TechRadar News

• Marvel Snap is back in the US
• Affected players will be able to receive compensation package
• Everyone else will also receive bonus rewards

Mobile superhero card game Marvel Snap was one of the unexpected casualties of the brief US TikTok ban, becoming inaccessible to users in the US between January 19 and 25. This was due to the fact that its publisher, Nuverse, is a subsidiary of TikTok owner ByteDance.

Thankfully, the game is now back online in the region and the developer Second Dinner has outlined a generous compensation package not only for those affected by the outage but also for all Marvel Snap players.

As explained in a recent X / Twitter post, the studio wants to thank fans for their “dedication, patience, and support” and make good with those who missed out on time-based content.

This is on top of a separate package to “welcome back players, new and old, with some extra goodies”. These will be delivered to in-game inboxes sometime this week.

If you are a US player over collection level 500, you can expect to receive the following:

• 2 Spotlight Keys
• 5000 Season Pass XP
• 4150 Credits
• 6200 Collector’s Tokens
• 1000 Gold
• 5 Gold Conquest Ticket
• 3 Infinite Conquest Ticket
• 4000 Conquest Medals
• 1 Mystery Variant
• 6 Premium Mystery Variants
• 1 Cosmic Red Border (Super Rare)
• 3 Cosmic Gold Border (Super Rare)
• 155 x5 Random Boosters

If you are a US player under collection level 500, you will get:

• 6 Mystery Series 3 Cards
• 5000 Season Pass XP
• 7150 Credits
• 1000 Gold
• 1 Mystery Variant
• 6 Premium Mystery Variant
• 1 Cosmic Red Border (Super Rare)
• 3 Cosmic Gold Border (Super Rare)
• 155 x5 Random Boosters

The offering for non-US players is similar, though slightly less generous. Those over collection level 500 will receive:

• 2 Spotlight Key
• 3000 Collector’s Tokens
• 1500 Credits
• 1 Mystery Variant
• 1 Premium Mystery Variant
• 1 Cosmic Gold Border (Super Rare)
• 1 Cosmic Red Border (Super Rare)
• 155 x3 Random Boosters

If you’re outside the US and under collection level 500, then expect:

• 6 Mystery Series 3 Cards
• 3000 Credits
• 1 Mystery Variant
• 1 Premium Mystery Variant
• 1 Cosmic Gold Border (Super Rare)
• 1 Cosmic Red Border (Super Rare)
• 155 x3 Random Boosters

These are, frankly, incredibly lavish offerings that will provide a massive boost to players who get them. That said, there are some eligibility requirements to bear in mind here.

To qualify for the US rewards, you will need to have an account that was created in the US or recorded account activity in the US 30 days prior to the outage. If you are a US player who used a VPN to play during the downtime, you will still be able to receive the US rewards.

To be eligible for the rest, you simply need to have an account that was created before Jan 20, 2025, and not qualify for the US offering. It is not possible to receive more than one compensation package.

Interestingly, the message also says that the developer intends to partner with a new publisher and “bring more services in-house” to try and avoid similar issues in the future.

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• Britain lags behind Germany when it comes to "digital health", report claims
• Smaller businesses tend to rank less favorably, Zoho finds
• Those who focus on AI are considered ‘healthier’

Although an increase of nine percentage points has been observed compared with the previous year, still only 28% of UK businesses reported good "digital health" in 2024, new research has claimed.

Moreover, more than one in three reported average digital health (36%), and another third had poor digital health (36%), a report from Zoho found, claiming larger businesses seemed more prepared than smaller businesses.

Zoho revealed 40% of large businesses had good digital health, compared with 27% of medium businesses and just 18% of small businesses. However, while Britain was outpaced by Germany, with an average score of 33%, other European countries like Spain (27%), France (20%) and the Netherlands (19%) lagged way behind.

Small European businesses don’t have great digital health

The report explored the correlation between good digital health and attitudes – it found that businesses with good digital health were more likely to see artificial intelligence as critical (46%) compared with average (24%) and poor (65%) health businesses.

More than half (54%) of the British businesses analyzed plans to invest heavily in artificial intelligence.

However, Britain’s digital transformation is still underway, with one in three operating at least half of their operations digitally and a further one in four running the majority of their operations digitally.

Customer experience, efficiency, and improved employee experience were all highlighted as key focus areas for digitization in the year ahead.

“Good digital health is a critical foundation in order to realize ROI from investment in digital tools and technology," noted Zoho UK Managing Director Sachin Agrawal.

Agrawal added vendors should, “take a long-term view in their relationship with customers” to help them deploy tools, educate users, and drive adoption more effectively, thus increasing their ROI.

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• Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's creator has defended the show's animation style
• Some Marvel fans have criticized how the series looks from a movement viewpoint
• Jeff Tramell says viewers should judge it after watching the whole season, rather than a two-minute trailer

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's showrunner has defended its animation style in the wake of fierce fan criticism.

Speaking to TechRadar ahead of the Marvel show's premiere on January 29, Jeff Tramell implored viewers to "give it a chance" after some fans reacted negatively to how it looks. Tramell, who also acts as the series' head writer and one of its executive producers, wants people to watch all 10 episodes before they comment on the animation techniques that have been used.

Ever since the Disney Plus animated series was first shown exclusively to D23 Expo 2024 members last August, fans have had plenty to say about the choice of animation. In the aftermath of said footage leaking online, threads on r/MarvelStudios, r/SpiderMan, r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers and other Reddit pages were full of comments labeling character movements as "weird", "off-putting", "awful", "rough", and "lazy".

Fans haven't held back over what they think about the show's animation style (Image credit: Marvel Animation/Disney Plus)

The negativity grew exponentially once the animated show's first trailer – one of six big entertainment stories you might have missed over the 2024 holiday season – was released, too. Once the teaser was revealed in late December 2024, new threads on r/SpiderMan, r/MarvelStudios, r/MarvelStudioSpoilers, and other Reddit pages were similarly packed with people's opinions on its animation. Indeed, from those saying Marvel was "trying too hard" and that the backgrounds look "empty", to even harsher critiques suggesting it looked "ugly" and "dogs**t", fans didn't hold back as they passed judgment on the series' animation style.

For what it's worth, some observers who don't believe the animation is as bad as it looks. Additionally, large swathes of Marvel's global fanbase have reacted positively to the show's art style, which honors the artistry of iconic Spider-Man comic book illustrators Steve Dikto and John Romita Jr. Even so, it seems the majority of viewers have already made up their minds about the Marvel Phase 5 TV show's animation.

