TechRadar News

• Movies and shows are licensed rather than sold outright
• Pay-TV and video on demand are usually licensed before streaming
• Rights are increasingly being licensed to multiple platforms

If like me you enjoy nothing more than watching a great new movie on great home cinema kit, you've probably asked this question more than once about an exciting new release: when's it coming to one of the best streaming services – and which streamer is it coming to? And the answer is: it's complicated.

In a simpler world every movie would come to every streaming service. But of course we live in a world that's much messier, which is why we write separate guides to cover the best movies coming to Netflix, to Disney Plus, to Max, to Prime Video, to Paramount Plus and to Apple TV Plus.

So how do certain movies end up on certain streamers, and who decides who gets what and when? Let's find out.

How movies aren't sold

Some streamers are also in the movie business: Netflix's Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F was a Netflix Original. (Image credit: Netflix )

It's important to clarify what it means when we talk about films being released. Films aren't sold outright; in most cases, the companies that paid for them own them and like to keep it that way. What studios and their distributors do is sell licenses to show, sell or stream movies in a particular way, in a particular place, for a particular period of time.

When your local megaplex shows Wicked, it hasn't bought the movie; the theater chain has bought a licence to screen it in certain territories for a few weeks or months. Similarly, when Prime Video, Max or Paramount Plus offers a movie as part of your membership, the streamer has bought a licence that gives it the right to stream it – again, in certain territories for a certain period of time.

In addition to being licensed to different companies in different parts of the world, movie licenses are also sold in several stages. A studio movie will typically be shown in theaters first, made available digitally as pay-per-view or buy-to-own, and then made available on streaming.

Things are slightly different with TV shows, because of course there's not a theatrical release. But unless a show is made in-house by a streamer, it'll be licensed in much the same way that movies are.

Windows on the world

Apple TV Plus released Wolfs in theaters, but only for one week. (Image credit: Sony Pictures / Apple)

The movie business uses the term "release windows" to describe the different stages of a movie release campaign. So you have the theatrical release window, the pay-per-view window, the first streaming release window and so on.

The first release window is the original theatrical release. That used to be very long, typically three to six months or more, and then COVID came along. With theaters shut the studios either massively reduced the theatrical release window or abandoned it completely, turning to pay per view and streaming deals instead. And while COVID closures are thankfully a thing of the past, the much shorter theatrical windows remain.

Theatrical licences are traditionally exclusive: you won't usually be able to rent or buy a movie anywhere while it's still having its initial theatrical run. But the time between a movie hitting theaters and being available to rent, buy or stream is much shorter than it used to be.

Everything's accelerating

Five Nights at Freddy's took an unusual approach with a simultaneous theatrical and streaming release. (Image credit: Blumhouse/Universal)

According to Indiewire, the average theatrical window across all the big studio movies in 2023 was just 37 days. There were outliers such as Oppenheimer, which spent 122 days as a theater-only release. But that one was really unusual. The same studio's Super Mario Bros Movie was more typical (and more profitable), ending its theatrical run after 41 days.

Indiewire's analysis shows that Taylor Swift's Eras Tour movie ran for 60 days while Disney movies averaged 62 days, A24 movies 48 days, Paramount 42 days and Sony 35 days. The shortest theatrical window? Five Nights At Freddy's, which didn't have one: it was available on Peacock from day one.

FNAF was the third-biggest horror movie opening in cinema history but its release isn't likely to be widely copied. The consensus is that simultaneous releases are more likely to cannibalize box office sales – especially in genres such as horror, which teens like to see together in theaters – and by missing out on the word of mouth that can turn modest successes into big ones.

When the run is done

Barbie followed a typical schedule: theaters first, then buy to own, then streaming (Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Once the theatrical run is done, it's time for the release window that matters to streamers. That's called the Pay One Window, and it's when movies move from theaters to home viewing.

During the Pay One Window, the rights to show a movie are sold to two different markets: the PVOD/TVOD market (paid/transactional video on demand, aka pay-to-rent and buy-to-own) and the SVOD market, which is short for streaming video on demand.

SVOD means streamers such as Max, Prime, Netflix and Hulu; TVOD means rental and purchases on the likes of Apple TV (but not Apple TV+), Google Play, the Microsoft Store, Amazon (but not Included With Prime) and other digital storefronts.

It's always clearest if we use a real example, so let's take Barbie. Barbie's theatrical run started in July 2023 and stayed exclusive to theaters until September 2023, when it became available through TVOD platforms as a pay-to-rent and buy-to-own digital release. It then became available for Max subscribers to stream in December 2023.

When the Pay One Window expires, it's time to sell more licences. This next release window is known as the Pay Two Window, and it's when older movies are licensed, often to other streaming services than during the Pay One period. For example, Sony has a Pay One deal in place with Netflix but a Pay Two deal with all the Disney platforms.

Of the two windows, the Pay One Window is the more desirable: pent-up demand for big-name movies drives sales of new streaming subscriptions in a way that older movies don't. But Pay Two Window licences tend to be cheaper, and that means they enable streamers to expand their catalogs relatively cheaply.

Relationship status: it's complicated

Joker Folie à Deux was released on Max two-months after its theatrical run. (Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Traditionally, Pay One Window deals were for up to 18 months and were exclusive – so if a movie was going to Peacock then it wouldn't also go to Amazon Prime for at least a year and a bit. But modern movie markets are much messier, and as Variety reports, most studios now licence to multiple streamers either simultaneously or slightly staggered.

As if that wasn't complicated enough, some of the movie studios also own streamers and some of the streamers make movies. So for example Apple TV+ and Netflix make movies that hit theaters first but which were made with streaming in mind; Disney the company owns Disney the studio and Disney Plus the streamer, so Disney movies will move to Disney Plus after their theatrical run finishes. But Disney also owns 20th Century Fox and Searchlight, and those movies don't just end up with Disney+ or the Disney-owned Hulu; they are usually licensed to HBO and Max too.

