor.

It recommended stringent identity verification processes throughout the recruitment process and cross-checking applicants’ details against that of others in the pile, and across different HR systems.

It also claimed these applicants are using AI tools to obfuscate their identities, but, if true, offered little advice to counter them beyond conducting recruitment processes in person; which isn’t always possible.

The agency also suggested recruiters ask applicants “soft questions” about their whereabouts and identity, but we’d suggest that this is good practice all round too.

North Korean IT workers have been a target of the FBI for some time, having released separate guidance in 2022, 2023, and 2024. In the latter, it expressed concern that US-based individuals were, knowingly or unknowingly, helping facilitate state-sponsored threat actors by setting up US-based infrastructure such as front addresses and businesses.

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• QNAP said it addressed six flaws in its Hybrid Backup Sync tool
• The flaws stemmed from rsync, an open-source file syncing tool
• Users are advised to update their HBS immediately

QNAP has addressed half a dozen vulnerabilities affecting its Hybrid Backup Sync (HBS) software.

In a security advisory, the company noted the vulnerabilities were discovered in rsync, an open source file synchronization tool used to transfer and sync files between systems. It supports local and remote operations via SSH, and minimizes data transfer with incremental updates. Many backup solutions use rsync, including Duplicity, Bacula, Rclone, and others.

HBS is a data backup and disaster recovery solution that supports local, remote, and cloud storage services.

Arbitrary code execution

The bugs are tracked as CVE-2024-12084, CVE-2024-12085, CVE-2024-12086, CVE-2024-12087, and CVE-2024-12088, and affect HBS 3 Hybrid Backup Sync 25.1.x. QNAP said they could have been used to run malicious code remotely against unpatched Network Attached Storage (NAS) endpoints. Apparently, threat actors would only need anonymous read access to vulnerable servers, in order to exploit the flaws.

"When combined, the first two vulnerabilities (heap buffer overflow and information leak) allow a client to execute arbitrary code on a device that has an Rsync server running," CERT/CC said when rsync 3.4.0 was released. "The client requires only anonymous read-access to the server, such as public mirrors. Additionally, attackers can take control of a malicious server and read/write arbitrary files of any connected client."

To secure their systems, administrators are advised to update their HBS 3 Hybrid Backup Sync to version 25.1.4.952, by logging into QTS or QuTS hero as an admin, opening App Center and searching for HBS 3 Hybrid Backup Sync, and clicking on the Update button.

According to BleepingComputer, there are currently more than 700,000 IP addresses with exposed rsync servers, but it’s difficult to determine how many can be exploited.

Via BleepingComputer

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• Pre-orders should go live for AMD’s RX 9070 GPUs on March 23, according to one US retailer
• There are a couple of reasons why this is likely wrong, though
• We’ve also seen more strangeness around the previously rumored January 23 launch for RDNA 4, as an ad campaign appears to have misfired

As if enough weirdness hasn’t already surrounded AMD’s RDNA 4 GPU launch – it’s been an odd affair indeed – something at Team Red appears to have misfired on the marketing side again, and we’ve also caught a mention of a possible new release date for the RX 9070 graphics cards.

However, I think the date shared by a US retailer is off the mark, and just a placeholder, so let’s deal with that first.

The story here is that B&H Photo previously posted what it believed to be the date that gamers would be able to pre-order RX 9070 models, namely January 23 – but of course that didn’t happen.

Instead, AMD made an announcement to let us know that the RX 9070 graphics cards won’t arrive until March (still within the official Q1 2025 timeframe that was previously promised, it’s worth noting).

Following that, VideoCardz spotted that B&H Photo now has a date of March 23 for pre-orders on RDNA 4 graphics cards – and the retailer still has this date on its site (it hasn’t been taken down yet).

What’s strange about this is that March 23 is a Sunday, so it seems highly unlikely that a sales milestone (pre-orders, or indeed the actual on-sale date) would be on a weekend. Surely, AMD would wait until the Monday (March 24) if this was the plan.

Also, bearing in mind that the previous date B&H posted was January 23, it feels like what might have happened here is that a staff member working on the product listings just replaced the name of the month in the date, and left the day the same (though why an update was posted at all to the RDNA 4 listings, when nothing’s official, is a good question).

Hence my conclusion that this looks very much like a placeholder date, given the way this has happened, and the additional fact that it’s a Sunday.

(Image credit: Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock) Reddit campaign wasn’t canceled?

The second oddity that backs up some previous rumors – and the initial January date B&H attached to RX 9070 pre-orders – is that some AMD ads have popped up, going by reports, claiming that you can ‘play now’ with the new RDNA 4 GPUs.

This was again noticed by VideoCardz, and it happened yesterday, on January 23, so one theory is that this was a date AMD had indeed planned for something big to happen, either a launch or reveal. (If you can ‘play now’ though, then the GPUs would surely be on sale). Team Red had a bunch of marketing stuff scheduled for Reddit (as flagged up here) around this, which accidentally still went ahead somehow (with these ads appearing in a few different countries in Europe, seemingly being published in German, Italian, and Polish).

The not-unreasonable conclusion folks are reaching is that AMD did have something planned for January 23, especially as there were a lot of rumors this was the case (albeit some mentioned January 24, though it was all in the same ballpark of the week we find ourselves in now). But all this has now been put off to March, although officially, as mentioned, AMD has never said anything concrete for the RX 9070 launch outside of it being Q1 2025.

The rumors around RDNA 4 have taken some very strange turns indeed, then, but the good news is that it seems these next-gen graphics cards will be worth waiting for. Even if we do have to hang on until later in March, rather than seeing the RX 9070 GPUs emerge earlier in the month – and really, I wouldn’t be swayed at all by the new B&H pre-order date for all the reasons mentioned.

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Now that Netflix has unveiled which titles will be leaving in February 2025, take this as your sign to get a head start on catching the best Netflix movies before it's too late. But while Netflix doesn't tend to remove a huge amount of titles each month (which is a good thing), there are always one or two gems thrown into the mix that I know I'll miss dearly. As for this month, those movies are Pearl (2022) and Stand By Me (1986), but there are plenty new additions on the way to make up for it, looking at everything coming to Netflix in February.

