TechRadar News

• A fresh-faced Elon Musk revealed the new Roadster back in 2017
• Tesla’s website still has a page dedicated to Roadster reservations
• Does the promise of rockets and an ability to fly still stand?

Despite an original unveil in 2017 and suggested on-sale date of 2020, Tesla is yet to deliver any further information on its long overdue Roadster 2 model - one that was slated to obliterate the 0-60mph sprint in 1.9 seconds and offer a 620-mile range from a single charge.

Soon after its glitzy reveal eight years ago, the Tesla website began taking “fully refundable” reservations for a $200,000 ‘regular’ model or a hefty $250,000 deposit for one of 1,000 limited edition ‘Founder Series’ variant, as it did with the Cybertruck.

There is no official word on how much Tesla has made so far on Roadster 2 deposits, but it will continue to take your money, despite no update from Elon Musk on a production date, full specification, final design or a final price, as pointed out by CarScoops.

If you’re mad enough, you can head to the Tesla US website, where you will be asked to hand over $5,000 of your hard earned cash to simply to join the reservation list, where a further $45,000 will be required within 10 days to secure a build slot.

Remember, there’s no word on what the final cost will be if the new Roadster ever does materialize.

But back in 2017, Tesla fanatics went crazy for Musk’s wild promises of fantastical acceleration times, frankly ridiculous range targets and a 250+mph top speed.

Serial Tesla Tweeter, Sawyer Merritt, even suggested the marque was targeting a sub-1 second 0-60mph sprint time, with Elon Musk apparently backing up those claims on X - despite not explaining how the physics would actually work.

What’s more, the divisive CEO then went on to explain that the Roadster 2 would feature 10 small rocket thrusters to help it achieve those eye-watering acceleration times and even make it fly… yes, fly.

Analysis: Tesla customers are willing to pay for promises

(Image credit: Tesla)

We all know that Tesla is the undisputed king of wild promises, but Roadster 2 might go down in history as one of the most far-fetched. Eight years later and we are still no clearer on whether or not it was all just a lucid dream.

But for some Tesla fans, it has proven to be a nightmare, with message boards containing desperate pleas for help regarding potential legal procedures against the company, as they hold out to be among the first Roadster 2 customers.

No matter your stance on Tesla as a business, eight years is a frankly ridiculous amount of time to be waiting for a product, especially one that has cost some folk $250,000.

As one Reddit commentator pointed out, if those same customers ploughed their Roadster deposits into Tesla stock at its $21 value back in 2017, it would now be worth around $3 million. A far worthier investment.

But this isn’t the only issue that has irked Tesla customers, as Tesla’s Full Self-Driving package was originally sold as genuine “hands-off, eyes-off” autonomous technology, despite no legal framework being place to allow such a thing.

Tesla quickly had to adapt the wording and refer to its system as Full Self-Driving (Supervised), despite continuing to make customers pay for the technology. Its website makes it very clear that it won’t be offering refunds.

It begs the question, how much longer are Tesla's biggest advocates willing to bankroll the company's promised innovations? Especially if it continues to fail to deliver on them.

You might also like

• Tesla says it will refresh the Model S and Model X this year – here are 5 things I want to see
• I’ve spent hours with the new Tesla Model Y – here are 5 updates I like (and 3 things I don't)
• I’ve driven the Tesla Model 3, but Elon Musk is making it hard for us all to love the brand

• Potential 24 April 2025 release date for DJI's new flagship consumer drone
• Features to include digital ND filters and 52-minute battery life
• Pricing may start from $2,250

We’ve been eagerly awaiting official news on the DJI Mavic 4 Pro for a while but, if a new leak is true, we won’t have to hold our breath for much longer. The leak also revealed some exciting news about the premium drone’s feature list, not to mention pricing.

The news comes from serial leaker Jasper Ellens, who runs the site DroneXL and is usually highly accurate when it comes to reveals on DJI. In a story posted on the site, he claims to have been given the information from two separate sources, both of which have never been wrong in the past – but as always we suggest you treat these rumors with a pinch of salt, just as with any other pre-release leaks on tech gear.

Ellens claims the DJI Mavic 4 Pro will be launched on Thursday 24 April 2025, just over four weeks from now, and that DJI would be teasing the announcement via an official video on 17 April.

Today two little birds told me the official #launch date, Confirmed 7 key #features and on top of that one even told me the official #prices of the #DJIMavic4PRO. Let's dive into them! Cheers Jasperhttps://t.co/a8ccT81J9yMarch 19, 2025

Are these the Mavic 4 Pro's top features?

Ellens’ sources also spilled the beans on the Mavic 4 Pro’s feature list. They claim the drone will, like its predecessor the Mavic 3 Pro, come with three cameras, with focal lengths equivalent to 28mm, 70mm and 168mm. The sensor size will be larger than on the Mavic 3 Pro, however, offering video recording of up to 6K resolution.

The camera gimbal has been fully redesigned, allowing for much greater range of movement, while ND filters will be digital and built into the camera rather than physical attachments sold as optional extras. These are two features that seem likely to be very popular with filmmakers, as they greatly enhance creative options.

Battery life will be 52 minutes, as previously rumored, while 240W fast charging will allow a user to fully recharge three batteries in just 90 minutes. Finally, DJI will launch an all-new remote controller alongside the drone. Called the RC Pro 2, this controller will come with a larger 7-inch touchscreen that can be tilted.

Pricing revealed – but where's LiDAR?

In terms of pricing, it appears there will be three separate bundles to buy. Ellens’ sources claim the DJI Mavic 4 Pro (with a RC 2 controller) will cost $2,250 while a DJI Mavic 4 Pro Fly More Combo (which will likely feature two extra batteries, a charging hub, an RC 2 controller and a carrying bag) will cost $3,200. Finally, he says there’ll be a DJI Mavic 4 Pro 512GB Creator Combo, which will seemingly include all of the above but swap out the RC 2 for the RC Pro 2 controller, and cost $4,400.

All of the above sounds completely plausible to us – although we do think it's interesting that there's no mention of the much-rumored LiDAR module – and if Ellens is correct we’ll doubtless start to see a drip feed of further leaks (and potential official teases from DJI) in the run-up to that 24 April date. So we’ll likely have more rumors on DJI’s upcoming flagship camera drone to share with you very soon.

You might also like

• Camera rumors for 2025: the new gear we're expecting soon from DJI, Sony, Canon and more
• Zero Zero Robotics unveils world’s first sub-250g bi-copter drone with 'lightning fast acceleration' and 'unmatched agility'
• The best drone 2025: top flying cameras for all budgets

• De'Longhi has launched a new manual espresso machine, the Linea Classic
• It has everything you'd expect from an entry-level machine at a budget price
• It's out now in the US; we're still waiting for international prices and dates

De'Longhi has launched a new no-frills espresso machine that's compact, good-looking, and has a remarkably affordable price tag.

