TechRadar News

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 arrives on January 28
• It introduces loads of new maps, weapons, and modes
• This is on top of balance changes, fixes, and a Terminator crossover event

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 is almost here, with the upcoming batch of live service content for the popular multiplayer shooter set to arrive on January 28. With a wealth of new maps, modes, and weapons, it comfortably has some of the most exciting additions yet.

For me, the new multiplayer maps are the highlight here. There will be three available at launch, Bounty, Dealership, and Lifeline. All three are brand-new environments built for Black Ops 6 and seem like a nicely varied selection. Bounty is set at the top of a fancy skyscraper, with a nightclub, rooftop, office, lobby and more.

As the name would suggest, Dealership then takes place in a car dealership - but with an interesting twist. The dealership is actually a front for an arms smuggling gang, its large showroom giving way to a sinister weapons black market. While both of these maps are geared towards 6v6 matches, Lifeline is something of a more compact environment that can be played in both 6v6 and 2v2 modes. It’s a small boat, named the Lifeline, which is moving quickly through choppy waters.

That’s not all, however, as two other maps are also being added throughout the season. The all-new Bullet is easily the coolest looking to me, letting you fight through a speeding bullet train which feels like a scene ripped straight out of a Bond movie. Playable in both 2v2 and 6v6, its tight corridor layout looks absolutely perfect for XP grinding too so I’m looking forward to putting in the hours to level up my gear.

(Image credit: Activision)

The final map is a remaster of Grind, which was first featured in Black Ops 2 though I am most familiar with the Black Ops 4 version. This arena-style skatepark map is decent enough, but I personally prefer exploring layouts that we haven’t seen before.

Of course, no Call of Duty season would be complete without a smattering of new modes too. Overdrive is a brand new mode that will be available at launch, challenging you to earn stars through eliminations, headshots, and takedowns. Collecting set numbers of stars activates bonuses, such as the ability to see enemies through walls, increased movement and reload speed, or improved handling.

The classic Gun Game is also coming back, improving your gear through up to 20 different loadouts with every kill. Two limited time modes are dropping in time for Valentine's Day, the aptly named Third Wheel Gunfight and Couples Dance Off.

Two new Perks, a new Wildcard, and a new Scorestreak are being added throughout Season 2. Enforcer Perk Hunter’s Instinct increases your sprinting speed, while cutting down your Tac Sprint. Activision hasn’t revealed the name of the other perk yet, but we do know that it will highlight the next closest enemy with each successful elimination.

The new Wildcard, Flyswatter, is going to be a blessing for those sick of dying to chopper gunners or other Scorestreaks, as it lets you replace your melee weapon with a launcher. As for the new Scorestreak, War Machine is coming back - letting you call in a powerful cluster grenade launcher that’s perfect for clearing out campers.

This is all on top of four newly revealed weapons, the fast-firing PPSh-41 SMG, the reliable Cypher 091 assault rifle, the remarkably compact Feng 82 LMG, and the precise TR2 marksman rifle. These are joined by a variety of new weapon attachments, most interestingly a whole crossbow that you can stick to the bottom of your gun, plus plenty of balance changes, fixes, new bundles, a fresh battle pass, and even a Terminator crossover event.

If you’re interested in diving into Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 just in time for Season 2, the game is available now for PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4.

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• A former BioWare dev seems optimistic about the next Mass Effect, stating it might be the first time the dev 'is able to singularly focus on a single project'

• Reggie Fils-Aimé, former Nintendo of America CEO, had positive things to say about Astro Bot
• The PS5 exclusive took Game of the Year at the New York Game Awards
• It was also awarded Best Kids Game and Best Music in a Game

Former Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aimé has praised Team Asobi's PS5 hit Astro Bot as it claimed yet another Game of the Year accolade - this time at the New York Game Awards 2025.

“So I have to admit it, Astro Bot almost outdid Nintendo at its own game,” said Fils-Aimé (via VGC), who played host at the New York Game Awards. Not only did Astro Bot take 'Best Game of the Year' at the event, it also scooped up awards for 'Best Music in a Game' and 'Best Kids Game'.

Across all three categories it won, Astro Bot beat some stiff competition from the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Black Myth: Wukong and Metaphor: ReFantazio. Other winners included UFO 50 for 'Best Indie Game', Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree for 'Best World' and Zenless Zone Zero for 'Best Mobile Game'.

Remedy's Sam Lake, previously responsible for games like Alan Wake 2, Control and Max Payne, was also presented with the 'Andrew Yoon Legend Award'.

It's not the first time Astro Bot has come up in conversation in relation to Nintendo. When the game took the coveted Game of the Year award at The Game Awards 2024, Team Asobi creative director Nicolas Doucet said the game was greatly inspired by classic Nintendo titles like Super Mario Bros.

Astro Bot has also been receiving plenty of free post-launch content since release. This includes a set of speedrun challenge levels, as well as a unique Christmas-themed stage which threw in a bunch of new costumes and classic PlayStation cameos.

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• Google is planning to tweak its Emergency SOS feature on Pixel Watch
• Code suggests it plans to introduce an extra gesture to the process
• This appears to be aimed at reducing the frequency of accidental emergency calls.

New code spotted in the latest Pixel Watch app appears to suggest that Google is working on a tweak to its Emergency SOS feature that will make pocket-dialing emergency services less likely in the future.

While the Emergency SOS features on the best iPhones, smartwatches, and devices like the Google Pixel Watch 3 can be indispensable in life-or-death situations, adding easy access to emergency calling from a smart device inevitably leads to some accidental calls. A quick glance at Reddit will show you both Pixel Watch and Apple Watch users struggling with the problem.

To that end, Android Authority reports that Google is preparing a new 'Touch & hold to call' option that should reduce those accidental calls. Specifically, strings (lines of code) reveal the feature's name and how it works: "On your watch, quickly press the crown 5 times, then touch & hold the screen for 3 seconds to call for help."

It seems this new feature will be one of two options for emergency call settings because there's also an "automatic call" option listed that will still dial 911, 999, or the emergency number wherever you are, after you press the crown five times.

Combatting rogue emergency calls

Apple Watch models are also vulnerable to pocket dials (Image credit: Future)

As mentioned, pocket-dialing the emergency services from your smartphone or smartwatch isn't a new phenomenon.

When Apple first introduced Crash Detection to the iPhone 14 back in 2022, the company quickly found itself dealing with complaints of calls being triggered in non-emergency situations. Notably, a 911 dispatch center near a Cincinnati amusement park received six such calls from iPhone owners riding rollercoasters.

Later that year, a Colorado ski town dispatch center fielded 71 automated calls from iPhones and Apple Watches in a single weekend.

As you can imagine, the problem is a massive drain on emergency resources. The calls take up the airwaves for dispatch centers, and emergency responders are usually sent to accidental calls to check the location. “We are not in the practice of disregarding calls," a dispatch director told The Colorado Sun in 2022.

In 2021, a Wisconsin county sheriff's office revealed it had taken more than 700 accidental 911 calls triggered by iPhones in a single year, revealing in the process the one thing you should never do if you accidentally call 911.

Next time you accidentally dial 911, stay on the line and let the dispatcher know you're alright – don't hang up the phone.

There's no timeframe for the release of this leaked feature, but with code present in the latest Pixel Watch app beta, it's unlikely to be far away.

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• The M4 MacBook Air could offer improved external display support
• It may connect to two external displays without you needing to close its lid
• We can work this out by looking at the M4 MacBook Pro

Lots of people connect their laptops to an external display in order to extend their workspace, yet this is one area where the MacBook Air struggles. Sure, you can connect two screens to this computer, but only if you close the lid – without doing that, it only works with a single monitor. That’s less than ideal.

Fortunately, that could all be about to change with the imminent launch of the M4 MacBook Air. When the M4 chip lands in Apple’s most affordable laptop, it could finally allow for more flexible external display setups.

To understand why, we need to look at the MacBook Pro. As noted by 9to5Mac, the M4 MacBook Pro supports up to two external displays (if you have the M4 Max model, it will support up to four external screens). The M3 MacBook Pro could also support two monitors, but at lower resolutions and frame rates. In contrast, the M2 MacBook Pro only worked with one external display. That’s progress with each chip generation.

The improved external monitor support in the step up from the M2 to M3 chip was mirrored in the MacBook Air, which is able to support an additional screen as long as the laptop’s screen is closed. The implication here is that because the M4 chip improved display support in the MacBook Pro, it will do the same for the MacBook Air, as has happened with chip upgrades in the past.

Better bandwidth

(Image credit: Bryce Hyland / Future)

The likely reason why the M3 MacBook Air could only connect to two displays when its lid was closed came down to bandwidth: the laptop’s chip couldn’t support the required video throughput for three screens at once.

Now that the M4 MacBook Pro works with higher resolutions and frame rates, the suggestion is that it has greater video bandwidth than the M3 chip. And if that’s the case, there’s a chance that the MacBook Air could make use of that.

That means we could see the M4 MacBook Air support three screens in total: its built-in display, plus two external monitors, all without having to close its lid. That would potentially make it a very attractive device to prospective buyers.

Much of this is speculation and guesswork at the moment. But with the M4 MacBook Air expected to launch soon, it won’t be long until we find out whether it’s received this significant display upgrade.

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• HBO has renewed The White Lotus for a fourth season
• Production of season 4 is reportedly set for 2026 to begin
• Season 3 of the hit Max show will premiere on February 16

The White Lotus season 3 hasn't even arrived, but HBO is clearly confident that the next chapter of its original series will be another hit, as it's confirmed that the show will return for a fourth season.

The news comes ahead of the debut of one the best Max show's third installment, the first episode of which will air on HBO's network and be released on its streaming platform on Sunday, February 16. That means we only have just over three weeks to wait until we find out what the next chapter of this social satire drama has in store for us.

Good news travels fast. #TheWhiteLotus is excited to welcome you to a new destination. pic.twitter.com/QqdonoYHdTJanuary 23, 2025

So far, we know that the new location we'll be visiting is a Thai resort, but the guest list won’t be familiar to anyone who’s seen the previous seasons, as it's a brand-new cast. Well, apart from Natasha Rothwell who plays Belinda Lindsey, who we met in The White Lotus season 2 as a resort manager.

If you've been patiently waiting for the show's return, it sounds like you'll be in for a packed new season; back in November 2023, when production was getting underway, creator Mike White revealed that season 3 will be "longer, bigger [and] crazier".

What do we know so far about The White Lotus season 4?

Not a lot so far. According to Variety, HBO is eyeing 2026 to start production, which might mean that The White Lotus season 4 will be released in the following year, but of course that's just speculation at this stage as nothing has been confirmed.

If we look at the show's release schedule so far, the wait between the second and third seasons of The White Lotus has been three years, while the gap between the first and second installments was only a year, although I wouldn't read too much into that, as the Hollywood writers' strike delayed production of season 3.

With season 4 still in its very early stages, we don’t have much to go on when it comes to speculating on where the show might go next – and the ending of season 3 is unlikely to give us any clues, as The White Lotus is an anthology series that switches up its location and cast each season with a fresh story and characters.

We do know, however, that White has already pitched ideas to HBO and Max boss Casey Bloys about what a fourth season could be about. Indeed, the network boss told Variety late last year that White would "obviously" do the fourth season, although that hadn't been confirmed until today.

The White Lotus season 3 will be released on Max on February 16.

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• Official teaser for an OM System mirrorless camera gives us glimpses of a new retro design
• It includes a color profile dial on its front
• Launch date is set for February 6

We knew an OM System camera was on its way soon following an official letter in January for the year ahead from the brand's Representative Director and CEO, Shigemi Sugimoto. Now a teaser on OM System's Youtube channel (see below) has revealed the exact launch date, together with glimpses of what looks like a retro beauty.

Renderings give us the form factor we can expect – it's similar to existing models like the OM System OM-5, with a raised bump that's clearly a viewfinder, but seemingly without a hand grip. It's potentially doubling down on a retro design, like we get with the Olympus Pen F.

The clearest tease of what is to come is at the start of the video when a color mode dial is revealed on the camera's faux leather finish, with Color, Mono and Art settings clearly visible. Quick access to a Mono profile like in the Nikon Zf is welcome, but we don't know if OM System is expanding its selection of color profiles to emulate the success of Fujifilm's Film Simulations and Panasonic's Real Time LUTs – time will tell.

And it turns out that we won't have to wait long to find out more – the next OM System camera is set for a global announcement on February 6.

How different will this OM System camera be?

I responded to OM System's suggestion of an upcoming new camera earlier this month with caution. Since it acquired Olympus four years ago, there's been little by way of new camera tech, just a refresh of existing models with new branding. That could be about to change in this next model.

The teaser gives us a limited glimpse of the new OM System camera's design, and there are subtle differences compared to what we've seen before. A seemingly OM-5 / Pen F hybrid by design, the camera that's rumored to be called an OM-3 appears to the most exciting camera from OM System yet, in that it's finally something new.

We don't know any tech specs yet, though; whether this is a beginner mirrorless camera or something pricier; whether it features an existing sensor or a new one; or if there's a new processor and features.