When it comes to Netflix series, I find that these are less prone to being axed from Netflix's library. This month, only two TV shows (Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Mindy Project) are being removed compared to over 30 movies, so with that said, you can't say that Netflix isn't one of the best streaming services when it comes to TV content.

Everything leaving Netflix in February 2025

Leaving on February 1

Cocaine Cowboys 2 (movie)
Plus One (movie)
Run All Night (movie)

Leaving on February 11

The Fast and the Furious (movie)
2 Fast 2 Furious (movie)
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (movie)
Fast Five (movie)
Fast & Furious 6 (movie)
The Pope's Exorcist (movie)

Leaving on February 14

The Catcher Was a Spy (movie)
White Boy (movie)

Leaving on February 15

47 Meters Down: Uncaged (movie)
Blackhat (movie)
Pearl (movie)

Leaving on February 20

Book Club (movie)
Southpaw (movie)

Leaving on February 21

All Good Things (movie)

Leaving on February 24

U Turn (movie)

Leaving on February 25

Brooklyn Nine-Nine seasons 1-2 (TV show)

Leaving on February 28

21 Bridges (movie)
A Haunted House (movie)
A Haunted House 2 (movie)
Aloha (movie)
The Angry Birds Movie (movie)
Blended (movie)
Cinderella Man (movie)
Due Date (movie)
Green Lantern (movie)
Inception (movie)
Legends of the Fall (movie)
Little (movie)
The Mindy Project seasons 1-6 (TV show)
Oblivion (movie)
The Other Guys (movie)
Scooby-Doo (movie)
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (movie)
Sixteen Candles (movie)
Stand by Me (movie)
Without a Paddle (movie)

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Frank Scheufens, Product Manager at PNY Technologies explains the benefits and uses of Digital Twins in this second installment.

Operating Digital Twins: virtually manage, monitor and optimize physical assets

A digital twin operates through a cycle of data collection, transmission, analysis, and user interaction. The process begins with data collection, where physical assets are fitted with sensors that monitor various parameters—such as temperature, pressure, or movement. This data is then transmitted to the digital twin via cloud or edge computing, allowing the digital model to update in real-time. Advanced algorithms and analytics are applied to the incoming data, helping the twin predict future states, identify anomalies, and provide actionable insights.

The real power of a digital twin lies in its interactivity. Operators can interact with the model to test hypothetical scenarios, diagnose problems, and adjust operations without affecting the actual physical asset. This simulation capability, coupled with real-time data, provides a dynamic environment for experimentation and optimization.

The role of AI in Digital Twin projects

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a crucial role in maximizing the potential of digital twins. AI’s ability to handle massive datasets, identify patterns, and make predictions allows digital twins to go beyond basic monitoring. In many cases, machine learning algorithms are integrated into the twin to enable predictive analytics—forecasting potential failures or maintenance needs before they occur. This predictive capability helps organizations shift from reactive to proactive maintenance, reducing costs and avoiding unexpected downtime.

AI can also help with anomaly detection, identifying unusual behavior patterns in the data. In industries like manufacturing or aviation, these patterns might indicate a need for maintenance or signal a potential issue. Additionally, AI algorithms can simulate various scenarios within the digital twin, allowing organizations to optimize processes and test changes without risking real-world consequences. In some advanced applications, AI even enables the digital twin to make autonomous decisions, adjusting operations based on the analyzed data.

Challenges in Digital Twin projects

While digital twins offer immense benefits, they also come with challenges that need to be managed carefully. One of the most significant is data management. The vast quantities of data generated by sensors can be overwhelming, requiring robust storage, processing, and analysis capabilities. Integrating a digital twin with existing, sometimes outdated, systems can also be challenging. Legacy infrastructure isn’t always compatible with modern digital twins, necessitating extensive adjustments and integrations. Another challenge is the high initial cost. Developing a digital twin, especially for complex systems, involves significant investment. This includes installing sensors, building models, integrating AI capabilities, and ensuring cybersecurity. The initial expense can be a barrier for smaller organizations or those with tight budgets.

Cybersecurity is another critical concern. Digital twins rely on a constant flow of data, often transmitted through the internet or other networks. This data transmission can become a vulnerability, exposing the twin to potential cyber threats if not adequately secured. Keeping a digital twin accurate over time also requires continuous maintenance. Models must be regularly calibrated and adjusted to reflect changes in the physical object they represent, which can be a demanding and time-consuming process.

Why Digital Twins require special platforms

Developing and managing a digital twin demands a specialized platform due to the unique requirements of real-time data processing, integration, and visualization.

A dedicated platform offers several benefits:

• Data integration: These platforms can aggregate data from various sources—IoT devices, cloud databases, and other systems—seamlessly. This allows the digital twin to have a holistic view of the physical system.
• Advanced analytics: Many platforms include built-in analytics and machine learning tools, making it easier to apply AI to data analysis and predictions. • Scalability: A specialized platform can grow as the digital twin project expands, whether it’s adding more assets, increasing data points, or integrating additional processes.
• Security: Given the importance of data protection, dedicated platforms often include robust security features to safeguard sensitive information.
• Visualization & interaction: Digital twin platforms provide tools for visualizing the model and interacting with it in a meaningful way, such as through 3D interfaces or augmented reality.

These platforms streamline the complex process of building and maintaining a digital twin, ensuring the project is efficient, scalable, and secure.

Types of Digital Twins: from components to processes

Digital twins come in various forms, each catering to different aspects of a physical system:

1. Component Twins: These focus on individual parts or components of a system, like an engine or a pump. Component twins are often used to monitor the health and performance of critical parts, predicting failures before they occur.
2. Asset Twins: These model entire assets, such as a vehicle or a machine. Asset twins are used to track the overall health, efficiency, and lifecycle of the asset, providing valuable insights for maintenance and upgrades.
3. System Twins: System twins represent groups of assets working together, like a factory production line. They help optimize workflows, identify bottlenecks, and improve overall efficiency.
4. Process Twins: These are the most comprehensive, simulating entire processes or operations. Process twins allow organizations to see how different components and systems interact over time, providing insights that can streamline complex workflows and improve productivity. Each type of digital twin offers a unique perspective, from the granular level of individual parts to the broad view of entire processes.