The De'Longhi Linea Classic is available now from retailers including Amazon and Crate & Barrel for an early-bird price of $179.95 (about £140 / AU$290). The regular price will be $199.95 (about £150 / AU$320), but De'Longhi has yet to announce international pricing and availability.

Most of the best coffee makers I've tested this year have been automated bean-to-cup machines with extras like automatic milk frothing and cold brewing – and price tags that many coffee-lovers will find prohibitive. It's therefore refreshing to see an espresso machine that just focuses on doing the basics well, at a very reasonable price.

The De'Longhi Linea Classic has all the features you'd expect from an entry-level espresso machine, including a 15-bar pump (with a stainless steel pressure gauge so you can watch the profile as your espresso is extracted), adjustable-height drip tray to accommodate different cups, and an adjustable steam wand.

(Image credit: De'Longhi) Everything you need, nothing you don't

It's a compact machine too, measuring just 12 x 8.89 x 11.14 inches / 30.5 x 22.6 x 29cm (H x W x D). That's small enough to tuck away on even a tiny kitchen counter – and because its case is stainless steel rather than plastic, it should look and feel a lot more expensive than it actually is.

It certainly sounds appealing, and if it delivers on its promises, it might even match the superb Breville Bambino as the best compact espresso machine around. It's a tall order – the Bambino is the entry-level machine recommended by many professionals – but I've got high hopes.

We should be getting our hands on the De'Longhi Linea Classic for testing soon, and we'll bring you a full review once we've had a chance to put it through its paces.

You might also like

• I wasn't a fan of syrup in coffee until I tried the Jura J10 espresso machine – here's why
• I've tested a lot of coffee machines, and the Siemens EQ900 Plus makes the best macchiato I've tasted
• I tried Nespresso's energy-boosting coffee capsules, and I have a new favorite morning brew

• Over 12,000 Bella Pro Series and Cooks coffee machines have been recalled
• Several users reported injuries after their machines failed at high pressure
• Owners should stop using the machines immediately and request a refund

Thousands of espresso machines have been recalled after 18 people reported a component being "forcefully ejected" during use. Of those, eight received burns or lacerations as a result.

The affected machines are no longer on sale, but several owners wrote reviews to warn potential customers about the risks before the voluntary recall. Some even included pictures of broken coffee makers in their kitchens.

"The machine blew up on the very first time used," wrote one owner. "Glass and metal flew all over the kitchen. I was getting milk from the refrigerator and that is why I was not hurt."

"This product is dangerous," said another. "It explodes while brewing. The portafilter literally detached itself from the machine during the brewing cycle. I have serious burns [due] to [...] the defect of this machine. Do not buy this machine. It is hazardous."

"The machine blew up"

The problem affects two coffee machines: the Bella Pro Series Steam Espresso Maker and the Cooks Steam Espresso Maker. The machines were imported by Sensio Inc. of New York, and 12,300 were sold at JC Penney and Best Buy – in stores and online – between August 2023 and January 2025.

All the recalled machines are made from black plastic with stainless steel trim and have either “Bella Pro Series” or "Cooks" on the front. Turn your machine over and you should see a sticker bearing the model number. If this is 90195 or 22395, you should stop using it immediately according to guidance from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

To request a refund, you can contact Sensio toll-free at 855-647-3125 between 8 am and 5 pm ET Monday through Friday, or visit Bella Kitchenware's website. You will need to damage the UL certification number under the machine, cut its cord, and provide photos as evidence that you've made it unusable.

You might also like

• 3 coffee maker mistakes that are ruining your morning brew, according to an expert
• Are you one of the 39% of coffee drinkers who still use instant? Upgrading to one of these three cheap coffee machines will deliver a better-tasting brew
• 5 coffee innovations from CES – from condensing espresso machines to super-fast cold brew

• Samsung promises free repairs for everybody
• You're probably going to have to send your unit away for a while
• Some support techs don't seem to have been informed

As we reported last week, several Samsung soundbars including the flagship Samsung HW-Q990D have been rendered inoperable by a faulty firmware update. The firm promised to investigate, and now there's a free fix – although it's not ideal.

In a statement sent to Digital Trends, Samsung said:

“Samsung Electronics has identified a software update error as the cause of the operational issue affecting certain 2024 soundbar devices. We are taking immediate action to resolve the situation. Samsung is offering free repairs for all affected units—regardless of warranty status.”

Unfortunately that's likely to require you to send your soundbar away for a while – hardly convenient for a hefty soundbar at the best of times, and maybe doubly so if you didn't keep the box. And that's not to mention that your TV audio will suffer during that time…

It also seems that Samsung hasn't told all its support techs yet, based on reports online.

Samsung HW-Q990D: affected users have been promised free repair irrespective of warranty status. (Image credit: Future) What are Samsung support techs saying?

Some Samsung owners have turned to Reddit to discuss the "debacle", with some saying that support techs have been problematic: TigerHawk7 was "offered free parts but [told to] pay shipping and labor and that was after arguing after quite some time."

Over on the Samsung community forums, UK user ApocalypseRogue7122 – whose experience with support so far has been very frustrating, with Samsung initially refusing to take the soundbar back – reports getting a call from Samsung's authorized UK repairer: "The affected soundbars require a 'new part' (motherboard) and due to the number of failures Samsung is out of stock of said part. He told me that they (Mint Group FX) have ordered the part and if they are unable to get it by next Wednesday 25th March, then I will either receive a refund or replacement unit."

Hopefully Samsung is on top of this, because it's bad enough having to send back a soundbar without then having to wait an uncertain amount of time for a repair or replacement.

We've asked Samsung what customers should do if they encounter problems getting a free repair, and we'll update you when the company responds.

We rate Samsung's options highly among the best soundbars, and while it sounds like the update danger has now passed, Samsung's response to the problem might strongly affect how well people trust the company in the future. You only need to look at Sonos' nearly year-long problems to know that trust can be broken quickly and slow to regain.

You might also like

• The best Dolby Atmos soundbars you can buy
• 5 cheap soundbars we highly recommend
• Setting up the Sonos Arc Ultra was an awful app experience, but the sound was so worth it

• Employees of Minecraft developer Mojang have spoken on the role of generative AI in game development at a recent event
• They didn't seem too thrilled with the technology and stated that Minecraft required a human touch
• It comes as other Microsoft studios begin to use generative AI more heavily

It seems like you don't need to worry about generative AI (artificial intelligence) worming its way into the hit open-world survival game Minecraft.

According to IGN, Minecraft Vanilla game director Agnes Larsson discussed the issue of AI in game development at a recent event and wasn't too enthusiastic about the prospect. “Here for us, just like Minecraft is about creativity and creating,” they said.

“I think it's important that it makes us feel happy to create as humans. That's a purpose, [that] makes life look beautiful. So for us, we really want it to be our teams that make our games.”

Minecraft Vanilla executive producer Ingela Garneij added that the "specific touch of: what is Minecraft, how does it look?" is an "extra quality" that "is really tricky to create through AI." They even said that the developer has struggled to work with remote teams and emphasized the importance of human, face-to-face interactions.

