TechRadar News

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now nearly 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.

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 #953) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* 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 #953) - 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 2.

Quordle today (game #953) - 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 #953) - 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 #953) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• A

• A

• O

• S

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

Quordle today (game #953) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #953, are…

• ATOLL
• ANGER
• OCEAN
• SWEEP

There were no massive complications awaiting you among today's Quordle answers. ATOLL is probably the hardest of the four, on account of its repeated LL and that it's not the most obvious of words, but the letters are all common, so chances are you'll have had most of them on the board by the time you needed to solve it. SWEEP also has a repeat, an E in this case, but again is a common word. Overall, this is about as straightforward as Quordle gets.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Daily Sequence today (game #953) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #953, are…

• BOAST
• BASAL
• HAUTE
• SHARD

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #952, Monday 2 September: HABIT, LODGE, PLAIN, DRIFT
• Quordle #951, Sunday 1 September: RABBI, CRAWL, GUPPY, BRAND
• Quordle #950, Saturday 31 August: AWOKE, TIBIA, ITCHY, SNACK
• Quordle #949, Friday 30 August: ARISE, OLDER, ISSUE, ERUPT
• Quordle #948, Thursday 29 August: DECAY, DRUID, AVOID, KNEED
• Quordle #947, Wednesday 28 August: VIOLA, GONER, CAVIL, SHARE
• Quordle #946, Tuesday 27 August: ABYSS, DAILY, AGONY, MUSKY
• Quordle #945, Monday 26 August: NEVER, CHUNK, AUNTY, CROUP
• Quordle #944, Sunday 25 August: APTLY, LEVER, STORK, WIDOW
• Quordle #943, Saturday 24 August: EVENT, APNEA, SWATH, IRONY
• Quordle #942, Friday 23 August: LAUGH, SATYR, CACHE, CLONE
• Quordle #941, Thursday 22 August: BEARD, PAYER, BROWN, TRUCK
• Quordle #940, Wednesday 21 August: ALOFT, SNUCK, LAPSE, COMIC
• Quordle #939, Tuesday 20 August: CHIEF, SNORT, OUNCE, MILKY
• Quordle #938, Monday 19 August: GIVEN, STIFF, STOOL, ANTIC
• Quordle #937, Sunday 18 August: DEPTH, JUICY, GAWKY, INLAY
• Quordle #936, Saturday 17 August: HUMUS, FRONT, FUNNY, DRYLY
• Quordle #935, Friday 16 August: BRICK, CABLE, INBOX, FLOSS
• Quordle #934, Thursday 15 August: STINT, TRAIL, DECAL, BRAIN
• Quordle #933, Wednesday 14 August: TENOR, CLEFT, USHER, CREEP

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

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.

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 #450) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• TOO
• REAL
• FORE
• SPARE
• WON
• ARROW
• EXTRA
• POUND
• KNUCKLE
• EXCUSE
• OVER
• BLOCK
• SAVE
• BEYOND
• PARDON
• YEN

NYT Connections today (game #450) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Forgive
• Green: More
• Blue: Money, money, money
• Purple: blank [word for a part of the body]

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 #450) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: ABSOLVE
• GREEN: EXCESSIVELY
• BLUE: GLOBAL CURRENCIES
• PURPLE: ___HEAD

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

NYT Connections today (game #450) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #450, are…

• YELLOW: ABSOLVE EXCUSE, PARDON, SAVE, SPARE
• GREEN: EXCESSIVELY BEYOND, EXTRA, OVER, TOO
• BLUE: GLOBAL CURRENCIES POUND, REAL, WON, YEN
• PURPLE: ___HEAD ARROW, BLOCK, FORE, KNUCKLE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I very nearly went down a wrong alley here, spotting that WON, TOO and FORE were all homophones for numbers, and debating whether any of the others might fit that pattern. And then I thought maybe there was a 'ball' connection – as in KNUCKLE ball, SPARE ball, EXTRA ball… but for once I didn't play the first thing I spotted and instead kept looking until I found a group that simply had to be correct. That was the GLOBAL CURRENCIES blue group, with POUND, REAL, WON and YEN, and I followed that with the toughest purple group, a classic blank [something] connection that this time was 'words that go before head'. With those two complete, the others were easy to pick off.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, 2 September, game #449)