See you in class!Stream the two-episode premiere of Marvel Animation’s #YourFriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderMan January 29 only on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/LbC5yH7w1dJanuary 24, 2025

Tramell, though, isn't giving up hope that those dissenters may change their minds once Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man launches on Disney Plus. Indeed, he believes that, once audiences see how the show looks and feels from a full episode standpoint, rather than the trailer's cut-together format, some fans may admit they too quickly and harshly judge its aesthetic.

"We wanted to set the show apart [from other Spider-Man animated shows]," Tramell told me. "Regardless of how you feel about the show, you have to there's nothing that looks like it. There's no Spider-Man that looks like our Spider Man. I think it's important to have one that's ours, and that feels unique [and] very much of its own thing. So, we really wanted to find something that set us apart from everything else, and kind of drives audiences towards us. So if you see our Spider-Man in a line-up, you're like 'that's Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'.

"I think our style grows on you," he continued. "So, I would say 'give it a chance'. I know there were a lot of initial thoughts about how it looked in the two minute teaser, but I'll also say that teaser is super cut up. Once the show comes out, you'll see those scenes don't play in the way that they play in that trailer. So, just give it a shot, watch it, and let it grow on you. If it doesn't, that's fine, too. I love our look and I think everyone else who gives it a shot will do as well."

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• Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has committed to supporting the Nintendo Switch 2
• He also revealed that he congratulated Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa on the console’s reveal
• This likely means more Xbox franchises coming to Nintendo platforms

Good news multi-platform gamers, it looks like Xbox will go all in on supporting the Nintendo Switch 2. This comes from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, who recently spoke on the Gamertag Radio podcast.

Spencer said that he has a “game-first not platform-first” mindset, though quickly clarified that Xbox hardware is still "fundamental to what Xbox is” and here to stay. He added that he isn’t a fan of “trying to gatekeep the games” from other platforms.

He also revealed that he had messaged Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa around the console’s reveal, giving him a “big congrats”. He said that he is a fan of Nintendo’s innovation and will “always applaud the moves that they make” and that he is “really looking forward to supporting them with the games that we have.”

These words shouldn’t come as much surprise, as they coincide with a wider multi-platform push by Xbox. The original Nintendo Switch is already home to a number of Microsoft games, including Minecraft, Ori and the Blind Forest, and its sequel Ori and the Will of the Wisps. These were joined by Pentiment and Grounded, after an announcement by Phil Spencer in February 2024 that more games would be coming to other platforms.

As for which games could be coming to Nintendo Switch 2, it’s still up in the air. We know that at least one Call of Duty title is highly likely, as Microsoft committed to bringing the franchise to Nintendo platforms in a legally binding ten-year agreement back in February 2023. Major Xbox franchises such as Halo, Gears of War, and Forza Horizon also seem like obvious choices to make the leap, but we’ll just have to wait and see what Microsoft has in store.

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• Rumor has it that Nvidia is leaving its graphics card making partners thin on margins with RTX 5000 boards
• This could mean that pricing comes in above the MSRP for those third-party boards more often than not
• A previous rumor also suggested this, and while this remains speculation, hearing the notion again isn’t particularly comforting

The launch of next-gen GPUs has been beset by rumors of possible pitfalls for both Team Green and Team Red – and we’ve just heard another gloomy piece of speculation regarding Nvidia’s RTX 5000 graphics cards.

The contention from Wjm47196 on Chiphell (the Chinese forum isn’t always the most reliable source, but this particular leaker has been right in the past) is that Nvidia’s putting the squeeze on its third-party graphics card making partners, potentially pushing up pricing of their RTX 5000 boards.

Wjm47196 believes that Nvidia has left those partners with very slim margins in terms of the cost of the components for the Blackwell graphics cards, which is evidently coming uncomfortably close to the MSRPs set by Team Green (leaving little room for profit).

Now, with their higher-end products, graphics card manufacturers always lump a hefty premium on top of the MSRP, which is the price you pay for higher clock speeds (thanks to better cooling, and build quality) and an overall faster GPU.

But the problem is that with the entry-level models sporting baseline specs, these card makers are going to struggle to produce anything that’s at, or close to, the MSRP. So, prices could be jacked up more than with the baseline RTX 4000 models, if this rumor is right.

Potentially adding insult to injury is that as Wccftech (which spotted this) points out, Nvidia’s own Founders Edition graphics cards – models which are guaranteed to be at the MSRP – could be very low on stock too. In short, options might be very hard to find at the MSRP level, which would be disappointing.

(Image credit: Nvidia) Analysis: Stock and pricing woes adding up to a real headache?

Obviously, this is not what PC gamers on the lookout for a next-gen GPU want to hear. We’re told that part of the reason for margins being so slim for board makers is the price of GDDR7 video RAM, which has significantly upped the overall cost associated with the components for Blackwell graphics cards (known as the BoM or Bill of Materials). That cost is, of course, inevitably passed on to the consumer.

So, we have a couple of worries with the RTX 5000 series now. Firstly, there have been persistent rumors about how stock is going to be thin on the ground at launch, and the volume of the chatter around this is definitely concerning.

But now, on top of that, is the idea that third-party RTX 5000 graphics cards will be priced somewhat above the MSRP level in the main, a notion which is backed up by recently spilled purported prices from a Finnish retailer (which listed Gigabyte’s RTX 5080 models, with only one at the recommended price).

While all of this remains gossip, essentially, all the separate pieces add up to a worry that the $999 MSRP (in the US) that Nvidia pinned on the RTX 5080 – which was the most pleasantly surprising revelation on the price front, given the rumor mill was claiming it’d be 20% more than that, at least – will pretty much be a pipe dream. As the Founders Edition could sell out very quickly, as might any third-party RTX 5080s at the MSRP level, which may not be many, by all accounts.

Add plenty of salt, naturally, but the more I hear about the upcoming Blackwell GPU launch, the more I’m getting concerned that buying one of these graphics cards is going to be a much more difficult – and pricier – proposition than it should be. Particularly if we do end up in a scenario where stock is lean, MSRPs are jacked up in the first place, and price gougers are coming in on top of that.

There is, of course, always AMD’s RDNA 4 rivals, at least for those who don’t need a high-end GPU, but that launch has been an odd one full of unpredictable twists and turns of its own.

AMD’s RX 9070 models won’t arrive until March now, but perhaps the reason Team Red is taking its time to get things right is not only because this is a good idea – and maybe a new philosophy at the firm – but also because AMD has time, given how Nvidia’s RTX 5000 launch is shaping up.

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You have the power to take charge of your data. This is the theme of this year's Data Privacy Week, an annual event that aims to raise awareness about online privacy.

Data Privacy Week 2025, which takes place between January 27 and 31, is all about helping you take control of your data—whether that data is the websites you visit, the apps you use, or any other identifier information you may willingly (or not) share when using the internet.

