TechRadar News

• Nintendo has reportedly delayed Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders in Canada
• This is to align with the delayed US pre-order timing
• The console is still set to launch on June 5, 2025

I have some seriously bad news if you are a Canadian gamer hoping to get your hands on a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order.

According to Canadian technology website MobileSyrup, Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders have now been delayed past their original April 9, 2025, start date in the country.

In a statement given to the site, Nintendo of Canada reportedly said that “pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in Canada will not start on April 9, 2025 in order to align with the timing of pre-orders to be determined in the US."

Thankfully, this will not affect the existing launch date of the console. “Nintendo will provide updated information at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged,” the statement continued.

The news follows the announcement earlier this week that Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders would be delayed in the US.

In a statement provided to TechRadar Gaming, Nintendo said that "pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions."

The company also stated that it "will update timing at a later date" and affirmed that "the launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged."

The Nintendo Switch 2 is set to launch worldwide on June 5, 2025. It will cost $449.99 / £395.99 or $499.99 / £429.99 for a Mario Kart World bundle. Pre-orders from the My Nintendo Store are scheduled to open on April 8 in the UK, though many retailers are currently offering them ahead of that date.

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Full spoilers follow for The Last of Us season 1. Light spoilers also follow for season 2.

The Last of Us season 2 is almost here. HBO's incredibly popular TV adaptation of Naughty Dog's hit video game franchise returns to our screens on April 13 (US) and April 14 (UK and Australia). There's no time like the present, then, to find out who's part of its ensemble cast.

Below, I've listed every actor who'll appear in The Last of Us TV show's second chapter, where you might have seen them before, and which character they're playing. Once you're reached the end of this guide, you'll be an expert on the hit series' character roster.

So, without further ado, here's all you need to know about who'll appear in The Last of Us' (TLoU) sophomore season.

Pedro Pascal as Joel

Joel still hasn't told Ellie what he did to save her life in the season 1 finale (Image credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)

The internet's favorite zaddy (don't ask...), Pascal reprises his role as one of TLoU's primary characters in season 2.

In the critically-acclaimed Max show's latest chapter, Joel has become an integral part of the Jackson, Wyoming community. However, his surrogate relationship with Ellie has become strained in the five years (in-universe, anyway) since we last saw them – and it's got nothing to do with what he did in the season 1 finale. Expect that to come to the fore at some point this season.

As an actor, Pascal needs no introduction. Following his break-out roles in Netflix's Narcos TV series and HBO's Game of Thrones adaptation, he's gone on to appear in other projects including The Mandalorian, Gladiator II, and Wonder Woman 1984. He's also set to play Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which arrives in theaters on July 25.

Bella Ramsey as Ellie

Ellie is one of three main characters you'll see in season 2 (Image credit: HBO)

The other main character in TLoU is Ellie, who will be portrayed by Ramsey once more.

Season 2 will reunite us with an Ellie whose in her late teens. She's as headstrong as ever but, having made friends of her own age in Jackson, she's not only spending less and less time with Joel, but seemingly punishing him for reasons yet to be revealed. TLoU season 2's latest trailer confirmed there'll be a huge showdown between the pair, so you better prepare yourself for an incredibly heart-wrenching scene at some point this season.

Like Pascal, Ramsey is a Game of Thrones alumnus – in fact, it's the show that marked her major acting debut. Since then, she's featured in Chicken Run 2, His Dark Materials, Catherine Called Birdy, and Becoming Elizabeth among other film and TV productions.

Kaitlyn Dever as Abby

Abby is out for revenge in The Last of Us season 2 (Image credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)

The deuteragonist of Naughty Dog's divisive game The Last of Us Part II, HBO's live-action retelling will finally introduce us to Abby.

She'll be played by No One Will Save You's Kaitlyn Dever and, after the release of one of season 2's most recent teaser, some TLoU fans are already concerned for Dever's welfare. The reason? Abby is a highly controversial figure among sections of the fanbase. Let's hope Dever has the support structure around her to cope with any toxicity that comes her way.

For the uninitiated: Abby is a member of the militia group known as The Fireflies. She's also the daughter of one of the faction's members who was murdered by Joel in the season 1 finale. Its follow-up, then, will see Abby embark on a mission of revenge, with Joel firmly planted in her crosshairs.

Dever was recently seen starring in Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar TV series. She's also appeared in Last Man Standing, Justified, Rosaline, Good Grief, and Booksmart among other productions.

Gabriel Luna as Tommy

Tommy has taken on a bigger leadership role in the years since we saw him (Image credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)

Another returning face, Luna's Tommy – aka Joel's brother – has taken on a more central role in Jackson since season 1 ended. Indeed, he now sits on its council. When he's not sorting out issues within the community, he's either helping to bring up his son and, as she continues to shun Joel, become another surrogate father to Ellie.

Best known for playing Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD TV show before playing Tommy in one of the best Max shows, Luna has also appeared in True Detective, FUBAR, Wicked City, and Terminator: Dark Fate.

Rutina Wesley as Maria

Maria is the leader of Jackson's council (Image credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)

The fourth and final actor to reprise their season 1 role, Wesley's Maria is Tommy's wife. She's also the democratically elected leader of Jackson's council and mother of their pair's child.

A regular on The CW's Arrow TV show, viewers may recognize Wesley from Hannibal's TV adaptation, The Cleveland Show, and Outsiders. Her most prominent role to date, though, was in popular fantasy horror drama True Blood.

Isabela Merced as Dina

Dina (left) is an incredibly important person in Ellie's (right) life (Image credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)

Arguably the most important addition to the show's cast (outside of Abby, anyway), Dina will be played by Isabela Merced.

Ellie's closest friend and love interest, Dina is a free spirit who's also incredibly loyal to Ellie. Fans of the game series' second title will know, though, that their relationship will be put to the test as the story unfolds in this season's seven-episode installment and, potentially, its yet-to-be-greenlit third season.

2024 was a breakout year for Merced, with the US-Peruvian actor featuring in Madame Web, Turtles All the Way Down, and Alien: Romulus. Before then, she voiced Kate in Dora the Explorer: In the City!, played the titular character in Dora the Explorer's live-action film, and appeared alongside Dever in Rosaline.

Young Mazino as Jesse

Jesse (left) is something of a mentor to Ellie (right) (Image credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)

Best known for portraying Paul Cho in season 1 of Netflix's acclaimed TV Original Beef, Young Mazino is set to play another of Ellie's close friends Jesse in TLoU season 2.

A selfless individual who's always looking out for Jackson's younger citizens, Jesse is also Dina's on-and-off boyfriend. Major spoilers notwithstanding, he'll embark on a quest alongside Ellie and Dina that'll similarly test his devotion to the former.

An actor whose roles came in solitary TV episodes until his breakthrough role in Beef, Mazino was last seen in A24 psychological thriller Opus, which wasn't one of 2025's best new movies.

Danny Ramirez as Manny

Manny is one of four Firefly group members who joins Abby on her quest for vengeance (Image credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)

One of four Fireflies who joins Abby to seek retribution for what Joel did in season 1 episode 9, Manny is a loyal soldier whose biggest fear is failing those he's closest to.