"I mean creativity is... you need to meet like this as a person as a human to really truly understand the values and principles and the ecosystem," Garneij continued. "The lore, everything - it's so massive. Minecraft, it's a planet, it's massive."

Minecraft developer Mojang is a part of Xbox Game Studios and is ultimately owned by Microsoft. Other Xbox Game Studios developers don't appear to share the same reservations regarding generative AI. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, for example, is filled with assets that were created with generative AI tools - a decision that caused some backlash within the game's community.

Earlier this year, Microsoft revealed a "breakthrough" generative AI model that could be used to "create consistent and diverse gameplay." Known as Project Muse, Xbox head Phil Spencer indicated that it could be used to help preserve old games.

Although generative AI seems exciting and is becoming an increasingly large part of our lives, it poses a number of ethical and environmental concerns that seem tricky to resolve. The decision to keep it away from Minecraft seems to go hand-in-hand with the game's focus on exploring a distinctly human kind of creativity.

You might also like...

• McDonald's reveals A Minecraft Movie meal with a bizarre set of collectibles and the most sinister sounding sauce ever
• Competitive shooter Fragpunk wowed me with its game-changing Shard Cards, but I can't stand the aggressive monetization
• I tried 15 hosts for streaming and hosting Minecraft games and these are the best

• RTX 5060 Ti is apparently set to be ‘released’ come April 16, a new rumor insists
• A further rumor backs up the theory of this being an on-sale date for the GPU
• It looks like we’ll have to wait until May for the vanilla RTX 5060 to hit shelves, though

We have a supposed release date for Nvidia’s RTX 5060 Ti graphics cards, with the rumor mill offering up a date of April 16.

This comes from leaker Wxnod, who chips in to the rumor scene on X from time to time, and has provided correct info in the past (although we must, of course, remain very cautious here).

5060Ti will be released on April 16th at 9pm, along with 8GB and 16GBMarch 22, 2025

As you can see in the above post, the assertion is that the RTX 5060 Ti will be ‘released’ on April 16th at 9pm (I’ll come back to the wording here, and the lateness of the mentioned hour, shortly). And as the grapevine has insisted for a long time now, we’re told that this GPU will come in both 8GB and 16GB flavors, and both of these versions will be out on that day in mid-April.

This aligns with other recent chatter about the RTX 5060 Ti which claimed exactly this, that these GPUs are due in the middle of April.

Those past rumors also theorize that its lesser sibling, the vanilla RTX 5060 (with just 8GB of VRAM), will arrive a month later in mid-May, though Wxnod doesn’t mention that card.

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler) Analysis: Close at hand

If the rumor mill is right, Nvidia has delayed all of these RTX 5060 models a couple of times, perhaps – certainly there was speculation about a March launch in the past, and then talk of issues that needed to be fixed with the GPU chips. With more consistent chatter now pointing to a launch in the near future, though, it seems like this is now firmly in the cards.

If you’re wondering about the 9pm release mentioned by the leaker, this is likely due to the embargo timing being from an Asian source, because as VideoCardz points out, this aligns with what’d typically be expected in that respect.

When Wxnod says ‘released’ I would normally consider that phrasing to indicate an on-sale date – the graphics cards hitting the shelves – but this could also mean the initial launch (or reveal) of the RTX 5060 Ti models in this context.

However, VideoCardz further flagged up that HKEPC, a Hong Kong-based tech site, also shared a leak (again, add seasoning) claiming that April 16 is in fact the on-sale date for the RTX 5060 Ti, with an announcement apparently due on April 15. (The RTX 5060 could also be revealed on April 15, but won’t be in shops until May, or that’s the theory).

Whatever the case, these GPUs are apparently now close at hand, and what also backs this up is VideoCardz also discovering the purported final specs of the RTX 5060 Ti. The GPU will supposedly run with 4,608 CUDA Cores, a base clock of 2407MHz and boost to 2572MHz, with a power usage of 180W.

The key question will be: how much stock can Nvidia muster? If the answer turns out to be not much, then Team Green might be wise to wait a bit longer and accumulate more supply before unleashing these graphics cards, which are likely to be much more popular than previous Blackwell GPUs due to their affordability. Or risk further wrath from disgruntled gamers who can't buy the GPU they want...

On the other hand, Nvidia is likely feeling the heat from AMD now, with Team Red's new RDNA 4 GPUs doing very well and taking back graphics card market share by all accounts. Given that, Team Green may well feel the pressure to get its RTX 5060 Ti cards on the table, as it were, sooner rather than later. Currently, regarding the RX 9060's release, AMD has only given us a timeframe of Q2, so that could be as late as June.

You might also like

• AMD warns its RX 9070 GPUs are strictly ‘UEFI-only’ – but don't panic, here's why this probably doesn’t affect you
• Nvidia retiring PhysX for its RTX 5000 GPUs has made some gamers furious - but I don't think it's a complete dealbreaker
• AMD could be working on a faster RX 9070 Extreme graphics card

• Contextual Smart Replies comes to Gmail Business and Enterprise tiers
• Users will be given a selection of pre-written replies to emails
• Suggestions will consider the entire email thread

Finding the right words for those important business emails could soon be easier than ever thanks to a new Google Gemini AI tool for Gmail.

The email provider is adding "contextual smart replies" into Gmail for its business-focused offerings, allowing its Gemini AI tool to do the heavy lifting (and thinking) when it comes to writing better emails.

The feature uses Gemini to analyze the context of an email, and then suggest and offer more detailed responses in order to, "fully capture the intent of your message".

Smarter replies in Gmail

(Image credit: Google)

The tool is targeted at workplace usage, and will be added to Google Workspace Business and Enterprise plans without the need to purchase a separate Gemini add-on.

"The contextual Smart Reply feature saves time and makes replying to emails more efficient," the blog post added, noting it would be ideal for those "short on time or need help finding the right words."

When launching an email reply, users will now be given several response options generated by Gemini at the bottom of their screen

Hovering over a response will provide you with a quick preview of the text, which takes the full content of the email thread into consideration. When selected, the email can be sent straight away, or edited further if needed.

The tool is available now across Google Workspace Business Starter, Standard, and Plus tiers, along with Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus tiers.

The news follows the launch of Smart Replies in Gmail back in September 2024, which offered a selection of pre-written responses.

Gmail also recently rolled out a new, smarter search function that will list results in terms of relevance, rather than just in chronological order.

Factoring in details such as recency, most-clicked emails, and frequent contacts, the company says this means the emails you’re actually looking for should be far more likely to be at the top of your search results.

You might also like

• Google is ditching SMS - and will now use QR codes for Gmail account authentication
• Struggling to find emails in Gmail? Google’s new filter could soon ease your headaches
• Gmail remains by far the most popular email service — but competition is rapidly building

• Apple is said to still be working on cameras in AirPods
• iOS 18's Visual Intelligence is at the heart of Apple's plans
• Features are still "generations away"

We've known the "what" for some time – Apple is experimenting with cameras in its AirPods – and now we perhaps know the "why". A new report sheds light on Apple's plans for future AirPods, and if the tech can do what it promises to do it could be a really important personal safety feature.