Here at TechRadar, we proudly advocate online privacy and want to help you regain agency over your online data. Over the week, we'll be giving you everything you need to support your journey. This page will be home to all of our latest advice, experiences, and privacy tool recommendations. Check back regularly for more from Data Privacy Week 2025 on TechRadar.

The best cheap VPN: Surfshark
The first rule of taking back control over your data is minimizing the information you share online in the first place. Surfshark is one of the best VPN tools on the market that can help you do that. For as little as the equivalent of $2.19 a month, you'll get premium privacy across unlimited devices for a very tiny price. Take Surfshark for a test drive with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

▶ Read more in our full Surfshark reviewView Deal

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Data Privacy Week: how to take your privacy back

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• GPU-like PCIe card offers 10PFLOPs FP4 compute power and 2GB of SRAM
• SRAM is usually used in small amounts as cache in processors (L1 to L3)
• It also uses LPDDR5 rather than far more expensive HBM memory

Silicon Valley startup d-Matrix, which is backed by Microsoft, has developed a chiplet-based solution designed for fast, small-batch inference of LLMs in enterprise environments. Its architecture takes an all-digital compute-in-memory approach, using modified SRAM cells for speed and energy efficiency.

The Corsair, d-Matrix’s current product, is described as the “first-of-its-kind AI compute platform” and features two d-Matrix ASICs on a full-height, full-length PCIe card, with four chiplets per ASIC. It achieves a total of 9.6 PFLOPs FP4 compute power with 2GB of SRAM-based performance memory. Unlike traditional designs that rely on expensive HBM, Corsair uses LPDDR5 capacity memory, with up to 256GB per card for handling larger models or batch inference workloads.

d-Matrix says Corsair delivers 10x better interactive performance, 3x energy efficiency and 3x cost-performances compared with GPU alternatives, such as the hugely popular Nvidia H100.

A leap of faith

Sree Ganesan, head of product at d-Matrix, told EE Times, "Today’s solutions mostly hit the memory wall with existing architectures. They have to add a lot more compute and burn a lot more power, which is an unsustainable path. Yes, we can do better with more compute FLOPS and bigger memory, but d-Matrix has focused on memory bandwidth and innovating on the memory-compute barrier."

d-Matrix’s approach eliminates the bottleneck by enabling computation directly within memory.

"We’ve built a digital in-memory compute core where multiply-accumulate happens in memory and you can take advantage of very high bandwidth - we’re talking about 150 terabytes per second," Ganesan explained. "This, in combination with the series of other innovations allows us to solve the memory wall challenge."

CEO Sid Sheth told EE Times the company was founded in 2019 after feedback from hyperscalers suggested inference was the future. “It was a leap of faith, because inference alone as an opportunity was not perceived as being too big back in 2019,” he said. “Of course, that all changed post 2022 and ChatGPT. We also bet on transformer [networks] pretty early on in the company.”

Corsair is entering mass production in Q2 2025, and d-Matrix is already planning its next-generation ASIC, Raptor, which will integrate 3D-stacked DRAM to support reasoning workloads and larger memory capacities.

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Dyson tends to make quite a fuss when it releases a new vacuum (and rightly so). But towards the end of 2024 we spotted what looked like a brand new cordless vacuum that had been stealth-launched, with no fanfare: the Dyson Digital Slim.

It's not a flagship model, and at the time of writing it was only available direct from Dyson in the US, although there are Amazon listings in both the US and AU. It looks to be a pared-back, slimmed-down, more budget-friendly alternative to the brand's flagship models. (It's not to be confused with the Dyson V12 Detect Slim, another non-flagship model, which launched alongside the Dyson V15 Detect in 2021.)

We haven't had a chance to test this one out ourselves yet, so ahead of our official review, here's everything we know about the Dyson Digital Slim, and how it compares to the rest of the best Dyson vaccums...

Dyson Digital Slim: design & features

As you might have guessed from the name, one USP here is that this is a more streamlined stick vacuum option. The Digital Slim is lighter than any of the flagship Dyson stick vacuums, with a shorter overall height. It also has the smallest dust cup – one that's small enough to be annoying if you have a larger home or are dealing with lots of dirt or pet hair. Although one saving grace is that the bin-emptying mechanism is the current, simplified design found on the newest models.

Dyson is widely considered to be one of the best cordless vacuum brands, and you're getting all the standard benefits of other stick models. Namely, it's easy to maneuver with a super-pivotable floorhead, it comes with an optional wall dock for charging, there's no cord to fuss around with, and it can easily be converted into a handheld by removing the wand and adding a detail tool.

The Digital Slim has a straightforward emptying mechanism, and can be charged directly or via a wall dock (Image credit: Dyson)

It's operated via a trigger, which needs to be continuously depressed. Only the newest Gen5detect replaces this with a more finger-friendly one-touch button. You can choose between three suction modes – low, medium and high.

Information is conveyed via a small LCD screen on the main body of the vacuum. This will tell you how much battery you have left (in hours and minutes) and which mode you're using, as well as alerting you of any maintenance tasks that need doing – for example, if the filter needs cleaning. That screen is a relatively modern addition in the Dyson vacuum range, first introduced in 2019 with the Dyson V11.

An LDC screen provides information, and there's a multi-floor floorhead with anti-hair wrap features (Image credit: Dyson)

The Digital Slim has an inline design, where the wand, bin, cyclones and motor are all stacked one after the other. This was introduced with the Dyson V11, and is designed to maximize suction efficiency.

Under the hood, there's a Hyperdymium motor that rotates at 120,000rpm. That's actually a better motor than you'll find on the Dyson V8, the oldest flagship model in the current lineup, although Dyson says it generates slightly less suction than that model overall. Filtering is in line with older flagships – designed to capture 99.99% of particles as small as 0.3 microns.

At a maximum of 40 minutes, the battery life matches the V8. That increases to 60 minutes on the V11 and V15, and to 70 minutes on the Gen5detect, but it's important to note that the extra power comes with the payoff of extra weight. 40 minutes of cleaning (or less, if you need to amp up to medium suction model) should still be plenty for most smaller homes.

The Digital Slim typically comes with a Multi tool (left) and Crevice tool (right) (Image credit: Future)

In terms of Dyson tools and floorheads, it's a minimal selection included with the Digital Slim. The floorhead is a Motorbar with hair-detangling features, and suitable for use on both hard floor and carpet (there's no extra Fluffy floorhead, specialized for hard floor use). You'll also get a Combination tool, which includes a smaller nozzle and brush for general detail cleaning, and a longer Crevice tool for getting into narrow spaces. Other tools may be compatible, and the extras can vary depending on retailer, so it's worth double-checking what's included before you buy.