Fresh off making his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) big-screen debut in Captain America: Brave New World, Ramirez will play Manny. Viewers will know him from Top Gun: Maverick, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Black Mirror.

Post-season 2, his next role will see him play his MCU character Joaquin Torres/Falcon again in Avengers: Doomsday, with the Marvel Phase 6 film set to be released in May 2026.

Tati Gabrielle as Nora

Nora also joins Abby in an attempt to hunt down Joel (Image credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)

Another member of Abby's strike team, Nora is a military medic who struggles with the person she used to be. Tati Gabrielle will bring Nora to life in HBO's TV adaptation.

Gabrielle won't be unfamiliar to many TV fanatics. Indeed, she had sizeable roles in popular Netflix projects You, Kaleidoscope, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Away from starring in projects for the world's best streaming service, Gabrielle can also be seen in Sony's Uncharted movie and TV show The 100. She'll next appear in Mortal Kombat 2 this October.

Spencer Lord as Owen

Owen is the most reluctant member of Abby's group over her plan to find and kill Joel (Image credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)

Ally number three of Abby's, Owen is a gentle giant who, despite his caring nature and reluctance to fight, is forced to use his brute strength to take down his foes. He's also the voice of reason within the group and ensures the impulsive Abby doesn't over-commit when it isn't necessary.

Spencer Lord, who's most famous for TV shows Family Law and Heartland, will portray Owen. He also played Terry in Riverdale, but that was only a two-episode stint on that program.

Ariela Barer as Mel

Mel is the medic for Abby's five-strong party (Image credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)

The final addition to Abby's five-strong party, Mel is a doctor who, while committed to her role as the group's healer, is conflicted in her feelings on the realities of war and the increasingly divisive nature of post-apocalyptic Earth.

Perhaps best known for playing Gert Yorkes in Marvel's non-canonical MCU TV show Runaways, Barer will portray Mel. Barer is also the co-writer and producer on critically-acclaimed eco-action thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline, and has also starred in Rebel, Atypical, and 2021's Saved by the Bell reboot.

Jeffrey Wright as Isaac

Isaac isn't someone to be trifled with (Image credit: HBO)

The only star to play the same character he voiced in The Last of Us game series, Jeffrey Wright has been hired to play Isaac. A former US Marine, Isaac is the ruthless de-factor leader of another militia known as the Washington Liberation Front.

Like Pascal, Wright needs no introduction. The beloved actor has appeared in comic book movies and shows, such as DC film The Batman and Disney+ series What If...?, as well as other popular franchises including The Hunger Games, James Bond, and Westworld.

Catherine O'Hara as Gail

Gail is the only character who's been created for season 2 of the hit HBO TV series (Image credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)

The only new character created for TLoU's TV adaptation, Gail is a Jackson-based psychotherapist who Joel will confide in.

She'll be played by Catherine O'Hara, who was confirmed to be play a supporting role in season 2 last February. However, her character's identity was kept a secret until a few weeks before season 2's release – indeed, HBO didn't even reveal who she was portraying following the release of The Last of Us season 2's first trailer.

An iconic actor whose career spans 50 years of TV and film, O'Hara is most famous for her roles in Beetlejuice, the Home Alone movies, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. More recently, she's appeared in highly-rated Apple TV+ show The Studio, Universal Pictures' The Wild Robot, and the critically-panned Universal/Apple joint venture flick Argylle.

Joe Pantoliano as Eugene

Eugene's backstory will be expanded upon in HBO's small-screen adaptation (Image credit: HBO)

A character who's only briefly referenced in Naughty Dog's two games, Eugene is a former Firefly who joined the Jackson community alongside Tommy. In HBO's retelling, however, he'll be Gail's husband. In much the same way that Bill and Frank's history was greatly expanded on from the games in season 1 episode 3, Eugene's backstory will be explored in-depth in the TV show, too.

Pantoliano, who played Cipher in The Matrix's original film trilogy and Ralphie in The Sopranos, boarded the project many, many months ago. His involvement in HBO's remake, though, was only recently made public.

The Last of Us season 2 will be released on Max (US and Australia) and Sky/Now TV (UK).

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The Apple TV app is still very fresh to Android devices since it finally became available in February this year to non-iOS users, and just after a mere two months the Android app is getting its first notable update that packs two features that could really improve your streaming experience.

Version 1.1 dropped yesterday (April 7) and 9to5Google was the first to jump on the news, revealing that the new update has added preview clips that play automatically in the app’s main carousel. In a way, they can also function as mini trailers that preview the best Apple TV+ movies and best Apple TV+ shows in its library.

But the second, and arguably more fascinating new feature, is the introduction of new automatic subtitle settings. There are two new controls, ‘Show on Muted’ and ‘Show on Skip Back’, and both sound rather helpful.

(Image credit: 9to5Google )

When you enable the ‘Show on Muted’ control this will automatically show subtitles when the volume of the Apple TV+ movie or show you’re watching is turned right down manually or muted. On the other hand, enabling the ‘Show on Skip Back’ setting will show subtitles temporarily when you rewind up to 30 seconds – perfect for if you get distracted and miss an important on-screen moment.

Topping things off, the Apple TV Android app has introduced an auto-play setting that will play recommended content once a movie, show, or even a sporting event has finished – much like YouTube’s way of auto-playing related videos, keeping your streaming experience on a continuum.

(Image credit: 9to5Google )

For its first major update, it has generally pleased Android users with its convenient new additions, but for those who are waiting for their iTunes movies and shows to show up, there's still a gap for improvement.

Where’s my iTunes purchases and new episode updates?

As it is for a majority of the best streaming services, they’re great for giving you reminders of new episodes to your favorite shows, or when a highly-anticipated movie you’ve been waiting for is finally released.

As it stands, this is a minor feature that’s missing from Apple TV's app on Android, and it’s not clear as to when – or if – this will ever be integrated. One other thing that loyal Apple TV+ subscribers are still waiting for is permission to migrate purchased content on iTunes, which was phased out of macOS in 2019.

Long before Apple TV+ made waves as one of the leading streaming services, iTunes was the place to go to purchase movies and TV shows, as well as songs and music videos. Thanks to Apple Music, subscribers can access its endless library of music without the fuss of having to rely on iTunes, but those who have purchased visual media through iTunes are still waiting for the day they can migrate these purchases to their Apple TV app accounts on Android devices.

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• Modders have been supercharging AMD’s RX 9070 GPU with a simple trick
• They’ve been using the BIOS for the RX 9070 XT with the vanilla GPU
• While this provides a major performance boost, which in fact makes the RX 9070 about as fast as the XT version, there are huge caveats here

It seems that AMD’s RX 9070 graphics cards can be supercharged simply by applying the BIOS for its higher-tier sibling GPU, the RX 9070 XT, based on experiments that’ve recently been conducted.

VideoCardz noticed that modders who inhabit the PC Games Hardware forum (a German tech site) have been playing around with installing the XT BIOS in non-XT models of the RX 9070.

Of course, this should not be done in theory. After all, these are two completely different models of graphics cards, and the BIOS for each is designed specifically for that GPU, and is not to be used elsewhere.