I'm really hoping for more than just design tweaks, because I think a more powerful retro camera with a next-gen processor for OM System could rival the likes of Fujifilm in 2025. This first teaser of the upcoming camera has certainly got me interested – it looks stunning.

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• The Ultimea Apollo S80 splits into three front speakers and a sub
• Available in Canada now, coming to US and UK in February
• $209 / £171 / about AU$336

It's fair to say that most soundbars aren't very exciting to look at, and don't tend to go beyond the familiar lozenge shape. But the Ultimea Apollo S80 soundbar is like no soundbar I've ever seen. It isn't just a soundbar. It's a TV transformer that thinks it's a Philips Hue system too.

If you look at the main image you'd think there's nothing particularly unusual going on: it's a soundbar with a separate sub unit, like so many others. But that main soundbar isn't one unit. It's three, and you can pull them apart to turn them into completely separate speakers for left, center and right channels – adding the kind of real separation that hardcore home theater enthusiasts espouse.

Once you've pulled your soundbar apart, you can then leave the speakers standing horizontally or vertically, or you can wall mount some or all of them. However, if you're thinking of wall mounting, it's worth noting that although the soundbar has Bluetooth, the speaker units need to be wired to each other.

On the plus side, not only do they separate, but the left and right speakers also have LED lighting that you can adjust with the companion app. There are six dynamic scene modes and a color wheel to get the lights just-so.

(Image credit: Ultimea) Is a splittable soundbar a good idea?

The specification is decent: as Notebookcheck reports, the drivers are 2 inches, the sub is 5.25 inches and it's a 5.1 system (though that's five forward channels, not real surround) with Dolby Atmos, optical audio, HDMI eARC, USB and Bluetooth 5.3.

We’ve been quite impressed with Ultimea's affordable soundbars, such as the Ultimea Poseidon D50: while they're not up there with their more expensive rivals from the likes of Samsung or Sonos, they're relatively cheap ways to significantly upgrade the sound of your TV, and we rate the Poseidon as being among the best soundbars today if you're on a budget.

You can't fault the thinking here: it's not so much thinking outside of the box as thinking in a completely different zip code to the box. But I do wonder who the target market is for this particular unit's transforming talents, because once you've got your soundbar or speakers just-so you're probably just going to leave them where they are.

Having said that, we do like the similarly transformable JBL Bar 1300X with its rear speakers that attach to the soundbar or can be placed behind you when you want them… but those are totally wireless with built-in batteries, and rear speakers are more of an inconvenience to have permanently than front speakers, so the whole step makes more sense. And also costs many times what the Ultimea costs.

The big draw here is price: good luck putting together a similar system of separates without having to hit eBay or Aliexpress and seriously lower your standards.

The Ultimea Apollo S80 has an list price of $209 / £171 / about AU$336, but it's currently cheaper with 10% off if you buy direct from the Ultimea website.

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Black Ops 6 Season 2 Reloaded launches Tuesday, January 28, adding new maps, four new weapons, as well as the return of a fan favorite Zombies relic.

Even without extra Season Two content, we're still having a blast with Black Ops 6, landing it a place on our list of the best FPS games to play in 2025. This upcoming seasonal update will freshen things up somewhat, giving players a new assault rifle, and SMG to work towards.

Here's what we know about Black Ops Season 2 so far, including a closer look at the confirmed release time later this week, as well as what's set to be added. As we hear more from Activision, this page will be updated.

Black Ops 6 Season 2 release time in your time zone

(Image credit: Activision)

The Black Ops 6 Season 2 release time is Tuesday, January 28 at 9AM PST / 12PM EST / 5PM GMT. Here's some more specifics related to the release schedule per your timezone:

• 9AM PST: West Coast (US)
• 12PM EST: East Coast (US)
• 5PM GMT: United Kingdom (UK)
• 6PM CET: Europe
• 2AM JST (Wednesday, January 29): Japan
• 4AM AEDT: (Wednesday, January 29): Australia

Black Ops 6 Season 2 - what's being added?

(Image credit: Activision)

Activision has now announced what'll be added to Black Ops 6 as part of Season 2. This includes new maps, a new Zombies map, and mission, as well as new weapons and updates to Warzone. Here's a brief summary of what's being added:

• Maps: Bounty (6v6), Dealership (6v6), Lifeline(6v6, 2v2)
• Weapons: PPSH-41 (SMG), Cypher091 (AR), FENG 82 (LMG), TR2 (Marksman)
• Attachments: Crossbow
• Modes: Overdrive, Gun Game, Ranked Play S02, Third Wheel Gunfight
• Perk: Slipstream (Multiplayer)
• Scorestreak: War Machine
• Bundle: The Terminator Ultra
• Warzone: Changes to weapons, movement, default perks, and more. Reactive Armor (Perk). New ranked rewards.
• Zombies: The Tomb (new map), Staff of Ice (Wonder Weapon), New Gobblegums, New Augments, Death Perception (Perk), War Machine (Support)
• Events: The Terminator, Shadow Hunt
• Operators: Nocturne, Vortex (Blackcell)

For a full breakdown of Black Ops 6 Season 2, head on over to the Call of Duty blog. This includes some limited-time modes that'll be available to enjoy over the holidays.

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Jump to your region

US Nvidia RTX 5090 stock

UK Nvidia RTX 5090 stock

If you're looking to snag an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU, you've come to the right place. Nvidia's latest flagship graphics card is poised to become the new best consumer graphics card on the market, delivering top-of-the-line performance without compromise.

Unfortunately, that makes it highly desired by not just PC gamers and creative professionals, but also swathes of scalpers hoping to turn a profit on Nvidia's new monster GPU. Retailing at $1,999 / £1,939 / AU$4,039 for the Founders Edition card, the RTX 5090 costs a pretty penny - but if you've got the dough, TechRadar is here to help you snap one up.

The RTX 5090 will go on sale from Nvidia itself and a range of third-party retailers on January 30 - but bear in mind that every seller will have limited stock (if previous RTX launches are any indication) so securing one might be challenging. Regardless, we'll keep updating this page regularly to help you track down this coveted GPU.

WHERE TO BUY RTX 5090: US QUICK LINKS

• Nvidia: Buy direct from Nvidia (including Founders Edition and third-party GPUs)
• Amazon US: Major retailer will hopefully have stock of third party RTX 5090 GPUs
• Best Buy: Nvidia RTX 5090 Founders Edition will be on sale
• Newegg: Founders Edition and third-party RTX 5090s go on sale soon
• B&H: Preorders start at 12:00am ET, Friday January 31
• Micro Center: Retailer will have stock from Nvidia and third parties
• Adorama: Worth checking for stock when sales go live

WHERE TO BUY RTX 5090: UK QUICK LINKS

• Nvidia UK: Buy Founders Edition and third-party GPUs direct
• Amazon: Should have a RTX 5090 models on sale
• Ebuyer: Already lists RTX 5090 models ahead of launch
• Scan: Get notified when RTX 5090 GPUs go on sale
• Overclockers: Respected retailer should have stock on launch day
• Box: Another well-known store for PC components should have RTX 5090 stock

WHERE TO BUY RTX 5090 IN THE US

Orders for the Nvidia RTX 5090 will go live in the US on January 30, but stock is in high demand with retailers expected to sell out. We're not seeing any pre-orders popping up yet, but we'll keep you posted if that changes. Below, you can find all the retailers we recommend checking out:

Nvidia RTX 5090 deals at Nvidia
This should be your first port of call once stock drops: Nvidia sells not just third-party cards but its own Founders Edition versions of the RTX 5090 at MSRP - but this means that stock is likely to run out fast.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5090 deals at Best Buy
Best Buy is often a good place to pick up a new RTX card at retail price, and you can get the RTX 5090 Founders Edition here too. It's also worth noting that the retailer does sometimes throttle stock of highly-desired products to prioritize My Best Buy members, so if you've got a subscription, this could be your best option.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5090 deals at Newegg
Newegg is a trusted retailer when it comes to PC hardware, and is often worth checking out when new graphics cards drop. It also offers a GPU trade-in scheme, which can save you some cash if you offer up your old graphics card as a sacrifice to the RTX gods.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5090 deals at B&H
Although B&H is best known as a photography retailer, it also stocks computer hardware - most crucially graphics cards. Since it's not one of the better-known GPU sellers, it can be a good place to track down stock of high-end cards.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5090 deals at Amazon
Amazon is always worth checking, but it can also be a battleground for third-party scalpers and scammers whenever a new flagship Nvidia GPU drops, so be wary - don't drop $4,000+ on a suspect listing here.View Deal

WHERE TO BUY RTX 5090 IN THE UK

The Nvidia RTX 5090 will go on sale in the UK on January 30 as well, though stock is likely to be limited there too. Here are the retailers we recommend keeping an eye on:

Nvidia RTX 5090 deals at Nvidia
Nvidia will be selling the RTX 5090 on its own UK website as well, but be aware that the site is liable to go down or run slowly as eager shoppers flock to Team Green's storefront. You can buy not just the Founder's Edition, but other third-party models as well.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5090 stock at Overclockers
Overclockers UK is a great site for buying components, and if you act quickly, you might be able to get your hands on a third-party RTX 5090 model on launch day. Amusingly, Overclockers currently has the price of every 5090 card set to £25,000 - hopefully not a portent of times to come!View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5090 stock at Ebuyer
Strangely, Ebuyer only has a live hub page for RTX 5080 (not RTX 5090) cards prior to launch, but we'll keep an eye out in case this changes.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5090 stock at Scan
Scan will also be selling a range of RTX 5090 cards, although the selection appears to be a bit limited compared to some other retailers - however, you'll also be able to pick up a fully pre-built RTX 5090 gaming PC if that takes your fancy instead.View Deal

• These are the best graphics cards of 2025

(Image credit: Nvidia / Future)

Here we go again, folks... Nvidia is about to drop its new next-gen flagship graphics card, the RTX 5090 (as well as its little brother the RTX 5080), and you can bet that hordes of gamers - and scalpers - will be chomping at the bit to get their hands on one.

As someone who's currently got an RTX 4080 sitting inside my home PC, I'm feeling rather comfortable this time around - not beset with the urgent need to upgrade that I felt during the last big Nvidia launch. But that doesn't mean I'm not here to help you out: with the January 30 release date closing in and the review embargo lifting today, January 23, I'll be here for the next few weeks to keep tabs on stock and (hopefully!) point you in the right direction.

You'll be able to check out our review later today, but right here I've compiled all the retailers you'll want to keep an eye on when it comes to tracking down one of these highly-coveted GPUs. Some storefronts, such as Newegg, already have dedicated landing pages for the RTX 5090, but nowhere seems to be offering any sort of pre-orders yet - it's possible they won't at all. However, some retailers - including Nvidia itself - are allowing shoppers to sign up for email notifications.

Be sure to bookmark this page and check back for more updates - I'll be keeping a close watch on retailers for any updates as stock shifts, so you can be the first to know.

Although you'll still have to wait a few hours until we're allowed to publish our review - we really don't want to hear from Nvidia's legal team today! - you can check out our RTX 5090 unboxing right now to get an early sneak peek at the contents of the package.

A new type of power adapter is now included in the box, making it easier to install the GPU inside smaller PC cases and hopefully putting to bed any previous thorny issues with melting power connectors...

There have been rumors about RTX 5000 stock shortages circling for the past few days, but even if they prove to be untrue, I strongly suspect that we're going to see an absolute sell-out almost immediately on launch day. With no pre-orders in sight to secure you a unit in advance, your best bet is likely going to be camping on multiple retailer sites (which I've handily organized for you above).

The scalpers are likely to be out in force again for this launch, even now that crypto-mining isn't as widespread and prevalent as it was during previous GPU releases. The RTX 4090 never really got over its stock issues, with units still selling above MSRP on sites like Amazon. However, that was arguably down to how much of a letdown the RTX 4080 was - hopefully this time around, Nvidia will get things right with its new not-quite-flagship GPU.

Fun fact: the RTX 5090 is going to be quite a bit smaller than its predecessor the RTX 4090, despite ostensibly being a more powerful card. Yes, I have to say 'ostensibly' because we're not past the review embargo yet, but come on, we all know it's going to perform better.

I'm personally over the moon that Nvidia has opted to slim things down for this new high-end GPU, because quite frankly the RTX 4090 was a comically oversized beast of a card regardless of which model you bought. All of the Founders Edition models of every upcoming RTX 5000 card will be certified for Nvidia's own Small Form Factor Ready scheme, meaning lovers of compact PCs and living-room builds can rejoice.

If you've somehow stumbled onto the wrong page and were actually looking for Nvidia's more affordable (but still definitively high-end) new GPU, you can check out our where to buy the RTX 5080 guide instead. I'll be making sure both pages stay updated regularly up to launch day and beyond to help you track down stock, and it's worth bearing in mind that the RTX 5080 might be a little easy to get hold of than the flagship 5090 - so if you're desperate for shiny new graphics card, that could be a better bet.