There is an important caveat, though: the features are "still at least generations away from hitting the market".

The report comes from the well-connected Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, who says that "Apple’s ultimate plan for Visual Intelligence goes far beyond the iPhone." And AirPods are a big part of that plan.

According to Gurman, Visual Intelligence – recognizing the world around you and providing useful information or assistance – is considered a very big deal inside Apple, and it's planning to put cameras in both the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Ultra too. As with the AirPods, "this would help the device see the outside world and use AI to deliver relevant information."

How AirPods will work with Visual Intelligence

Visual Intelligence was introduced in iOS 18 for the iPhone 16, and it enables you to point the camera at something and find out more about it: the type of plant, the breed of dog (as in the image at the top of this article), the opening hours of the café you've just found, and so on.

(Image credit: Apple)

Visual Intelligence can also translate text, and maybe one day it'll be able to help people like me who have a shockingly bad memory for names and faces.

The big problem with Visual Intelligence, though, is that you have to bring out your phone to do it. And there are circumstances where you're not going to want to do that. I'm reminded of when Apple brought Maps to the Apple Watch: by making it possible to use Maps without broadcasting "I am not from here and I am hopelessly lost. Also I have a very expensive phone" to all the neighborhood villains, it was an important personal safety feature.

This could be too. If Apple makes it possible to invoke Visual Intelligence with a point of the head and a squeeze of the stems, that would enable you to get important information – such as a translation of a direction sign in another country – without waving your phone around.

We're a long way from actually having these features – don't expect them in the AirPods Pro 3, which will probably arrive later in 2025. But I'm excited by the prospect: imagine Apple Intelligence, but good.

You might also like

• Apple Intelligence is coming to Vision Pro in April
• Is Visual Intelligence a good reason to upgrade?
• Samsung and Meta are working on earbuds with cameras

Sky Glass turned the world of TV upside down when it launched two years ago. And now there's a brand new version that's even more amazing.

Sky Glass isn't just an amazing TV. It's an amazing TV with Sky built-in. Techradar called the original "a paradigm shift that's set up to shake up the whole premium TV market... it's an all-in-one premium TV package that opens the door to a whole new age of streaming TV." And you don't need a dish or a set-top box to enjoy it: Sky Glass works with your Wi-Fi.

The new Sky Glass Gen 2 is brighter, better and even more awesome – and it's still incredibly affordable. The Sky Glass Gen 2 TV can be yours from just £14 per month.

A viewing experience that's out of this world

Sky Glass Gen 2 comes with a big display upgrade: it now has a much brighter 4K Quantum Dot screen for crystal-clear pictures. There's new advanced High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing and precision contrast enhancement too: the darks are darker and the brights are much brighter.

There's some really clever technology behind that screen. Sky Glass gives you a tailored viewing experience based on what you're watching. It does that by analysing the on-screen images, automatically optimising the picture and the sound to bring out the best in every show.

(Image credit: Sky) Atmos just got even more awesome

Sky Glass Gen 2 doesn't just look amazing. It sounds amazing too. That's because it's been expertly engineered to deliver even more immersive 360º cinematic sound. Inside that gorgeous case there's not two, not four but seven Dolby Atmos speakers including a soundbar and a dual subwoofer to handle the all-important low end in movies and music. The second-generation Sky Glass sounds absolutely incredible.

The smarter way to stream

Sky Glass Gen 2 comes with the latest version of Sky OS, the intelligent software that makes the magic happen. It brings your entertainment from Sky and from other apps into one place, making it easy to find the shows you want to stream, and thanks to its voice control it's all ears: just say "Hello Sky" and you can tell Sky Glass what you want to see. You can also search for your favourite actors, shows, movies or genres across all your TV apps. Thanks to Sky OS you get to what you want, faster.

(Image credit: Sky) The perfect fit for your home

The new Sky Glass Gen 2 looks great when you're not watching it too. That's because it's been designed to look good in any home. There are three sizes to suit every space – 43 inches, 55 inches and 65 inches – and three great colours: Volcanic Grey, Arctic Silver and Atlantic Blue.

Extraordinary TV at an extraordinary price

From House of the Dragon and The White Lotus to Stranger Things and Squid Game 2, Sky brings you extraordinary entertainment from just £15 per month for the Sky Entertainment package. That means you can get a brand new Sky Glass Gen 2 TV with Sky, Netflix and discovery+ for just £29 per month.

If you've been hankering after a new TV or just want to get more bang for your streaming bucks, Sky Glass is a really exciting upgrade – and you can see it in action at your local Currys, where expert advisors can help you discover its superb display, audio and Sky OS. And of course, as it's Currys you can choose between in-store pickup and flexible delivery options. You can even recycle your old TV: Currys is the UK's largest tech retailer and recycler, saving 60,000 tons of tech from landfill every year.

Click here to find out more about the superb Sky Glass TV and discover a world of exceptional entertainment.

• Microsoft Teams adds slide control feature for multiple users
• Should allow for smooth running of presentations and calls
• Set to release in May 2025, but only on Windows to begin

Taking control of presentations on a Microsoft Teams call may finally be a smoother process thanks to a new update.

The video conferencing service has announced it is working on a tweak that will allow multiple people to control slides being presented in a meeting or call.

Microsoft says the addition will mean that presenters are able to maintain "a smooth flow during meetings or webinars" - and honestly, I can't believe it has taken so long for such a tool to be introduced.

Microsoft Teams slide control

In a Microsoft 365 updates blog post announcing the feature, Microsoft notes it will mean meeting or event hosts can now share control of slides with their fellow presenters.

This should mean the end of manual slide changes - and hopefully, the phrase "next slide please", which I think we've all heard too much over the past few years.

The blog post doesn't exactly go into a lot of detail about how the feature will actually work in practice, so we'd have to guess it will be added to the meeting host abilities.

The fact it will allow multiple presenters to have the ability to control slides should probably mean it will require some kind of authentication when joining a call, or having these members manually selected by the person setting up the call - we'll just have to wait and see.

The feature is currently listed as being "in development", but Microsoft has targeted a release rollout date of May 2025, meaning users won't have too long to wait. Upon release, the company says it will be available for all users on Windows desktop to begin with.

The launch is the latest in a series of recent improvements to Microsoft Teams announced by the company as it looks to make the platform more intuitive.

This includes the recent launch of real-time text (RTT) capabilities, allowing participants to type a message while someone else's speech is being transcribed, giving users who prefer typing to speaking another way to make sure their voices get out there.