Doing this wouldn’t work at all in many cases – indeed, sometimes GPU owners are completely blocked from using firmware (another term for BIOS) in this way – but because the RX 9070 vanilla card is quite similar to the RX 9070 XT (in terms of many specs), and there are no such restrictions in place, this trick can be pulled off. (Although I still wouldn’t recommend doing this for reasons I’ll come back to).

However, that warning noted, what these modders found with the RX 9070 running an RX 9070 XT BIOS was illuminating, to say the least.

There were reportedly no issues using the XT BIOS in this way – at least on the face of it – which essentially applies more power and faster clock speeds to the RX 9070, and the graphics card can apparently still be overclocked on top of this, too.

As VideoCardz notes, the RX 9070 supercharged in this way was about 15% to 20% faster than the GPU normally is – with that extra overclocking applied, mind. This means it’s close to stock RX 9070 XT performance (without any overclocking) when using the BIOS meant for the XT (but then the 9070 XT could also be overclocked, of course).

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler) Analysis: Three words – don’t do it

How can the RX 9070 almost be the equal of its XT spin? Well, I must again underline that the RX 9070 coming close to the 9070 XT’s performance in this way is due not just to the use of the BIOS from its beefier sibling, but also due to the GPU being overclocked on top of that.

In short, this is a lot of fudging and pushing the boundaries of flashing a non-intended BIOS version into the RX 9070. Even without the extra overclocking, you may well see a lack of stability from the 9070 GPU trying to cope with using an XT BIOS, and frankly, I think this is likely – though the odds may depend on how good a chip you’ve got. (There are variances in the quality of GPUs, which means you’ll get slightly better results in situations where you’re really pushing the chip if you’ve been lucky and won the so-called ‘silicon lottery’).

With overclocking as an additional measure here, augmenting the XT BIOS, I’d say that’s quite likely to cause glitches. Indeed, some of the modders involved here reported their PC locking up at times, but they were able to tweak their way around these issues. It’s definitely the case that those who aren’t, at the very least, highly confident in their tech abilities should not be attempting anything like this.

Even if things do appear to be okay to begin with when using this trick – which is the case for some, apparently – who's to say whether a future driver update might throw a spanner in the works? Or whether a future game could have problems with an RX 9070 that’s turbocharged in this way.

Longer-term, you’ll also be running an RX 9070 graphics card consistently well above the power – and temperatures – its cooling system was designed for. So, especially if it’s an entry-level board without the greatest cooler, that could lead to potentially serious problems eventually.

The other point to remember here is that if something does go wrong, either with your initial attempt or at a later date, you could end up with a bricked GPU. And if you think that your warranty will cover the results of an alien BIOS being flashed to your graphics card, well, think again – it won’t, and you’ll be out to the tune of a whole lot of cash.

Proceed very much at your own peril, given all this, but it’s still interesting to see the results of experiments like this – and how fast the RX 9070 can be when powered up in this manner.

If you want to try and get more performance out of your RX 9070 graphics card, I’d suggest simply looking to overclock it (with the correct BIOS for the GPU). But even then, you’ll need a sound grasp of technical knowledge to proceed, ideally, because things can still go awry with overclocking.

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With the regrettable Studio Ghbli AI trend in our rearview mirror, we've stumbled right into our next unfortunate AI trend: Action Figures of ourselves.

To be clear, I've made one of myself with ChatGPT 4o's new native image capabilities because how could I not? As you might expect, ChatGPT's work is exceptional. I fed OpenAI's GPT 4o model a full-length photo of me and used this prompt:

Create an action figure of the person in this photo. It must be in its packaging and with things that represent his interests like computers, robots, cameras, smartphones.

The initial results were good, though I neglected to tell ChatGPT to use my name on the packaging. The platform also stumbled a bit when I asked for adjustments to the figure, with each iteration looking less and less like me.

It doesn't matter. I did it, and so have thousands of others. At least we're not, as with the Ghibli and Muppets AI memes, stealing someone else's intellectual property (IP) to create new and uncanny images.

(Image credit: ChatGPT 4o - AI-generated images)

I can understand why everyone is doing it. First of all, these images look just like real action figure packaging. The addition of interest accessories and, though I didn't ask for it, an optional head, is perfect.

There is a proportional relationship between this quality and how quickly these AI image trends spread. The generative images are so good that as soon as they started to appear on social media, others started investigating how to make one for themselves.

AI Action Figures in packaging are so popular that there are, unsurprisingly, YouTube tutorials. That's how I figured out how to do it. I found a Spanish-language one created about a week ago. The translation gave me just enough detail to know how to form the proper action figure prompt.

The true cost of AI memes

This is all good fun, but there are concerns.

First of all, AI image generation is not without cost. Sure, there’s the price of a ChatGPT Plus membership (around $20 / £16 / AU$30 a month), although you can generate around three images a day on the free tier, depending on current demand. Perhaps more importantly, there’s the cost of AI models like 4o.

A Queens University Library report claims, "Artificial Intelligence models consume an enormous amount of water and emit large amounts of carbon in their production, training, operation, and maintenance." Another Cornell University study calls out AI's growing freshwater use footprint, claiming "training the GPT-3 language model in Microsoft's state-of-the-art U.S. data centers can directly evaporate 700,000 liters of clean freshwater."

If you don't think these AI trends and the memes they spawn are attracting wide use, stressing the system, and possibly eating natural resources, just look at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's comments.

it's super fun seeing people love images in chatgpt.but our GPUs are melting.we are going to temporarily introduce some rate limits while we work on making it more efficient. hopefully won't be long!chatgpt free tier will get 3 generations per day soon.March 27, 2025

We have a joke in my house that every time we create one of these AI memes, it kills a tree. That's hyperbole, of course, but it's safe to say that AI content generation is not without costs, and perhaps we should be thinking about it and using it differently,

That is the other question. With so many consumers primarily using AI for trend image generation, are they missing the point?

The growing intelligence of AI means that someday in the not-too-distant future it could be as smart or smarter than us (Artificial General intelligence could arrive as soon as next year). Meanwhile, we'll all be using it to create funny movie posters and then shocked when AI takes our jobs.

(Image credit: ChatGPT 4o - AI-generated images)

The way into AI and perhaps keeping control of the narrative is by using AI as a practical tool. It's not as much fun, but ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Apple Intelligence, and soon Alexa+, all feature myriad tools for improving things we do every day, including writing, creating outlines, polishing presentations, and summarizing long articles. Yes, they can create complete images and short videos, but tools like Adobe Firefly are more helpful for adjusting existing ones in more subtle ways, like removing backgrounds or distracting people and objects.

There are people using AIs like ChatGPT 4o for these tasks but those workaday activities are drowned out by a flood of AI trend images and memes like the ones above of my life-like action figure in plastic packaging.

It is kind of cool, right?

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• White House updates its AI directives for quicker modernization
• Federal agencies are set to adopt AI in various capacities
• The naming of Chief AI Officers is still required

The White House has released two updated ‘America First’ AI directives to modernize the federal government, at the risk of removing some of the safeguards put in place to protect citizens and businesses.