As you'd expect, you're not getting the fancier features that come with the newest Dyson stick vacs. There's no automatic suction adjustment based on floor type or dirt levels, no real-time reports on what's being sucked up, and no laser-equipped Fluffy floorhead for illuminating dust on your hard floors. However, for many, these kinds of features aren't essential.

Dyson Digital Slim: price & availability

The Dyson Digital Slim started appearing online in fall/winter 2024. At the time of writing, it was only available to buy direct from Dyson in the US, at a list price of $499.99 but discounted to $249.99 (also at the time of writing). It's also on sale via Amazon US, with the same discount. In Australia, it's not available to buy direct from Dyson, but does have an Amazon AU listing, with a price of AU$813.26. It's currently not available in the UK.

At list price, that places the Digital Slim between the V8 (at $469.99) and the V11 (at $569.99). However, if we take the discounted price, it's the cheapest Dyson cordless stick vacuum option by some margin.

At TechRadar, our mid-range price bracket for vacuums is $250-$500. Anything above that is premium, and below is budget – so at it's discounted price, the Digital Slim would be considered a budget model. It's more advanced than most of today's best cheap vacuums, with features like the LCD screen for information.

Dyson Digital Slim: specs

Below, we've compared the Digital Slim with the least advanced Dyson stick vacuum in the current lineup (the Dyson V8), the newest and most advanced (the Dyson Gen5detect), and a mid-range model (Dyson V11).

Should I buy the Dyson Digital Slim? Considering buying it if...

You have a small home

The Digital Slim is smaller and nimbler than other Dyson vacuums. That, and the fact it has a smaller dust cup and shorter runtimes, make it more suited to smaller homes. View Deal

You're on a budget

At full price the Digital Slim is roughly in line with the Dyson V8, but it's regularly discounted to half price, dropping it into the budget price bracket (just!) and making it excellent value for money for what you're getting. View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You have shedding pets

The small dust cup and relatively low power compared to other Dyson stick vacuums means we wouldn't recommend this model to pet owners. Our guide to the best vacuums for pet hair has plenty of alternative recommendations. View Deal

You have a large home

The small dust cup and shorter runtimes mean the Digital Slim isn't the best choice for larger homes – you'll find your cleaning sessions interrupted by bin-emptying and recharging.View Deal

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 #1098) - 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 #1098) - 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 0.

Quordle today (game #1098) - 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 #1098) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1098) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• W

• O

• B

• T

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

Quordle today (game #1098) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1098, are…

• WATER
• ORBIT
• BRIDE
• TOUCH

I decided to change my start words today and it resulted in a fail. Usually I start with AUDIO and STEER, but today I went with RADIO and SURGE. My thinking – which, on reflection, is totally illogical – was that I was wasting a letter by using a double E, but I still wasted a letter anyway by using R twice. D'oh!

Tomorrow, I’m returning to my tried and trusted start words, even though I feel there must be a better pair out there.

Completing the Daily Sequence made me feel better.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1098) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1098, are…

• ENSUE
• STAID
• DETOX
• RELAX

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1097, Saturday 25 January: GIVER, GROOM, GUSTO, MAKER
• Quordle #1096, Friday 24 January: GRIND, STOCK, SERVE, TOUCH
• Quordle #1095, Thursday 23 January: RUGBY, SASSY, WORRY, BANAL
• Quordle #1094, Wednesday 22 January: SLANT, TRUNK, WOOZY, EATEN
• Quordle #1093, Tuesday 21 January: CHART, VIGOR, PRINT, SPAWN
• Quordle #1092, Monday 20 January: SIXTY, THONG, TATTY, ROBIN
• Quordle #1091, Sunday 19 January: WREST, RINSE, SCOUR, CANNY
• Quordle #1090, Saturday 18 January: BLARE, ITCHY, BICEP, PIPER
• Quordle #1089, Friday 17 January: CATCH, WEARY, SWOON, LATHE
• 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

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 #595) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• RAVEN
• SILO
• HITCH
• PROMO
• TRAILER
• DISCOG
• FISH
• TRACTOR
• BALLY
• FARM
• CLOISTER
• GATHER
• SEPARATE
• HUNT
• AXLES
• SECLUDE

NYT Connections today (game #595) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Nourish ourselves 
• GREEN: Segregate 
• BLUE: 18-wheeler 
• PURPLE: Places to boogie 

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 #595) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: WAYS TO GET FOOD 
• GREEN: KEEP APART 
• BLUE: PARTS OF A BIG RIG 
• PURPLE: DANCE EVENTS PLUS A LETTER 

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

NYT Connections today (game #595) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #595, are…

• YELLOW: WAYS TO GET FOOD FARM, FISH, GATHER, HUNT
• GREEN: KEEP APART CLOISTER, SECLUDE, SEPARATE, SILO
• BLUE: PARTS OF A BIG RIG AXLES, HITCH, TRACTOR, TRAILER
• PURPLE: DANCE EVENTS PLUS A LETTER BALLY, DISCOG, PROMO, RAVEN

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: Perfect

Pure luck got me over the line without making any mistakes today. I had no idea what a BIG RIG is, but AXLES, HITCH, and TRAILER all sounded like they must be part of something mechanical and I took a chance on adding TRACTOR.

I would never have got DANCE EVENTS PLUS A LETTER. I’m trying to rewire my Connections thinking process so I see these tricky groups, but I always go to the most obvious links – and in this case I was thinking PROMO and DISCOG had something to do with music; back in the day when I was a music journalist we’d called an artist’s Discography their Discog, and a Promo was a record you’d be sent ahead of official release. The actual connection was, inevitably, a little more complicated!

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 25 January, game #594)

• 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

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.

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Ore so they say

NYT Strands today (game #329) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• PAIN
• COMA
• CLAD
• MULE
• TEAL
• BELL

NYT Strands today (game #329) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Vital elements

NYT Strands today (game #329) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: top, 3rd column

Last side: bottom, 4th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #329) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #329, are…

• NICKEL
• IRON
• COBALT
• CADMIUM
• ALUMINUM
• TITANIUM
• SPANGRAM: PURE METAL

• My rating: Easy
• My score: 1 hint

It was pretty obvious from the theme clue what we were looking for today and, of course, my biggest fear was that I would have to spell out ALUMINIUM – or rather, ALUMINUM as those of you in the United States would have it. A few very obvious – and much easier to find and spell – PURE METALs were left out of the puzzle, including Gold, Copper, Zinc and Silver.

As I was completing the game my mind wandered to the heavy metal genre, and the thought that it was named that after IRON Maiden – iron being a particularly heavy metal. But actually, Google tells me it comes from the song Born to Be Wild by the '70s band Steppenwolf, which includes the phrase “heavy metal thunder”. So today I learned two things – that, plus how to spell ALUMINUM.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, 25 January, game #328)

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

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.