• YELLOW: PECULIAR CURIOUS, FUNNY, OFF, WEIRD
• GREEN: ASSIGNMENT JOB, POSITION, POST, STATION
• BLUE: CLASSIC COLLECTION ITEMS COIN, COMIC, RECORD, STAMP
• PURPLE: CHAIN ___ LETTER, MAIL, REACTION, STORE

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

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

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Striking sounds

NYT Strands today (game #184) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• LINE
• CRINGE
• SLOT
• LOAN
• TANK
• NILL

NYT Strands today (game #184) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Heard in a church?

NYT Strands today (game #184) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: Top, 3rd column

Last: Bottom, 3rd column

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

NYT Strands today (game #184) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #184, are…

• TOLL
• RING
• CLANG
• PEAL
• KNELL
• JINGLE
• TINKLE
• CHIME
• SPANGRAM: BELLTONES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Who knew there were so many different words for BELL TONES, as the spangram would have it? Well, me for one – because I found this to be very, very easy. The theme clue of 'Striking sounds' was a fairly hefty hint towards the concept here, and when I spotted TOLL by accident it confirmed my suspicion as to what was needed. Without even needing to look at the board I predicted that the likes of PEAL, RING and CHIME would be there, and the spangram itself was similarly simple to uncover.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday 2 September, game #183)

• ESQUIRE
• VISCOUNT
• KNIGHT
• QUEEN
• DUCHESS
• EARL
• BARON
• SPANGRAM: TITLES

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

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

China recently threatened serious economic retaliation against Japan if it imposed further restrictions on the servicing and sales of chip making equipment to Chinese companies. It’s reported that China could react by cutting Japan’s access to minerals which are essential for automotive production.

Cars are one of Japan's biggest exports, and Toyota is one of the most influential organizations in the country. Toyota has also invested heavily into Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC’s plant in Kumamoto, so would certainly be amongst the most affected by the potential new Japanese export restrictions.

This comes as the US has applied pressure on Japan to align more strictly with its efforts to curb China’s technological power, specifically in semiconductor strategy. The US previously imposed an embargo on China to halt exports of the most sophisticated chips (primarily used in military hardware) from reaching the country, but it's reported that some companies were working around the ban.

Chip War

Chinese domestic industry is not yet able to produce the most high tech chips which power some of the technologies that it leads in (especially AI), but has been able to access the capabilities through cloud computing services to circumvent US export restrictions.

The US has recently funded a program to establish chip manufacturing on US ground, but as it stands, Taiwan accounts for 68% of the semiconductor market. US senior officials are said to be working with Japanese counterparts to protect the supply of crucial materials.

Toyota and chip maker Tokyo Electron are amongst the most at risk if exports are affected, with the latter’s shares falling almost 2% following the news of the strained Japan/China relationship.

It’s not yet clear whether Japan will bow to US demands and introduce export restrictions, or what specific repercussions this would have on Japanese industry. Biden is said to be confident that an agreement will be reached by the end of the year.

Via Bloomberg.

More from TechRadar Pro

• Check out our pick of the best VPNs on offer
• China leads in up to 89% of tech research, study shows
• Take a look at our pick of the best firewall software

Micro-LED TVs are something of a white whale for the biggest TV manufacturers. The display technology has plenty of potential, promising emissive pixels and infinite contrast without sacrificing brightness levels and deep blacks. It also doesn’t suffer from the degradation in performance associated with organic display types like the best OLED TVs.

Thanks to how micro-LED TVs are manufactured – with clusters of “micrometer-scale LEDs”, or “almost microscopic lights” transferred onto larger LED modules – you get an incredible amount of brightness control at the pixel level, as well as the ability to rearrange LEDs in different modular combinations.

However, micro-LED has been touted as the ‘next big thing’ in televisions since 2018, when Samsung released its first micro-LED TV, The Wall, with little progress being made to bring down its gargantuan production costs in the years since.