Here's how Variety describes it. "Netflix gets major studio fare from Sony Pictures and additional prestige films from Sony Pictures Classics, while Prime Video offers rotating selections of Universal and Paramount titles, alongside Amazon’s MGM films after they’re done on MGM+. Disney’s streamers eventually get Sony titles, too, and Hulu is also where art-house distributor Neon’s films stream after their theatrical runs."

As we said, it's complicated – and it'll only get more so.

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• HBM is fundamental to the AI revolution as it allows ultra fast data transfer close to the GPU
• Scaling HBM performance is difficult if it sticks to JEDEC protocols
• Marvell and others wants to develop a custom HBM architecture to accelerate its development

Marvell Technology has unveiled a custom HBM compute architecture designed to increase the efficiency and performance of XPUs, a key component in the rapidly evolving cloud infrastructure landscape.

The new architecture, developed in collaboration with memory giants Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix, aims to address limitations in traditional memory integration by offering tailored solutions for next-generation data center needs.

The architecture focuses on improving how XPUs - used in advanced AI and cloud computing systems - handle memory. By optimizing the interfaces between AI compute silicon dies and High Bandwidth Memory stacks, Marvell claims the technology reduces power consumption by up to 70% compared to standard HBM implementations.

Moving away from JEDEC

Additionally, its redesign reportedly decreases silicon real estate requirements by as much as 25%, allowing cloud operators to expand compute capacity or include more memory. This could potentially allow XPUs to support up to 33% more HBM stacks, massively boosting memory density.

“The leading cloud data center operators have scaled with custom infrastructure. Enhancing XPUs by tailoring HBM for specific performance, power, and total cost of ownership is the latest step in a new paradigm in the way AI accelerators are designed and delivered,” Will Chu, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Custom, Compute and Storage Group at Marvell said.

“We’re very grateful to work with leading memory designers to accelerate this revolution and, help cloud data center operators continue to scale their XPUs and infrastructure for the AI era.”

HBM plays a central role in XPUs, which use advanced packaging technology to integrate memory and processing power. Traditional architectures, however, limit scalability and energy efficiency.

Marvell’s new approach modifies the HBM stack itself and its integration, aiming to deliver better performance for less power and lower costs - key considerations for hyperscalers who are continually seeking to manage rising energy demands in data centers.

ServeTheHome’s Patrick Kennedy, who reported the news live from Marvell Analyst Day 2024, noted the cHBM (custom HBM) is not a JEDEC solution and so will not be standard off the shelf HBM.

“Moving memory away from JEDEC standards and into customization for hyperscalers is a monumental move in the industry,” he writes. “This shows Marvell has some big hyperscale XPU wins since this type of customization in the memory space does not happen for small orders.”

The collaboration with leading memory makers reflects a broader trend in the industry toward highly customized hardware.

“Increased memory capacity and bandwidth will help cloud operators efficiently scale their infrastructure for the AI era,” said Raj Narasimhan, senior vice president and general manager of Micron’s Compute and Networking Business Unit.

“Strategic collaborations focused on power efficiency, such as the one we have with Marvell, will build on Micron’s industry-leading HBM power specs, and provide hyperscalers with a robust platform to deliver the capabilities and optimal performance required to scale AI.”

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• CISA has released an advisory for US government communications
• Government officials are encouraged to lock down their devices
• This follows the discovery foreign actors have breached US telecoms networks

CISA has urged ‘highly targeted’ individuals in the US Government or in senior political positions to immediately review and implement strict security measures with their mobile devices.

This comes after multiple major US telecoms firms were hit by security breaches earlier in 2024, most likely originating from state-sponsored Chinese hackers.

Recent reports also confirmed that the group behind the attack, Salt Typhoon, had not yet been fully eradicated, and still lurks inside US telecoms networks.

Lockdown mode

As part of its advisory, CISA also released a best practice guide for mobile communications, which includes instructions on using end-to-end encryption, password managers, Fast Identity Online (a phishing resistance authentication), and advice on how to migrate away from SMS based multi factor authentication.

CISA recommends iPhone users turn on ‘Lockdown mode’, which strictly limits certain apps and makes many features unavailable in order to reduce the attack surface that attackers could potentially exploit.

The scale of this attack makes it a serious concern for any high-ranking officials, with major networks like Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen Technologies found to have threat actors with access inside their systems.

“Highly targeted individuals should assume that all communications between mobile devices — including government and personal devices — and internet services are at risk of interception or manipulation,” CISA said.

Communications remain an attractive target for foreign actors, as breaches can result in significant disruptions and sensitive data loss.

US communications in particular have come under attack this year, especially against government and political targets in the run up to the US election last month. A ‘hack and leak’ campaign hit president-elect Donald Trump on the campaign trail in an attempt to compromise the campaign, which resulted in two indictments for the suspected individuals.

Via The Record

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• Researchers said that Rockstar2FA went quiet in November 2024
• But a new PaaS emerged soon afterwards, with partly overlapping infrastructure
• The new PaaS is called FlowerStorm, and it targets Microsoft365 accounts

Cybersecurity researchers from Sophos have warned a new Phishing-as-a-Service (PaaS) tool has emerged, allowing threat actors to easily hunt for people’s Microsoft 365 credentials.

This tool is called FlowerStorm, and it might have emerged from the (defunct) Rockstar2FA, the company revealed, noting how in November, detections for Rockstar2FA have “suddenly gone quiet”.

The organization’s infrastructure was taken offline, at least partly, for reasons yet unknown - but the researchers don’t think this was the work of law enforcement, though.

Long live FlowerStorm?