The changes form part of President Trump’s push to maintain US global dominance within artificial intelligence and reverse some safeguards left over from the Biden era.

On the whole, the goal appears to be to maximize efficiency and remove unnecessary steps so that the US can continue to develop the technology and its implementation at a rapid rate, preventing it from being left behind.

Trump wants US to remain an AI leader

Keen to demonstrate action as well as intent, Lynne Parker, Principal Deputy Director of the White House OSTP, said: “This administration is focused on encouraging and promoting American AI innovation and global leadership, which starts with utilizing these emerging technologies within the Federal Government.”

Parker added that the new policies would provide “much-needed guidance” while “removing unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions.”

Artificial intelligence isn’t just a tool that can be plugged into knowledge workers’ computers for some productivity enhancements, though.

The Department of Justice is using the tech to better understand drug trafficking, while the Department of Veterans Affairs has been using AI for lung cancer identification and analysis.

Like Biden’s previous executive order, the Trump administration is calling on agencies to name Chief AI Officers to take responsibility and guide their teams with more structure.

Despite the desire for rapid growth, the memorandum continues to stress the importance of ongoing safety: “Through this memorandum, agencies are directed to provide improved services to the public, while maintaining strong safeguards for civil rights, civil liberties and privacy.”

Via Cybernews

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• A browser UX feature that helps users determine which links they visited in the past can be abused
• Over the years, there were multiple attempts to fix it
• Google claims the next version of Chrome finally addresses it

Google is finally fixing a vulnerability in its Chrome browser that’s been present since its very inception, and that could be used to spy on people’s web surfing habits.

In a blog post, Google’s Kyra Seevers explained that when a person clicks on a link displayed in a web page, it turns from blue to purple. The idea behind this design was to improve the user experience and help people navigate the web easier.

This change of state is handled by CSS, but malicious actors found different ways to abuse this UX feature to spy on people’s browsing habits. For example, a malicious website could include thousands of links to popular websites, but style them in a way that the visitors don’t actually see them. The site then uses JavaScript or CSS to check which of those links should appear purple, effectively learning which sites the victim already visited.

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Chrome 136 to the rescue

Apparently, the problem is not limited to Chrome but instead is present on most browsers these days. In fact, the problem predates Chrome, which was first introduced in 2008.

“These attacks can reveal which links a user has visited and leak details about their web browsing activity,” Seevers explained.

“This security problem has plagued the web for over 20 years, and browsers have deployed various stop-gaps to mitigate these history detection attacks. While the attacks are slowed down by these mitigations, they are not eliminated.”

However, the next version of the browser, Chrome 136, is supposed to “render these attacks obsolete.” This is accomplished by partitioning :visited link history, Seevers further stated.

Chrome 136 is scheduled for release in late April 2025.

Via The Register

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• The Nintendo Switch 2 eShop won't have any background music
• Music will be absent because Nintendo wanted to prioritize gameplay videos featured on the store
• Switch 2 producer Kouichi Kawamoto said his main focus was performance and making a "smoother experience" for users

Just like on the Nintendo Switch, the Switch 2 eShop won't feature any background music while you browse releases.

In a new interview with Polygon following the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, console producer Kouichi Kawamoto confirmed that the new eShop won't have any theme songs, unlike the Wii and Wii U, but there's a practical reason why.

"Unlike back then, the eShop now has lots of videos that are showcasing the games," Kawamoto said. "We didn’t want to intrude on that, so we don’t have music there."

While there won't be any catchy music to get stuck in your head, Kawamoto explained that his main focus for improving the Switch 2 eShop was performance and making it a smoother experience for users.

"I wanted to make sure that it was a smooth experience. That the scrolling of the list doesn’t stall, that it’s very smooth, pages load fast," he said.

The Nintendo Switch 2 releases worldwide on June 5, 2025, for $449.99 / £395.99 or $499.99 / £429.99 for a Mario Kart World bundle.

Pre-orders are scheduled to open on April 8 in the UK, but Nintendo has delayed Switch 2 pre-orders in the US from its original April 9 date "in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions".

Nintendo will update the pre-order timing at a later date but confirmed that the console will still launch on June 5.

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• Sid Meier's Civilization 7 will be released on the Switch 2 with executive producer Dennis Shirk comparing the console to a "mid-tier PC"
• One Hogwarts Legacy developer said "we felt like we could make a higher quality product" with the Switch 2

Some third-party developers are already praising the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware, with Firaxis Games confirming that Sid Meier's Civilization 7 will run quite well on the console.

That's according to Game File, who spoke to several developers at a hands-on press event following the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, namely Firaxis executive producer Dennis Shirk, who said that the studio is "extremely happy" with the handheld's power.

"We were able to make this look like a mid-tier PC, because it's got enough power," Shirk said. "We are extremely happy, and it's been easy. Their software development kit is great, the customer support, their developer support, developer relations is great."

The lead also said that Nintendo wanted Civilization 7 on the Switch 2 because the game is "a great showcase" for the console's brand new mouse function and "pairs up so well with our existing PC audience because we have crossplay."

Civilization 7 is currently available on the original Switch, but with the Switch 2's new features, the game will be much improved, and the same can be said for Hogwarts Legacy, according to Avalanche senior producer Jimmie Nelson.

"We originally started with our Switch version," Nelson told GameFile. "We got very good results really quickly, but we felt like we could make a higher quality product if we brought in a lot of the high-resolution assets and raised the resolution, textures, lighting, and world streaming."

The Nintendo Switch 2 launches June 5, 2025, for $449.99 / £395.99 or $499.99 / £429.99 for a Mario Kart World bundle.

Pre-orders are scheduled to open on April 8 in the UK. Nintendo has announced that it has delayed Switch 2 pre-orders in the US from its original April 9 date as it assesses the impact of tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration.

Nintendo confirmed it will share the new pre-order date soon and that the console's launch date is unchanged.

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• AT-LP60XBT is AT's best-selling turntable – now in limited-edition gold
• The 'limited units' are only available in the US, at bricks-and-mortar stores
• It costs $199 – head to your local record store to see the AT-LP60XBT-GD

Just look at this turntable. And for $199, I really (really) want it. Is it actual gold (gold)? Almost certainly not. But you've got the power to know, you're indestructible, and always believing…

Upon receiving a press release with the headline 'Audio-Technica Celebrates Record Store Day with GOLD AT-LP60XBT,' I expected a product with an extravagant four-figure price tag at least – I'd even cued up one of our 'Money no object' badges to adorn the image. But no, not a bit of it.

What's happened is that ahead of Record Store Day (which falls this Saturday, April 12), Audio-Technica has released of a gold-finish version of its top best-selling turntable, the AT-LP60XBT. And for some reason, the deck is priced just $199, i.e., practically the same asking fee as the non-gold variants.

A quick bit on the deck? Of course. It was originally released in February 2019 (so a relative babe in arms, as turntables go) and as well as being a fully automatic belt-driven vinyl spinner, it offers Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX transmission – so you can send the analog music spinning on your platter to your wireless headphones or Bluetooth speakers. Simply put 'em into pairing mode and press the button on the corner of the Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT's plinth. Neat, no?