You might also like

• Microsoft Teams has a whole new way for you to talk to (or annoy) your co-workers
• Microsoft Teams will now let companies block people for good — so you'd better behave
• We've rounded up the best productivity tools around right now

• Apple reportedly has big plans for the future of Apple Watch
• A new report says the company is considering adding cameras to the Series and Ultra models
• It would pave the way for AI-powered visual context features, much like the failed Humane AI Pin

While the best Apple Watches coming in 2025 are only expected to add blood pressure monitoring and the odd design tweak, a new report claims Apple is considering adding cameras to both the Series and Ultra versions of its popular smartwatch in the future, turning it into an AI-powered wearable.

Writing in his most recent Power On newsletter, the inimitable Apple insider Mark Gurman claims that Apple "is working on new versions of the Apple Watch that include cameras."

Specifically, he says the company is "considering adding cameras to both its standard Series watches and Ultra models." According to Gurman, the upgrade is likely "generations away," so don't expect to be taking selfies on your Apple Watch Ultra 3 anytime soon.

So what exactly is Apple planning, and what could it mean for the future of an AI-powered Apple Watch?

Apple Intelligence on Apple Watch, powered by cameras

(Image credit: Future)

Gurman delivers his latest big Apple Watch leak in the context of AI wearables. Specifically, he mentions the dismal Humane Ai Pin and Meta's smart glasses.

All of these devices use cameras and microphones powered by AI to deliver the wearer context and information about their surroundings. Suppose you see a monumental building on holiday, but you don't know what it is, snap a quick photo and you can get information about who built it, the purpose it serves, and more... that sort of thing.

Gurman also specifically references the Visual Intelligence feature in Apple Intelligence, which analyzes photos using ChatGPT or Google Search.

In the context of Apple Watch, Gurman indicates onboard cameras and microphones "would help the device see the outside world and use AI to deliver relevant information."

In terms of design, he says the Apple Watch Series line would feature a front-facing camera akin to the best iPhones. Meanwhile, the larger Ultra would house a camera lens on the side of the watch, specifically on the right-hand side near the Digital Crown and Side Button.

Each would let you point your wrist at an object or your surroundings, scanning them like James Bond for information, presumably delivering content on-screen – for your AIs only (sorry).

The small Apple Watch screen, which limits how much information can be shown, means Apple might get Siri to read out the information through the speaker or a set of AirPods too. It's an interesting proposition, especially given the general lack of success the AI-powered wearables market has delivered to this point.

However, there's clearly more appetite for the likes of Visual Intelligence features on the iPhone 16, so it makes sense that Apple might push those powers onto your wrist one day. As Gurman suggests, this could also pave the way for future Apple Watch FaceTime support, which would be a nice bonus.

As mentioned, this is an upgrade that could be generations away, but one we know Apple is exploring. Just last week we reported on an Apple Watch patent that reveals a device with a folding screen and an onboard camera, so this latest report tracks with that.

You may also like

• 7 hidden features on your Apple Watch you should start using right now
• I've been wearing an Apple Watch for 10 years – these are the 5 settings I change right out of the box
• I've been using an Apple Watch for 10 years – here are three common mistakes even I've made

• Apple is expected to unveil three new Apple Watch models in 2025
• A new report claims the plastic redesign of the SE 3 has put the budget model in "serious jeopardy"
• The Ultra 3 and Series 11 blood-pressure tracking feature is also reportedly causing issues

Apple is expected to unveil three new Apple Watches in September 2025, but a new report says all three are facing design and development challenges ahead of launch.

The headlines for the company's next three best Apple Watch contenders include a new blood-pressure monitoring system for the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch Series 11, and a significant design overhaul for the budget Apple Watch SE 3.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Apple "continues to run into problems" with testing the blood-pressure tracking feature on the two more premium models.

He also says the planned switch to a cheaper plastic casing has put the Apple Watch SE 3 redesign in "series jeopardy."

According to Gurman, Apple's design team "doesn't like the look" of the cheaper material, and the operations team "is finding it difficult to make the casing materially cheaper than the current aluminum chassis."

Apple Watch 2025 setbacks

(Image credit: Future)

These rumored setbacks will no doubt be a cause of concern for Apple, which needs to deliver a stellar 2025 Apple Watch lineup to make up for a fairly disappointing 2024 that only delivered one iterative Series 10, no Ultra 3 upgrade, and limited watchOS 11 changes.

There is some good news, though, as Gurman seems to indicate that the rumored satellite texting feature for the Ultra 3 is on track, as is the Reduced Capacity 5G upgrade, which will give users a cellular connectivity boost when using their device without their iPhone.

However, the headline features, notably blood-pressure monitoring, were to be a huge selling point of the more expensive models. If Apple can't deliver that, serious questions will be asked at Cupertino.

What's more, there will be even less reason for fans to upgrade from the Series 10 or even from older models. A recent (albeit sketchy) report indicated that Apple Watch shipments declined in 2024, causing the smartwatch market as a whole to shrink for the first time in history. That makes the success of this year's models all the more important.

Gurman doesn't specify what the issues are, but it could indicate problems with the accuracy of blood-pressure data, battery drain, false positives, or several other things.

Apple can take some solace in the fact that it might be able to ship the hardware onboard the Series 11 and Ultra 3, enabling blood-pressure monitoring at a later date, but that outcome would come a distant second for the company compared to offering the feature at launch.

If any company can turn around the issues it's Apple, but the expected launch of its new watches – alongside iPhone 17 – is less than six months away, which means it needs to get developing and prototyping out of the way much sooner than that.

The Apple Watch SE 3 hiccup is a different story. I'm personally less enthused by the rumored switch to plastic, so if Apple doesn't like the look of that material, and it's not going to be any cheaper than aluminum, why not stick with the more premium-feeling material anyway?

Whether Apple can overcome either of these setbacks remains to be seen. We won't know for sure until the watches launch, but expect more updates on this story as September approaches.

You may also like

• 7 hidden features on your Apple Watch you should start using right now
• I've been using an Apple Watch for 10 years – here are three common mistakes even I've made
• I've been wearing an Apple Watch for 10 years – these are the 5 settings I change right out of the box

The legal industry is in the midst of a tech revolution driven by advances in AI, but not everyone is ready to jump on board. While 69% of lawyers believe generative AI can be used ethically in legal practice, the profession’s resistance to change and deep-rooted traditions keep many on the sidelines. Yet, with 27% of firms currently using AI tools in their daily operations, AI is already reshaping law practice, improving efficiency, accuracy and client service in ways that were once unimaginable.

This shift isn’t about replacing lawyers; it’s about working smarter. AI takes on the repetitive, time-consuming tasks like legal research, document drafting and compliance tracking, allowing lawyers to focus on the most valuable work. The result? Faster turnaround times, more robust documentation and better client service.

What does this all mean for a practicing attorney? Here’s what a day in the life of an AI-augmented lawyer looks like.

7:30 AM: The AI Assistant Starts Before You Do

Before your day officially begins, AI is already at work. Your digital assistant pulls matter updates, summarizes new legal developments and organizes your to-do list. Practice management tools use AI to prioritize tasks and track deadlines, so when you sit down at your desk, everything is right where you need it.