Security considerations for Digital Twins

Security is a top priority when it comes to digital twins, as they involve constant data exchanges between the physical and digital realms. The level of security varies based on implementation, but several challenges need to be addressed:

• Data transmission: With data continuously flowing from the physical object to the digital twin, encryption is crucial. End-to-end encryption ensures that data remains secure during transmission, protecting it from interception.
• Integration points: Digital twins are often connected to other systems, like cloud platforms or analytics tools. Each connection point can be a potential vulnerability, so it’s vital to secure them with proper authentication and encryption measures.
• IoT device security: Many digital twins rely on IoT devices to gather real-time data, and these devices can be targets for cyberattacks. Ensuring they have up-to-date firmware, secure communication channels, and strong access controls is essential.

A multi-layered security approach, regular updates, and proactive monitoring are key to ensuring that digital twins remain secure while handling sensitive data.

Conclusion

Digital twins are revolutionizing industries by creating a bridge between the physical and digital worlds. They provide a dynamic, real-time view of physical systems, offering unprecedented opportunities for optimization, prediction, and innovation. However, they also come with challenges, from high initial costs to cybersecurity concerns. With the right platform, tools, and security measures in place, digital twins can offer significant advantages, helping organizations navigate the complexities of modern technology and stay ahead of the competition. As AI and IoT technologies continue to advance, the capabilities and applications of digital twins are only expected to grow, making them an integral part of the future of smart systems and connected industries.

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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

In today's rapidly advancing technological landscape, digital transformation is a key driver of innovation across many industries. One of the most impactful technologies leading this revolution is the digital twin. This is a real-time virtual model that replicates a physical object, system, or process. It continuously receives data from its physical twin, creating a dynamic, up-to-date digital replica. This allows users to monitor, simulate, and enhance the object or system without directly interacting with the real-world version.

While the concept of a digital twin isn’t entirely new, its application has exploded due to progress in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and big data. Across industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, smart cities, and aerospace, digital twins are helping businesses operate more efficiently, reduce costs, and improve decision-making.

This comprehensive guide explains what digital twins are, how they are used in different industries, and how they are built, while also examining their potential impact on future technology.

What is a Digital Twin?

A digital twin is a digital replica of a physical object or system that is kept in sync with its real-world counterpart. This virtual model collects real-time data through sensors, cameras, and IoT devices, providing an accurate representation of the object’s current state. A digital twin is more than a 3D model—it is a dynamic, data-driven simulation that evolves as the physical object changes over time.

One of the key features of a digital twin is its ability to simulate future scenarios. By using historical and real-time data, digital twins can model various conditions and outcomes, allowing businesses to foresee challenges, predict system failures, and optimize operations. These simulations are incredibly useful for making informed decisions without physically testing every possible outcome, saving both time and money.

The origins and evolution of Digital Twins

The idea of creating digital replicas of physical objects goes back to the early days of space exploration. NASA engineers used physical models and simulators to monitor and diagnose issues with spacecraft that were too far away to inspect directly. These early models laid the groundwork for the development of the digital twin concept.

But it wasn’t until the convergence of IoT, big data, and AI technologies that digital twins became a practical tool for mainstream use. Today, digital twins are more sophisticated than ever before. They can process vast amounts of data in real time, enabling detailed simulations and advanced analytics. As digital twins continue to evolve, they are playing a pivotal role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), transforming sectors from manufacturing to urban planning.

What are Digital Twins used for?

Digital twins are incredibly versatile and have found applications across many industries. Below are some of the primary use cases for these tools and how they are transforming different sectors.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is one of the largest users of digital twin technology. In this sector, digital twins are used to optimize production lines, monitor machinery, and improve product designs. By creating digital replicas of factory equipment and processes, manufacturers can simulate different production scenarios, spot inefficiencies, and predict potential breakdowns. For example, a car manufacturer might create a digital twin of an assembly line to test how adding a new robotic arm will affect workflow. By running simulations, the manufacturer can fine-tune the process to ensure the robotic arm integrates seamlessly, leading to more efficient working.

Additionally, digital twins are invaluable for predictive maintenance. By collecting data on the condition of machines—such as temperature, vibration, or pressure—they can predict when a machine is likely to break down. This allows manufacturers to schedule maintenance at the right time, cutting unplanned downtime and extending the lifespan of equipment.

Healthcare

Digital twin technology is making strides in healthcare, where it is used to model individual patients, medical devices, and biological systems. Personalized healthcare, in particular, benefits from digital twins. By creating a virtual model of a patient’s body or organ, doctors can simulate different treatment options to determine the best course of action.

For example, heart surgeons may use a digital twin of a patient’s heart to plan and simulate a procedure before performing it. This allows them to visualize the surgery and plan for potential complications, improving the chances of successful surgery.

Similarly, pharmaceutical companies use digital twins to simulate how drugs interact with the human body. This helps them develop new treatments more quickly and efficiently by testing drug reactions virtually before conducting human trials.

Medical device manufacturers also leverage digital twins to design and test products like pacemakers, joint replacements, or diagnostic machines. By using digital twins, they can ensure that devices perform optimally within the body before they are ever implanted or used.

Smart cities and urban planning

Digital twins are now playing an increasingly important role in the development of smart cities. City planners and local authorities are using digital twins to create virtual models of urban infrastructure and services, such as transport systems, energy grids, and waste management. With real-time data collected from sensors placed throughout an urban area, digital twins can help cities monitor traffic flow, energy usage, and pollution. This data allows town planners to test different strategies for improving transport networks, reducing congestion, and lowering energy consumption.

For example, local government could use a digital twin of its public transport system to simulate the impact of rerouting buses or adding new train lines. By running these models, planners can identify the best ways to cut travel times and improve service without disrupting the real-world network.

Digital twins are also instrumental in disaster response planning. By modelling how a city would be affected by natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, or fires, emergency workers can develop better contingency plans and improve their ability to manage crises in real time.