Back to the GD-suffixed version (the model we'll both be after is the AT-LP60XBT-GD – I know, we must write it down) and Audio-Technica warns me it is available in "limited units" at independent brick and mortar stores across the US only.

Audio-Technica encourages customers to head to their local record store this week to check out the AT-LP60XBT-GD and support local – and I do too, provided I've managed to bag mine in good time…

Oh but I'm proud of you, but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make you feel small. Luck has left you standing so tall… (you bought) Gold!

Sorry, I remember Spandau Ballet. And you know what else I remember? When radio ads and TV commercials used to carefully annunciate the correct interstate exit for a store on big event days, as well as the sales prices – because you couldn't find that information online, much less acquire any items without physically going there.

And that's kind of what Record Store Day is about, isn't it? Heading out to a local store, to try to buy something you certainly can't get otherwise. And all of that aside, this is a best-selling deck (that I've used and loved), now in a gloriously 1970s finish, for entry-level money.

Want to browse the limited-edition Record Store Day LPs and CDs for 2025? See our RSD hub for a full list and our pick of the albums you should be buying – but if you're looking for more record players or accessories, Pro-Ject's released a new fully automatic turntable and also a vinyl flattener to add to your cart on the big day.

Whatever you pick up on Record Store Day 2025, enjoy it, and enjoy the music.

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If you can’t get Hulu to load either a classic rewatch of Only Murders In The Building, another on-demand classic, or even Live TV, you’re not alone. Further, if you can’t even see into Hulu – like myself on an iPad and my colleagues on other devices – read on for the latest updates.

It appears that Hulu is in the midst of a pretty sizable outage with reports on Downdetector spiking to over 12,300 as of 10:03AM EST. I’m also beginning to see reports of frustrated users who simply want to stream on social platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Threads.

Interestingly enough, Disney+ appears to still be working just fine in the United States – well, more specifically in New York on an iPhone or iPad – and I can even still access Hulu content. Still, the fact that a device that’s already logged into Hulu can’t load content, and I can’t even sign into the platform on another device, spells problems.

Stick with us as we live blog this Hulu outage and see just how long one of the best streaming services around has problems for.

A big Hulu outage

As of 10:40 AM ET, Down Detector has spiked to over 13,000 reported outages for Hulu, with comments spelling issues watching content – either on-demand or through Live TV – and I can't get it working on an iPhone or an iPad.

Stick with us as we see how long Hulu is having problems for!

(Image credit: Future) Hulu confirms there's an issue

While Hulu doesn't seem to have a status page, the streaming service confirms an issue and tells frustrated streamers its help is on the way. Via the @HuluSupport handle on X (formerly Twitter), it's confirmed there's an issue with a few users who have tweeted asking what's going on.

@HuluSupport writes to one user, "We hear you! Our developers are on the case and working to resolve this as we speak. We appreciate your patience!"

We hear you! Our developers are on the case and working to resolve this as we speak. We appreciate your patience!April 8, 2025

And in another, it offers more reassurance but stops sorts of saying what exactly is causing the issues. It seems that many users are reporting are reporting getting automatically logged out and unable to sign back-in or are seeing basic webpages with a 503 error.

We're sorry to hear you're also experiencing this! Our team is working to resolve this behavior ASAP. We really appreciate your patience while we work on a fix!April 8, 2025

Here's the official statement that @HuluSupport has posted to X (formerly Twitter):

Having issues logging in? If so – we’re on it! Our team has identified the issue, and we hope to have things back up and running soon.April 8, 2025

This confirms an issue with logging in, but the TechRadar team, as well as other users who have posted on social media, are also having issues when already logged in or are being forced to log in after being signed out.

Well, this might be a quick one

It seems like Hulu might be making a fast recovery, which is a good thing! I am now able to sign back in on my iPad and access live TV and on-demand content from the streaming service.

My colleague Lance Ulanoff, who previously couldn't even enter an email address to log into Hulu, has at least gotten past that step.

On my iPhone, however, I am still receiving an "Error playing video" message with an "Error Code," the "Local Time of Error," and a "Unique Error ID."

Even so, @HuluSupport is still responding to users, saying the streaming service's team is working on a fix for login issues and the platform's general instability right now.

Apologies, Diana! We've got all hands on deck working to resolve this. Getting you back to your shows is our top priority. Thanks for bearing with us!April 8, 2025

Hulu says the 'login is resolved'

Now, via a post on X (formerly Twitter), @HuluSupport says that the issues have been resolved, writing:

"Thank you for your patience. The login issue from earlier has been resolved. If you’re still running into any trouble on your end, please restart and try again."

This means that if you're still encountering issues on the web, via a mobile app – iOS or Android –, a smart TV, or even a streaming box, restarting might be the road to streaming once again.

I'm still seeing the error on my iPhone, so I'm trying a restart right now.

Reports on DownDetector are starting to drop as well. As of 10:52 AM ET, they are sitting around 1,100.

Thank you for your patience. The login issue from earlier has been resolved. If you’re still running into any trouble on your end, please restart and try again.April 8, 2025

Considering this was a small outage, we have to hand it to the team at Hulu for quickly resolving it. Additionally, unlike some other recent outages, the @HuluSupport account was also responsive to frustrated users.

In case you're wondering, the restart and log back-in method did indeed work on my iPhone, so if you're still having issues using Hulu, that would be our recommendation.

• A UK court has confirmed a legal challenge against the British Government
• Apple is taking action over an encryption backdoor request
• The tech giant's end-to-end encryption has been removed in the UK

In the latest development of the ongoing privacy dispute between Apple and the UK Government, a British court has officially confirmed the company has launched a legal challenge.

Campaigners have been pushing for transparency in the legal challenge, and the Investigatory Powers Tribunal rejected the attempt by the government to keep the “bare details” of the case secret, the Financial Times reports.

Early in 2025, Apple removed its option for end-to-end encryption, Advanced Data Protection, following a request by the British Government for Apple to build a “backdoor” into the encryption for law enforcement agencies.

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Ongoing litigation

The court confirmed it, “did not accept the revelation of the bare details of the case would be damaging to the public interest or prejudicial to national security”, having heard submissions from privacy campaigners, media organizations, and even US senators.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has reaffirmed its promise to “never build a backdoor”.

The firm has previously denied requests from the FBI for a similar law enforcement master key - although the current Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, called the UK's request a ‘clear and egregious violation of American’s privacy and civil liberties’, since the backdoor could theoretically be used against citizens outside of the UK.

The tech giant and privacy campaigners argue that once a backdoor is built, threat actors could potentially steal access to private data, and governments could abuse their powers with enhanced surveillance.

Our readers overwhelmingly disagree with proposals to build a master key for law enforcement, with 67% of surveyed respondents saying that their data is private, and that they wouldn’t want their Government to have access.

For now, British Apple users won’t have access to Advanced Data Protection - so users should consider another type of cloud storage solution if they want to enjoy end-to-end encryption.

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• Meta reveals it found a vulnerability in WhatsApp for Windows
• It affects all older versions and allows hackers to trick people into running .exe files
• The flaw lets criminals display .exe files as harmless photos in the chat

Meta has fixed a vulnerability in its WhatsApp client for Windows which allowed threat actors to spoof executable files as images.