The new, sleeker RTX 5000 design reportedly almost didn't happen: earlier this week, we spotted a mysterious possible RTX 5090 prototype that was a seriously beefy boy, packing specs beyond the real 5090 and a truly absurd 800W power requirement.

While that prototype remains shrouded in uncertainty, it's possible that it might rear its head further down the line if Nvidia chooses to resurrect its long-dormant Titan RTX series for professional users.

Jump to your region

US Nvidia RTX 5080 stock

UK Nvidia RTX 5080 stock

With Nvidia's 50 series GPU reveal at CES 2025 comes a wave of excited PC enthusiasts looking to upgrade their setups with the latest in hardware advancements. If you count yourself among those looking for one of Team Green's latest Blackwell lineup, you've come to the right place.

Nvidia's new RTX 5080, MSRP set at $999 in the US and £979 in the UK, brings hardware improvements to the lineup in the form of more CUDA cores, fourth-gen RT cores, fifth-gen Tensor cores, and 16GB of GDDR7 memory. Those hardware bumps are well and good, but there real star of the show here is DLSS 4, Nvidia's AI-powered image rendering software.

The only issue is, it can be tough to find anywhere that actually has the card in stock. We've been scouring retailers to find the best places to buy the Nvidia RTX 5080 and even some prebuilt PCs - and you'll recognize a lot of usual suspects here like Newegg and Best Buy running deals on Team Green's latest creations.

Be sure to check back in with this guide for the latest news on the RTX 5080 - we'll be updating it with stock availability as the situation develops.

WHERE TO BUY RTX 5080: US QUICK LINKS

• Nvidia: Buy direct from Nvidia (including Founders Edition and third-party GPUs)
• Amazon: Major retailer will hopefully have stock
• Best Buy: Founders Edition will be on sale
• Newegg: Founders Edition will go on sale soon
• B&H: Preorders start at 9:00am ET, Thursday January 30
• Micro Center: Retailer will have stock on January 30
• Adorama: Worth checking for stock when sales go live

WHERE TO BUY RTX 5080: UK QUICK LINKS

• Nvidia: Buy Founders Edition and third-party GPUs direct
• Amazon: Should have a wide range of RTX 5080 models
• Ebuyer: Already lists RTX 5080 models but no pre-orders (yet)
• Scan: Get notified when RTX 5080 GPUs go on sale
• Overclockers: Respected retailer should have stock on launch day
• Box: Another well-known store for PC components should have stock

WHERE TO BUY RTX 5080 IN THE US

Nvidia's 5000 series looks like an upgrade target for many PC builders thanks to its impressive performance marks (assisted heavily by AI) and fair price points.

If you're after top-of-the-line performance, I recommend checking out our guide on where to buy the RTX 5090 instead. But if you have your eye on the sweet spot of power and pricing, read on to find where RTX 5080s are currently listed for browsing. 5080 stock will be available for ordering from January 30th, but you can still find and bookmark solid deals now.

Nvidia RTX 5080 deals at Amazon
Amazon is expected to be a reliable source of RTX 5080 stock as with nearly everything else - that's the good news. The bad news is that everyone else will think to check Amazon, so I expect stock to be dwindling or already sold out very soon after launch. You will likely find some options if you don't mind shelling out a bit extra for a third-party GPU, though.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5080 deals at Nvidia
Listed for $999, the RTX 5080 FE stock on Nvidia's website is sure to sell out particularly quickly. If your plan was to go directly to the source, I'd get in now before scalpers and resellers take over. However, if you're able to snag one, the FE cards are at a reasonable price, feature a sleek design, and are even small enough to fit into an SFF build.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5080 deals at Best Buy
Best Buy is similar to Amazon in that you can expect a solid stock of Nvidia's new 5000 series cards, but they'll be flying off the shelves and into carts without a second look at the price tag.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5080 deals at Newegg
Newegg, a personal favorite tech retailer of mine, is a fantastic location to find upgraded 5080s from Asus, Zotac, MSI, and more. Newegg is also offering trade-in value on your current GPU towards the new card, so if you want to get some value from your 30 series card, this is an excellent opportunity.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5080 deals at B&H
B&H is another solid retailer to search for third-party RTX 5080 deals. It just added its 5080 stock to pre-order pages within the last few days, so I believe it'll have a decent backlog of MSI, Asus, and Gigabyte 5080s to sling around come January 30.View Deal

WHERE TO BUY RTX 5080 IN THE UK

Not to worry UK folks, Nvidia hasn't forgotten about you - though stock is proving to be just as hard to get there as well. Here's what we dug up from retailers like Ebuyer and Box:

Nvidia RTX 5080 deals at Nvidia
Nvidia has stock for the RTX 5080 on its UK website as well, but like the US counterpart, stock is moving very quickly. Founders Edition cards will be selling like hotcakes, but you can also find third-party GPUs on Nvidia's website.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5080 stock at Overclockers
Overclockers UK is an excellent site for buying PC components, and if look now, you'll see staggering £12,000 price tags! Hopefully those don't stick around too long; the good news is that Overclockers has already listed its 5080 stock, and there are a fair number of cards on offer.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5080 stock at Ebuyer
Ebuyer is another fantastic site to check for new PC components, and the 5080 launch is no exception. Like everywhere else, be sure to check back in on January 30 to assess the available stock.View Deal

Nvidia RTX 5080 stock at Scan
Scan also just populated its GPU pages with swathes of RTX 5080 cards from Gigabyte, Asus, Zotac, and MSI. For now, the only thing you can do is get notified when they're available, but be sure to check back first thing January 30.View Deal

• These are the best graphics cards of 2025

(Image credit: Future)

It's that time of year again; Nvidia is taking the gaming world by storm with the release of its new RTX 5000 series GPUs, and I've got my eye set on the higher mid-range RTX 5080. I'm currently rocking an RTX 3080 Ti in my gaming rig, and while it's served me well, the 5000 series looks to be an interesting value proposition - so I'm excited to see whether the late TI card release trend continues.

But for now, we have a release date of Thursday, January 30 for the Blackwell lineup, including the Nvidia RTX 5070, 5070 Ti, 5080, and RTX 5090 (check out our hub on where to find RTX 5090 stock if you're after peak performance). We've already gotten our hands on a Blackwell card, but we can't let you know what we think until the review embargo lifts this Friday, January 23 (keep an eye out for TechRadar's in-depth review later today!)

That said, those release dates haven't stopped loads of retailers from teasing their 5080 stock early. Some storefronts like Newegg have already created landing pages that group all of its 5080 stock in one place - perfect for comparing prices and delivery dates.

Make sure to bookmark this page for more updates - I'll be scouring retailers for any updates as stock and availability moves, so you can be the first to know.

While our review of the RTX 5080 (and its big brother, the 5090) won't be going live for a few hours - we'd rather not upset Nvidia today of all days - you can check out our RTX 5090 unboxing right now to see what's included in the box.

Most notably, Nvidia has moved away from the problematic 12VHPWR power connector in favor of a new connector with additional sensor pins and a bundled in-box adapter, which should make fitting these new GPUs inside smaller cases easy - and prevent any danger of cable-melting fiascos.

One thing we can already talk about is the new physical design of Nvidia's next-gen graphics cards. The high-end Founders Edition cards of the RTX 4000 generation rightly received some flak from gamers and reviewers alike for being... a little chunky, to say the least. Notably, only the 4070 FE and 4070 Super FE actually qualified for Nvidia's own Small Form Factor certification.

That's not the case this time around: every RTX 5000 card all the way up to the RTX 5090 will be small enough to fit inside a (relatively) compact case, something we're very excited about. A smaller footprint also means a lighter GPU, since the previous RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 were very heavy and carried the risk of damaging your motherboard if not properly supported inside your PC.

One question many eager PC gamers will no doubt be asking right now is this: where are the pre-orders? And that's a good question, since it appears that no retailers are offering any sort of pre-order system whatsoever, and it seems less and less likely that we'll see any at all as launch day creeps closer.

This is a little unusual, but there's a potential simple explanation: Nvidia and its retail partners are perfectly aware that the RTX 5090 and 5080 are likely to sell out near-instantly with demand remaining high for a while (as was the case with the RTX 4090), so implementing pre-orders systems might just not be worth the time and effort. If you know they're going to sell like hot cakes anyway, why bother?

According to recent reports and rumors, RTX 5000 stock shortages are likely - but I could've told you that without needing to read anything. This happens every single time; why would this generation be any different?

Also as inevitable as death and taxes are the scalpers. Sadly, we're almost certainly going to see some particularly scummy (sorry, 'enterprising') individuals snapping up these cards and trying to resell them at inflated prices. Even if you've got the cash, steer clear. These sellers are also known to pull scams on desperate shoppers, and if I'm being honest, we shouldn't support this sort of behavior anyway. Stay strong, friends!

If you suddenly decide you actually have more cash to throw at your PC build (or perhaps you made a typo while Googling) and you'd rather spring for Nvidia's upcoming flagship monster GPU the RTX 5090, be sure to go and have a gander at our where to buy the RTX 5090 page. I'll be keeping both pages updated regularly up til launch day and beyond to help you find the card you want - and if you change your mind and want to opt for a more affordable card, we'll be doing the same for the mid-range RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti in February too.

We've been reporting on camera rumors for many years and trust us, in 2025 there are few true tech surprises. Prominent leakers tease little nuggets of info in the build up to product launches, and come the official reveal there's little that we don't know already.

That's not to say all rumors are accurate – many are to be taken with a pinch of salt; some are mere wishful thinking by fans, some are based purely on past events and existing products, while others turn out to be on the money. We've been in the camera rumors game long enough to spot the difference, and are often the first to share the latest news.

This camera rumors round up collects the most credible rumors for the most exciting upcoming cameras from leading names in photography, and separates the likely from the outright fiction. Below you'll find the latest info about rumored cameras such as the DJI Mavic 4 Pro, Canon Powershot V1 and Sony A7V, and we update this page regularly as more information is revealed, with links to the fuller stories. So if you're in the market for a new camera or simply curious about what's next to expect, keeping check in with this page.

DJI rumors for 2025

(Image credit: Future)

While a potential ban in the US still looms for DJI, the high-flying manufacturer apparently has no intention of dialling back its production schedule in 2025. In fact, rumors suggest DJI is accelerating its plans. January already brought the arrival of the DJI Flip – and if information from industry insiders is accurate, we expect to meet more new DJI drones before the year is out, as well as action cameras, controllers and smartphone gimbals.

DJI Mavic 4 Pro

• DJI's rumored fourth generation flagship triple-camera consumer drone

According to leaks, the Mavic 4 Pro will have a bulbous triple-camera unit that's redeveloped from the Mavic 3 Pro's angular unit. (Image credit: Future)

Reliable sources indicate that the DJI Mavic 4 Pro could land in spring 2025. An FCC filing suggests that a new flagship folding drone is on the horizon, with leaked images suggesting it will sport a redesigned camera module.

Its predecessor, the Mavic 3 Pro, won both best drone and best camera in the TechRadar Choice Awards 2023. With a triple camera setup that covers 24mm, 70mm and 166mm focal lengths, it’s an incredibly versatile drone that remains our favorite premium camera drone. We’d expect its successor to build on that platform in several key ways.

Based on leaked images, the Mavic 4 Pro will feature a larger, more bulbous gimbal-mounted module. We’d expect that to translate into improved lenses and, therefore, better image quality for at least some of the cameras. It could also mean a wider range of motion, addressing complaints from Mavic 3 Pro owners about its gimbal limitations.

Regular DJI leaker @QuadroNews has suggested that the Mavic 4 Pro won’t benefit from the LiDAR feature found on the Air 3S, which improves collision avoidance in low light. However, we’d be cautious about making any firm conclusions: predictions at this stage are based on prototype imagery and might not reflect DJI’s plans for the production model.

That said, we do expect the Mavic 4 Pro to be a hefty flyer. With an expanded camera module, we’d be surprised to see it come in any lighter than the Mavic 3 Pro, a C2 class drone which hits the scales at 958g. Rumors also suggest that it will carry a larger 6645 mAh battery, compared to the Mavic 3 Pro’s 5000 mAh cell.

When we’ll officially see the Mavic 4 Pro remains to be seen. Early predictions suggested it could launch alongside the DJI Flip in January, but that date has been and gone. The Mavic 3 Pro was launched in April 2023, so there’s precedent for a spring launch. Watch this space.

DJI Osmo Action 6 & Osmo 360

• Osmo Action 6 would take on GoPro and Insta360's flagship action cameras
• DJI's first-ever 360-degree action camera rumored for 2025

The Action 5 Pro only hit the shelves in September 2024, but a successor could already be en route. (Image credit: DJI)

Beyond flying machines, DJI has established its status among the best action cameras: the Osmo Action 5 Pro ranks highly as one of our top alternatives to the GoPro Hero 13 Black. The Action 5 Pro only hit shelves in September 2024, yet new FCC filings indicate that we could see its successor before too long.

Spotted by @Quadro_News and Notebookcheck, regulatory papers refer to a “DJI Osmo Action 6”. Filings usually come shortly before a launch, which means we might see the next iteration of DJI’s action camera in the next few months.