As expected, OpenAI has released its first autonomous AI agent, called Operator this week. Operator can act independently from you on your computer using a web browser doing pretty much anything that can be done in a web browser.

So, it can perform tasks like booking a restaurant table or buying groceries. You just tell it what you want it to do, and off it goes like a faithful Internet-enabled butler that potters away until the task is complete or it needs to come back to you with a question. Say, there’s no table available at 7.00pm, would Sir or Madam mind a 7.45pm table instead?

Of course, Operator doesn’t call you Sir or Madam, but it might as well. For all intents and purposes, this is the Internet butler that we were promised almost 30 years ago when Ask Jeeves was around.

Do you remember Ask Jeeves? It was a search engine from 1997 that had an image of an actual butler who stood ready and willing to find things for you online. The character was named after Jeeves, Bertie Wooster's valet in the fictional works of P. G. Wodehouse. Instead of typing in search terms, Ask Jeeves encouraged you to search for things using natural language questions, like “Find me the perfect accompaniment to a roast dinner.”

Of course, we all know that Google won the search engine war, and in 2006, Ask dropped the Jeeves persona and just became Ask.com. But somehow, we’ve come full circle with AI, and thanks to technologies like ChatGPT search and Perplexity, searching using natural language requests is back in fashion. As our Internet butlers, except now we call them AI agents...

The Ask Jeeves search engine. AGI is the real goal

It’s no secret that Sam Altman and OpenAI are really interested in AGI, artificial general intelligence, also often referred to as superintelligence. This is the ultimate goal for OpenAI, and why it was founded. Chatbots like ChatGPT might have taken the world by storm, but their popularity is almost like an unintended consequence (a theme I’ll return to later) of the race toward AGI.

In a video to promote the release of Operator, one of the OpenAI employees sitting next to Sam Altman comes right out and says, [Operator is] "about removing one more bottleneck in our path to AGI.”

While agents are clearly exciting, they’re not the destination for OpenAI; they’re just one more step along the path. AGI has the potential to change our world radically. Once we have created an artificial intelligence that’s smarter than we are, logically it should be able to construct even smarter versions of itself, and the level of intelligence rises rapidly.

We’ve just got to hope that it doesn’t decide to wipe us out. Not to worry you, but Geoffory Hinton, often referred to as the ‘Godfather of AI,’ recently upped his odds of technology wiping out humanity to 20%.

OpenAI's Operator in action. (Image credit: OpenAI)

And this is where we return to the theme of unintended consequences. Many experts see AI agents as a threat. While speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, artificial intelligence pioneer Yoshua Bengio warned that AI agents could be catastrophic for humanity.

Speaking to Business Insider, he said, "All of the catastrophic scenarios with AGI or superintelligence happen if we have agents." Bengio would rather we continue towards building AGI without using agents, which allows them to do things autonomously. "All of the AI for science and medicine, all the things people care about, is not agentic," Bengio said. "And we can continue building more powerful systems that are non-agentic."

Humanity's downfall

So, could it really be that something designed to act like an Internet butler and do menial tasks like help me buy my groceries accidentally gives AI the power to take over the world?

For now, it’s hard to imagine how an automated program that slowly plods through the process of booking me a table at a restaurant using a web browser is going to end in humanity's downfall, but AI agents will live or die by one thing - if people actually use them – and I’m not entirely convinced they will.

Personally, I don’t feel ready to hand over my credit card details to a computer program that will buy things for me to save me time because I’m just not sure I’m ever going to trust it not to make a mistake. Would you?

Perhaps OpenAI needs to give its Operator a more human face if it wants me to trust it, and as it turns out, I believe that good old Jeeves might be looking for a job these days...

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Black Mirror season 7: key information

- Launching on Netflix in 2025
- Will be six episodes
- No official trailer, but a 30-second teaser released
- New and returning cast confirmed
- First ever sequel episode based on season 4’s USS Callister
- No official plot synopsis revealed
- Brooker “in it for the long haul” for future seasons

Black Mirror season 7, the highly-praised and darkly satirical anthology Netflix series, will return in 2025. In true puzzling and curious fashion in keeping with the show’s ethos, we don’t have an exact release date or official plot details, but we have managed to gather intel about season 7 that’ll be sure to excite.

It's one of the best Netflix shows, offering a wealth of sci-fi scenarios spanning dystopias and tackling themes of surveillance, AI, and societal issues, to name but a few. For season 7, the show looks set to return with more chaotic and thought-provoking tales on the best streaming service.

Plus, there's an all-star cast already confirmed, which features returning characters in an unprecedented move for Black Mirror with the first-ever sequel. With a show like this, you're never quite sure what to expect, but we've scoured high and low for everything you need to know about Black Mirror season 7 from release date, to confirmed cast, to plot synopsis, and more news and rumors.

Black Mirror season 7: is there a release date?

Black Mirror S7 - coming 2025. #GeekedWeek pic.twitter.com/dZcfNQHc4cSeptember 19, 2024

While there’s no official release date just yet for the new season of Black Mirror, we know that Black Mirror season 7 will be released on Netflix in 2025.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in May 2024, Brooker revealed they were: “in mid-production at the moment, and it’s all quite mad right now.” While the first four seasons of Black Mirror released in differing months, season 5 and season 6 both came out in June. While we wouldn’t want to predict anything Brooker does, we’ll take a rough guess and say (hope) that we may see Black Mirror season 7 in the summer.

Black Mirror season 7: has a trailer been released?

This is by no means an official trailer, but we’ll even watch a 30-second teaser that pretty much shows a loading screen the entire time just to get a hint of what Black Mirror has in store next.

The clip reveals six episodes loading up for season 7, as well as a brief glimpse of a file titled: “INFINITY” and the USS Callister logo. We’ll delve into more on what this means in our cast and plot synopsis below. Full trailers for Black Mirror usually arrive mere weeks before the new season’s release, so we’ll be sure to update here when we can.

Black Mirror season 7: confirmed cast

The biggest Black Mirror season 7 news so far - the return of USS Callister (Image credit: Netflix)

Potential spoilers follow for Black Mirror season 7.