Rockstar2FA was a PaaS platform designed to bypass two-factor authentication (2FA), primarily targeting Microsoft 365 accounts. It worked by intercepting login processes to steal session cookies, allowing attackers to access accounts without needing credentials or verification codes. Through a simple interface and Telegram integration, threat actors that purchased a license could manage their campaigns in real time.

The new platform, which emerged in the weeks after Rockstar2FA went quiet, was dubbed FlowerStorm by the researchers. Apparently, much of its tools and features overlap with that of Rockstar2FA, which is why Sophos speculates that it could be its (spiritual) successor.

The vast majority of the targets chosen by FlowerStorm users (84%) are located in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and Italy, Sophos added.

Companies in the States were most frequently targeted (60%), followed by Canada (8.96%). Overall, almost all (94%) of FlowerStorm targets were either in North America or Europe, with the rest falling on Singapore, India, Israel, New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates.

The majority of the victims are in the service industry, namely firms providing engineering, construction, real estate, and legal services and consulting.

Defending against FlowerStorm is the same as against any other phishing attack - using common sense and being careful with incoming emails.

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• Ascension was struck by ransomware attack in May 2024
• It has now concluded its investigation into the attack
• Sensitive data on almost 5.6 million people was stolen

Hackers that struck Ascension with ransomware managed to steal a whole treasure trove of sensitive customer information, with medical information, personally identifiable information, payment data, and more all compromised.

The US healthcare giant has now released new details about the ransomware attack, and filed a new form with the Office of the Maine Attorney General.

The cyberattack occurred on May 7 and 8, leading to significant disruptions in clinical operations. Employees were unable to access electronic health records and patient portals, and some facilities were even forced to divert ambulances, and elective care was paused in the aftermath.

Disrupting healthcare

In the filing, the firm said exactly 5,599,699 people were affected by the incident, and in the update, it added that the information crooks took included:

• medical information (medical record number, date of service, types of lab tests, or procedure codes)
• payment information (credit card information or bank account number)
• insurance information (Medicaid/Medicare ID, policy number, or insurance claim)
• government identification (Social Security number, tax identification number, driver’s license number, or passport number)
• and other personal information (date of birth or address).

While the attack seems enormous, putting millions at risk of identity theft, wire fraud, phishing and social engineering attacks, Ascension is keeping a positive outlook.

“Although patient data was involved, importantly, there remains no evidence that data was taken from our Electronic Health Records (EHR) and other clinical systems, where our full patient records are securely stored," it said.

The company said it will now start notifying affected individuals, and expects the job to be done within three weeks.

At press time, no threat actors took responsibility for the attack, and we don’t know if Ascension paid any ransom in exchange for the data - although it did say the attack hurt its ability to recover from the previous financial year.

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• Two 15W drivers in a very small cube-style case
• Digital signal processing adjusts speaker output to emulate distance
• Available from Japan for roughly $255

One of the key things about stereo sound is that to get it, you need decently spaced stereo speakers. And that's a problem for small devices where you can't space the speakers out enough to get a large stereo sound stage. Manufacturers have come up with lots of tricks to make small speakers sound bigger, but to the best of my knowledge Pavé's little speaker is unique: it's got a gyroscope inside.

The Cear Pavé is an exceptionally small speaker, just over three and a half inches in each dimension, that promises to sound much bigger, with a stereo image close to what you'd hear from a traditional twin-speaker setup. And to do that, it uses clever technology to mess with your brain.

Pychoacoustics, qu'est-ce que c'est?

According to Notebookcheck.net, The speaker uses a combination of digital signal processing and what's known as psychoacoustics, which is the study of how we perceive sound.

We don't just hear sound directly. We hear its reflections and its vibrations too, and with a bit of technological trickery, you can adjust the output of speakers to emulate that – so for example by slightly adjusting the timing of certain frequencies to your speaker drivers you can replicate the short delay that would come from having a speaker placed a little further away from you.

In this speaker the processing is carried out by a Qualcomm S5 Gen 2 chip and then delivered via twin 15-watt drivers to deliver a much larger-sounding stereo sound than you'd expect from such a small speaker.

The Pavé isn't the only speaker to do this, of course: Sony's Reality Audio, and similar systems from other firms, also use digital signal processing to make their speakers sound bigger. But it also contains the aforementioned gyroscope to detect the movement and positioning of the speaker and to adjust its stereo effect accordingly.

Here's how it works, according to Cear's patent: Its "sound processing device includes an equalizer that tunes the frequency characteristic so that a frequency characteristic of the sound wave listened in a second environment replicates the frequency characteristic of a sound wave listened in a first environment." So there you have it. Qualcomm has a good explainer on its developer blog too.

I haven't heard this particular speaker but I'd like to: we've come a long way from the frankly crap "virtual stereo" and "virtual surround" of early Bluetooth speakers and soundbars; when it's done well, digital signal processing can produce quite startling results.

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• Apple could launch smart home security tech
• Its smart doorbell could boast Face ID, and use iCloud for video storage
• Don't expect it until late 2025 or 2026

We’ve recently heard rumors that Apple wants to launch a smart home hub with a screen – what’s been described as an Apple HomePod with a display – but the company’s smart home visions reportedly don’t stop there. We could also see it release gadgets like an Apple video doorbell, smart lock, and security camera; so while the Apple Car concept might be dead (another rumored excursion into a previously unexplored product territory), the Apple Home might be about to take off.

This comes via Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (behind a paywall) in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, who says Apple is focusing its efforts on robotics, AI, and smart home tech – with smart home being the one most likely to bear fruit somewhat soon in the form of security devices like video doorbells that can deadbolt your front door or in-home security cameras.

The doorbell may be particularly interesting as it would supposedly offer a form of Face ID for your home by automatically detecting if it’s you.