The documents don’t reveal too much about what to expect from the Osmo Action 6, although they do list two battery capacities: 1,770mAh and 1,950mAh. That suggests we could get both standard and Pro versions of the new camera.

In our in-depth review of the Osmo Action 5 Pro, we described it as “a seriously feature-packed action camera”. One of the very few limitations on its spec sheet was its 4K maximum resolution, which is bettered by the GoPro Hero 13 Black (5.3K) and the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 (8K). Whether this will be addressed for the Action 6, only time will tell.

There might be another model joining the stable in 2025, too: while GoPro continues to delay the follow-up to its Max model, rumors suggest that DJI might be working on a 360-degree camera to rival Insta360 X4. Details are slim, but FCC filings suggest that DJI does have something in the works.

Mock-ups based on leaked schematics indicate that the Osmo 360 will have a squarish body with a twin-lens design similar to the GoPro Max. We don’t know much beyond that, nor when it’s likely to arrive. But given DJI’s form when it comes to tackling new product categories, we’d expect a 360 camera from the company to be a real contender – especially if it arrives before the GoPro Max 2.

DJI Osmo Mobile 7

• DJI's leading smartphone gimbal is due an upgrade, and could be the Osmo Mobile 7

After excellent phone gimbals from Hohem and Insta360, DJI's Osmo Mobile 6 is just about due an update, which might come in 2025. (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

As if to emphasize the diversity in its product line-up, DJI is also rumored to be launching a follow-up to its smartphone gimbal. Based on another FCC filing, a new version of DJI’s handheld stabilizer is in the works.

The Osmo Mobile 6 already ranks at the top of our list of the best smartphone gimbals, with its excellent ergonomics, compact design and intuitive interface making it a choice tool for shooting stabilized video using one of the best camera phones.

The Osmo Mobile 6 launched back in September 2022, so we’d say that it’s overdue an upgrade – especially with the arrival of newer rivals, including the Insta360 Flow 2 Pro, which we rated as the best small iPhone gimbal in our in-depth review.

There’s little concrete information circulating about the DJI Osmo Mobile 7 at present. We’d expect it to build on the formula established by previous versions, rather than introducing any radical new features. It will probably offer improved battery life and subject tracking. It’s also likely to support Apple DockKit, which will allow it to work seamlessly with the stock iOS camera app.

All of those upgrades taken together mean the DJI Osmo Mobile 7 is set to be a contender for top honors among our favorite smartphone gimbals. Exactly when we’ll see it in 2025 is less clear.

Canon rumors for 2025

Last year was a big one for Canon, with the launch of two of its most exciting models in a long time: the EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II. With the dust just about settled on those flagship cameras, attention turns to Canon’s next releases. We’ve seen plenty of rumors circulating online, touting everything from a second generation of the PowerShot V10, to a Canon gimbal camera designed to rival the Osmo Pocket 3. We’ve focused here on what we think is the most realistic prediction for Canon in 2025: the arrival of three new R series mirrorless cameras.

Canon Powershot V1

• Canon could discontinue viral Powershot G7X Mark III and open all-new line of compacts, starting with the Powershot V1 point-and-shoot

(Image credit: Future)

Canon is rumored to capitalize on the viral success of point-and-shoot compact cameras in 2024, after one of its own blew up in popularity, the Powershot G7X Mark III, with suggestions that it could recommit to the compact camera game as early as March 2025 with an all-new Powershot V1.

That's according to CanonRumors, which says a V1 could cost in the region of $600-800 and come equipped with a 24MP sensor that's 'close to Micro Four Thirds' in size, plus a 3x optical zoom lens. Throw in 4K video recording with Canon's C-Log3 color profile, and compact proportions similar to that of the G7X Mark III, and the V1 could be a tidy package.

If all of those details are true, and a Powershot V1 also features some of Canon's recent tech such as dual-pixel autofocus, then we'd expect it to be one of 2025's big hits. Canon has already got the Powershot ball in motion with the V10 vlogging camera and showcased two concept Powershot cameras for 360-degree and 180-degree VR applications. If Canon was indeed the first big name in photography to step up with a genuine compact camera for photography in the V1, then that could be its smartest play in 2025.

Canon EOS R6 Mark III

• Canon's mid-range full-frame mirrorless camera offering that needs an upgrade to rival Nikon

The EOS R6 Mark II is one of our favorite full-frame mirrorless cameras, but its rumored successor should be better equipped to outdo the Nikon Z6 III. (Image credit: Future)

The Canon EOS R6 Mark II landed in November 2022 as a full-frame mirrorless camera with the specs of a proper hybrid workhorse. As capable and popular as it is, the launch of the Nikon Z6 III last year means an updated version of the EOS R6 is now due, to keep Canon in the running for the best mirrorless camera crown.

Several well-known Canon leakers are confident that that’s exactly what the company is working on. The widely held consensus is that we’ll see the EOS R6 Mark III in the first quarter of 2025 – most likely to coincide with the CP+, taking place in Japan from February 27 to March 2.

Early information suggests that the EOS R6 Mark III will be a refinement rather than a reinvention of the Mark II. Rumored improvements include an upgraded EVF and an entirely new OLED touchscreen with dual-axis flip-out and rotate movements, similar to the one seen on the Sony A9 III. This should make for easier framing at low angles and when tripod-mounted.

In terms of stills, we’d expect it to have relatively similar specs to the Mark II, including the same 24MP full-frame sensor and electronic burst speeds of up to 40fps. That said, we can also see a world where the EOS R6 Mark III gets a DIGIC Accelerator to boost continuous shooting performance, like the EOS R5 Mark II did.

It could also borrow that same camera’s advanced subject detection autofocus system, as well as its in-camera neural network noise reduction and upscaling tools. Together with likely improvements to 6K video recording and potential support for Canon’s Cinema RAW Light codec, the R6 Mark III looks set to give the Nikon Z6 III a good run for its money.

Canon EOS R7 Mark II

• Canon's successor to one of the best APS-C mirrorless cameras that could offer best-in-class performance

The EOS R7 remains one of the best crop sensor mirrorless cameras available, and it's rumored successor could offer best-in-class features for sports and wildlife photography. (Image credit: Future)

Another Canon EOS R series camera due for an upgrade in 2025 is the EOS R7. Launched alongside the EOS R10 in 2022, it was the first flagship APS-C camera for the R mount mirrorless line-up. All that really held it back was a lack of native lenses, an issue which has since been addressed: Canon finally opened its RF mount to Sigma and Tamron, while a quick look at our list of the best Canon RF lenses will show you how the that catalog has grown, especially for full-frame cameras.

Read around online and you’ll find plenty of sources talking about Canon doing something significant with its APS-C cameras in 2025. That something could well arrive with the R7 Mark II: it’s rumored to be the first Canon APS-C camera to ship with a stacked sensor.

The first-gen R7 was already a rapid camera for sports and wildlife, with electronic burst speeds hitting 30fps. A stacked sensor would make things quicker still, potentially bringing the R7 Mark II up to the 40fps mark, to match the EOS R1. That sensor could also eradicate rolling shutter.

Canonrumors has suggested that the EOS R7 Mark II will be an “upmarket” camera and the presence of a stacked sensor would certainly align with this. At present, stacked sensors are only found in Canon’s top-spec full-frame models: the EOS R1, the EOS R5 Mark II and the EOS R3, while the rival Fujifilm XH-2S is the only crop-sensor camera with one.

Exactly what this sensor will look like isn’t clear. The EOS R7 has a 32.5MP CMOS sensor which can record uncrossed 4K/60p video. Some sources have mooted a potential increase in pixel count to equip the EOS R7 Mark II with 8K recording capabilities, but we think this might be overkill.

Rumors also suggest that Canon could introduce two new pro-tier RF-S lenses to pair with the EOS R7 Mark II. What these might look like – and, indeed, when in 2025 we can expect to see these new releases – is also a matter of conjecture.

Canon EOS RC

• Could Canon emulate Sony's success with a cine-focused mirrorless camera?

Sony has a cinema-focused 'FX' range of mirrorless cameras and Canon could be tempted to follow suit with an all-new affordable option. (Image credit: Future)

The third addition to Canon’s R mount range in 2025 is the subject of keen online conversation. A rumored model that you’ll find discussed in several forums is the Canon EOS RC. The name comes from Canonrumors, which credits an inside source with a solid reporting record. Beyond that, though, precious little is known about the EOS RC.

Some have suggested that the EOS RC will be a video-focused APS-C model to rival the Sony FX30, with a body design that bridges the gap between between Canon’s EOS hybrids and its Cinema EOS cameras. That would certainly add some spice to its APS-C range, giving serious video content creators a compact yet capable tool to shoot with – and the Sony FX30 some proper competition.

As interesting as a video-first EOS RC would be, it’s by no means a certainty. There’s every chance that Canon is working on a camera to compete with Sony’s FX series, but it could just as well be a new full-frame option. If that is the case, where would that leave the EOS RC?

Other sources have suggested that Canon might go a completely different way with the EOS RC. Rumors of a retro-style Canon mirrorless camera have been circulating for years. Could 2025 be the year it happens? Several accomplished cameras have proven that the retro recipe works, including the Fujifilm X100VI, as well as two cameras from Canon’s arch rival: the Nikon Zf and Zfc.

A couple of years ago, Canon conducted market research in Asia to find out which of its analog cameras customers would like to see made digital. So far, that hasn’t come to anything. Commenting on if and when we might actually see one would be a guess at best. But with the film revival very much in full swing, there’s almost certainly a market in 2025 for a Canon EOS R mirrorless camera with a vintage design.

Sony rumors for 2025

(Image credit: Sony)

Sony’s imaging division had a relatively quiet 2024, with only one major new camera release: the admittedly superb Sony A1 II. Aside from a handful of lens reveals, the stunning full-frame flagship was all we got last year, but 2025 is shaping up to be an altogether busier affair for the electronics giant – and, if industry chatter is to be believed, we can look forward at least one huge new camera body launch in the early part of the year, plus one or two other significant additions to the line-up before the year is out.

Sony A7 V

• A successor to the popular but now dated Sony A7 IV would be one of 2025's biggest camera launches

The rumored Sony A7 V, which would succeed the A7 IV (above), could be one of 2025's standout cameras. (Image credit: Future)

Sony’s hugely popular and versatile A7 line of full-frame mirrorless bodies has had four iterations over the years, with the last being the A7 IV, announced way back in late 2021. It’s high time for an update then, and murmurings in the industry suggest that one could arrive within the first quarter of 2025; in fact, as Sony Addict reports, Sony has already registered a new camera body with authorities, which some believe to be the A7 V.

Of course, all this remains mere speculation until Sony holds an official launch, but a source told Sony Alpha Rumors that the Sony A7 V will feature a new 44MP full-frame sensor that supports 4K video capture at 120fps with no crop requirement; the same source said the A7 V would be priced at around €3000, which is similar to the A7 IV when it launched in 2021, but which is much cheaper now. Other chatter mentions a 20fps continuous shooting speed (a major upgrade on the A7 IV’s somewhat sluggish 10fps burst speed).

And, with AI currently the major trend in consumer electronics – or at least in consumer electronics marketing – we’d be foolish to bet against rumors suggesting the Sony A7 V will be billed as an ‘AI camera’ and come bristling with AI-enhanced features and functions. Examples could be improved autofocus subject recognition, and the same automatic video framing as seen on the Sony ZV-E1.

Sony A7S IV or Sony FX3 II

• What's next for Sony's full-frame mirrorless camera for filmmakers – an A7S IV or FX3 II?

Too many years have passed to believe that Sony is still invested in its video-focused A7S series of mirrorless cameras. A successor to the small but powerful FX3 is more likely. (Image credit: Sony)

If we’re talking about long-overdue updates to popular Sony camera lines, then the A7S series has got to be in the conversation. A variant of the A7 series with a lower-resolution sensor tailored towards sensitivity and therefore better low light and fast shutter speed work for video, the A7S’s last new iteration, the A7S III, launched way back in October 2020. It’s arguably high time for a new model, then – although some argue that Sony’s introduction of the video-first FX series has made the A7S series somewhat obsolete.

Like the A7S series, the Sony FX3 (introduced in 2021) has a low-resolution but highly sensitive 12MP full-frame image sensor (in fact, they share same sensor) that excels in challenging lighting conditions. Unlike the A7S III, the FX3 has a video-focused design which includes fan cooling, making it capable of recording long uninterrupted videos without risk of overheating. It lacks a viewfinder or mechanical shutter, however, which makes it less than ideal for stills photography.

What we might see, then, is a new Sony camera with a high-speed sensor (perhaps the ground-breaking 24MP global shutter sensor seen in the A9 III). It could be a hybrid A7S IV, or it might be a more video-centric FX series model – but getting both seems unlikely.