In a security advisory published on Facebook, the company said it addressed a spoofing issue in WhatsApp for Windows, prior to version 2.2450.6.

The bug “displayed attachments according to their MIME type but selected the file opening handler based on the attachment’s filename extension,” Meta explained.

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No abuse in the wild

“A maliciously crafted mismatch could have caused the recipient to inadvertently execute arbitrary code rather than view the attachment when manually opening the attachment inside WhatsApp.”

According to CyberInsider, this mismatch is a “classic method” for social engineering-based exploitation, since it allows threat actors to send files that appear harmless, but are in fact malicious. “If a victim double-clicks the attachment within WhatsApp, the underlying executable could run, compromising the user's system,” the publication wrote.

All older versions of the software were vulnerable, Meta further explained, recommending that users apply the patch immediately.

At the same time, the Cybernews team says that there is currently no evidence that the vulnerability is being exploited in the wild. However, as usual with these things, as soon as news of a vulnerability breaks, cybercriminals start hunting for vulnerable endpoints.

Most cyberattacks these days start with social engineering. A phishing message, paired with a malicious attachment can be sent either via email, or through an instant messaging platform such as WhatsApp. It can trick the victim into making a rash decision, running the attachment without thinking through it first.

Email addresses get leaked a lot more often than phone numbers, which makes WhatsApp-borne attacks a little less likely. However, many organizations harvest this information as well, and then store it in misconfigured, non-password-protected databases, which often get picked up by malicious actors and sold on the dark web.

Adam Pilton, Senior Cybersecurity Consultant at CyberSmart, noted this is a dangerous vulnerability since many people are parts of different WhatsApp groups where images get shared all the time. This presents a great opportunity for criminals, and major risk for the users:

"It's really important to stress that this WhatsApp vulnerability impacts Windows desktop users. Most people will be part of a WhatsApp group where it is common for images to be shared and this is where this vulnerability becomes dangerous, because if a cyber criminal was able to share this image either in your group or with someone you trust who then goes on to share it in your group, anybody in that group could unknowingly execute the malicious code associated with the shared image," he said.

"It is good to see however that the solution is at hand and simple to achieve and that is to apply an update to WhatsApp."

Via Cybernews

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The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a powerful driver of transformation, and according to leading analyst firm Gartner, the IoT market is set to reach 991 billion USD by 2028 due to growing investment in IoT infrastructure and more AI-native IoT applications across a variety of industries.

IoT is built around the concept of connectivity, linking devices to create a data-driven ecosystem. True IoT doesn’t just rely on new smart devices; it makes existing and older infrastructure intelligent, unlocking its potential in industries where upgrading to new systems isn't feasible, often due to cost or complexity.

This approach allows businesses to benefit from the value of IoT without overhauling their operations, enabling old and new technologies to work together seamlessly. As businesses evolve, grow, and invest in new systems, IoT solutions can change with them to continually drive efficiency, scalability, and sustainability in the areas that matter the most.

A new era of efficiency

IoT is transforming businesses across all industries, including manufacturing, food retail, energy and financial services. The technology enables real-time data collection through a vast network of connected devices, which provides unprecedented visibility and control over machines and systems, enabling organizations to benefit from automated, data-driven decisions about their operations and assets. Imperatively, true IoT solutions embed high degrees of automation into decisions and actions to bring forward a new era of enhanced efficiency.

For example, IoT-driven predictive maintenance improves operational efficiency and reduces downtime in manufacturing, which is a key benefit of smart factories. By continuously monitoring equipment health and performance, IoT solutions can anticipate failures before they occur and drive automated interventions to schedule maintenance and avoid costly interruptions or machine downtime.

IoT solutions can also offer similar benefits to financial services companies, which provide around 48,000 cash machines in the UK. IoT can conduct cash monitoring in real time and automatically alert the owner if thresholds are breached before customers are impacted. It can also create alerts about machine faults and ensure engineers are informed about the issue before they are dispatched. This goes far beyond the manual reporting process that is rife with inefficiencies and delays.

Making better choices across the supply chain

One of the most immediate and tangible benefits businesses can see from IoT adoption is cost reduction. By processing vast amounts of data in real time, IoT solutions deliver actionable insights driven by predictive analytics and take automatic, corrective actions that allow companies to streamline operations and cut expenses.

A key advantage of IoT is its ability to function as a seamless digital layer, enabling any business to enhance operations without the need to replace existing machinery or invest in costly new infrastructure. This digital layer can be integrated across a business’ supply chain to bring disparate systems and siloed organizations into one standardized platform without requiring infrastructure to be upgraded or standardized.

With the data collated and analyzed, data sets can be viewed and contextualized holistically to provide a complete oversight of supply chain operations and a product’s journey. By instantly improving knowledge, communication, and efficiency, supply chain ecosystems can tackle challenges like labor shortages or trading uncertainties more effectively, as well as make better choices to improve productivity and reduce unnecessary costs.

Boosting sustainability in real time

Beyond operational efficiency and cost savings, IoT can play a vital role in advancing sustainability initiatives as businesses can optimize resource use, minimize waste, and reduce their environmental footprint. For example, in industrial buildings and large estates, IoT-enabled systems can track and manage energy usage to reduce emissions. This, along with other applications, can support broader goals of increased energy efficiency, enabling companies to meet their environmental aims and objectives without sacrificing profitability.

Looking at food retail, IoT can autonomously and continuously monitor, manage, analyze and contextualize data collected from refrigerators and the products within them. It can adjust refrigeration settings based on specific produce, making informed and precise decisions about temperature control for each item in every unit. By integrating real-time machine health and performance data with merchandising systems, IoT software ensures that fridges and freezers maintain optimal temperatures for each product.

This IoT-driven continuous, real-time monitoring and optimization of equipment and processes prevents spoilage from temperature fluctuations, extends the freshness and quality of perishable items, and reduces waste. It also significantly increases energy efficiency, lowers operational costs, and enhances overall performance across operations.

Empowering a smarter future

IoT is a powerful force with a plethora of applications, seamlessly assisting businesses by collecting, managing, and acting on real-time data from networks of interconnected devices and machines. As organizations across industries, ranging from food retail to financial services, increasingly integrate IoT, the potential for further innovation and enhanced benefits continues to grow. This is promising for a future with smarter, more responsive, more sustainable, and more efficient operations.

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AI’s potential has been embraced by businesses far and wide, and there are no signs of this slowing down. McKinsey research shows that 92% of companies plan to increase their AI investments in the next three years. While AI delivers huge societal benefits, such as predicting the beginning of a tsunami or improving the treatment of underlying illnesses, it is also responsible for the massive acceleration in energy consumption.

Data centers are already grappling with increasing energy use, and AI’s growth and demand are only fueling this. What’s more, Europe’s data center energy consumption is set to surge from 62 terawatt hours (TWh) to over 150TWh by 2030, largely due to AI advancements.

Despite this, many organizations are failing to track their environmental footprint when it comes to AI. This is where data centers can play a crucial role. By leveraging digital twins, facilities can connect AI ambitions with sustainability effectively. Digital twins, virtual replicas of the data center, can optimize power management and improve energy reporting and cooling systems, all of which reduce carbon emissions and meet AI’s GPU-intensive demands.