Pro tip: Want to avoid getting blindsided by an overlooked deadline? Let AI track it for you.

9:00 AM: Drafting Legal Documents Just Got Smarter

Drafting contracts, motions and memos has always been a time-consuming grind. AI changes that. With generative AI tools, you can get a solid first draft in seconds, complete with boilerplate language, relevant clauses and citations to recent case law. This isn’t about replacing your expertise. It’s about speeding up the process so you can focus on the strategic stuff.

AI even flags inconsistencies and suggests revisions, helping you maintain accuracy and reduce errors. Instead of starting every document from scratch, you’re refining and customizing drafts, not wasting hours on repetitive tasks.

11:00 AM: AI-Powered Legal Research

Gone are the days of endless keyword searches and stacks of casebooks. AI research tools sift through thousands of cases, statutes and legal opinions in seconds, delivering precise, on-point results. Some AI platforms even offer predictive insights, showing you patterns in case law and helping you anticipate potential outcomes.

Imagine having an incredibly fast research assistant who never gets tired. It’s a game-changer for attorneys handling complex litigation or regulatory matters.

1:00 PM: Client Meetings, Enhanced by AI

With AI handling research and document prep, you’ve got more time for what clients value most: strategic advice and meaningful engagement. AI-generated summaries give you a comprehensive view of each case before you step into a meeting, so you’re always prepared.

So when a client calls to discuss their case, you no longer have to panic-review their case file; instead, you can ask AI to give you a summary of what’s been happening in the matter. In an increasingly competitive market, offering this personalized service is a clear differentiator.

3:00 PM: Navigating Compliance and Risk with AI

Compliance is a moving target, especially for firms working with clients in highly regulated industries like healthcare and finance. AI tools are like your personal radar system, constantly scanning for regulatory changes and flagging risks. Some platforms even integrate with case management systems to analyze your documents for compliance gaps. Think of it as having a full-time risk manager built into your workflow without the added payroll expense.

5:00 PM: Wrapping Up with Zero Loose Ends

As the day winds down, AI tools step in again, freeing lawyers free to leave on time (or at least closer to it). They organize notes from your meetings, schedule follow-ups and even log your hours automatically. No more scrambling to remember which tasks you logged or which emails need a response.

AI also makes email communication effortless. It drafts client updates, follow-ups and status reports in seconds, helping you avoid the dreaded blank screen. Whether you’re responding to a quick inquiry or summarizing case progress, AI gives you a polished starting point. After a few edits, it’s ready to send.

Why the Legal Industry Hasn’t Fully Embraced AI (Yet)

Despite all these benefits, there’s still resistance. Lawyers have good reason to be cautious, with legitimate issues like data security, bias in AI models and ethical concerns. No one wants to risk exposing sensitive client data or rely on tools that could unintentionally deliver biased recommendations.

But here’s the thing: these concerns are manageable. Vendors are rapidly improving data security and offering customizable, closed-system solutions to protect client information. And let’s not forget that humans aren’t perfect either. Used thoughtfully, AI can reduce human error and enhance decision-making, not replace it.

Another sticking point? The profession’s aversion to change and disruption and a lack of time for experimentation. That hesitation could be costly as tech-savvy competitors gain an edge.

The Future: Lawyers + AI = A Competitive Advantage

Here’s the bottom line: AI isn’t here to replace lawyers; it’s here to make them more effective. By accomplishing administrative work like document prep, research and compliance tracking, AI frees up lawyers to focus on what matters most: high-value client work, courtroom strategy and growing their practices.

Smokeball research shows that 90% of legal professionals are willing to explore AI, especially if it means gaining a competitive advantage. The firms that embrace AI will stand out in an increasingly crowded market. They’ll deliver better results, faster turnaround times and more personalized service while improving work-life balance.

The question isn’t whether AI will change the game but how fast you adapt. Lawyers who seize this moment will be at the forefront of a new era of legal practice. The rest? They’ll be left trying to catch up.

We've featured the best productivity tool.

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 looming End of Life (EoL) deadlines for several Microsoft applications and systems are fast approaching – and it’s clear they’re playing on many organizations' minds.

We’ve seen a sharp increase in enquiries from large organizations seeking guidance on Microsoft Teams and legacy technology upgrades, particularly in the last month. This upturn in activity highlights an urgency felt by these businesses to address their legacy applications and operating systems scheduled to reach their official EoL in 2025.

With classic Microsoft Teams set to be phased out by July this year and major Microsoft products like Windows 10, Office 2019, and Exchange Server 2019 all reaching end-of-support by October – now just six months away – businesses face critical decisions to avoid operational, security, and compliance risks.

But this rush to tackle EoL also comes from a mindset of what it supposedly represents – high-risk, outdated technology that requires an immediate upgrade. While risks need dealing with, the truth of the matter is this isn’t a one off event. As one product is upgraded, another will approach its EoL. It’s something we have to live with.

Instead, businesses should view EoL management as an ongoing activity. And sometimes maintaining EoL systems is the best approach – they just need to be turned into a compliant and safe form.

Changing EoL mindsets

The potential impact of Windows end of support on a number of industries will be significant – and organizations are facing a pivotal transition. Left unchecked, the disruptions associated with unmanaged and outdated systems will be major.

Back in February 2020, TechRadar revealed that approximately one third of NHS computers were still operating on Windows 7, despite the government's target to upgrade all PCs to Windows 10 by January 2020. They ended up using Microsoft’s extended support period to complete the process by 2021 – and they now face the upcoming deadline to upgrade Windows 10 by October.

Consequently, with end of support deadlines imminent, there can be a feeling amongst organizations that they need to overhaul their applications and systems to work on modern infrastructure (through complex refactoring or recoding, for example) or integrate a whole new application suite. The issue is these applications are business critical and any disruption could represent a severe risk to operations.

This is where a mindset change needs to take place. Rather than attempting to significantly alter the applications themselves, it’s all about modernizing the IT estate, adopting an approach that can seamlessly migrate these software applications across different environments and onto supported operating systems.

This means companies can keep their legacy Windows 10 applications, for example, but secure their compatibility by moving them onto a supported Windows server or cloud environment. It’s akin to having the rug pulled from beneath your feet but you still remain standing in the same position – just now on new ground.

So, whether applications are located on on-premise servers or moved onto the cloud, this means they can continue to receive support and software updates. This strategy extends to cloud providers, who are crucial in meeting the increasing reliance on cloud technologies, as they change data centers.

The goal of this approach is to give companies freedom and flexibility to migrate or extend the life of critical applications smoothly and securely. The compulsory activity, however, is that something has to be done before their end of support to secure and manage them effectively. Otherwise, they will become high-risk.

Supporting out-of-support applications

When you look at the numbers on Statcounter, it’s easy to see why companies are actively seeking guidance.

In the UK, as of January 2025, there was an exact split in the market share of Windows desktop versions between Windows 10 and Windows 11, with both sitting at 49.4%. That means half of all desktops are approaching their EoL. And due to the complexity of migrating a business’ IT infrastructure as opposed to personal use, this percentage is likely to be weighted even more to Windows 10 with large organizations.