Sony RX1 II / RX1R III

• 2025 could be the best time for Sony to resurrect its full-frame RX1 series of premium compact cameras

If recent premium compact camera trends are anything to go by, there's plenty of reason for Sony to resurrect its RX1 series in 2025 – an RX1R III would rival the popular Leica Q3 and Fujifilm X100VI. (Image credit: Sony)

It’s getting on for a decade since Sony last introduced a new full-frame fixed-lens point-and-shoot camera (the outstanding RX1R II) and with Leica, Fujifilm and Ricoh all enjoying critical and commercial success with their own premium pocket cameras – the Q3, the X100VI and the GR III respectively – it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that we’ll see a true successor to the Sony RX1 this year.

By pairing a larger format sensor with a high-quality lens and putting it all in an ultra-compact body, Sony could compete with the aforementioned brands, especially Leica, while offering smartphone photographers (or anybody that doesn’t want to lug around larger bodies and hefty lenses) a clear performance upgrade.

There’s little concrete evidence out there on this rumor beyond a general feeling that now would be a good time to offer an alternative to the likes of the Fujifilm X100VI or Leica Q3 43. We agree – but perhaps it’s just wishful thinking?

Fujifilm rumors for 2025

(Image credit: Fujifilm)

Talk of Fujifilm rumors for 2025 should start with what we’re not getting. If certain industry sources are correct, we won’t be seeing a follow-up to the X-T200 this year. Nor does it seem that a sequel to the X-Pro3 is on the horizon. Fujifilm has also quashed any suggestion that it might launch a film camera, at least in the short term. So what can we expect from Fujifilm in 2025?

Fujifilm X-E5

• A tempting rangefinder-style X100VI alternative for 2025, with swappable lenses

The X-mount Fujifilm X-E4 became a popular alternative to the X100V when it was sold out in 2023 and 2024. Rumors suggest that an X-E5 could be en route, with much of the same tech as 2024's X100VI plus swappable lenses. (Image credit: Fujifilm)

An X-Pro4 might not be on the cards in 2025, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see a new rangefinder-style camera from Fujifilm. According to Fuji Rumors, a reliable source, the X-E series will be getting another instalment, in the form of the X-E5.

Four years after the Fujifilm X-E4 hit shelves, its formula remains appealing. A compact model with a large APS-C sensor and retro styling, it was a tactile camera to shoot with and capable of impressive stills. When the X-E4 was discontinued, the X-T5 became the default alternative for photographers.

A rumored revival in 2025 carries a lot of promise. Assuming it picks up where the X-E4 left off, the X-E5 could become one of the most appealing Fujifilm cameras for beginners and enthusiasts who like to travel. We’d expect it to be positioned as a sibling to the X100VI, with the appealing looks of the X-T5 and the versatility of interchangeable lenses.

Given that the X100VI has in-body image stabilization, the X-E5 is likely to have the same – addressing one of the few drawbacks of the X-E4. We think it will also use Fujifilm’s latest 40MP APS-C sensor. Whether it will benefit from other upgrades, including twin memory card slots, will come down to how the X-E5 is pitched: as an entry-level option, like the X-E4, or a more premium model.

Either way, there’s a lot of excitement around the arrival of the X-E5, and for good reason. If and when it arrives, it won’t be the most powerful camera of the year. But it could quite well be one of the most appealing in terms of usability, performance and – depending on its price and availability – value.

Fujifilm GFX100RF

• A potential for cult status – a rumored GFX100RF compact camera with 100MP medium-format sensor

The Fujifilm GFX50R is one of the smallest digital medium-format cameras available, but Fujifilm could deliver and even smaller medium-format compact in 2025.

If you prefer your rumors more audacious, try this for size: Fuji Rumors has reported that Fujifilm is working on a 100MP medium-format compact camera for 2025. If the leaked information is to be believed, it will combine a 100MP GFX sensor with a body roughly the size of an X-Pro3.

That would make the GFX100RF, as it’s expected to be called, a pretty enticing prospect. The suggestion is that it will have the styling and handling of Fujifilm’s premium compacts, combined with a sensor that’s significantly bigger than full frame, plus a fixed GF35mm f/4 lens.

That would make it a compelling alternative to the beautiful Leica Q3. Like that camera, the GFX100RF is likely to appeal to a niche market. For starters, it won’t come cheap. It’s something of a spiritual successor to the GFX50S II, which hit shelves in 2022 priced at $3,999 / £3,499 / AU$6,499 without a lens.

We’d also expect it to be a camera better suited to portraits and landscapes, rather than fast action. A tool for still scenes, rather than the streets.

That being said, the GFX100RF is an exciting camera for several reasons. Fujifilm’s made great efforts to give the medium-format wider appeal; a compact, fixed-lens camera could be the answer, just as the X100VI was for its premium compact range.

While we don’t know how much the GFX100RF will cost, pricing similar to the GFX50S II could make it much more accessible than the Leica Q3. That undercut could see it become a genuine and compelling alternative. While we can’t see it selling quite as well as the X100VI, it could well attain similar cult status among photographers.

Fuji Rumors predicts a March 2025 arrival for the GFX100RF, so we might not have to wait for too long.

Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo

• Stylish Instax instant camera that shoots onto wide-format film

The Instax Wide Evo was launched in January 2025 and costs a princely sum of $349.95 / £319.99. (Image credit: Fujifilm)

*update – the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo was announced on Jan 21, 2025 – check out our hands-on review.

From last year’s grown-up Instax Mini 99 to the fun, accessible Instax Mini 12, Fujifilm makes some of the best instant cameras you can buy. That line-up is set to grow in 2025, with the rumored arrival of another Instax camera: the Instax Wide Evo.

The new model is expected to offer all the benefits of the Fujiiflm Instax Mini Evo, a hybrid camera which allows to you to shoot digitally, before selecting which stills you’d like to print. The difference with the Instax Wide Evo is that it will print on Fujifilm’s wider format Instax Wide film, which is almost twice the size of Instax Mini film. It’s also more expensive, but because you can choose which images you want to print, you can reduce the amount of wasted paper.

We don’t yet know what the Instax Wide Evo will look like, although according to sources quoted by Fuji Rumors, it will be the “best-looking Instax camera ever made.” That’s saying something, given the retro charm of the Instax Mini Evo: it might be made of plastic, but its leatherette and chrome finish does a good impression of a rangefinder camera.

Taken altogether, then, the evidence suggests that the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo will be an appealing option for fans of instant photography. We’d expect its interface to be just as easy to use as other Instax cameras, with the additional benefit of being able to pair with smartphones to act as a Bluetooth printer.

Fujifilm has put paid to rumors of a new film camera and there’s been little in the way of new information about its rumored half-frame digital compact. All of which means the Instax Wide Evo could be the best way for Fujifilm fans to get their retro fix in 2025.

Nikon rumors for 2025

(Image credit: Nikon)

Following a string of releases, Nikon’s mirrorless line-up looks strong going into 2025. From the retro Zf to the flagship Z9, there’s a Z series option for everyone. With such a healthy range, there aren’t too many models in need of an upgrade. The Z6 III landed last year and took the top spot as our best mirrorless camera. We wouldn’t expect to see a successor to the excellent Z8 any time soon, either, while many believe that the Z8 has eliminated the need for a Z7 III. So what does that leave for Nikon fans to look forward to?

Nikon Z5 II

• Nikon could retake its claim of best full-frame mirrorless camera for beginners

The Nikon Z5 was a long-time TechRadar favorite full-frame mirrorless camera for beginners, and a successor, if priced right, could quash rivals. (Image credit: Future)

Launched back in 2020, we still rate the Nikon Z5 as one of the best entry-level full-frame mirrorless cameras you can buy. At almost five years old, though, it’s due for an update. That could arrive as early as the first quarter of 2025.

The New Camera suggests that the Z5 II is due to land in Q1, with a price as low as $1,200 / £1,000. That relatively aggressive pricing will be necessary to keep the new model below the cost of the older Z6 II, which can now be found for around $1,500 / £1,350.

We’d expect the Z5 II to resemble its APS-C cousin, the Nikon Z50 II, but pack a 24.5MP full-frame sensor. Like the Z5 II, we also think it’s likely to ship with Nikon’s Expeed 7 processor, to power top-flight subject detection autofocus. That chip could also bring burst speeds up from the 4.5fps of the original Z5.

This spec package would make the Z5 II pretty similar to the retro-chic Nikon Zf on paper. Key differences would be visual, with the Z5 II adopting the modern looks of the Z50 II, as well as image stabilization: the Zf benefits from impressive 8-stop, 5-axis, AI-assisted in-body Vibration Reduction. Dialling this back for the Z5 II would give clearer differentiation between the two models.

Being an entry-level full-frame camera, we wouldn’t expect Nikon to do anything too exotic in the video department. We think it’ll be capable of 4K / 30p 10-bit video and feature dual SD UHS-II card slots.

So the Nikon Z5 II is unlikely to set anyone’s world on fire, but with the right feature set and pricing, it could score highly in our list of the best beginner mirrorless cameras.

Nikon Z9 II / Z9H

• Nikon's flagship mirrorless camera for sports and wildlife could get a powerful upgrade

The Nikon Z9 won TechRadar's Camera of the year 2022 award. Will a faster upgrade appear in 2025? (Image credit: Future)

Talk of a successor to the flagship Z9 has been circulating for several years. It launched late in 2021 as a mirrorless powerhouse for professionals, with a cutting-edge stacked 45.7MP sensor and bulky DSLR styling. Since then, Nikon has repackaged its guts in the more convenient body of the Z8, before Canon upped the ante again with the barnstorming EOS R1 last year.

The question now is whether Nikon will return fire. The evidence is presently pretty slim. Read discussions online and you’ll find that speculation broadly divides into two camps. The first says that Nikon is working on a global shutter specifically for high-speed sports and wildlife photography, and it will arrive with a model called the Z9H.

The second backs a Nikon Z9 II with an electronic-only shutter driven by a new Expeed 8 processor, for superlative burst speeds, video frame rates and subject tracking autofocus. In essence, everything the Z9 was capable of, but dialled up higher to rival the EOS R1.

We think the latter is the more likely of the two: the EOS R1 doesn’t have a global shutter – although the faster and physically smaller Sony A9 III does – so there’s little reason to think that Nikon would pour money into making one, at least for now. So we think a Z9 II with general upgrades is more likely, although it would still take a bold person to bet on either camera arriving for certain in 2025.

The Nikon Z9 already delivers shooting performance that’s sufficient for most professionals. Room for improvement is probably limited to burst shooting: at 20fps, the Z9’s maximum continuous rate for RAW stills is comfortably beaten by the EOS R1’s 40fps.

The question is whether that spec justifies Nikon developing a follow-up model, especially such a specialized one sitting at the top end of its range.

Nikon cinema camera

• 2025 could deliver the fruit of Nikon's RED Digital Cameras takeover – a new cine-focused camera

The Nikon Z50 II supports RED Luts color profiles. Could we see more fruit from Nikon's 2024 acquisition of cinema brand RED Digital Cameras in 2025? (Image credit: Nikon)

Nikon surprised the videography world last year by acquiring RED Digital Camera outright. Known for making some of the filmmaking industry’s favorite professional cameras, RED is also behind some legendary video codecs – which now belong to Nikon.

What this means for Nikon cameras isn’t immediately clear. Nikon already makes some stellar hybrids, and we rate the Nikon Z9 as our favorite 8K option among the best video cameras. But it’s fair to say that Nikon isn’t seen as a natural choice by many video professionals.

That could soon change. With RED now under the Nikon umbrella, the possibilities are broad. We’ve already seen support for RED LUTs arrive on Nikon cameras, including the Nikon Z50 II, but we’d expect the integration to go further. That could well mean support for RED’s R3D codec on future Nikon hybrids.

We’d expect to see a hardware crossover, too. Given the change in ownership, it’s pretty much certain that any future RED cameras will shift from using Canon’s RF mount to Nikon’s Z mount. But we could also see Nikon borrowing from RED’s component box: the global shutter in the Komodo 6K would certainly give Nikon a leg up in the race for performance supremacy.

We don’t know when we’ll see the first fruits of Nikon’s Hollywood acquisition, but we imagine they’ll make waves when they do arrive. You can bet that Nikon will be gunning for the cameras in Sony’s FX line, Canon’s Cinema EOS range and Panasonic’s top-tier Lumix video kit.

GoPro rumors for 2025

(Image credit: GoPro)

Despite the launch of two new cameras (the flagship GoPro Hero 13 Black and the ultra-compact GoPro Hero), 2024 proved to be a tough year for GoPro. Once the undisputed ruler of the action camera market, the American company has faced increasing competition from a slew of Chinese upstarts such as DJI and Insta360 – almost to the point where its future itself is under threat. In order to save costs, it cut over a quarter of its workforce last year – and according to CEO Nicholas Woodman this restructuring, combined with growth in subscription income and subscriber numbers, has kept the company ‘sustainable and secure’. Woodman also suggested that future camera releases are on the way – and we have some thoughts on what they might be.

GoPro Max 2

• GoPro's much delayed Max 2 360-degree camera could finally be unveiled years after its announcement

Is the GoPro Max 2 the most rumored camera in recent memory? Supposedly updating the Max (above), the future 360-degree camera's launch has been delayed time and again. (Image credit: TechRadar)

We know that a GoPro Max 2 is coming soon, because the company’s CEO Nicholas Woodman revealed as much in an earnings call last year. Woodman informed investors that a new edition of the 360-degree action camera would be arriving in 2025. This is later than originally planned, it seems, because GoPro had previously estimated a Q4 2024 launch.