Aerospace

In the aerospace industry, digital twins are widely used to improve aircraft design, production, and maintenance. By creating digital replicas of airplanes, engines, and other components, aerospace engineers can simulate how different factors—such as extreme weather, air pressure, or mechanical stress—will affect an aircraft over time.

One of key aspects of digital twins in aerospace is their ability to inform predictive maintenance. For example, digital twins of jet engines collect data on performance metrics like temperature, pressure, and vibration. Using this data, engineers can predict when parts are likely to wear out or malfunction, allowing airlines to perform maintenance before a problem occurs. This reduces the risk of in-flight issues and lowers operational costs. Airlines are also using digital twins to simulate flight conditions and boost fuel efficiency. By modelling various flight paths, weather conditions, and aircraft configurations, digital twins help pilots and airlines reduce fuel consumption, leading to both cost savings and environmental benefits.

Energy

Digital twins have found significant applications in the energy sector, where they are used to monitor and enhance the performance of power plants, wind farms, and solar energy systems. By creating digital replicas of these systems, operators can simulate different conditions—such as changes in weather or energy demand—and finetune operations accordingly. For example, wind farm operators use digital twins to track the performance of individual turbines. The digital twin collects data on wind speed, turbine rotation, and power output, providing insights into each turbine’s efficiency. This data helps operators identify underperforming turbines and adjust to maximize energy production.

In the case of power plants, digital twins can monitor critical elements, such as generators, cooling systems, and pipelines. By predicting when components are likely to fail, digital twins enable operators to carry out preventive maintenance, cutting downtime and improving the reliability of the energy grid.

Digital twins also help energy companies manage grid stability. With real-time data on energy consumption and generation, they allow operators to balance supply and demand more efficiently, preventing blackouts and reducing energy waste.

How to build a Digital Twin

Creating a digital twin involves several steps, from data collection to simulation and analysis. Below is a detailed explanation of each phase in the development process.

Data collection

The first step in building a digital twin is collecting data from the physical object or system. This is typically gathered using sensors, IoT devices, and control systems that measure key parameters such as temperature, pressure, speed, and vibration. In some cases, historical data may also be used to model how the object has performed over time.

For example, if you are creating a digital twin of a factory production line, you would install sensors on the machines to track their performance, energy consumption, and maintenance needs. The more data is collected, the more accurate and detailed the digital twin will be.

Create the digital model

Once the data is collected, the next step is to create a digital model of the object or system. This is often built using 3D modelling software or computer-aided design (CAD) tools. The complexity of the model will depend on the nature of the object being reproduced. For some applications, a simple 3D model might suffice, while for others, a highly detailed, physics-based simulation may be needed.

For instance, a digital twin of a wind turbine would not only include a 3D model of the turbine blades but also a simulation of how the blades interact with different wind speeds and environmental conditions.

Real-time data connection

To keep the digital twin updated, it must be connected to its physical twin through real-time data transmission. This connection ensures that the digital version evolves as the physical object changes or moves through different operating conditions.

For example, in smart cities, sensors placed throughout an urban area feed data back to the digital twin, which continuously updates itself in line with real-time conditions like traffic flow, air quality, or energy consumption.

In many cases, real-time data is transmitted via IoT platforms and processed in the cloud. Advanced AI and machine learning algorithms are often used to analyze this data, providing insights into how the physical object is performing and predicting future outcomes.

Simulation and optimization

Once the digital twin is live and connected to its physical equivalent, it can be used for simulations and optimizations. By testing different scenarios and variables on the digital model, users can identify areas which can be finetuned without affecting the real-world object. For instance, a digital twin of a factory machine could help simulate how different workloads or production speeds impact overall efficiency. Based on the findings of these models, factory managers can adjust operations to reduce bottlenecks, save energy, or cut downtime.

Digital twins can also be used for scenario planning, helping organisations to model how changes—such as new laws or market conditions—will impact their operations. By running these simulations, businesses can prepare for potential challenges and make more informed strategic decisions.

Continuous updates and maintenance

To remain accurate, digital twins must be constantly updated with real-time data and information about the physical object’s condition. This includes tracking wear and tear, repairs, and upgrades. Regular updates ensure that the digital twin remains a reliable tool for monitoring and simulation.

In the aerospace industry, digital twins of aircraft engines are regularly updated to reflect the engine’s current condition and usage history. These updates allow engineers to make accurate predictions about future maintenance needs and performance.

Understanding Digital Twins vs. traditional simulations

At the core, a digital twin is a digital replica of a physical object, system, or process, continuously updated with real-time data. Unlike traditional simulations, which run under set parameters and aren’t connected to the real world, digital twins are dynamic. They reflect the current state of their physical counterpart, using data gathered from sensors and other sources. This connection allows digital twins to provide accurate insights, predict future behaviors, and make real-time decisions.

For example, a simulation might help design a new product, testing it virtually under various conditions. However, once the simulation ends, it’s static. A digital twin, on the other hand, remains active, continuously mirroring the physical product’s lifecycle. This ongoing connection enables businesses to manage assets, troubleshoot issues, and optimize operations more effectively than a traditional simulation could.

Building a Digital Twin: timeframes and considerations

The timeline to create a digital twin depends heavily on the complexity of the object or system being modeled. For a simple asset, like a single machine or piece of equipment, a digital twin could be developed in a few weeks to a few months. The process involves setting up data collection through sensors, building the digital model, and validating its accuracy. For more complex systems—like an entire manufacturing plant or a smart city—development can take from 6 months to a year, or even longer. These large-scale digital twins require extensive data integration, advanced simulations, and rigorous testing to ensure they mirror their physical counterparts accurately.

Creating a digital twin isn’t just about initial setup; it’s an ongoing effort. A digital twin must be updated and maintained to keep it in sync with the physical world. This involves continuous data collection, periodic calibration, and refining the model to reflect any changes in the real-world object.

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Another week has ended and, two of the world's best streaming services aside (step up your game, Hulu and Disney Plus), there's something new to watch on their rival platforms this weekend.