While this smart home pivot may seem a little odd considering how the HomePod has been treated. It seems forever in the background of presentations and announcements, never getting its own chance in the spotlight. Gurman notes, however, that Apple’s smart home shift comes from the company’s belief it has one edge over the competition: trust in its privacy.

Many people don’t want Amazon-made cameras in their homes, or cameras from most major tech companies for that matter, due to concerns over how their private data might be used even if there’s no evidence it's being mishandled. But Apple has spent years cultivating a persona of being the best there is when it comes to privacy (it’s even a major component of its Apple Intelligence marketing, and wasn’t for other AI until Apple hit the scene), and so Gurman reports the company believes this perception will help it find success with home security tech.

He adds that it could also help Apple juice its iCloud subscription numbers as people would want to store their recordings in the cloud.

Learning from mistakes, or repeating them?

Ring and Blink had better watch out (Image credit: Cesci Angell / Future)

If you head to the Apple Store website you’ll see Apple already boasts a respectable smart home accessory lineup complete with smart locks, smart lights, motion detectors, smart doorbells, and more – but none are made by Apple.

Instead, it relies on third-party accessories which have varying quality according to some reviewers – with this $330 Level smart lock from a few years ago being labeled ineffective as it could be lockpicked with the simplest method known to pickers – but hopefully, Apple has learned from the better options amongst its third-part stock.

As with all leaks, we should take these latest ones with a pinch of salt, and even if Apple’s smart home tech is indeed on the way it could be some time before we see it in action. Mark Gurman says he’s been told not to expect to see anything until at least the end of 2025.

There’s also a non-zero chance Apple may abandon home security before it sees the light of day. One reason for it not continuing with the Apple Car was reportedly execs fearing the company would be associated with car accidents. The same fears – but this time for home security flaws – could be enough to put Apple off expanding into this area in the end.

We’ll have to wait and see what 2025 holds for us, but with reports Apple is developing a ring, and developing AR glasses in the background too, it might not be long before we see Apple’s next big hardware launch.

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Remote work has dramatically changed how we conduct business in recent years, opening our businesses up to a scale where the best employees could be a hemisphere away. But with remote work comes a need for technical support that can span the globe. How do we address a need to provide technical support to remote workers without compromising the integrity of their computer systems? SetMe fulfills this need with an easy-to-setup, easier-to-use expert control panel that connects support teams with remote clients.

Developed by the knowledgeable teams behind FixMe.IT, SetMe is built upon more than 17 years of experience in the remote desktop and support field. Despite the rise in remote work scenarios, the remote desktop software market has stagnated with outdated technology that can be risky for your team to use. The team behind SetMe’s experience sets this software apart because they built it with modern technology that can keep your client’s system secure while still delivering faster, better, more reliable performance compared to the tech support software of yesteryear.

(Image credit: Techinline)

Connecting with SetMe to a remote computer is a simple three-step process. Start by requesting the remote client to download and install the SetMe Client app, from which they will be assigned a randomly generated Client ID. From the expert console, click New Connection and enter the remote user’s Client ID to allow SetMe to connect. From there, tech support teams can then remotely control the desktop. It doesn’t matter if your team is running on a fleet of Macs, Windows PCs, or a combination of the two – SetMe works flawlessly with both systems to allow your tech teams to control as if they were the ones sitting at the keyboard.

A connection via SetMe is safe, reliable, and secure with end-to-end encryption technology that allows your team to access data between remote devices, even if those devices are unattended by another user. Remote work can often mean your team is scattered across multiple time zones, but you don’t need to worry about scheduling conflicts and availability with SetMe. Systems can even stay connected via SetMe through reboots, shut-downs, and when the remote computer is in sleep mode.

(Image credit: Techinline)

Security and productivity are important with remote work, and SetMe can make it easy to track your team's connectivity and login history. This allows you to make more accurate, data-driven decisions for your business without compromising the privacy or workflow of remote team members. Systems with SetMe can be locked down for strict private access rules with consent filters, or more freely available with single-click connections of unattended machines. The SetMe Expert Console is flexible and reliable for a variety of remote tech support scenarios.

All of this connectivity and support is powered by a robust toolset designed to meet the needs of today’s remote workforce. Users can effectively multitask in different windows across multiple connected computers, synchronize clipboard data for easier sharing, transfer files, and run software or other applications as the admin on the client computer. You can even manage multiple machines from one system at one time, making it easy to push updates to clients for hardware or transfer sensitive files simultaneously across your team.

SetMe’s robust tools for supporting remote clients can fulfill a multitude of needs for businesses, but that doesn’t mean the team behind the software is done with innovation. New features are always in the works to further improve the way your team can function, no matter where in the world they may be. SetMe takes feedback from its users to heart, allowing the team to further develop functionality and tools that can make remote tech support better for all of us who rely on the technology.

Sign up now for a 15-day free trial to see if SetMe works for you. If you like having easy, reliable, and secure access to remote systems then you can take advantage of one of SetMe’s two pricing plans: Solo pricing starts at just $33 per month and is ideal for the needs of single techies or small businesses. Professional starts at $41 per seat per month, and provides all the remote tools at your fingertips with the freedom to manage an unlimited number of unattended computers. No matter how big or small your remote tech support needs are, SetMe has the features and reliability you need for your team.

• More bugs have been uncovered in Windows 11’s December update
• They include some nasty problems with the Start menu falling over
• There is a workaround for the Start menu problem most users are most likely to see, but only tech-savvy folks need apply

Microsoft’s December 2024 update for Windows 11 has reportedly introduced yet more frustrating issues for some users, including a bug that causes the Start menu to stop responding.

These problems, and some other glitches, have been reported for cumulative updates KB5048667 for Windows 11 24H2, and KB5048685 for Windows 11 23H2, according to Windows Latest.