Black Mirror is renowned for its stellar cast list, which changes in every episode, thanks to its anthology style. And, during Geeked Week 2024, the Black Mirror season 7 lead cast was revealed and Brooker calls it: “embarrassingly stacked”:

• Milanka Brooks as Elena Tulaska
• Waleed Hammad as Po
• Osy Ikhile as Nate Packer
• Jimmi Simpson as Walton
• Paul G. Raymond as Kabir Dudani
• Cristin Milioti as Nanette Cole
• Edward Pishiyski Chlerich as Walton Clone
• Billy Magnussen as Valdack
• Siena Kelly as Maria
• Rosy McEwen as Verity
• James Nelson-Joyce as Kano
• Awkwafina as TBC
• Peter Capaldi as TBC
• Emma Corrin as TBC
• Patsy Ferran as TBC
• Paul Giamatti as TBC
• Lewis Gribben as TBC
• Rashida Jones as TBC
• Chris O’Dowd as TBC
• Issa Rae as TBC
• Tracee Ellis Ross as TBC
• Harriet Walter as TBC

Thanks to What’s On Netflix, we know a little more about some of the roles listed above, but the rest it seems we’ll have to wait to see. The report reveals that two of the characters, Verity (Rosy McEwen) and Maria (Siena Kelly) will play old schoolmates, who weren’t really mates at all, working together at the same company - an international snack company called Savorita. This episode will reportedly be titled: “Ring of Truth”.

We also know that Milanka Brooks, Billy Magnussen, Paul G. Raymond, Cristin Milioti, Osy Ikhile, and Jimmi Simpson are all cast members from season 4’s USS Callister episode. And why are their names here again? Well, we’ll delve into that exciting plot news below.

Black Mirror season 7: story synopsis and rumors

The crew of the USS Callister - minus two - star in Black Mirror season 7 (Image credit: Netflix)

Full spoilers follow for previous Black Mirror seasons below.

The biggest announcement for Black Mirror season 7 so far was made during Geeked Week 2024 where creator Charlie Brooker revealed: “We’ve got six episodes this time, and two of them are basically feature-length. Some of them are deeply unpleasant, some are quite funny, and some are emotional.”

The last time fans were treated to six episodes was back in season 4 and that is very relevant when it comes to what Brooker said next: “Fans of the show will recognize the cast of a certain spaceship from one of our episodes reappearing. We’ve done a sequel for the first time in Black Mirror history. Normally, I kill off all the characters at the end of an episode, and I kept some of ‘em alive. I’m growing as a human.” And, that episode is season 4’s USS Callister.

It’s no secret that Brooker loves to utilize shock and awe in his story-telling and in USS Callister he killed off Robert Daly, played by Jesse Plemons. Plemons’s name being vacant from the season 7 cast list all but confirms his death was final. Plus, the official synopsis for the episode is: “USS Callister will return… Robert Daly is dead, but the crew of the USS Callister, their problems are just beginning.”

Creator Charlie Brooker has more sci-fi tales to tell (Image credit: Netflix)

But, why now? According to Brooker who spoke to THR, it’s always been on the cards: “It was something we were looking at for quite a long time. There were various iterations it went through, various versions we wanted to do and were discussing on and off for several years. But there are a lot of schedules to sort out, and then the pandemic got in the way. It was something that looked like it wasn’t going to happen, and so I was delighted when it did.”

While we know about one episode of season 7, news on the ground regarding the others is, in true Black Mirror style, kept mysteriously under wraps. Though Brooker teased in May 2024: “We are doing something really cool right now that we’ve never done before - but I can’t say what it is.” We wouldn’t want to guess given how unique and perpetually shocking each Black Mirror episode is, but it's true to form for the sci-fi series.

When it comes to season 7 as a whole, Brooker revealed to Tudum, that it will feel: “a little bit OG Black Mirror.” He said: “It’s back to basics in many ways. They’re all sci-fi stories, but there’s definitely some horrifying things that occur, but maybe not in an overt horror-movie way. There’s definitely some disturbing content in it.”

The beauty of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror is the wealth of directors brought on to tackle different episodes and amidst the cast list reveal, there's Ally Pankiw (season 6's, Joan is Awful), Luke Taylor & Chris Barrett (Cautionary Tales), Haolu Wang (Bodies), Toby Haynes (season 4's, USS Callister), and David Slade (Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) all listed. While that doesn't tell us the plot, it gives us an idea of the kind of directors and style we can expect for Black Mirror season 7.

Will there be more seasons of Black Mirror?

We'd love to see more Black Mirror, and so would Charlie Brooker (Image credit: Netflix)

With six seasons under his belt and a seventh on the way, the question emerges as to how much more there is to come from Brooker, but thankfully The Hollywood Reporter posed this very question to the man himself. With an anthology series, the possibilities are seemingly endless, though he said: “I’m sure I’ll find out when we’re not doing any more seasons! It will be made apparent to me at some point, I’m sure. But I’m in it for the long haul. I’m not going anywhere.”

After taking over Black Mirror from Channel 4 in 2015, the fate of the show now belongs to Netflix - though there’s been no official news from them yet as to whether a season eight is coming.

For more Netflix-based coverage, read our guides on 3 Body Problem season 2, Stranger Things season 5, Arcane season 2, and One Piece season 2.

• GeneralPurpose.8xlarge delivers 32 virtual cores and 128GB memory plus 275GB storage
• This is far cheaper than Azure or Google Cloud, but more expensive than onprem if you plan to keep it for 6 months or more
• You will - of course - need a separate computer to access that virtual workstation

AWS has expanded its WorkSpaces desktop-as-a-service offering with the introduction of two new workstation-grade instance types.

The company says these new instances will provide its customers with powerful cloud desktops for resource-intensive Windows workloads.

The new instance types, GeneralPurpose.4xlarge and GeneralPurpose.8xlarge, feature 16 and 32 virtual CPUs (vCPUs) with 64GB and 128GB of memory, respectively. Both include a 175GB root volume and 100GB for user file storage.

Windows-only

Amazon is positioning the two new offerings as being ideal for developers, scientists, financial analysts, and engineers who need to run demanding applications.

“Developers can handle large compilation and development tasks with tools like Visual Studio, IntelliJ, and Eclipse, while engineers and scientists can run complex simulations with MatLab, GNU Octave, R, and Stata,” the company says.

The GeneralPurpose.8xlarge instance is AWS’s first to offer 32 vCPUs but it’s not cheap. With Windows licensing, the 32 vCPU version costs $590 per month, while the 16 vCPU model is priced at $295 monthly. Hourly rates of $4.56 and $2.28 are also available for an additional $19 monthly fee.

Three’s no mention of pricing for Linux users, so it looks as if this is a Windows-only offering for now. Users with their own Windows licenses (BYOL) can save a small amount – the 32 vCPU version drops to $544 ($4.40 an hour) while the 16 vCPU model is $272 ($2.20 an hour).

Although AWS’s 32-core virtual workstation offers competitive hourly rates compared to Azure and Google Cloud, it remains pricier than on-premises options for extended use. Additionally, users will obviously still require a separate device to access these cloud desktops.

In parallel to this announcement, AWS also introduced updates to its EC2 Image Builder, allowing Microsoft Windows ISO files to be directly converted into Amazon Machine Images (AMIs), simplifying the process of using existing Windows licenses with Amazon WorkSpaces.