Indeed, from a couple of new movies that originally released in theaters in late 2024, to a bunch of new shows (and the return of a smash-hit Netflix series), there's plenty for you to wrap your eyeballs around over the next few days. – Tom Power, senior entertainment reporter

The Night Agent season 2 (Netflix)

From The Recruit to Black Doves, Netflix has slowly been building out its back catalog of fun, dramatic, and thrilling spy genre shows. Few are more popular on the service, though, than The Night Agent, whose first season was a surprise overnight hit for the streaming titan and earned it a spot on our best Netflix shows list.

Two years on from that unprecedented success, the spy thriller is back for its second season. This time around, trust is in short supply for newly-minted Night Agent Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), who becomes embroiled in another wild conspiracy that'll force him to question who he can really rely on. I'll be tuning in to see if Netflix's seventh most-watched English TV Original of all-time can build on its debut season's almighty performance. Before you do likewise, get the lowdown on the show's return with our The Night Agent season 2 hub. – TP

• Watch The Night Agent season 2 on Netflix

Prime Target (Apple TV Plus)

Apple TV Plus keeps its busy start to 2025 going with new espionage thriller Prime Target, which stars One Day actor Leo Woodall alongside Quintessa Swindell from Euphoria. In the Apple TV Original, Woodall plays a math genius, who's working on a secret research project to discover patterns in prime numbers that eventually catches the attention of Swindell's NSA surveillance operative.

The idea that the story is built around is the fact that prime numbers form the basis of the world's most common types of encryption that are still widely used today, which is why a Cambridge graduate cracking the code is of seismic global proportions in this new series. The best way I can think to describe it is the Da Vinci Code meets Good Will Hunting and, while it might not rank among the best Apple TV Plus shows, it's an absorbing watch no less. – Amelia Schwanke, entertainment editor

• Watch Prime Target on Apple TV Plus

The Wild Robot (Peacock)

One of the best 52 movies of 2024 has finally made its streaming debut – well, in the US (sorry, UK and Australian readers). The Wild Robot is an absolute joy of a film, with its gorgeous, painterly art style and wonderfully realized animation, emotionally resonant story, and top-tier voice acting making for a perfect, easy-to-watch flick on Peacock this weekend.

Marvel star Lupita Nyong'o voices Roz, a service robot who becomes shipwrecked on a remote island that's inhabited by talking animals. Unsurprisingly, she's viewed as an outsider by the creatures that live on it. But, armed with a steely determination to adapt to her environment, plus the fact that she becomes the adoptive mother of an orphaned goose called Brightbill (Heartstopper's Kit Connor), Roz resolves to not only ingratiate herself with the locals, but also become their protector-in-chief. A beautiful movie in more ways than one that deserves to be seen. – TP

• Watch The Wild Robot on Peacock (available to rent on Amazon, Apple TV, and more services in the UK and Australia)

Gladiator II (Paramount Plus)

Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated follow-up to iconic 2000 movie Gladiator is now available on Paramount Plus (again, only in the US, though). If you weren’t among those who took part in last year’s unexpected double bill Glicked (that’s Gladiator II and Wicked), you can bring the thrill of the Colossuem to your home. It hasn’t performed as well as Wicked, which was recently nominated for Best Picture, but its 71% Rotten Tomatoes rating means it could be worthy of a spot on our best Paramount Plus movies round-up.

With a brilliant ensemble cast like Pedro Pascal, Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and Derek Jacobi, the movie is set 15 years after the first and is definitely worth your time if you are a fan of the original. It’s perfect if you’re looking for an action packed movie this weekend. Altogether now: are you not entertained!? – Lucy Buglass, entertainment writer

• Watch Gladiator II on Paramount Plus

C.B. Strike: The Ink Black Heart (Max)

Max is now home to the TV adaptation of controversial author J. K. Rowling’s novel series of the same name, which were published under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The series follows private detective Cormoran Strike who teams up with his assistant Robin Ellacott to take on cases that have baffled the police, hoping they can finally get to the bottom of what happened. It’s no easy task and they work out of a cramped office, but they get the job done.

There’ll be weekly episodic releases for this one, and the series has already premiered in the UK where it’s been met with some seriously mixed reviews. It’s Rotten Tomatoes score is too low to guarantee a spot to our best Max shows, but you might have a good time with it regardless. – LB

• Watch C.B. Strike: The Ink Black Heart on Max

Star Trek: Section 31 (Paramount Plus)

Paramount Plus has released its first-ever made Star Trek TV movie; a 100-minute spin-off of galactic proportions that focuses on the secret Star Fleet agency called Section 31. Star Trek: Section 31 sees Michelle Yeoh reprise her role as emperor Philippa Georgiou who we met in the first episode of Star Trek: Discovery before she eventually becomes a member of the special ops division.

It's a little different to your usual Star Trek movies, with Yeoh previously describing it as a mix of Mission: Impossible and Guardians of the Galaxy, which makes sense with the plot's merry band of mercenaries that get caught up in a heist to defend the United Federation of Planets against multi-universal threats. It's been through a lot of iterations to get here (it was originally going to be a series), which means that "there was so much more" that was left out, Yeoh's fellow star Sven Ruygrok told us. That might be why long-time Trekkies and newcomers alike have absolutely slammed it, with many labeling it one of the franchise's worst-ever projects. Ouch! – AS

• Watch Star Trek: Section 31 on Paramount Plus

Harlem season 3 (Prime Video)

The third and final season of Harlem is out now. Prime Video’s beloved comedy series is coming to an end, but I’m sure the Amazon TV Original will go out on a high. You’ll get two episodes each week until the finale on February 6, and I’m sure this will beat the January Blues some of us might be feeling.

The iconic cast made up of Meagan Good, Grace Byers, Shoniqua Shandaie, Jerrie Johnson, Tyler Lepley and Whoopi Goldberg are all back, with a few surprises and new faces teased for the final instalment. We’ve got plenty of great comedy recommendations on our best Prime Video shows round-up if you need to fill the Harlem shaped hole in your heart, though nothing can quite compare to how great this is. – LB

• Watch Harlem season 3 on Prime Video

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

• Security researchers from Eclypsium find several bugs in multiple Palo Alto Networks firewalls
• They claim the vulnerabilities are quite severe
• Palo Alto Networks says if the OS is up to date, and security settings nominal, there is no risk

Security researchers have slammed Palo Alto Networks firewalls, claiming to have discovered severe vulnerabilities which undermine the entire point of the products.