AI: a force to be reckoned with

AI uses immense power within data centers, but it can also be used to bring down energy consumption and mitigate its impact. When paired with AI, digital twins offer an innovative approach to sustainability, allowing operators to refine data center operations without disrupting daily functions.

A digital twin allows data center operators to simulate different scenarios, test solutions, and refine processes before physically implementing the changes. With AI integration, digital twins can offer predictive analytics, automation, and data-driven insights by mirroring almost every product and service within the facility.

Digital twins use AI to gather intelligent insights and signpost gaps where facilities can improve. They also highlight how operators can optimize cooling systems and refine energy reporting, which is essential to smooth operations.

Smarter cooling and less waste

One of the most impactful ways digital twins can enhance sustainability is by eliminating overprovisioning. While overprovisioning ensures that systems can continue to work as usual, it also results in considerable energy waste. According to our data, enterprise data centers can experience stranded capacity losses exceeding 40% due to overprovisioning during the design phase.

Implementing digital twins allows operators to gain a comprehensive understanding of resource utilization, allowing them to refine capacity and plan with greater accuracy. As a direct result, facilities can allocate resources more efficiently, ultimately reducing unnecessary energy consumption and fostering a more sustainable operational model.

Another key area for reducing energy consumption is optimizing how data centers manage cooling. Cooling accounts for nearly 40% of the total energy consumed by data centers. Thanks to digital twins’ powerful capabilities, operators can implement strategies to right-size cooling usage with confidence and plan effective transitions to improved cooling methods, such as liquid cooling.

High-density server racks, intensive workloads, and rising power densities are pushing the limits of air cooling, efficiently handling heat loads of up to approximately 20kW per rack. However, beyond 20-25kW, a hybrid approach combining direct liquid cooling and precision air cooling becomes more effective. It is also an increasingly viable alternative to traditional air-cooling methods.

Thanks to digital twins, operators can assess different liquid cooling strategies before implementation, helping them identify the most efficient cooling configurations without making costly physical modifications. By simulating various cooling methods, operators can determine the best way to integrate liquid cooling into existing air-cooled systems, ensuring they meet both their facility’s specific needs and new compliance regulations.

Improving carbon reporting and regulatory compliance

Another benefit of digital twins is enhanced energy reporting. The EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive requires data centers to monitor energy performance and their water footprints, so precise carbon emissions tracking is more critical than ever. Tracking energy and detailed reporting helps facility leaders identify stranded capacity, which is unused or underutilized power, cooling, or space that contributes to inefficiencies.

By automating emissions monitoring, digital twins provide real-time insights into energy usage, inefficiencies, and areas that require improvement. Using data-driven insights, operators can make informed decisions that improve efficiency while reducing environmental impact.

The ultimate shift to renewable energy

Beyond improvements in cooling, energy regulations, and overprovisioning, digital twins will eventually help data centers accelerate their adoption of renewable energy. Companies across the globe are increasingly turning to clean energy solutions to alleviate strain on the national grid and reduce environmental impact. However, particularly for data centers, integrating renewable energy requires strategic planning to ensure it’s correctly implemented.

Digital twins’ intelligence, however, provides a virtual testing ground for operators to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating renewable energy sources such as wind turbines, solar panels, smart grids, and hydropower. By simulating different scenarios, operators can determine the most effective configurations before investing in new infrastructure.

For instance, they can assess how renewables interact with cooling strategies and resource allocation, ensuring maximum efficiency while minimizing disruption. Essentially, digital twins allow data centers the freedom to test critical tools that will accelerate their sustainability, and their capabilities point to a truly green future.

Data center infrastructure needs a spring clean

Data centers stand at a crossroads, balancing AI’s growing energy demands while meeting increasingly stringent sustainability standards. The adoption of digital twins presents a transformative opportunity to optimize existing resources, enhance efficiency, and integrate renewable energy solutions.

Rather than expanding capacity solely to accommodate AI’s growth, facility leaders must prioritize sustainability and refine their current infrastructure. Digital twins provide a roadmap for reducing emissions, improving energy efficiency, and ensuring that AI reaches its full potential in a way that aligns with environmental goals. Embracing this technology is not just an option; it’s a necessity for a sustainable future.

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• GitHub gets new Agent Mode and Model Context Protocol
• Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Gemini 2.0 Flash and GPT-4o are generally available
• To use more than your allocation, you’ll need a $39/month subscription plan

GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke has announced a series of major AI upgrades for the popular developer platform to allow programmers to make the most of the productivity-boosting technology.

In his post, Dohmke revealed the new GitHub Copilot Pro+ plan, set to be priced at $39 per month and with access to up to 1,500 premium requests monthly.

More broadly, the CEO confirmed the general availability of models from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI, such as Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Gemini 2.0 Flash and GPT-4o, giving developers even more options and control.

GitHub gets the latest AI advancements

Dohmke announced the availability of Agent Mode for all Visual Studio Code users, which allows Copilot to take action across files and tools based on the goals a user sets out. It can suggest terminal commands, handle errors with self-healing, and even complete complex coding tasks with a higher degree of autonomy.

Model Context Protocol (MCP), now in public preview, adds tool-context awareness to agent mode by enabling integration with local and remote tools.

To take advantage of the new tools, GitHub has launched premium model requests in addition to the unlimited requests for agent mode, context-driven chat, and code completions in all paid plans for our base model (currently GPT-4o).

Dohmke detailed: “Customers with Copilot Pro will receive 300 monthly premium requests, beginning on May 5, 2025. Customers with Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise will receive 300 and 1000 monthly premium requests respectively, starting between May 12 and May 19, 2025. Until then, use of these premium models is unlimited.”

Finally, GitHub’s leader wished the platform’s parent company, Microsoft, a happy 50th birthday: “Together, GitHub and Microsoft fully intend on enabling a world with 1 billion developers,” he added.

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Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Tuesday, April 8 (game #1170).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1171) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1171) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

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

Quordle today (game #1171) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1171) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

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

Quordle today (game #1171) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• L

• L

• K

• M

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

Quordle today (game #1171) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1171, are…

• LITHE
• LEFTY
• KNOLL
• MULCH

I guessed my first three words pretty quickly today, before coming to a grinding halt trying to get the final word.

An O and an L was not offering up much in the way of clues, but even more puzzling was that among the handful of letters I had left, no two letters made sense together.