The original GoPro Max impressed us when it was introduced back in October 2019, offering 5.6K 360-degree videos with in-camera stitching, reframing and digital stabilization in a fairly compact camera compatible with existing GoPro mounts. In the five-plus years since, Chinese company Insta360 has seized the 360-degree action camera market with a series of excellent models including our current overall favorite, the Insta360 X4.

In order to compete with Insta360, GoPro will have to greatly improve the Max 2’s performance over that of its predecessor; it’s been half a decade, after all. And if rumors are correct and the Max 2 will cost $599 on launch, it’ll need to justify its price tag.

We’d expect a resolution bump for 360-degree video, probably to match the 8K offered by the X4; 360 Rumors posits that it could even be as high as 9.3K, if it were to make use of the same sensors used by the GoPro Hero Black 12 and 13. A purported leaked photo of the Max 2 showed prominent cooling fins, which suggests it’ll be processing a lot and creating a lot of heat – which you’d expect if it’s wrangling this many pixels. The Max 2’s supported framerates on offer may also be higher than the X4’s too, in order to differentiate it from its nearest rival.

The original Max already had impressive electronic image stabilization, but this could be improved also, and we may see automatic in-camera reframing – just the sort of time-saving feature that could set the Max 2 apart from competitors.

GoPro Hero 14 Black

• Strap in for the latest flagship GoPro action camera instalment, coming to you almost always in September

GoPro made waves with the Hero 13 Black's new lens mount that hosts auto-detected Lens Mods, such as the new anamorphic lens (above). Might we see more Lens Mods in 2025 to further expand what's possible with GoPro's flagship action cams? (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

It’s only been a matter of months since the unveiling of the GoPro Hero 13 Black, so we’re not expecting a successor to emerge any time soon. If it does launch in late 2025, this new edition of GoPro’s flagship action camera will likely continue in the same vein as its predecessors – by making small, iterative improvements rather than revolutionary overhauls.

With the Hero 13 Black still relatively new, the rumor mill is deathly quiet on Hero 14 Black speculation. Our own prediction would be use of the same new (and likely powerful) processor we’ll see in the GoPro Max 2, boosting the maximum resolution to 8K from the 13 Black’s 5.3K and enabling more image quality-related features. It could also get a new, physically larger sensor to improve dynamic range and low light capabilities.

Another area for GoPro to explore and what could make its action camera stand out from rivals is additional auto-detected Lens Mods to the anamorphic, macro and ultra wide options currently available – we think this feature is now what truly sets the lineup on an exciting trajectory. What's most probable is a future Hero 14 Black's launch date – GoPro has unveiled the latest version of its Hero Black flagship action camera every year in September.

GoPro Helmet

• GoPro action cameras built into motorcycle helmets? That's a logical step

GoPro acquired the Australian smart helmet maker Forcite Helmets in early 2024, suggesting plans to move into the market for camera-equipped, tech-enabled motorcycle helmets.

Of course, there’s nothing to stop motorcyclists from attaching a GoPro camera to their helmets right now, but we suspect an actual integrated GoPro Helmet (or whatever it ends up being called) will feature a suite of additional tech like navigation, communications and safety alerts. A well-researched report at RideApart builds a strong case that GoPro and Forcite’s first smart helmet will arrive as early as 2025.

Insta360 / Leica / Panasonic / Pentax / Ricoh / OM System rumors for 2025

The Panasonic Lumix S1H during our in-depth review. (Image credit: TechRadar)

Leading camera brands don't have it entirely their own way – in 2025 there are compelling alternatives making superb mirrorless cameras, action cameras, compact cameras and more.

We've put the most exciting Insta360, Leica, Panasonic, OM System, Ricoh & Pentax rumors together in this section.

OM System OM-3

• Retro-style mirrorless camera with color profile dial, much like in the Pen-F, set for reveal on February 6

(Image credit: Olympus)

OM System teased the upcoming reveal of a mystery new camera that leading rumor sites are slating as an all-new OM System OM-3. The teaser gives brief flashes of a mirrorless camera with a similar form factor to the OM System OM-5, with a closeup of a new color profile dial that looks like it's straight out of the Olympus Pen-F playbook, including color, monochrome, Art Filters and creative options.

Otherwise, there was no indications in the teaser as to what features we can expect, but if the name turns out to be true then logically it will likely be positioned as an enthusiast-level camera that sits between the OM1-II flagship and the OM-5. That also tells us price-wise, we would expect this OM3 to rival the likes of the Fujifilm X-T5.

All will be revealed on February 6 and, if other rumors are true, then a trio of new lenses will debut alongside the camera too.

Panasonic Lumix S1H II / Lumix S1R II

• Flagship full-frame L-mount Lumix cameras for video pros and for detail could be next in Panasonic's camera road map

The original Lumix S1R, launced all the way back in 2019. (Image credit: Future)

Going off recent history, we expect a couple of new notable Panasonic cameras every year – 2024 delivered the superb Lumix GH7 and the Lumix S9, while in 2023 we were treated to the Lumix G9 II and Lumix S5 II. So what does 2025 have in store?

It has been a few years since Panasonic launched a high-end full-frame camera, and recent rumors have been pointing towards successors for both the Lumix S1H and the Lumix S1R.

Word has it that a Lumix S1H II will be launched in 2025, perhaps as early as the first quarter of 2025, succeeding a highly capable video-focused S1H. There plenty of reason for filmmakers to get excited; Panasonic is likely to implement much of its recent tech such as phase detect autofocus (which debuted in the S5 II), plus presumably the potential for in-camera 32-bit float audio like the Lumix GH7, in an S1H-style pro body.

The New Camera thinks the S1H II will feature a relatively low-resolution 22.5MP full-frame sensor optimized for video content, with 6K open gate video and a triple native ISO – we saw that feature for the first time in the Canon EOS C400 / EOS C80. There could also be a DR boost with up to 17-stops dynamic range using an Arri Log C4 profile, plus ProRes RAW / RAW HQ internal recording. If these features prove true, a would-be Lumix S1H II will boast the best video image quality of any Lumix mirrorless camera, supported by dual fans for unlimited record times. This could be the camera that sets the bar for video creatives at its price point.

Equally, a new S1R II could be super exciting for photographers, especially if rumors pointing to a cut-price Leica SL3 are accurate. Leica and Panasonic's alliance is no secret, with the two sharing a lot of L-mount camera tech. If the S1R II gets the same 61MP sensor as the SL3, but comes in at roughly half the price, it could turn a few heads.

Ricoh GR IV

• Seasoned photographers await an upgraded GR III premium compact camera that slips into the pocket

The Ricoh GR IIIx during our in-depth review is a superb if flawed everyday camera. (Image credit: Future)

We expected the Ricoh GR IV to be in our hands last year, but sadly any rumors turned out to be false. What materialized instead was a niche version of the current GR III / GR IIIx models – the GR III HDF / GR IIIx HDF – identical in every way except it swapped out the original's built-in ND filter for a highlight diffusion filter. However, further rumors insist that a fourth-gen model will land in 2025, and this model will have plenty of photography enthusiasts excited.

The Ricoh GR series is a long time favorite with seasoned photographers wanting an every day camera – the latest models boast stand-out image quality thanks to a large APS-C sensor and sharp fixed lens, all packed into a truly pocketable compact body. The GR IIIx is one of our favorite premium compact cameras, persuading this writer to splash out on it instead of the latest iPhone. However, for all it desirable attributes, the GR III series is far from perfect and can be easily improved – we've written about the five upgrades we'd like to see in the GR IV, including a built-in flash and better autofocus.

We're a little cautious about GR IV rumors – there are still very few specs to go off, which means it could be some way off yet, if it is indeed en route at all. We're hoping a GR IV materializes and that it proves to be a proper upgrade, rather than a refined model of the five-year-old GR III. Compact cameras are increasingly popular once more, and the Ricoh GR III / GR IIIx is one of the few high-quality options remaining in the sub $1,000 / £1,000 price mark, so we really hope that a properly improved GR IV is just around the corner. It could tempt a few away from the like of the Fujifilm X100VI.

A new Pentax SLR film camera

• 2024 delivered a new Pentax half-frame compact film camera. 2025 might bring the next in the series, an SLR

2024's Pentax 17 was the first camera launched as part of the Pentax Film Project, and there are supposedly more cameras to come. (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)

Pentax delivered its first camera for the Pentax Film Project in 2024, the simply named Pentax 17. We weren't overly enamored at first, but the surprisingly easy-to-use half-frame film camera eventually won us over and proved to be one of the year's highlights. Naturally then, we're keen to see what might come next in the series. According to Pentax, the next film camera we can expect will be a proper SLR.

The probability that another Pentax film camera will be delivered is pretty high; it's just that we don't expect the second camera in this project to come any time soon. Pentax's Film Project was announced in 2022, and the first camera came two years later. It would be a major surprise if Pentax's new SLR film camera is delivered in 2025, although, of course, we hope to be proven wrong.

In the project's early days, Pentax Product Planner Takeo Suzuki said, "First, we'll develop a compact film camera. Then, while reviewing a range of technologies, we'll move on to develop a high-end compact model, an SLR model, and finally (and hopefully), a fully mechanical SLR camera". That affordable compact film camera with a solid warranty was indeed the new Pentax 17. What will come next we don't know. but the fully mechanical SLR could be very exciting for serious photographers.

AI companies like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic want you to believe we’re on the cusp of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—a world where AI tools can outthink humans, handle complex professional tasks without breaking a sweat, and chart a new frontier of autonomous intelligence. Google just rehired the founder of Character.AI to accelerate its quest for AGI, OpenAI recently released its first “reasoning” model, and Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei says AGI could be achieved as early as 2026.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: in the quest for AGI in high-stakes fields like medicine, law, veterinary advice, and financial planning, AI isn’t just “not there yet,” it may never get there.

The Hard Facts on AI’s Shortcomings

This year, Purdue researchers presented a study showing ChatGPT got programming questions wrong 52% of the time. In other equally high-stakes categories, GenAI does not fare much better.

When people’s health, wealth, and well-being hang in the balance, the current high failure rates of GenAI platforms are unacceptable. The hard truth is that this accuracy issue will be extremely challenging to overcome.

A recent Georgetown study suggests it might cost a staggering $1 trillion to improve AI’s quality by just 10%. Even then, it would remain worlds away from the reliability that matters in life-and-death scenarios. The “last mile” of accuracy — in which AI becomes undeniably safer than a human expert — will be far harder, more expensive, and time consuming to achieve than the public has been led to believe.

AI’s inaccuracy doesn’t just have theoretical or academic consequences. A 14-year-old boy recently sought guidance from an AI chatbot and, instead of directing him toward help, mental health resources, or even common decency, the AI urged him to take his own life. Tragically, he did. His family is now suing—and they’ll likely win—because the AI’s output wasn’t just a “hallucination” or cute error. It was catastrophic and it came from a system that was wrong with utter conviction. Like the reckless ‘Cliff Clavin’ (who wagered his entire Jeopardy winnings on the TV show ‘Cheers’) AI brims with confidence while spouting the complete wrong answer.

The Mechanical Turk 2.0—With a Twist

Today’s AI hype recalls the infamous 18th-century Mechanical Turk: a supposed chess-playing automaton that actually had a human hidden inside. Modern AI models also hide a dirty secret—they rely heavily on human input.

From annotating and cleaning training data to moderating the content of outputs, tens of millions of humans are still enmeshed in almost every step of advancing GenAI, but the big foundational model companies can’t afford to admit this. Doing so would be acknowledging how far we are from true AGI. Instead, these platforms are locked into a “fake it till you make it” strategy, raising billions to buy more GPUs on the flimsy promise that brute force will magically deliver AGI.

It’s a pyramid scheme of hype: persuade the public that AGI is imminent, secure massive funding, build more giant data centers that burn more energy, and hope that, somehow, more compute will bridge the gap that honest science says may never be crossed.

This is painfully reminiscent of the buzz around Alexa, Cortana, Bixby, and Google Assistant just a decade ago. Users were told voice assistants would take over the world within months. Yet today, many of these devices gather dust, mostly relegated to setting kitchen timers or giving the day’s weather. The grand revolution never happened, and it’s a cautionary tale for today’s even grander AGI promises.

Shielding Themselves from Liability

Why wouldn’t major AI platforms just admit the truth about their accuracy? Because doing so would open the floodgates of liability.

Acknowledging fundamental flaws in AI’s reasoning would provide a smoking gun in court, as in the tragic case of the 14-year-old boy. With trillions of dollars at stake, no executive wants to hand a plaintiff’s lawyer the ultimate piece of evidence: “We knew it was dangerously flawed, and we shipped it anyway.”