Cybersecurity researchers Eclypsium published a report detailing a host of security flaws impacting Palo Alto Networks’ firewall firmware as well as misconfigured security features.

The company responded by saying the vulnerabilities were a stretch, that they’re close to impossible to leverage in the wild, and that they’ve not seen them abused anywhere.

LogoFAIL, PixieFAIL, and other woes

"These weren't obscure, corner-case vulnerabilities," the researchers said. "Instead these were very well-known issues that we wouldn't expect to see even on a consumer-grade laptop. These issues could allow attackers to evade even the most basic integrity protections, such as Secure Boot, and modify device firmware if exploited."

Eclypisum said the flaws were found in PA-3260, PA-1410, and PA-415. The first one reached end-of-sale in mid-2023, while the other two are still fully supported.

The bugs are tracked as CVE-2020-10713, CVE-2022-24030, CVE-2021-33627, CVE-2021-42060, CVE-2021-42554, CVE-2021-43323, and CVE-2021-45970, LogoFAIL, PixieFail, CVE-2023-1017, and Intel bootguard leaked keys bypass.

After the news broke, The Hacker News reached out to the company for comment. Palo Alto Networks responded by saying that “the scenarios required for successful exploitation do not exist on up-to-date PAN-OS software under normal conditions with secured management interfaces deployed according to best practice guidelines.”

In other words, if the firewalls’ OS is up to date, and secured management interfaces are properly deployed, there is no risk.

“Palo Alto Networks is not aware of any malicious exploitation of these issues. We stand by the quality and integrity of our technology,” it added.

“While the conditions required to exploit these vulnerabilities are not available to users or administrators of PAN-OS software, we are working with the third-party vendor to develop any mitigations that may be needed. We will provide further updates and guidance to impacted customers as they become available.”

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There they sat, Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s three proud parents: Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm. Samsung plays the largest parental role, but all three have lent a guiding hand in creating what is arguably more of a mobile AI device than a mere smartphone.

Samsung’s Executive Vice President and Head of Customer Experience Office Jay Kim, Google President, Android Ecosystem, Sameer Samat, and Qualcomm SVP & GM of Mobile Handset Christopher Patrick gathered on stage a day after the official Samsung Unpacked festivities where the company introduced its new line of Galaxy S25 handsets (four in all if you count the teased S25 Edge).

The group talked at length about their close partnership and the practical aspects of bringing an AI phone to life. Samsung provides the design and most of the hardware, but it’s Google that provides the subsystem, Android, Gemini generative assistant, and the Gemini models that many of the phone’s core generative features rely on. Finally, Qualcomm provided the phone’s brains with a bespoke version of its fastest mobile chip: the Snapdragon Gen 8 Elite for Galaxy.

The group was led in conversation by analyst Bob O’Donnell of TECHalysis and joined by the University of London and Symmetry's Chief Innovation Officer, Dr. Chris Brauer.

The group described many late-night phone calls and an almost constant discussion about how to integrate AI throughout the mobile system. Google is deeply invested in the Samsung experience and its success, giving Samsung early access to all the latest Gemini models and features.

It's why the Samsung Galaxy S25 ultra, which I am currently testing, has the latest edition of Circle to Search that can also identify sounds in videos and why the latest version of Gemini Advanced is available on all S25 phones as a six-month trial. The tri-partnership is how Qualcomm built a special core on the Snapdragon Gen 8 Elite to house Samsung's Personal Data Engine locally.

The partnership is also how my S25 Ultra can funnel a single prompt through both Google and Samsung first-party apps. This means a single query can tap into both Google Search and Samsung Calendar, YouTube, and Samsung Notes.

And it’s how the side button on the Samsung Galaxy S25 series is now a Gemini button.

A matter of trust

Left to right: Analyst Bob O'Donnell, Google's Sameer Samat, Samsung's Jay Kim, Qualcomm's Christopher Patrick, and Dr. Chris Brauer. (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

Google’s Samat said that working so closely together required a level of trust between the organizations and deep collaboration on every detail of the hardware and software experience.

Samat admitted, “We do disagree frequently. There was disagreement on how long to press the button before the assistant shows up.”

The group didn't go into any specific details, though. What we know is that it takes perhaps a second and a half after the long press for Gemini to appear. Did Google want a longer press? Samsung a shorter one? We may never know, but it’s clear that they worked it out satisfactorily.

As Samat noted, “Productive disagreement on product design is necessary.”

For his part, Qualcomm’s Patrick also recalled “late-night calls and occasional disagreements.”

When asked about what keeps them up at night, Samsung’s Kim joked, “Other than Samir calling – same thing on Qualcomm side – I never sleep.”

AI’s bright, daunting future

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Across the group, they’re shocked – and maybe a bit daunted – at the pace of change. “I’ve worked in this space for 20-plus years and I’ve never seen the kinds of leaps we’re experiencing now,” said Samat.

Qualcomm’s Patrick said he hopes that as an industry, “we have the willpower to do what it takes to work together, and sometimes it takes some natural competitors to work together.”

This group and the industry do have their work cut out for them. Dr. Brauer, who has been tracking the industry, presented new numbers showing a meteoric rise in consumer interest over just six months. A study in July of last year, around the time of the Galaxy AI’s launch, found that 16% of consumers identified themselves as frequent and heavy AI users. Now the number is 27%.

It seems that to meet this demand, the partnership – disagreements and all – is only just beginning.

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The announcement of the 2025 Oscar nominees marks the countdown to the biggest and most respected awards ceremony in entertainment, and although I had a strong idea of which new movies would be nominated (thanks to the 2025 Golden Globe awards) that’s not saying that I wasn’t left bewildered beyond comprehension when a certain Netflix movie scored big with nods. I’m of course talking about Emilia Pérez (2024), the crime-thriller musical hybrid that follows a cartel boss’ gender transition.