Exploring the possibility of a silent letter finally got me to KNOLL, but it took a good couple of minutes of head scratching.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1171) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1171, are…

• TIMID
• INFER
• SNORT
• ASIDE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1170, Tuesday 8 April: WIDTH, VISOR, MEDAL, BROOK
• Quordle #1169, Monday 7 April: BROTH, SHOUT, BRUTE, CABIN
• Quordle #1168, Sunday 6 April: AMBER, GAUZE, STORE, SLICK
• Quordle #1167, Saturday 5 April: GUSTY, VAULT, WHINE, BEGAT
• Quordle #1166, Friday 4 April: OAKEN, LOOPY, CURIO, BUTTE
• Quordle #1165, Thursday 3 April: ASCOT, JETTY, DRUNK, JOLLY
• Quordle #1164, Wednesday 2 April: INDEX, QUEEN, INCUR, STOLE
• Quordle #1163, Tuesday 1 April: HUMUS, BALMY, WORRY, ERECT
• Quordle #1162, Monday 31 March: RECUT, MOODY, WHERE, BRACE
• Quordle #1161, Sunday 30 March: CRIME, DRINK, CLOVE, TRUER
• Quordle #1160, Saturday 29 March: LATER, ODDLY, CUMIN, AGREE
• Quordle #1159, Friday 28 March: TERSE, MUSHY, PROVE, FROND
• Quordle #1158, Thursday 27 March: CRONE, APNEA, LIGHT, AWOKE
• Quordle #1157, Wednesday 26 March: LEFTY, NOOSE, NOISE, TRIAD
• Quordle #1156, Tuesday 25 March: SNEER, WATCH, FLORA, STAIN
• Quordle #1155, Monday 24 March: FLOUT, SMASH, RAZOR, SMALL
• Quordle #1154, Sunday 23 March: ALLEY, GAMUT, GEESE, RADII
• Quordle #1153, Saturday 22 March: PICKY, BRACE, BOOZE, SURLY
• Quordle #1152, Friday 21 March: DITTY, VALOR, TOWER, AMISS
• Quordle #1151, Thursday 20 March: RIPER, STILL, WAFER, NOTCH

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, April 8 (game #667).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #668) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• DOG
• POP
• BALL
• SOCK
• SLUG
• FROG
• GLOVE
• TROT
• BAT
• HOUND
• GLOBE
• POUND
• ORB
• NEWT
• HOLE
• SPHERE

NYT Connections today (game #668) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Round stuff 
• GREEN: Hit
• BLUE: Featured in the Scottish play 
• PURPLE: Precede with an animal that sounds like “knocks”

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #668) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: ROUND THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS 
• GREEN: PUNCH
• BLUE: ANIMALS IN THE WITCHES' BREW IN "MACBETH" 
• PURPLE: FOX___

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

NYT Connections today (game #668) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #668, are…

• YELLOW: ROUND THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS BALL, GLOBE, ORB, SPHERE
• GREEN: PUNCH POP, POUND, SLUG, SOCK
• BLUE: ANIMALS IN THE WITCHES' BREW IN "MACBETH" BAT, DOG, FROG, NEWT
• PURPLE: FOX___ GLOVE, HOLE, HOUND, TROT

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 mistakes

Thank goodness I got the purple group today, as there is no way I would have ever got ANIMALS IN THE WITCHES’ BREW IN “MACBETH” despite all four ingredients being typically witchy.

Before all that, though, I made two mistakes trying to get the easiest quartets – thinking BALL, BAT, GLOVE and SOCK belonged together as vital components of baseball.

In hindsight, this was a bit silly, so I switched lanes and got a “one away” including bat in the group that would become PUNCH.

My muddling through was completed by getting the four words for FOX___ without actually having a clue what the link was until the reveal. Roll on tomorrow.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, 8 April, game #667)

• YELLOW: PRICK JAB, PIERCE, POKE, STICK
• GREEN: RADIO LINGO COPY, NEGATIVE, OVER, ROGER
• BLUE: OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS DANIEL, JOB, JUDGES, NUMBERS
• PURPLE: WORDS PRONOUNCED "SH" WITHOUT AN "SH" SEAN, SIOBHAN, SUGAR, SURE

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, April 8 (game #401).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #402) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… That's quite a (tasty) mouthful

NYT Strands today (game #402) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• SAILOR
• WILL
• FART
• FLOUR
• DOLLS
• CODA

NYT Strands today (game #402) - hint #3 - spangram letters How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 13 letters

NYT Strands today (game #402) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 3rd row

Last side: right, 1st row

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

NYT Strands today (game #402) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #402, are…

• WATERMELON
• ARUGULA
• AVOCADO
• CAULIFLOWER
• SPANGRAM: FOUR SYLLABLES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

A lovely, easygoing edition of Strands with a mighty long Spangram snake eating up a good chunk of the puzzle.

The hardest find for me was ARUGULA, which I know in the UK as rocket.

Arugula is, along with two other plants with four syllables – pomegranate and radicchio – something I never finish. I like all three but I can also very easily live without them. AVOCADO, on the other hand, I can’t live without.

All of this reminds me of the brilliant sketch in Portlandia (look it up on YouTube if you’ve not seen it) starring Steve Buscemi as the poor marketing man in charge of making celery go viral.

In a 2025 sequel to Buscemi’s ill-fated hook-up with the creepy bacon guy, I can imagine him doing anything to get celery into a Strands puzzle, only to be thwarted by a suddenly imposed four-syllable rule.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, 8 April, game #401)

• GRAVITY
• ARRIVAL
• DUNE
• ALIEN
• MEGALOPOLIS
• SPANGRAM: SCIENCE FICTION

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

• All Google TV device remotes will have a 'Free TV' button
• This will take users straight to hub with 150 free channels
• Already featured on devices such as the Onn 4K Pro

All new, future Google TV devices will feature a 'Free TV' button on included remotes, Google has confirmed.

Google TV, which is featured on some of the best TVs and best streaming devices, has access to over 150 free channels that require no subscription or app installation, a collection that Google calls Freeplay. These can be found in the 'Live' tab on Google TV devices.

As reported by Android Authority, Google has confirmed that going forward from April 2025, any Google TV device with a remote will include a 'Free TV' button that will take users directly to this live tab.

This is the same as current shortcut buttons you may find on some remotes for some of the best streaming services such as Netflix, Disney Plus and Prime Video.

The button is actually already included on some Google TV devices such as the Onn 4K Pro, a Google TV streaming device exclusive to Walmart.

Google did confirm that markets where Freeplay isn't offered (anywhere outside the US), this shortcut can be mapped to equivalent live TV guides instead.

A welcome idea, but design is important

The Onn 4K Pro's remote, and its big ol' Free TV button (Image credit: Onn)

Free Ad-Supported TV (FAST) channels have become increasingly popular over the last few years, with services such as LG Channels, featured on the best LG TVs giving users access to a wide range of free movies and shows.

By adding the 'Free TV' button to Google TV remotes, Google is giving users an easy way to access these FAST channels, which can only be a good thing.

Crucially however this means TVs that use Google TV, such as Sony, Hisense (in the US), TCL and Philips (in the UK and Europe), will need to include these buttons on their remotes. Google didn't confirm "required size, color or placement" to Android Authority, but it seems like the rest of the remote can still be customized to "meet customer's needs". So thankfully, manufacturers don't have to follow in the Onn 4K Pro's particularly prominent example.

Regardless of design, this is a welcome addition to Google TV remote, because it will be an easy way for users to access free, live channels in a time where subscription service prices continue to climb. And the best things in life are free, right?

You might also like

• Google TV Streamer: release date, price and everything you need to know
• Google TV Streamer vs Apple TV 4K: which streaming box should you buy?
• Leaked Walmart Google TV box could replace the Chromecast-shaped gap in your TV setup