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• Apple has some catching up to do in AI
• Siri upgrades are reportedly a priority
• Apple also wants improved AI models

We've seen Apple Intelligence launched with a whole lot of hype over the last 12 months, and it seems there's a lot more to come in this area – with a newly leaked memo revealing Apple's top two AI priorities for the rest of 2025.

The memo was reported in an article by Bloomberg (via 9to5Mac), which states that highly rated Apple executive Kim Vorrath has been moved to the AI division with the task of "whipping artificial intelligence and Siri into shape".

John Giannandrea, Apple’s head of AI, announced the news in an internal memo that also apparently reveals two key goals for the division in the coming months: improving the Siri digital assistant and building better in-house AI models.

There is an acknowledgement that Apple is still some way behind when it comes to AI. We've just seen the AI-packed Galaxy S25 phones launched by Samsung, while Google is pushing its advanced Gemini AI into just about all of its apps and devices.

AI upgrades

Siri has already had some Apple Intelligence added (Image credit: Apple)

The two aims reportedly highlighted by Giannandrea make sense. Siri was ahead of its time when it made its debut back in 2011, but since then its been overtaken by its rivals – and it's an Apple product that users often complain about.

OpenAI's ChatGPT is an example of an AI assistant that's much more versatile and far-reaching, and Apple has added a ChatGPT extension to Siri with iOS 18.2 – an admission that Siri currently isn't up to par.

Eventually, Apple will want to cut ties with rival AI assistants, and improving its own Large Language Models (LLMs) will help with that – the second goal. The likes of OpenAI, Google, and Meta all have extensive LLMs powering their AI technology.

We've previously heard that Apple's own LLMs might have developed sufficiently by next year for a truly next-gen Siri 2.0 to emerge – so expect more news to appear when Apple unveils its plans for iOS 19 sometime in June at WWDC 2025.

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• Scientists at US Department of Energy explore concept of an "Exocortex"
• It is pitched as an extension of the scientist's brain with a word-based HCI
• It is uncharted territory as one member of the team puts it

AI is already a big part of our lives, shaping healthcare, transportation, education, customer service, retail, and creative industries, to give just a few examples.

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory are currently exploring the concept of a science "exocortex," the integration of artificial intelligence with human cognitive capabilities, viewed as an extension of the scientist's brain.

The idea is to increase the cognitive abilities of researchers by providing a bridge between the human mind and a network of AI agents.

It will require a community

Kevin Yager, Electronic Nanomaterials Group leader at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), detailed the idea in Digital Discovery. The proposed exocortex is certainly ambitious in its scope, aiming to streamline specific research tasks through a swarm of inter-communicating agents.

Each AI agent would specialize in particular tasks - be it handling scientific literature, orchestrating experiments, or data synthesis - and their collective behavior could offer a synergy that significantly extends the cognitive reach of human scientists.

The exocortex could also aid scientific inspiration and imagination by leaning into hallucinations.

As Yager explains, "Although hallucinations are generally undesirable, their existence is intrinsic, and there is a tradeoff between hallucinations and creativity. In other words, some amount of hallucination is desirable to enhance creativity and communication. More broadly, evaluations of LLM creativity suggest that they can generate outputs that are non-trivially novel and useful to humans."

This vision is not without its challenges, naturally enough, and will require further advancements in AI, particularly in terms of reliability and efficiency across highly technical domains.

Yager says, “Research is required to determine how best to exploit LLMs to generate agentic modules that can perform tasks autonomously (over short timescales) by iterating on a problem.”

The development of a seamless word-based human-computer interface (HCI) will also be needed to make these interactions feel like natural extensions of the human thought process.

While still in a speculative stage, the concept of an exocortex feels like a natural evolution for AI.

As Yager says, “Interaction between a swarm of AI agents - each responsible for intelligently mediating access to a suite of research capabilities - and a human researcher should lead to the emergence of enhanced human capabilities. By expanding the researcher's intelligence into the exocortex, the researcher can accomplish more, as they are able to intuitively and seamlessly weave myriad physical, computational, and cognitive systems into their intellectual work.”

In an article on Tech Xplore, written by some of his colleagues, Yager issues a call to arms, stating: "We're entering unchartered territory with tremendous potential benefits for nanoscience and beyond. But no one person can do it alone. We need a community."

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Once the bargain alternative to pricey cable and satellite packages, the streaming landscape continues to grow in size – and cost. While some of the best streaming services continue to hike their prices, we’ve got your back, giving you the latest scoop on which service you can expect to pay more for in future.

Read below to find out which streamers are charging more in 2025 so far. And while it may seem like keeping up with your favorite shows is getting increasingly costly, you could always check out the best free streaming services out there, which will offer you a wealth of content for nada. Make sure to also check the best streaming deals in 2025 to save on your next subscription bill.

The biggest streamer to announce things were getting pricier in 2025 was Netflix. The streaming giant announced on January 22 that it was raising prices, with the company stating: “As we continue to invest in programming and deliver more value for our members, we will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix.” It should be noted, at time of writing, the price increases only apply to subscribers in Argentina, Portugal and North America.

This means that in the US, the standard ad-supported plan will now cost subscribers $7.99, $1 more than it did previously. Standard without ads is up a buck and a half, now costing $17.99 while the premium tier is now $24.99, a $2 increase. If the price increase has you debating whether to keep the service, our list of the best Netflix movies and best Netflix shows might help your decision.

The other streamer already increasing its prices this year is Discovery Plus, with things set to get a little bit more expensive for US subscribers. The hike went into effect on January 7 for news subscribers, with Discovery saying it would renew at the new rates for existing customers “on your first billing date on or after February 7, 2025.”

Discovery Plus currently offers two tiers, both of which have increased by $1, with the ad-supported plan now $5.99, while it’s $9.99 to go ad-free. Of course, most of Discovery Plus’ content can also be accessed through Warner Bros. Discovery’s flagship streamer Max – which is due to receive a global rollout in 2025 – and with plenty of new content arriving on Max in February, consumers may begin wondering whether to keep the stand alone streamer at all.

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One of my main complaints concerning Nvidia's RTX 4000-series of graphics isn’t, surprisingly enough, the massive wattage (though that is a legitimate concern) but the pricing. For the past couple of generations, Nvidia has been massively hiking up the cost of its cards, especially its best graphics cards like the RTX 4080. But it's mid-range offerings haven't been spared either. It’s become particularly noticeable with the absence of budget-minded cards to offset this phenomenon.

When rumors for the RTX 50-series began to accelerate, buyers rightfully worried that prices would face a far steeper climb while offering a performance return that didn’t reflect the increase. However, the 50-series received its full announcement at CES 2025 and we now know that the MSRP is shockingly affordable.