Responding to these concerns and the increase in demand and enquiries, dedicated EoL hotlines have been set up, helping companies to receive quick, tailored guidance on preparing for EoL transitions. This includes how to migrate existing applications like the Microsoft 365 products edging towards their EoL and secure their compatibility.

Crucially, the process of moving existing out-of-support applications onto managed and supported servers causes very minimal disruption to operations. The task of doing this transition, however, can be complex to perform. Therefore, if companies have the internal resources, expertise and guidance, then it’s possible to perform such an undertaking internally.

The ‘R approach’ is an industry standard process used by cloud providers. It involves six different methods to assess a company's IT estate and then carry out migrations for EoL software. ‘Rehosting’, for example, involves moving applications to the cloud without making significant changes, whereas ‘retiring’ involves identifying applications that are no longer useful and can be turned off. Each R can play its role for different contexts.

But if a company’s requirements are bespoke or too complicated to be performed by such methods, then joining up with an external specialist/partner presents a more efficient, effective and cost-effective way of approaching such a pivotal undertaking.

Keeping Windows EoL front of mind

With several end of support deadlines looming for Microsoft products in 2025, organizations are feeling compelled to understand how they can quickly and securely upgrade their Microsoft Teams and legacy applications.

But with the risks of not doing this playing on their mind, there can be a tendency to conduct expensive upgrades and overhaul entire application suites – a process that could cause significant disruption and risk itself.

However, rather than changing out-of-support applications themselves, companies can look to migrate them into secure and managed operating environments, both on-premises and in the cloud. With many desktops in the market still operating on Windows 10, this presents an approach that can keep operations ticking over while apps are migrated into these environments.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean embracing EoL software as it is. If it’s left unmanaged or on unsupported software it becomes an inherent risk. But it’s a call to change mindsets over how EoL is viewed and understanding that the applications themselves don’t have to be the problem.

Migration strategies like the R process give companies the ability to assess their IT estate and make the necessary changes. But for those that don't fit the mold, they can seek out companies which can help in those cases.

Moving away from EoL is a journey and, for most companies, it will be phased due to how these older legacy applications work. Much like DOGE you can't just rip out legacy systems and hope everything will work with new systems unless you plan it!

The support is there to achieve such a transition. Organizations just need to make sure they keep the EoL deadlines and challenges of their applications front of mind before it’s too late.

Link!

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

• This laptop is branded xCaim, ClinkX and ClinkCaim
• Eliminates the touchpad, introducing a fully interactive palm rest
• Supports an edge-to-edge keyboard as well as an integrated status bar for call display

A relatively unknown Chinese company, Emdoor Digital Technology, has introduced a prototype business laptop with an unconventional design, earning the prestigious iF Design Award for 2025.

The xCaim laptop immediately stands out with its edge-to-edge keyboard, eliminating the traditional palm rest area and replacing the conventional touchpad with a fully interactive palm rest surface with tactile buttons.

The xCaim laptop will feature a Samsung V-NAND SSD 980, available in capacities ranging from 250GB to 1TB, suggesting it could be a suitable laptop for programming.

A bold rethinking of laptop design

Like the Honor MagicBook Art 14 (2024), the xCaim laptop comes with a modular business webcam that attaches magnetically above the screen, integrates real-time environmental sensing, and can serve as a secondary screen when detached, displaying shortcuts and notifications.

The xCaim laptop adopts a sleek and modern design with a white and black color scheme, and thin bezels. It features a regular hinge design and a chiclet-style keyboard. The function keys are replaced with a touch-sensitive function area.

Just below the keyboard, a small horizontal display shows system status icons, call information, and a digital battery display. A removable bottom panel reveals dual cooling fans.

The laptop's connectivity options are minimal, with just three USB-C ports, two on the right side and one on the left.

The xCaim laptop is not commercially available yet, but it offers a glimpse into a future where business laptop designs break free from tradition, embracing new forms of interaction and AI tools integration.

The iF Design Award is often regarded as the "Oscars" of the design industry, and the 2025 edition of the competition saw nearly 11,000 entries from 66 countries, with 131 jurors from 23 countries selecting the most outstanding designs.

Via iFDesign

You may also like

• Take a look at our picks for the best WFH app around
• Check out our recommendations for the best monitors for working from home
• This entire nation's public health department was found to be running on a single Excel spreadsheet

• Compal Infinite Laptop offers a horizontally expanding screen, from 14-inch to 18-inch
• Rollable business laptops could emerge as the future of multitasking
• Infinite Laptop also includes LED notification grids

The world's first rollable laptop, the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable, was unveiled at CES 2025 after years of development, featuring a 14-inch display which expands vertically to 16.7 inches with the press of a button.

While Lenovo’s approach focuses on increasing vertical space, Taiwanese manufacturer Compal's Infinite Laptop concept (via iFDesign) expands horizontally to create an ultrawide business laptop.

The Compal Infinite Laptop features a 14-inch display which extends from both sides to form an 18-inch screen, which could make it an ideal laptop for trading and multitasking.

A rollable screen designed for productivity

Compal’s Infinite Laptop is still a concept, but its bold design has already earned an iF Design Award.

This rollable mechanism ensures a seamless transition between compact and expanded modes while maintaining a lightweight build.

Similar to the ClinkCaim laptop, another 2025 iF Design Award-winning concept, the Infinite Laptop lacks a distinct touchpad.

Instead, a dimly glowing light indicates the touchpad area, which could make it a more intuitive laptop for programming.

The laptop appears to feature an LED notification array embedded in its lid for system alerts and notifications.

The laptop’s expansion mechanism looks impressive, and it's certainly made waves —the 2025 iF Design Awards featured nearly 11,000 entries from 66 countries, with 131 jurors selecting the most innovative designs, solidifying the Compal Infinite Laptop’s place among groundbreaking concepts.

You may also like

• Here are our top picks for the best HP laptops that we've personally tested
• These are the best free writing apps you can get right now
• And these are the best AI writing tools available

• Silicon Motion 128TB SSD RDK optimizes AI pipelines with enhanced data management
• PerformaShape technology boosts SSD efficiency for AI-driven workloads
• MonTitan SSD’s PCIe Gen 5 speeds enhance enterprise data throughput

Silicon Motion, a leading NAND flash controller designer, has begun supplying its 128TB SSD Reference Design Kit (RDK), to select partners after nearly three years of testing since its initial announcement in 2022.

This large SSD kit, utilizes the latest 2 TB die QLC NAND, is built on the MonTitan PCIe Gen 5 platform, and features advanced firmware to maximize performance and efficiency in AI tool workloads, making it one of the best external SSD designs available.