There appears to be a few separate issues pertaining to Windows 11’s Start menu, the first of which is a visual glitch whereby the search theme for the menu is showing wrongly in white when the user has a dark theme in Windows.

As a dark theme user myself, I could see this being very annoying and obviously visually inconsistent, though it’s not certain this is a widespread bug by any means.

What’s more worrying is that there are seemingly bugs here which break the Start menu after applying the mentioned updates.

Windows Latest explains that the Start menu can stop working completely if Windows 11 detects that your system has an older version of a particular DLL file (MSVCP_140_APP.dll).

The tech site suggests a possible workaround that requires updating this package, but I would only recommend trying this if you’re really confident that you know what you’re doing. Otherwise, if you’re affected, the only other way out is to ditch the December 2024 update, or put up with a non-functional Start menu until Microsoft investigates this (and hopefully implements a fix).

There’s another bug in Windows 11 that seemingly causes the Start menu to fall over in a similar vein, but the average user won’t run into this, as it’s only affecting Citrix users (in businesses) who are using Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). That one will be up to IT admins to resolve.

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Wasana Kunpol) More bugginess in the latest Windows 11 update

There are other issues involving these Windows 11 patches for December that have been reported by individual users.

One is the ‘Safely Remove Hardware’ icon staying constantly on the taskbar, and a further isolated report claims that the display looks dull after installing Windows 11 23H2 KB5048685. That could be wrapped up in the HDR-related issues that Microsoft recently confirmed, perhaps.

It’s the Start menu issues which are especially worrying here, as that’s a crucial part of Windows 11 that’s hard to avoid altogether. With reports of many bugs in recent times, particularly with Windows 11 24H2, it seems like Microsoft needs to up its game and try to make cumulative updates more stable upon their release.

Hopefully, the company will be swift and on the ball when it comes to looking into, and subsequently fixing, this latest batch of reported glitches.

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• Google admins can now migrate Microsoft Teams channels data to Chat
• Customization, including date ranges, is supported
• It’s available to all Google Workspace subscribers now

Google has launched a new offensive in the online collaboration market with a new service making it easier to migrate Microsoft Teams conversations into its own Chat service.

“We’re expanding our data migration experience to include the ability for Google Workspace admins to migrate conversations from channels in Microsoft Teams to spaces in Google Chat," the company noted in a Google Workspace updates blog post announcing the news.

The hope that that businesses can deploy Google Chat more easily by experiencing less downtime during the transition.

Teams-to-Chat migration is now even easier

Within the ‘Chat migration’ menu of Google Chat, admins can connect to opposing Microsoft accounts to import Teams data. Migration maps and identity maps can be uploaded as csv files, and admins will also have the option to enter the start date for messages to be migrated from.

“You can also run a delta migration, which will migrate any messages added to Teams channels since the primary migration. Messages that are already successfully migrated are skipped," Google added.

Admins can also produce reports based on completed migrations to identify content that skipped, failed or had warnings.

Moreover, the feature requires those taking the action to be Google super admins and Microsoft Teams Global Administrators.

Google said the feature is available to all Google Workspace users now, however a screenshot of the process shared shows a ‘Beta’ icon next to the ‘Chat migration’ heading. TechRadar Pro asked Google to confirm if the feature is now generally available or whether it remains in beta, but we didn’t get a response immediately.

Although Microsoft has settled a complaint that its bundling of Teams into Microsoft 365 puts competitors at a disadvantage, the company still faces distrust if only by its competitors.

Companies that still need to use the two platforms (and/or others) should consider enabling Mio. Google announced its interoperability with Teams and Zoom using this third-party service earlier in 2024.

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• Google has laid off 10% of managers, directors, VPs
• More than 1,300 Googlers have already lost their jobs in 2024
• The company is facing threats from rivals and regulatory bodies

Google has reportedly cut 10% of its manager, director and VP roles in an ongoing effort to boost efficiency and improve the running costs of the company.

The news (via Business Insider) comes at the end of a troubling year for the company – although layoffs have been nowhere near the 13,000+ plus seen during 2023, hundreds have lost their jobs at the company as part of several rounds of layoffs, including 1,000 at the start of 2024 and a further 300 in May (via layoffs.fyi).

The most recent change, announced by Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a recent all-hands meeting, is hoped to simplify the organizational structure.

Google is laying off its own managers

Employees familiar with the matter shared some managerial roles were being cut altogether, while others would transform into non-managerial roles. This commonly used technique is designed to reduce layers in a company’s organizational structure in an effort to boost efficiency.

The reality is that this is just another move forming part of the company’s overall ambition to be more efficient. Pichai set a goal in September 2022 to become 20% more efficient – his next major round of layoffs, affecting 12,000 in one fell swoop, likely addressed a big portion of that.

However, this may not be enough for Google, which has come under threat in more than one area. Its artificial intelligence efforts have already been dampened by OpenAI’s immeasurable success with ChatGPT, and now, that tool is threatening the market dominance of Google.com. Separately, Google’s search market dominance has recently come under fire, with other areas of the business also open to potential regulatory action.

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• Apple has multiple teams working on AirPods health monitoring
• Heart-rate tracking is already close to Apple Watch accuracy
• Most features may not be ready for AirPods Pro 3

If you thought Apple's AirPods business was pretty sweet – last year it made more money than all of Nintendo from its headphones and earbuds alone – then you ain't seen nothing yet: Apple is reportedly pushing the best AirPods further into the healthcare business, a business that Morgan Stanley claims could be worth over $313 billion to Apple by 2027.

The latest report, from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, says that Apple has multiple teams working on bringing multiple forms of Apple Watch-style health tracking to its earbuds, and the next big one could arrive with the AirPods Pro 3.

Why your ears could be good for your health

Apple has already taken its AirPods into the healthcare market with the addition of hearing aid features in the AirPods Pro 2. But their potential isn't limited to audio. Those little buds in your ears, it turns out, are also well placed to monitor your heart rate, your body temperature and other vitals.