I won’t lie, I was expecting Jacques Audiard’s drama to get some recognition at the 2025 Oscars, but I wasn’t expecting Emilia Pérez to receive 13 nominations. 13 nominations?! This puts Emilia Pérez above fellow nominees The Brutalist, Conclave, and The Substance, which make up some of the best movies of 2024. If you were to ask me, Emilia Pérez doesn’t even come close and frankly, I’d rather put myself through Joker: Folie a Deux again.

I have no doubt that this will go down in history as one of the most divisive movies to circulate cultural discourse, and not just in the history of the Oscars. Alas, what’s done is done, and all will be revealed on March 3 when the 2025 Oscars will air and for those who are still undecided whether you love or hate Emilia Pérez, hear me out.

Putting 13 Oscar nominations into context

Depending on a movie’s anticipation, marketing, and audience reception, singular movies can reach a relatively high number – just look at how the ‘Barbenheimer’ double bill influenced last year’s awards season. Unfortunately, Emilia Pérez is this year’s Oppenheimer (2023), and 13 nominations for a single movie means so much more than you may think.

Since the 2025 Oscar nominations were unveiled, Emilia Pérez has since been inducted into the so-called ‘13 Club’, an elite select group of movies that earned a grand total of 13 Oscar nominations at the time of their release. That group includes, but isn’t limited to the following movies:

Forrest Gump (1994)
Oppenheimer (2023)
Mary Poppins (1964)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Chicago (2002)

Shocking, I know, right? Not only has Emilia Pérez earned a place among movies that are considered to be cinematic staples, it has gone on to earn more Oscar nominations than the first installment in the original Star Wars trilogy, A New Hope (1977), and has the same amount of Oscar nominations as Stanley Kubrick had throughout his entire career. Excuse me, while I go and slam my head against a wall.

(Image credit: Shanna Besson/PAGE 114 - WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS - PATHÉ FILMS - FRANCE 2 CINÉMA ) Jacques Audiard doesn’t care about trans stories, he just wants an Oscar

If you’ve seen Emilia Pérez and stand on the same side of the fence as me, then I hope you understand what I mean when I say that Audiard’s crime musical feels formulaic and manufactured for Oscar appeal. On paper, Emilia Pérez could’ve been a compelling and influential story, one that could’ve rewritten the representation of trans people and Mexican communities through an authentic narrative. Instead, it’s an unfortunate mess of three different plotlines, with a lot of head-scratching.

In addition to its voice enhancement controversy, GLAAD has described Emilia Pérez as a “retrograde portrayal of a trans woman” and many trans movie critics challenging Emilia Pérez for its ‘transition equals death’ treatment, the film has come under fire for its equally questionable portrayal of Mexican communities, with the BBC highlighting both the lack of involvement from Mexican individuals in the production of Emilia Pérez, and the mockery that the film makes of the ongoing violent hardships of drug war through its musical format.

Though my disappointment speaks for itself, that doesn’t mean I would tell people to avoid Emilia Pérez. If anything, I encourage you to watch it if you haven’t yet already, just so you can see how abysmal it is as both a drama, and a depiction of a vulnerable minority that’s already the target of an increasingly worrying social and political attack.

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• CISA and FBI issue new warning about old Ivanti flaws
• They claim the flaws are being abused in coordinated attacks
• The bugs were patched in September and October 2024, so update now

Security flaws in Ivanti Cloud Service Appliance (CSA) discovered and patched in September and October 2024 are still being used to breach networks, a new security advisory from the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the FBI has warned.

In the advisory, the two agencies claim threat actors are chaining together four vulnerabilities - two in one chain: CVE-2024-8963, and CVE-2024-8190, and two in another: CVE-2024-9379, and CVE-2024-9380.

“Threat actors chained the listed vulnerabilities to gain initial access, conduct remote code execution (RCE), obtain credentials, and implant webshells on victim networks,” the two agencies said.

Compromised credentials

All of these flaws were being abused while they were zero-days - and at the time, CISA added them to its catalog of exploited vulnerabilities (KEV), forcing federal agencies to patch up within three weeks. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that the majority of the newer victims are in the private sector.

The agencies have, once again, repeated their earlier calls for upgrades, and urged network administrators to be on the lookout for signs of compromise.

"Credentials and sensitive data stored within the affected Ivanti appliances should be considered compromised," they added. "Organizations should collect and analyze logs and artifacts for malicious activity and apply the incident response recommendations within this advisory."

Ivanti is an American IT software company, specializing in IT security, service management, asset management, and more. As of 2023, Ivanti employed approximately 3,070 people, and claims more than 40,000 organizations worldwide are using its services.

In 2024, Ivanti experienced several cybersecurity incidents, including a January 2024 report indicating that Chinese government hackers used its software to target organizations. One such group is tracked as UNC5221, and was believed to have compromised thousands of Ivanti VPN devices, with CISA being among the victims.

Via BleepingComputer

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Marvel Rivals ranks let you slowly progress against harder and harder teams, with rewards associated with reaching certain thresholds. Getting into the upper ranks is no easy feat, as the rules change slightly as you climb, including one that lets you and your team choose a character to ban from play.

In terms of Competitive Mode, Marvel Rivals already offers a whole host of rewards for reaching the higher ranks, including an exclusive new skin for Invisible Woman. Challenging yourself as you move up higher and higher in ranks is part of Marvel Rivals' appeal, making it a new contender for our best crossplay games list.

Here's all of the Marvel Rivals ranks in order, so that you can know just how close you are to the top. Also, we'll explain how things change as you reach Diamond Rank, and walk you through some of the rewards you'll get once the season ends.

Marvel Rivals ranks in order

(Image credit: NetEase)

Below, you'll find a list of the Marvel Rivals ranks in order:

• Bronze: Tier 3-1
• Silver: Tier 3-1
• Gold: Tier 3-1
• Platinum: Tier 3-1
• Diamond: Tier 3-1
• Grandmaster: Tier 3-1
• Celestial: Tier 3-1
• Eternity: Rack Up Points
• One Above All: Rack Up Points (limited to the top 500 players)

As you can see, all but the top two ranks have three tiers that you must move through. Once you get to Eternity, you'll simply need to rack up points to rank up. Be aware, however, that at Eternity and One Above All, you will gradually lose points if you're not active enough.