The MonTitan RDK, designed for enterprise and data center use, delivers sequential read speeds exceeding 14 GB/s, ranking among the fastest external SSDs, with random read performance of over 3.3 million IOPS for efficient data thoroughput. The kit utilizes the PCIe Dual Ported enterprise-grade SM8366 controller with support for PCIe Gen 5 x4 NVMe 2.0 and OCP 2.5 data center specifications.

High-speed storage that could shake up the enterprise market

The RDK's high-speed performance provides a 25% improvement in random read efficiency over other Gen 5 solutions, making it particularly well-suited for AI applications such as large language model (LLM) training and graph neural network (GNN) computations.

Additionally, the drive design utilizes NVMe 2.0 FDP (Flexible Data Placement) to enhance write efficiency and endurance, extending the lifespan of the QLC NAND.

"Silicon Motion's MonTitan SSD RDK offers a comprehensive solution for our customers, enabling them to rapidly develop and deploy enterprise-class SSDs tailored for AI data center and edge server applications." said Alex Chou, Senior VP of Enterprise Storage and Display Interface Solution Business.

"By providing this fully integrated platform that supports up to 128 TB SSD with QLC NAND, we empower our customers and solution partners to accelerate the development and commercialization of AI solution's growing demands of high-capacity, high-performance storage."

Silicon Motion’s proprietary PerformaShape technology optimizes SSD performance based on user-defined quality-of-service (QoS) parameters, reducing latency. The new RDK could play a crucial role in AI storage and data center infrastructure, optimizing multi-tenant environments by efficiently handling AI data pipeline stages such as ingestion, preparation, training, and inference.

"We are delighted to collaborate with Silicon Motion in developing our latest enterprise SSD for AI servers and data centers. With Silicon Motion's MonTitan Enterprise SSD development platform, we have the flexibility to design enterprise SSDs that deliver industry-leading performance," said CC Wu, VP of Innodisk.

Frank Chen, the CEO of Exascend said, "In the era of AI explosion, data storage is more critical than ever. Through this collaboration with Silicon Motion, we have developed a PCIe Gen 5 SSD tailored for AI servers, ensuring stable read and write speeds with efficient data management, perfectly meeting the storage demands of the AI era."

Via TechPowerUp

You may also like

• Check out the best portable SSDs you can get today
• We've listed the best NAS devices around
• We've also rounded up the best cloud storage platforms on offer

• Toshiba's new European HDD Innovation Lab can improve storage tech
• Lab offers architecture testing, proof-of-concept setups, and benchmarking
• Toshiba claims combining dozens of HDDs can boost overall performance

Toshiba Electronics Europe has opened a new HDD Innovation Lab at its Düsseldorf site, expanding its storage evaluation services across Europe and the Middle East.

The new facility (it already has a smaller one in Dubai) is designed to support customers and partners in optimizing hard disk drive configurations for a range of applications, including cloud storage, surveillance systems, and NAS environments.

Toshiba’s lab will focus on assessing HDD setups for broader IT systems such as storage area networks (SAN), providing a space where hardware configurations can be tested and refined. It will be able to evaluate customer-specific architectures and offer a platform for proof-of-concept testing and performance benchmarking.

Combining hard drives

“This new HDD Innovation Lab represents a significant leap forward in providing bespoke solutions and advancing HDD technology,” said Rainer Kaese, senior manager for HDD business development.

“It demonstrates Toshiba’s commitment to drive the industry forward and support customers and partners with technical expertise and resources. We look forward to strengthening existing collaborations and exploring the future business opportunities the new facility will bring."

To carry out these evaluations, the lab brings together servers, JBoDs, chassis, controllers, cables, and a variety of software tools. It also includes equipment to accurately measure energy consumption.

While SSDs have a clear speed advantage over HDDs, they are expensive and, according to Kaese via Blocks & Files, “The flash industry is not be able to manufacture enough capacity to satisfy the growing demand, and still will not be for a significant while.”

The solution to that problem, Kaese suggested, is to bunch HDDS together.

“We have demonstrated that 60 HDDs in ZFS software defined storage can fill the entire speed of a 100GbE network,” he said, adding, “[We] found that a typical configuration of four HDDs (ie. in small Soho NAS) can fill the 10GbE networks. 12 HDDs match the 25GbE of Enterprise networks, and 60 HDDs would require high end 100GbE network speed to unleash the full performance of the many combined HDDs.”

Beyond technical testing, the HDD Innovation Lab aims to support knowledge sharing. Insights from evaluations will be passed directly to customers, and Toshiba says it will conduct its own internal assessments of its HDD product lines, publishing the findings as whitepapers and lab reports.

You might also like

• These are the fastest hard drives you can get right now
• And these are the largest HDDs and SSDs on the market at the moment
• Race to 100TB HDD heats up as Seagate pulls rug from under WD and Toshiba

• Asus' new Ascent GX10 brings AI supercomputing power directly to developers
• Promises 1000 TOPS of AI processing and can handle models up to 200 billion parameters
• It's cheaper than Nvidia DGX Spark, with less storage but similar performance

AI development is getting ever more demanding, and Asus wants to bring high-performance computing straight to the desks of developers, researchers, and data scientists with the Ascent GX10, a compact AI supercomputer powered by Nvidia’s Grace Blackwell GB10 Superchip.

Asus’s rival to Nvidia’s DGX Spark (previously Project Digits) is designed to handle local AI workloads, making it easier to prototype, fine-tune, and run impressively large models without relying entirely on cloud or data center resources.

The Ascent GX10 comes with 128GB of unified memory, and the Blackwell GPU with fifth-generation Tensor Cores and FP4 precision support means it can deliver up to 1000 TOPS of AI processing power. It also includes a 20-core Grace Arm CPU, which speeds up data processing and orchestration for AI inferencing and model tuning. Asus says it will allow developers to work with AI models of up to 200 billion parameters without running into major bottlenecks.

Powerful yet compact

“AI is transforming every industry, and the Asus Ascent GX10 is designed to bring this transformative power to every developer’s fingertips,” said KuoWei Chao, General Manager of Asus IoT and NUC Business Group.

“By integrating the Nvidia Grace Blackwell Superchip, we are providing a powerful yet compact tool that enables developers, data scientists, and AI researchers to innovate and push the boundaries of AI right from their desks.”

Asus has built the GX10 with NVLink-C2C, which provides more than five times the bandwidth of PCIe 5.0, allowing the CPU and GPU to share memory efficiently, improving performance across AI workloads.

The system also comes with an integrated ConnectX network interface, so two GX10 units can be linked together to handle even larger models, such as Llama 3.1 with 405 billion parameters.

Asus says the Ascent GX10 will be available for pre-order in Q2 2025. Pricing details have not yet been confirmed by Asus, but Nvidia says it will cost $2999 and come with 1TB of storage.

In comparison, Nvidia’s own DGX Spark is a thousand dollars more ($3999) and comes with 4TB of storage.

You might also like

• These are the best mobile workstations you can buy right now
• I am thrilled by Nvidia’s cute petaflop mini PC wonder
• Nvidia’s DGX Station is a powerful supercomputer-class workstation PC