Instead, companies double down on marketing spin, calling these deadly mistakes “hallucinations,” as though that’s an acceptable trade-off. If a doctor told a child to kill himself, should we call that a “hallucination?” Or, should we call it what it is — an unforgivable failure that deserves full legal consequence and permanent revocation of advice-giving privileges?

AI’s adoption plateau

People learned quickly that Alexa and the other voice assistants could not reliably answer their questions, so they just stopped using them for all but the most basic tasks. AI platforms will inevitably hit an adoption wall, endangering their current users while scaring away others that might rely on or try their platforms.

Think about the ups and downs of self-driving cars; despite carmakers’ huge autonomy promises – Tesla has committed to driverless robotaxis by 2027 – Goldman Sachs recently lowered its expectations for the use of even partially autonomous vehicles. Until autonomous cars meet a much higher standard, many humans will withhold complete trust.

Similarly, many users won’t put their full trust in AI even if it one day equals human intelligence; it must be vastly more capable than even the smartest human. Other users will be lulled in by AI’s ability to answer simple questions and burned when they make high-stakes inquiries. For either group, AI’s shortcomings won’t make it a sought-after tool.

A Necessary Pivot: Incorporate Human Judgment

These flawed AI platforms can’t be used for critical tasks until they either achieve the mythical AGI status or incorporate reliable human judgment.

Given the trillion-dollar cost projections, environmental toll of massive data centers, and mounting human casualties, the choice is clear: put human expertise at the forefront. Let’s stop pretending that AGI is right around the corner. That false narrative is deceiving some people and literally killing others.

Instead, use AI to empower humans and create new jobs where human judgment moderates machine output. Make the experts visible rather than hiding them behind a smokescreen of corporate bravado. Until and unless AI attains near-perfect reliability, human professionals are indispensable. It’s time we stop the hype, face the truth, and build a future where AI serves humanity—instead of endangering it.

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Amid the Cold War, the possibility of a nuclear attack was deeply feared, yet at the same time, weirdly unimaginable. The stark terror of nuclear disaster persisted for years, highlighted in the 1984 BBC drama film “Threads”.

The film explored the hypothetical event of a nuclear bomb being dropped on a British city, and the societal breakdown that followed. People were horrified by the film, and it showcased everyone’s deepest and darkest fears around nuclear fallout.

Fast-forward nearly 40 years, and while nuclear fear still abounds, cybersecurity catastrophe is the new background dread – and in July 2024 we received our first major warning sign.

The CrowdStrike outage highlighted the widespread chaos that could ensue if millions of computers crashed simultaneously – reminding many people of the fear instilled during the Y2K bug.

Now imagine this chaos, but instead of a software update gone wrong, it’s a cybercriminal targeting critical systems within a power station, resulting in a city losing power for a week. Or perhaps a vulnerability in a piece of fintech software triggering a 2008-style financial meltdown.

Whilst such an event may be difficult to envisage, the interconnectedness of modern systems makes it a real possibility. Achieving operational resilience must be the goal and this means prioritizing keeping business-critical functions running in the event of a serious incident. But to do so organizations first need to understand their minimum viable operation (MVO).

What is MVO?

MVO refers to the absolute minimum number of systems a business needs to remain operational or continue delivering services. This includes mapping out detailed rebuild protocols and establishing recovery measures to minimize downtime.

Many organizations have come to realize that simply reducing the probability of a cyberattack to zero is impossible. Regardless of how much money organizations spend on security, it doesn’t make their systems or data less attractive to cybercriminals.

Whilst money can’t reduce the probability, it can reduce the impact of an attack when spent correctly. Instead of focusing solely on breach prevention, organizations are increasingly shifting their investments to prioritize breach containment and impact mitigation, ensuring they can maintain their MVO.

In the power station example mentioned earlier, the organization's MVO would include the SCADA and ICS systems that control energy creation, monitoring, and distribution. By identifying their MVO, the power station can build a cyber resilience strategy that protects these critical systems and keeps the power on when the inevitable breach occurs.

This approach is not an admission that cybercriminals have beaten us, but an acceptance of the reality that it’s impossible to guarantee immunity from breaches. Instead, it’s about limiting the impact when they do occur. There’s no shame in being breached; however, a lack of preparedness is inexcusable, especially for businesses in critical sectors.

Putting the MVO approach into practice

So where should you start? The first step in understanding your MVO is identifying the systems critical to maintaining operations, and this is unique to each business. For example, the systems considered part of an organization's MVO will be completely different in retail compared to energy.

Once these have been identified, you need to then identify the risks surrounding or linked to these systems. What are they communicating with and how? Consider risk vectors, the supply chain, and any third parties connecting to your MVO systems.

Like most organizations, it’s likely you rely on a significant number of third parties to operate – just look at the vast number of suppliers and contractors keeping the NHS running, and the impact of the attack on pathology supplier Synnovis. It’s critical that you understand which third-party systems are connected to your networks and limit and control what they have access to. Best practice is to enforce a policy based on least privilege to limit connectivity to the bare minimum required.

This is also where having an “assume breach” mentality is essential. Assume breach shifts the focus from solely trying to prevent unauthorized access to ensuring that, once inside, attackers' movements are severely restricted and their impact is minimized. This not only helps you to strategically manage and mitigate risks, but also safeguard MVO assets and critical operations.

How Zero Trust supports an MVO approach

One of the best ways to adopt an assume breach mindset and protect MVO assets is by embracing Zero Trust.

Zero Trust is a security strategy based on the principle of "never trust, always verify." It enforces stringent least-privilege principles at all access points, minimizing the risk of unauthorized access. This approach significantly reduces the impact of attacks and aligns with a MVO approach by identifying critical assets, their usage, and data flows within the network.

Micro-segmentation technologies like Zero Trust Segmentation (ZTS) are foundational to Zero Trust as they divide networks into isolated segments with dedicated controls. With Micro-segmentation in place, you can restrict user access, monitor traffic, and prevent lateral movement in case of unauthorized access, isolating and safeguarding your critical assets.

Not all cyberattacks need to result in suspension of operations

The UK government has warned about the economic disaster that could unfold if a cyberattack on critical infrastructure was successful. However, for the reality is that the impact could be catastrophic for any enterprise or business that fails to safeguard its critical operations.

In Richard Horne’s debut speech as the NCSC CEO, he spoke about the increasing hostility faced by the UK, with attackers wanting to cause maximum disruption and destruction. And while a cyberattack might not immediately seem as scary as the nuclear attack in “Threads,” its disastrous impact on society is as significant as that of a weapon of mass destruction.

Therefore, securing the assets that keep society and businesses running is essential. Not all cyberattacks need to end in business or operational failure. By prioritizing an MVO approach with Zero Trust and micro-segmentation at its core, you can ensure your organization avoids catastrophic fallout from attacks.

We've compiled a list of the best identity management software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

• The team behind Nord Security, Tesonet, Hostinger, Oxylabs launches AI orchestration platform
• The orchestration platform aims to resolve a major pain point, deploying AI LLMs at scale seamlessly
• $8 million raised to help enterprises handle the mounting amount of LLMs, with more than 200 now supported

As artificial intelligence tools rapidly evolve, businesses face growing challenges in managing AI models, balancing costs, and ensuring reliable performance.

Nexos.ai, a new unified AI orchestration platform from the founders of business VPN vendor Nord is designed to help enterprises deploy AI at scale by addressing these challenges; providing access to over 200 AI models to simplify their integration into enterprise

The company has secured $8 million in funding from investors, including Olivier Pomel, CEO of Datadog; Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna; Ilkka Paananen, CEO of Supercell; and Avishai Abrahami, CEO of Wix.com.

Nexos.ai launch

Tomas Okmanas and Eimantas Sabaliauskas, co-founders of Nord Security and now Nexos.ai, faced challenges in integrating AI across various companies even after spending over $100,000 on large language models (LLMs) in some cases.

Feedback from businesses also revealed a lack in infrastructure capable of supporting scalable, high-quality, and cost-effective AI applications. Nexos.ai also includes models from providers such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta, to assist enterprises in managing their AI operations.

“Companies know that AI is an operational and competitive necessity, but they’re drowning in the challenges of managing multiple models, controlling costs and ensuring accurate and reliable performance,” Okmanas said.

“At the same time, AI models are becoming increasingly autonomous and capable of handling complex tasks with minimal human intervention. We’ve built nexos.ai to be the enterprise-grade platform that makes working with AI as intuitive as working with human teams – providing the infrastructure and oversight to make sure these models perform at their best while remaining cost-effective and secure."

Scheduled for release in early 2025, the platform is already being tested by international companies to cater for automated customer support.

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• Samsung has adopted the Content Credentials standard for AI-edited imagery
• The Samsung Galaxy S25 range will be the first phones in the world operating the standard
• The standard adds a tag and metadata to AI-edited images created on a Galaxy S25 device

Most of the attention at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked was obviously being devoted to the new phones – those in the Samsung Galaxy S25 range – but there was something quite important that slipped under the radar, and that’s the adoption of Content Credentials.

In 2024, the adoption of a standard for marking the creation of imagery and digital content was a hot topic, particularly due to the rise of generative AI and the plague of art theft that ensued to train large language models. Tech companies began adopting their own metadata markers and watermarks to signify AI altering, but a standard for identifying the legitimacy of an image has often been skipped.

One of the front runners for such a standard is Content Credentials, backed by the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI). The tool is developed by Adobe and the Initiative counts Microsoft, Getty Images and Nvidia as members to name a few.

With this announcement, Samsung has joined the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), which unifies the work of the CAI and its Content Credentials standard with Project Origin, another organization combatting misinformation but anchored in a news ecosystem that can verify the authenticity of content.

“We are excited to share that Samsung will implement #ContentCredentials for AI-generated images on the #GalaxyS25!” the C2PA wrote on LinkedIn. “Samsung has committed to a consequential step in bringing transparency to the digital ecosystem.”

(Image credit: Samsung)

If you suspect that an image has been altered with AI, then you can drop it into a tool built by Adobe to check its authenticity.

Think of Content Credentials as a ledger that contains content information; what device it has been captured on, what program (or AI tool) it has been altered with, even what settings were activated when the original image was created.

With this standard in tow, AI-generated and AI-altered images produced on Samsung Galaxy S handsets will receive a metadata-based label, basically noting that AI has tampered with what you’re seeing. The ‘CR’ watermark will also be added to the image. While the S25 family is the very first set of phones to carry the metadata marking on images, it follows camera companies Nikon and Leica who have also signed up to the standard.

The standard is, speaking broadly, a win for creatives looking to protect their work, but the obvious problem with any standard is a lack of enthusiasm. If not enough companies producing AI tools adopt standards that allow AI-altered content to be easily flagged, then such a system is worthless.

With more than 4,000 members under the wing of the Content Authenticity Initiative, here's hoping tools to effectively flag the use of AI keep pace with the increasing capabilities of such tools.

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• It's an ultra-wide zoom lens designed for full-frame cameras like the Canon EOS R8
• Practically identical design to the RF 28-70mm F2.8 IS STM
• A £1,249 list price – we'll confirm US and Australia pricing asap

Canon has unveiled its latest ultra-wide angle zoom lens for it's full-frame mirrorless cameras, the RF 16-28mm F2.8 IS STM, and I got a proper feel for it during a hands-on session hosted by Canon ahead of its launch.

It features a bright maximum F2.8 aperture across its entire 16-28mm range, and is a much more compact and affordable option for enthusiasts than Canon’s pro RF 15-35mm F2.8L IS USM lens. Consider the 16-28mm a sensible match for Canon’s beginner and mid-range full-frame cameras instead, such as the EOS R8.

Design-wise, the 16-28mm is a perfect match with the RF 28-70mm F2.8 IS STM lens - the pair share the same control layout and are almost identical in size, even if the 28-70mm lens is around 10 percent heavier.

The new lens is seemingly part of a move by Canon to deliver more accessible fast aperture zooms that fit better with Canon's smaller mirrorless bodies – the 16-28mm weighs just 15.7oz / 445g and costs £1,249 – that's much less than the comparable pro L-series lens.

Image 1 of 3

Alongside the RF 28-70mm F2.8 lens – the two lenses are clearly designed to pair up. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 3

Attached to the EOS R8 (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 3 of 3

The maximum F2.8 aperture is available whatever focal length you set the lens to. (Image credit: Tim Coleman) The right fit for enthusiasts

Despite its lower price tag, the 16-28mm still feels reassuringly solid – the rugged lens is made in Japan and features a secure metal lens mount. You get a customizable control ring, autofocus / manual focus switch plus an optical stabilizer switch, and that's the extent of the external controls.

When paired with a Canon camera that features in-body image stabilization, such as the EOS R6 Mark II, you get up to 8 stops of stabilization, although the cheaper EOS R8 isn't blessed with that feature, and for which the lens offers 5.5 stops of stabilization alone.

I tested the 16-28mm lens with an EOS R8 and the pair is a perfect match, as is the EOS R6 Mark II which is only a little bit bigger.