How to unlock Ranked in Marvel Rivals

(Image credit: NetEase)

To unlock Ranked Play in Marvel Rivals you will need to reach level 10. This is done by simply playing matches. We recommend jumping into Quick Play to get a feel for the characters, and the two main game modes.

If you're looking to team up with some friends, be aware that players in Gold and below can squad up without any restrictions. For those in Gold Tier 1 to Celestial tiers, teaming is limited to a maximum range of three divisions. Players in Eternity or One Above All can team with Celestial Tier 2 players within 200 points. However, if they exceed 200 points, the point difference must be less than 200.

Marvel Rivals Ranked rewards

(Image credit: NetEase)

There are a few different rewards that you can pick up by playing Season 1 of Marvel Rivals' Competitive Mode. They are as follows:

• Blood Shield Invisible Woman skin: Reach at least Gold Tier 3 by the end of the season
• Silver Crest of Honor: Reach at least Grandmaster Tier 3 by the end of the season
• "One Above All" Crest of Honor: Reach One Above All by the end of the season

Note that rewards are given out corresponding to the highest rank achieved during a season in Marvel Rivals. This means that as long as you reach, for example, Gold Tier 3, you'll get the Invisible Woman skin regardless of whether you go up or down in rank by the end of the season. If you want more ways to get free skins, then visit our Marvel Rivals Codes for January 2025 page.

Marvel Rivals Ranked FAQs

(Image credit: NetEase) How does the Marvel Rivals Chrono Shield work?

The Chrono Shield is a unique mechanic in Marvel Rivals that can save you from losing points after losing a ranked game. This Chrono Shield will charge up as you play games, and once it's fully charged, it'll shatter in place of a rank demotion, giving you another chance to claw things back.

Can you ban Heroes in Marvel Rivals ranked mode?

Once you get into a match where all players are at least Diamond Tier 3 rank, you'll get the option to ban 2 Heroes before the game starts. This can counter some pesky meta-plays, like those using Hela to revive Loki and Thor.

What are the rules in Marvel Rivals ranked mode?

Game modes work a little differently in Marvel Rivals ranked when compared to Quick Play. Each game can have multiple rounds, and the team that wins the most rounds wins the game. You'll gain a point for each objective captured while attacking and then must make sure the enemy team scores fewer points while you're on the defensive side. If there's a tie, the match is decided on distance pushed in terms of Convoy, or with another set of rounds in terms of Domination.

(Image credit: NetEase Games) How to get your Marvel Rivals ranked rewards

Once you've hit the requisite rank to receive a reward, you'll just need to wait until the end of the season to receive it. Unfortunately, this is the earliest you'll be able to get new reward skins, so it's best to just focus on climbing even higher before the season ends.

How do I rank up in Marvel Rivals?

To rank up in Marvel Rivals, you need to be playing Competitive Mode. For each win, you'll be awarded points, and for a loss, your point value will decrease. Once you hit 100 points total, you'll go up to the next rank.

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• The iPhone 16 and 15 both have Thread radios inside them
• An Apple director and Thread president has explained why they're there
• Both of the main benefits are related to smart home future-proofing

Apple's kept pretty quiet about that the fact that its iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 series, alongside many recent iPads and MacBooks, have Thread radios inside them. But now one of its directors has explained why they're there – and how they'll soon be able to boost your smart home plans.

What is Thread?

(Image credit: Thread)

Thread is a wireless protocol that's been specifically designed for the smart home. It's designed to complement Wi-Fi by offering a low-power, low-bandwidth way for devices to communicate with each other.

In an interview with The Verge (via 9to5Mac), Vividh Siddha – who is Director of software engineering at Apple, and also president of Thread Group – said that Apple's inclusion of Thread radios is to "enable an early adopter" to build a Matter-based smart home, and then gave two clear examples of how the fledgling protocol can help.

"If you take a very early on smart home user – somebody who goes to Ikea, buys a bulb and a switch – what happens with those users is they discover they cannot do automations. So, Thread on mobile can enable that evolution [to a border router]", Siddha said.

In other words, while you typically need a hub to unlock powerful smart home functions such as automations, having Thread on your phone can act as the necessary glue to get them all talking to a border router (like the Apple TV, for example). Because any device that supports Thread can act as a border router, you hopefully already have one somewhere in your setup.

The other benefit of that Thread radio inside your iPhone 16 or 15, according to Vividh Siddha, is that it can act as a handy backup during power cuts. "The other important factor is the ability to use your accessories, and some important ones, like your front door lock when there’s a power outage" Siddha said.

"If you have no infrastructure – your Wi-Fi router is down, your Thread border router is down – and you still want the ability to get into your house or do other things that might be smart home related. Those are some use cases that it’s explicitly designed for, but it’s not limited to that," Siddha added.

Matter is still a mess – but there's hope

(Image credit: Connectivity Standards Alliance)

The problem with the smart home and Matter (the standard that will supposedly get everything singing from the same hymn sheet) is that it's still very messy and confusing. Unless you have a qualification in networking protocols, you probably don't care about Thread, border routers or Matter – you just want everything you buy to work out of the box.

This is probably why Apple has been quiet about Thread support in your iPhone, iPads and Macs – because it's still early days. But there is hope on the horizon, according to this interview at least.

Referring the issues that have hampered Matter and Thread, Tobin Richardson (president and CEO of the Connectivity Standards Alliance, or CSA) said: "2025 is going to be a really important year for Matter. We’re not looking to add 100 new device types this year. We’re looking to really hit reliability and make sure that things just work. That’s been a strong focus, and that’s why these relationships are so important."

Vividh Siddha, from Thread and Apple, agreed by adding that “2025 is really pivotal for us to get all those issues resolved, to get all these product experiences to be more robust and reliable".

So while that seamless smart home experience we've been promised for years may still be a little while off, at least you know the latest iPhones, alongside other Apple devices like the latest Apple TVs and HomePods, will be future-proofed and ready to join the party when it finally kicks off.

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