According to Bloomberg, the tech isn't quite there yet – the most progress so far has been on heart-rate tracking, but the accuracy isn't quite up there with the Apple Watch – but Apple is very keen to make your buds into health devices as well as music and speech ones.

Apple isn't the first firm to think of this, of course. We covered a lot of the contenders for health-tracking earbuds several years ago; for example, the Amazfit Powerbuds Pro were sold on the basis of health tracking features back in 2021, but as we found in our tests, the heart-rate results were consistently wrong. That said, Amazfit doesn't exactly have Apple's R&D budget or teams of experts; if any firm can get the tech right, it's likely to be Apple.

And there are some good reasons to put your health tracker in your ear. As our very own Cat Ellis wrote back in 2021, in some circumstances your ear's a better place for a tracker than your wrist. "For example, working out in cold weather can result in reduced blood flow to your hands and fingers, which affects the accuracy of smartwatches and devices like the Oura smart ring. The darkness of your ear canal helps as well, as it means there's no ambient light to interfere with the LED light being reflected back from your skin and detected by the optical heart rate sensor."

Cat continues: "Your ears are supplied by the same artery as your brain too, which results in a consistent blood flow and a strong signal for the sensor to detect. The data from an earbud is also likely to contain less 'noise' than that from a watch or ring".

The most likely scenario for health tracking in the future is to have a range of devices for different types of people and different use cases: smart watches, smart rings and soon, smart earbuds too. Apple already offers the first, and we know it's at least experimenting with the second and third.

If you already have a pair of the fantastic AirPods Pro 2, would the addition of health sensors persuade you to upgrade? Maybe not for most people, but perhaps Apple is banking on the same question it's created for the best Apple Watches compared to other smart watches: if the AirPods could detect heart problems and dangerous falls and who knows what else… would you be mad not to buy them?

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• Kaspersky recently discovered new additions to the Lazarus DreamJob campaign
• The criminalss targeted two people working in the same nuclear-related firm
• In the attack, they used updated malware to try and gain access

The infamous Lazarus Group, a threat actor linked to the North Korean government, was recently observed targeting IT professionals within the same nuclear-related organization with new malware strains.

These attacks seem to be a continuation of a campaign first kicked off in 2020, called Operation DreamJob (AKA Deathnote), were the attackers would create fake jobs and offer these dreamy positions to people working in defense, aerospace, cryptocurrency, and other global sectors, around the world.

They would reach out via social media such as LinkedIn or X, and run multiple rounds of “interviews”. At any point during these interviews, the victims would be either dropped a piece of malware, or trojanized remote access tools.

CookieTime and CookiePlus

The end goal of this campaign is to either steal sensitive information, or cryptocurrency. Lazarus has, among other things, managed to steal roughly $600 million from a crypto company back in 2022.

As Kaspersky explained in its latest writeup, in this case, Lazarus targeted two individuals with malicious remote access tools. They then used the tools to drop a piece of malware called CookieTime, which acted as a backdoor, allowing the attackers to run different commands on the compromised endpoint.

This gave them the ability to move laterally across the network and download several additional malware strains, such as LPEClient, Charamel Loader, ServiceChanger, and an updated version of CookiePlus.

Kaspersky says CookiePlus is particularly interesting, since it is a new plugin-based malicious program, discovered during the most recent investigation. It was loaded by both ServiceChanger and Charamel Loader, with variants being executed differently, depending on the loader. Since CookiePlus acts as a downloader, its functionality is limited, and it transmits minimal information.

The attacks took place in January 2024, meaning Lazarus remains a major threat coming out of North Korea.

Via The Hacker News

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• A researcher found a flaw in a McDonalds API which allowed them to hijack orders
• The bug also leaked sensitive information
• It was fixed in September 2024, but users should still be careful

A delivery system for McDonalds in India was flawed in a way that exposed sensitive customer information, and allowed people to make fraudulent orders, experts hae claimed.

Cybersecurity researcher Eaton Zveare from Traceable AI, who found a bug in the API of the delivery system in McDonalds India (West & South).

The delivery system, which is apparently owned by a company called Hardcastle Restaurants, had a vulnerability which exposed delivery customer names, email addresses, and phone numbers. For the drivers, it exposed vehicle numbers, profile pictures, and tracked real-time location of their deliveries. Besides, the bug allowed people to access, hijack, redirect, or track orders in real-time. They could also make orders for as little as $0.01.

No data breach recorded

Zveare found the vulnerabilities in June 2024, and McDonalds fixed it in September. Allegedly, no threat actors stumbled upon this bug, and no customers were actually exposed.

McDonald’s India said a “thorough verification of systems and logs” showed the flaws did not result in a breach of its customer data.

“We conduct regular audits and assessments to continuously strengthen our security measures, and have all the necessary enhancements implemented, ensuring all our systems are up to date and secure,” Sulakshna Mukherjee, a spokesperson at McDonald’s India (West & South), said in a statement emailed to TechCrunch.

While we don’t know exactly how many people were put at risk through the bug, TechCrunch was told “hundreds of millions” of orders were exposed.

“The McDelivery (West & South) mobile app uses the same exact back-end APIs as the website. As a result, both were vulnerable to the same exploits,” the researcher told the publication.

Since the delivery system for India North & East is different, these parts of the country were not affected, and other countries are safe, too.

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• The Nintendo Switch 2 is likely to be a huge success
• DFC Intelligence claims that there is only room for one Nintendo competitor in the next console generation
• It's unclear whether this will be Sony or Microsoft

With the Nintendo Switch 2 looming ever closer, everyone is wondering whether Sony or Microsoft will be the Japanese giant’s biggest competitor in the next console generation.