The flagship Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, widely thought to be a Titan due to its incredible specs, is priced at $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$4,039 — while steep, it’s not too far off from the original $1,599 price tag of the RTX 4090. This is especially promising since the rumors all pointed to a price nearly double what it ended up being.

Then there’s the RTX 5080, which is $999 / £939 / AU$2,019, and the RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti with respective retail prices of $549 / £549 / AU$1,509, and $749 / £749 / AU$1,109. The 5080 is $200 cheaper than the RTX 4080 was at launch, and will hopefully have a solid increase in performance to boot.

Most impressively, Nvidia claims that the RTX 5070 will offer comparable performance to the RTX 4090's native performance with some help from DLSS 4, but at around a third of the initial MSRP, while the RTX 5070 Ti will come in at just $150 more with even better performance.

This is also incredibly promising since it is a generational decrease in price, as the RTX 4070 Ti initially retailed for $799, and the RTX 4070 launched at $599.

AMD has been fumbling hard lately

(Image credit: AMD / TechPowerup)

I’ve long complained about how graphics cards need to be made more affordable, and how Intel has been stepping in the right direction with its Intel Arc Battlemage series. Now it feels like Nvidia is finally doing the same, capping overall price increases while lowering the cost of its mid-range offerings somewhat to remain accessible.

This, unfortunately, is in direct opposite of AMD’s current approach. AMD has been known for years as being the more affordable option for cards, balancing solid performance with more competitive price tags. However, some troublesome new reports suggest that the upcoming RDNA 4 cards may miss the mark in terms of pricing.

The RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 don’t currently have official prices (though apparently will be ‘competitive’ with Nvidia), and it’s been officially confirmed that it won’t launch until at least March 2025. This puts Team Red on the back foot as Team Green’s RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 will be launching in February 2025 with a healthy MSRP. By the time AMD releases their GPUs, everyone might already have bought new Nvidia cards, or may just opt for the more premium Nvidia offerings if AMD's prices are too close to its competitors.

Even worse, new reports indicate that the RX 7400 and 7300, which would have been new aggressively budget-friendly RDNA 3 options, have been axed in favor of fully supporting RDNA 4. If this turns out to be true, then Team Red is giving up a serious advantage in the market.

Right now, we’re looking at a potentially major upset in terms of better budget options for graphics cards. Nvidia has been at least responsive to complaints about price inflation, while AMD seems rather lost on the GPU front.

It’s a shame too, as it would be more beneficial to consumers to have two giants on an even playing field in order to keep prices low.

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• The Galaxy Z Flip 7 is again rumored to use the Exynos 2500
• Samsung's own silicon was missing from the Galaxy S25
• Using the CPU might mean cheaper prices for the foldable

With the Samsung Galaxy S25 launch out of the way, the next Samsung phone launches we can turn our attention to are for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 – and a key spec for the latter handset just leaked out.

According to long-time tipster @Jukanlosreve, Samsung will go with its very own Exynos 2500 processor for the Galaxy Z Flip 7, a processor that isn't being used in any of the Galaxy S25 handsets unveiled a few days ago.

This is something we've heard before, adding extra credibility to the rumor. The tipster lays out the full specifications of the chipset too, including a 10-core cluster, and it looks like an impressive piece of silicon on paper.

As you'll see from our Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 review, the 2024 version of the phone came fitted with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset from Qualcomm – and all the Galaxy S25 models are running on Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processors.

Exynos vs the rest

Exynos 2500 specifications for the Z Flip 73.3GHz ARM Cortex-X925 1core2.75GHz ARM Cortex-A725 2core2.36GHz ARM Cortex-A725 5core1.8GHz ARM Cortex-A520 2coreL3 Cache 16MB 9.6Gbps 16bit Quad-Channel LPDDR5X Memory UFS4.x STORAGE 1.3GHz Samsung Xclipse 950 GPU (AMD…January 25, 2025

Samsung has long used a mix of its own Exynos processors and those designed and made by third-party manufacturers in its smartphones, and there's always speculation ahead of every new Samsung handset about which CPUs will get picked.

Generally speaking, the Exynos processors are thought to be a little less powerful than the alternatives – though not so much to make a huge difference to the user experience. They're also cheaper for Samsung to make, which can mean less expensive phones.

The rumor is that Samsung has been struggling to mass produce the Exynos 2500 in sufficient quantities, which may explain why it didn't appear in the Galaxy S25 (some Samsung Galaxy S24 models used the Exynos 2400 chipset).

There haven't been too many leaks and rumors around the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 yet, but bigger screens could be on the way, and it seems likely that we're also going to get a less expensive Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 SE.

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• Mega HR claims Megan is the most sophisticated AI recruiter to date
• It can apparently manage up to 78% of frontline hiring tasks to cut costs
• It doesn't take lunches, go on holiday, take toilet breaks, go to sleep or gossip

Recruiters play an important role in the hiring process, matching qualified candidates with job opportunities at organizations, arranging interviews, and so on - so it probably won’t come as too much of a surprise to learn this is a task to which AI is perfectly suited.

Mega HR has unveiled Megan, an advanced AI agent designed to transform recruiting and hiring processes.

Megan (who hopefully is more stable than her movie AI namesake) can apparently automate up to 78% of frontline recruitment tasks and address common issues like applicant “ghosting,” where candidates fail to show up for interviews, don’t respond to job offers, or don’t arrive on their first day of work after accepting the position.

Self-training ability

Mega HR says its platform was designed from the ground up with an agentic mindset, allowing multiple AI agents to collaborate seamlessly, solving complex recruitment challenges step by step.

“Megan isn’t just another AI agent; she’s a paradigm shift in SaaS,” said Darren Bounds, Founder & CEO at Mega HR. “Customers are already spending much less time on our product and more time in Slack, conversing with Megan to get updates and finalize hiring decisions.”

One of Megan’s key features is continuous self-learning. By self-training on all architectural, behavioral, and informational changes, and incorporating them into her capabilities, Megan can “move between thoughts, problems, and concepts fluidly - like a human - yet with instant access to all relevant data,” Mega HR claims.

Megan can reduce workloads by managing a majority of hiring tasks, from creating job postings to finalizing offers. For applicants, she can provide timely updates and clear communication.

The platform uses neural-symbolic reasoning, combining the contextual strengths of neural networks with the logical capabilities of symbolic AI, to interpret resumes, job descriptions, and other hiring data with a large degree of nuance. In addition, the AI’s composable design allows various workflows to connect and evolve dynamically, making it possible to adjust processes without sacrificing reliability.

Active learning mechanisms allow Megan to seek out and process new data that align with user goals, and Mega HR says any decisions that Megan makes are easy to trace, understand and, presumably, challenge.

You can find out more about Megan at Mega HR and request a demo. The video below shows the AI in action.

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