Image 1 of 5

It's official – the 16-28mm is made in Japan. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 5

The physical controls include a control ring, zoom ring, AF / MF switch plus optical stabilizer switch. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 3 of 5

The lens packs away smaller with the zoom ring rotated to the off position (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 4 of 5

At 16mm the lens is physically at its longest. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 5 of 5

Zoom to 28mm and the lens barrel retracts a little. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

I didn't get too many opportunities to take pictures with the new lens during my brief hands-on, but I have taken enough sample images captured in raw and JPEG format to get a good enough idea of the lens' optical qualities and deficiencies.

For example, at the extreme wide angle 16mm setting and with the lens aperture wide open at F2.8, raw files demonstrate severe curvilinear distortion and vignetting. Look at the corresponding JPEG, which was captured simultaneously, and you can see just how much lens correction is being applied to get you clean JPEGs out of the camera (check out the gallery of sample images below).

Image 1 of 10

An unprocessed raw file with the lens set to 16mm and F2.8. You can see severe vignetting in the corners and barrel distortion (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 10

That exact same photo but the processed JPEG version. See how much the camera has done to correct all those distortions. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 3 of 10

Here I'm shooting a selfie at 28mm and F2.8. Barrel distortion is less obvious, although light fall off is. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 4 of 10

And here's the same photo but the processed JPEG. The detail in sharply focused areas; my eyes, stubble and clothing, is super sharp (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 5 of 10

Again, another uncorrected raw file with the lens set to 16mm and F2.8 (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 6 of 10

And here's the processed JPEG. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 7 of 10

28mm F2.8, unedited raw file. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 8 of 10

Once again, the JPEG version of the image with 28mm F2.8 lens settings. Much cleaner. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 9 of 10

The detail in this JPEG image, shot at 16mm, is super sharp everywhere in the frame. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 10 of 10

This image was taken with the lens set to 28mm and the aperture to f/8. Optically this is the optimum settings for the lens and overall the image quality majorly impresses. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)

Those lens distortions really are quite severe, but when you look at the JPEG output, all is forgiven – even with such heavy processing taking place to correct curvilinear distortion and vignetting, detail is consistently sharp from the center to the very edges and corners of the frame, while light fall off in the corners is mostly dealt with.

I'll go out on a limb and suggest the target audience for this lens will be less concerned with these lens distortions, so long as it's possible to get the end results you like, and my first impressions are that you can certainly do that – I've grabbed some sharp selfies and urban landscapes, with decent control over depth of field, plus enjoyed the extra wide perspective that makes vlogging a whole lot easier.

(Image credit: Tim Coleman) A worthy addition to the Canon RF-mount family?

I expect most photographers and filmmakers will mostly use the 16-28mm lens' extreme ends of its zoom range; 16mm and 28mm. The former is particularly handy for video work thanks to its ultra wide perspective, while it's a versatile range for landscape and architecture photography.

That zoom range is hardly extensive, however, and I'm not sure if it's a lens that particularly excites me, even if it does make a sensible pairing with the RF 28-70mm F2.8 for enthusiasts.

It is much cheaper than a comparable L-series lens, but I'd hardly call a £1,249 lens cheap. Also, why not just pick up the RF 16mm F2.8 STM and the RF 28mm F2.8 prime lenses instead? These are Canon's smallest lenses for full-frame cameras and the pair combined costs half the price of the 16-28mm F2.8.

As capable as the 16-28mm appears to be on my first impressions – it's a super sharp lens with versatile maximum aperture – I'm simply not convinced how much extra it brings to the RF-mount table, and if there's enough of a case for it for most people.

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• Anthropic CEO has promised several updates to Claude, including one that gives it memory.
• This means the AI can remember things and bring it up in future conversations.
• It remains to be seen how this performs and is slated to arrive in the coming months.

The Claude AI chatbot will receive major upgrades in the months ahead, including the ability to listen and respond by voice alone. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei explained the plans to the Wall Street Journal at the World Economic Forum in Davos, including the voice mode and an upcoming memory feature.

Essentially, Claude is about to get a personality boost, allowing it to talk back and remember who you are. The two-way voice mode promises to let users speak to Claude and hear it respond, creating a more natural, hands-free conversation. Whether this makes Claude a more accessible version of itself or will let it mimic a human on the phone is questionable, though.

Either way, Anthropic seems to be aiming for a hybrid between a traditional chatbot and voice assistants like Alexa or Siri, though presumably with all the benefits of its more advanced AI.

Claude’s upcoming memory feature will allow the chatbot to recall past interactions. For example, you could share your favorite book, and Claude will remember it the next time you chat. You could even discuss your passion for knitting sweaters and Claude will pick up the thread in your next conversation. While this memory function could lead to more personalized exchanges, it also raises questions about what happens when Claude mixes those memories with an occasional hallucination.

Claude demand

Still, there's no lack of interest in what Claude can do. Amodei mentioned that Anthropic has been overwhelmed by the surge in demand for AI over the past year. Amodei explained that the company’s compute capacity has been stretched to its limits in recent months.

Anthropic’s push for Claude’s upgrades is part of its effort to stay competitive in a market dominated by OpenAI and tech giants like Google. With OpenAI and Google integrating ChatGPT and Gemini into everything they can think of, Anthropic needs to find a way to stand out. By adding voice and memory to Claude’s repertoire, Anthropic hopes to stand out as an alternative that might lure away fans of ChatGPT and Gemini.

A voice-enabled, memory-enhanced AI chatbot like Claude may also serve as a leader, or at least a competitor, among the trend of making AI chatbots seem more human. The aim seems to be to blur the line between a tool and a companion. And if you want people to use Claude to that extent, a voice and a memory are going to be essential.

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• A new 'Circle to Search' trick is available on Samsung's latest Galaxy phones
• It lets you sing or hum songs that you want to identify
• The feature worked well in our early hands-on demos

Sure, Shazam and the Google Assistant, or even Gemini, can help you identify a song that’s playing in a coffee shop or while you’re out and about. But what about that tune you have stuck in your head that you’re desperate to put a name to?

Suffice it to say, that’s not a problem I have for anything by Springsteen, but it does happen for other songs, and Samsung’s latest and greatest – the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra – might just be able to cure this. It’s courtesy of the latest expansion of Google’s Circle to Search on devices.

Launched on the Galaxy S24 last year and then expanded to other devices like Google’s own family of Pixel phones, you can long press at the bottom and then circle something on the screen to figure out what it is or find out more.

For instance, it could be a fun hat within a TikTok or Instagram Reel video, a snazzy button down, or even more info on a concert happening or a location like San Jose – where Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked took place.

Circle to Search for songs

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Now, though, when you long-press the home button – or engage the assistant in another way – you’ll see a music note icon.

From there, you can just start singing as Google will tell you it is listening. I as well as my colleague, TechRadar’s Editor-at-Large Lance UIanoff, then hummed two tracks – “Hot To Go” by Chapell Roan, which the Galaxy S25 Ultra took tries to identify it properly – and then it got “Fly Me To The Moon” (a classic) on its first try.

While Lance did have to hum a good bit, it did in fact figure out what that song inside our head was, and this could make the latest facet of Circle to Search a pretty handy function. It will, of course, also do the job of Shazam and listen to whatever is playing when you select it via the microphone built into your device as well.

Further, you can use it to circle a video on screen and figure out what was playing – as you can see in the hands-on embed below, it was able to do this for a TikTok. That ultimately doesn’t seem quite as helpful given a video on TikTok – or an Instagram Reel – will note the audio it is using. But this could be particularly useful for a long YouTube video that uses a variety of background music or if you’re streaming a title and can’t figure out the song.

(Image credit: Future)

Google’s latest tool expansion for Circle to Search will be available from day one on the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra, but it’s worth pointing out that the search giant – turned AI giant – has been teasing this feature for a bit, and some even found it hiding in existing code. After our demo of it on the S25 Ultra, we had a hunch it would arrive elsewhere and it should be arriving on other devices with Circle to Search.

As for when it will arrive on the Galaxy S24, Z Flip 6, or Z Fold 6, that remains to be seen, and we’re also wondering that same question for Samsung’s other new Galaxy AI features. And if you’re keen to learn more about the Galaxy S25 family, check out our hands-on and our Galaxy S25 live blog for the event.

@techradar

Samsung is adding an entirely new way to 'Circle to Search' and it could help you figure out that song that is stuck in your head

♬ original sound - TechRadar You might also like

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• The Galaxy S25 lineup is the first to get many new Galaxy AI features.
• Samsung is currently "assessing which features" might arrive on other Galaxy devices.
• Historically, Galaxy AI features have arrived in short order on older devices.

Samsung finally made the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra official at its first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2025, and along with the new hardware, a number of new features for Galaxy AI were unveiled.

While the Samsung Galaxy S25 preorder deals are impressive, you might be reading this very news story on a Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy Z Flip 6, or even a Galaxy Z Fold 6, and thinking that these are still pretty new phones – and wondering if some of these new features might be arriving on your device in a future update. Well, we already know that One UI 7 with call transcriptions will be arriving on the S24 lineup.

As for other AI-powered features such as Samsung's Personal Data Engine, Now Brief, and improvements to generative image features, it’s not yet clear which devices these features might eventually land on.

Personal Data Engine is basically a dedicated core on the device for handling AI tasks and building out a personal large language model (LLM) to the phones owner, to help the AI serve up better suggestions and implement them. Now Brief is an app that changes through the day to show pertinent information.

Speaking to TechRadar, a Samsung spokesperson told us the company is “assessing which features” can come to which devices.

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

In full, Samsung states: “Nothing to share right now, but Samsung is committed to providing the best possible Galaxy experience to all our users, and we are assessing which features will be available on which devices.”

Clearly, the focus is on the S25 range, and it seems that a lot of these new Galaxy AI features were tailor-made for the new lineup thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip, which has a specific processor unit dedicated for AI tasks. That processor is paired with 12GB of RAM across the lineup – no more 8GB for the 'standard' model.

Samsung's really aiming to integrate Galaxy AI throughout the entire phone, allowing it to learn how you use it and the other apps on it. Ideally, the Now Brief app will work with Galaxy AI at its core, and in the dedicated part of the processor acting as a personal LLM to serve up the right suggestions and cards to you. It could be that you have a busy day with a look at your calendar, a reminder that it's someone's birthday and to create a digital card, or even a suggestion about your commute home. In a demo, I also saw cards for the weather and even news stories that might interest you, but as with most AI features it'll take some time for these features to learn your habits and routines.

The Galaxy S25 lineup follows the idea of 'agentic AI' that we’ve been hearing about, and will likely see more of in 2025. It remains to be seen how much of this relies on that new processor, or if Samsung can figure out a way to trickle this down further.

Even so, the ability to ask Gemini to complete chain requests – for instance, asking when the next New York Jets game is, adding it to your calendar, and sharing that invite with a friend – seems like it could arrive on other devices, and should be easy to roll out to them with Gemini – Google has even confirmed that. Integrating Gemini with, say, Samsung Notes and other third-party apps will likely take a bit longer, but could likely be introduced via an update.

The same thought process could apply to the improvements to generating images, and improvements to Samsung’s native tool for removing people from the background of photos that were unveiled for the Galaxy S25 family. Samsung so far has a good track record of rolling its AI features out to older phones, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed and hope that some of these new Galaxy AI features trickle down.

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• Samsung wants to expand Knox beyond its traditional enterprise remit
• Three tiers are now available with basic plan available on all Samsung Galaxy devices at no extra cost
• Base, Essentials, and Enterprise plans are tailored to address varying levels of security and management needs

Samsung has announced a new update for Knox Suite, its enterprise security and management solution for Galaxy business smartphones.

The updates introduce a tiered plan system, designed to cater to businesses of various sizes across multiple industries, from small businesses with a cybersecurity checklist through large enterprises.

This shift marks a departure from the previous single-plan model, aiming to broaden Knox Suite's appeal beyond the enterprise.

New Knox plans

The revised Knox Suite now comprises three distinct plans: Base, Essentials, and Enterprise, each of which is tailored to address varying levels of security and management needs.

The Base Plan is available at no additional cost and offers essential features like Knox Mobile Enrollment and Knox Platform for Enterprise; simplifying device setup and providing foundational security.

For companies seeking more robust management capabilities, the Essentials plan provides unified device management and real-time troubleshooting via Knox Manage and Knox Remote Support.

The Enterprise Plan, designed for organizations with extensive device fleets, adds features such as OS version control, intelligent insights, and advanced security tools like Knox E-FOTA and Asset Intelligence.

According to Samsung, businesses can scale their Knox Suite usage according to operational needs. For example, a significant advantage of Knox Suite is its compatibility with existing Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) systems, allowing businesses already using EMM platforms to incorporate Knox Suite without disrupting their current workflows.

Samsung also partners with leading EMM providers to enhance accessibility and integration for enterprises with diverse IT setups.

“Enterprises of varying sizes and industries have diverse device management needs, but ultimately are looking toward the same end goal – enabling secure, productive mobile workspaces,” said Samsung's EVP and Head of B2B Team and Mobile eXperience Business, Jerry Park.

"Through these new scalable solutions, Knox Suite is now optimized for all types of operational use cases, empowering businesses to comprehensively and intelligently manage enterprise ecosystems."

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