According to industry analysts at market research firm DFC Intelligence, it’s still too early to tell though Sony hardware currently has a “slight edge” thanks to its strong following and compelling IP catalog.

The information comes from the firm’s recent 2024 video game market report and forecast, which details the trajectory of the gaming industry over the past year and predicts where it might go next. Importantly, the report does not consider the mobile gaming market which is estimated to bring in roughly $75 billion revenue.

The report suggests that we’re on the cusp of record growth in the rest of the gaming industry, driven largely by the launch of "two of the biggest products ever” - the Nintendo Switch 2 and Grand Theft Auto 6. According to the report, the Nintendo Switch 2 could have "significantly stronger launch sales” than its predecessor, though it will be difficult to beat the record 27 million Nintendo Switch sales back in 2020.

It goes on to question which company will be Nintendo’s biggest competitor, suggesting that “it is likely only one system will be successful” in addition to the Nintendo Switch 2. Sony and Microsoft are both predicted to release new consoles between 2026 and 2028.

The firm states that is “too early to know which other system will succeed” though claims that Sony has a “slight edge” thanks to its “loyal base and strong Sony IP”.

That said, Microsoft is still reportedly in a strong position thanks to its status as a software publisher. It may have “failed” with the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, but a series of "major acquisitions”, such as the Activision Blizzard acquisition completed in 2023, mean that it now has the option of focusing on software distribution rather than hardware.

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• Assassin's Creed Shadows protagonist Naoe will be the 'fastest Assassin' in series history
• She'll also have a Naturo-esque run animation when traveling across rooftops
• The game is currently slated to launch on February 14, 2025

Yes, Naoe can seemingly do the Naruto run in Assassin's Creed Shadows, as the game's creative director describes her as being the fastest playable character the series has seen yet.

That's per an Entertainment Weekly interview with Shadows creative director Jonathan Dumont (via PC Gamer). Dumont describes the shinobi as "the fastest Assassin we ever made." He adds: “She runs super fast, she has a lot of gadgets to keep her stealth so that she doesn't have to fight often. We wanted to satisfy that for players that come in for that ninja-Assassin game.”

Dumont also explains that she'll also have a 'Naruto run' of sorts - an iconic sprint from the popular anime series that sees the characters leaning forward while running with their arms fully behind them. "We do have a run on top of buildings that has a little bit of a wink-wink to it," he says.

As a big fan of the Tenchu series and stealth games in general, I'm happy to see the Assassin's Creed series attempt to fully embrace a more shadowy playstyle once again. While I've enjoyed recent entries like Odyssey and Valhalla, it was all too easy to overpower most enemies with their protagonists' aggressive combat abilities.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is currently scheduled to launch on February 14, 2025 after a delay. It's coming to PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC and Amazon Luna.

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• More details of the Galaxy S25 have leaked
• The phones may go on sale on February 7, 2025
• Pricing is rumored to go up this time

As the big Samsung Galaxy S25 launch day gets closer – which is rumored to be January 22, 2025 – we're hearing some more rumored details about the specs and pricing to expect, as well as a leak about a potential on-sale date for these handsets.

A new report from ET News (via @Jukanlosreve) backs up some of the rumors we've previously heard: including that the standard Galaxy S25, the Galaxy S25 Plus, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra will start with 12GB of RAM this time around.

In addition, there will be a 16GB of RAM option for the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and the 128GB storage configuration will be removed for that model – so it's going to start with 256GB of storage space. This fits in nicely with what we've previously heard.

However, the same report predicts a price increase for the series, in part due to the increased cost of the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor.

For reference, the Galaxy S24 started at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, the Galaxy S24 Plus at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra started at $1,299.99 / £1,249 / AU$2,199.

Mark your calendars

Samsung is officially launching the S25 series in Korea on February 7. Also, it has been confirmed that the Slim model will be revealed at the Unpacked event.The article once again mentions that the S25 Ultra will feature 16GB of RAM in the 512GB and 1TB variants, just as I…December 23, 2024

There's another report out of South Korea to talk about too, this time from Financial News (via @Jukanlosreve). We have got some overlap here with previous rumors, including the prediction that the phone series announcement will be on January 23 in Korea (so January 22 in the US, matching what we've already heard).

The report does add some detail on scheduling though: pre-orders will run to Monday, February 3, with the phone finally going on sale in stores on Friday, February 7 (again, those are the dates for Korea).

According to this report, the Galaxy S25 Slim model we're expecting to be added to the range this year will indeed be unveiled with the other handsets. Whether it goes on sale at the same time or later in the year, however, remains to be seen.

There are more mentions of 16GB of RAM for the Ultra model in this article, and of an increase in prices. No doubt we'll get a few more leaks between now and launch day, but we already have a pretty comprehensive picture of what's coming.

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When I happened across the Govee Table Lamp 2 while looking for exciting new products to review, I can’t say that I didn’t initially scoff at the price. “$69.99 / £69.99?” I thought. “Who would want to pay that much for some ambient lighting?”. Well, I’m certainly eating my words now.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m all for anything remotely eye-catching and colorful, and the Govee Table Lamp 2 has gifted me with all the uplifting color and distraction I’ve needed, whether I’m working away at my desk, or chilling during an evening.

(Image credit: Future)

Despite my penny-pinching ways, the Govee smart lighting system has often attracted me thanks to the potential price savings when compared to higher-priced brand options, such as the Philips Hue range. Cost saving aside, to date I’ve not seen anything available from Philips that delivers as much whimsical playfulness as is packed into the Govee Table Lamp 2, with Philips offerings tending to focus more on singular colors and gradients, rather than developing products with the extra novelty that some of Govee’s lighting provides.

I quickly fell head over heels when I began reviewing the Govee Table Lamp 2, continuing to use it daily even after my work was completed, and I’ve become so fond of it that I would consider purchasing one myself despite my initial reaction to the price. It’s been so easy to set scenes or colors to match my mood whether I need a brighter light to help me through my work tasks in the daytime, or soft and calmingly colorful visuals to help me wind down in the evening.

I found the Govee Table Lamp 2 to be fantastic sensory stimulation, bringing me calmness or a little hit of dopamine depending on which scene I settle on. The Govee Home companion app has been effortless to use, making it easy to change things up, and the programmable onboard buttons have meant that I’ve been able to set off my favorite scenes without needing to pick up my phone, making it a cherished companion during an evening of self-care.

(Image credit: Future) Why do I love the Govee Tale Lamp 2 so much? Here are my top three reasons:

It boosts my mood

Whether I’m feeling low or a little stressed, I’ve found the Govee Table Lamp 2 to be an essential sensory tool to help me take the focus away from negative thoughts or emotions. I’ve found it hard not to become captivated by the pretty, swirling scenes available, and I’ve loved the added value of being able to create my own.

It’s a great prop to use in content creation

Whether I’m perfecting photos or recording Reels for work or leisure, the Govee Table Lamp 2 is a fun and versatile feature that can add visual interest to a scene in seconds. It’s quick and easy to switch between scenes using the Govee Home app, and it’s Matter compatible too, so it’s possible to go completely hands-free, which has been a game changer for me.

I can choose a scene to get me energized or to help me wind down

Different lighting can have different effects on many of us, and this effect can be even more prominent in darker winter months. I personally enjoy utilizing the brighter whites, or bright and colorful static scenes to help buoy me up during the working day, switching to slow, gentle swirls of pastel colors to help me achieve a sense of calm in the evenings.

While I say that I’d be happy to spend on the Govee Table Lamp 2, in honesty I’m keeping my fingers crossed that someone is kind enough to add it to their Christmas shopping list. But even if my luck doesn’t stretch that far, at least it’s a good time to buy, as there are some savings to be had from the likes of Govee in the US and the UK, as well as Target, and Currys, so that’s worth keeping in mind whether you’re shopping for yourself, or you’re adding last-minute ideas to your own Christmas wish list.

• Open source software is now worth an estimated $7.7 billion annually
• Median organizational spend stands are more than half a million
• Most investments are in the form of human labor, not cash

The continued rise in popularity for open source software (OSS) has made it a multi-billion dollar industry attracting investments from companies all over the world, new reseach has claimed.

The 2024 Open Source Software Funding Survey found organizations across the world are contributing an estimated $7.7 billion to open source projects every year.

The research, which came from Github, the Linux Foundation and Harvard University, noted a clear split, with most (86%) investments coming in the form of workers' time. Only 14% revolved around direct financial contributions.

Businesses are backing open source

The research used data from 501 survey respondents, who together contribute a combined $1.7 billion to OSS annually. Median organizational spend on OSS was valued at more than $520,0000 – $345,000 to labor and $175,000 for direct financial contributions.

More than half (57%) of direct financial contributions went to contractors, with less than a fifth each going to specific projects (17%) and foundations (16%). Communities (4%), maintainers (4%) and bounty platforms (1%) also received cash injections.

However it also raised so-called blind spots in investments. More than two in three (68%) failed to answer how much financial support they gave different OSS targets, and nearly four in five (78%) didn’t (or couldn’t) share how much of their organization’s budget is destined for OSS.

Despite best efforts to quantify the market, the figures come from a handful of organizations, and are a mere estimation, or best guess. Consequentially, the researchers are calling for employees to self-report contributions and for contribution tracking to be incorporated into organizational workflows.

That said, there is a clear understanding that open-source software helps drive innovation, and GitHub, the Linux Foundation and Harvard want to encourage better monitoring and transparency to ensure OSS sustainability looking ahead.

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• Monotype surey finds 91% of creatives say AI tools are useful for their work
• Only 21% are pessimistic about the technology
• The research challenges the myth that creatives are ‘anti-AI'

Creatives are surprisingly optimistic about artificial intelligence’s impact on their industries, with many excited about the tech’s transformative benefits, new research has found.

Data from nearly 5,000 creatives sureyed by Monotype looked to address the theme of creatives feeling threatened by AI – a concern that was initially shared by many workers.

Nine in 10 (91%) workers claimed AI tools are beneficial to their creative tasks, suggesting that a degree of automation can help accelerate workflows and free up more time to spend on genuinely creative work, rather than administrative tasks.

Creatives are fans of AI and automation

More than a third (34%) of respondents said they were optimistic about artificial intelligence, compared with the one in five (21%) who said they were pessimistic. A further 23% said that they were neutral, with 18% undecided and 4% selecting ‘other.’

“This new research from Monotype challenges the prevailing view that most creatives are somehow inherently ‘anti-AI’," noted Monotype CEO Ninan Chacko.

The survey’s respondents revealed that visualizing typography in real-world scenarios (45%), suggesting font pairings (45%), speeding up more routine elements of workflows (43%) and improving the discovery of new fonts (43%) were all benefits of artificial intelligence.

Senior Director of Partner Experience and Inventory Lifecycle Mary Catherine Pflug added: “Our research shows creatives view font choice as one of the most important elements of their creative process, and Monotype’s AI-enabled discovery tools like search and font pairing are helping designers make better decisions, faster.”

Moreover, the research highlighting the rising prevalence of subscription-based software, with 89% currently paying for at least one platform and the average worker paying for four. Software like Adobe Creative Cloud, Canva, Shutterstock, Picsart, Kittl, Monotype Fonts emerged as popular options.

“Most creatives and designers are positive about the potential of AI and AI-enabled tools for their work when they understand its power to democratize design through enhancing, amplifying, and accelerating human creativity," Chacko added.

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