We are seeing new micro-LED TVs being released: in 2024, Samsung unveiled 76-inch, 89-inch, 101-inch and 114-inch models. However, even that smallest 76-inch version retails for $90,000, which is obviously highly prohibitive when it comes to mass adoption. The LG Magnit micro-LED TV, meanwhile, caters explicitly to “luxury clients” according to the company's press release. It retails for $237,000 and is only available at 118-inch and 136-inch sizes.

Price does seem to be the bottleneck to wider micro-LED implementation. In June 2024, ETNews reported that Samsung told manufacturing partners that production costs needed to be slashed by 90% to make micro-LED competitive in today’s TV market. And it does look like both LG and Samsung, the key drivers of micro-LED development, are pulling back on investment in the technology for the time being (via FlatPanelsHD).

So why the fuss about micro-LED? Well, costs aside, it solves a lot of problems plaguing the leading TV display technologies – or, it did when investment into micro-LED development was still flowing. To understand what’s changed, we need to talk about OLED.

Solution to a missing problem

(Image credit: Sam Rutherford, Endgadget)

OLED has emerged as the premium TV technology of the decade. While OLED screens are still pricier than traditional LCD-LED displays, you can now get an excellent OLED TV for under $1,000, and at a variety of different sizes (the LG C4 OLED ranges from 42 to 83 inches). And even mid-priced OLED TVs tend to come with excellent viewing and gaming specifications, from 4K resolution and 120Hz frame rates to Dolby Vision HDR.

OLED offers infinite contrast with truly deep blacks, thanks to its ability to turn pixels off entirely, as well as excellent color reproduction. The main issue plaguing OLED has been its historically dim brightness output – long making it great for evening movie nights but middling for daytime viewing.

However, gains in OLED brightness over the years are remedying this, both with traditional OLED screens (this year’s LG C4 hit over 1,000 nits peak brightness in our review) and OLED–QLED hybrids like the Samsung S95D, which reached nearly 1,900 nits in our testing. Concerns over burn-in have largely been squashed, too.

This makes the promise of micro-LED – the benefits of emissive display technologies, without the downsides of organic displays – a little less certain, especially when a micro-LED TV costs 10-20 times that of a similarly sized OLED.

The future of micro-LED TVs

(Image credit: Future)

While attending CES 2024 earlier this year, a TCL representative told us that micro-LED TVs were likely still 5-10 years away from being commercially viable – and who knows how long after that until these TVs are actually affordable for most people. Depending on how OLED and mini-LED technologies develop in the years ahead, and on the investment decisions of the biggest TV manufacturers, we might never get to that point at all.

As long as a micro-LED TV costs as much as a small house, they’re going to be the reserve of billionaires, supervillains or Hollywood production sets using micro-LED tech to replace the green screen – rather than everyday TV enthusiasts looking for a good home cinema system. So we wouldn't hold out for micro-LED rather than grab one of the best TVs already available today.

Micro-LED’s biggest problem right now is that the competition is so dang good – which feels like a good problem for most TV shoppers to have.

You might also like...

• Micro-LED 4K TVs aren't trying to kill OLED, they’re aiming at projectors
• OLED-beating micro-LED TV tech looks uncertain as LG and Samsung wobble
• Samsung's world-first transparent micro-LED display is at CES, and it's like a hologram

Netflix's new Jeff Goldblum show, Kaos, features the actor playing god: quite literally, because he's the Greek god Zeus. The show is a very modern spin on one of mythology's oldest characters, and while the reviews have been decidedly mixed Kaos looks like it's another big hit for the streamer. And if myths are your thing, there's plenty more best Netflix shows to keep you entertained. Here are three of our favorites with god-like Rotten Tomatoes scores.

Blood of Zeus

Originally known as Gods & Heroes, this adult animated series is set in Ancient Greece and follows Heron, the demigod son of Zeus, as he tries to save both Olympus and Earth. Heron is an invention of the series, although there were plenty of demigods hinted at in the original myths. Season 1 has the full 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and so does the second season. Espinof says it's "one of the most entertaining animated series available". 

According to ScreenAnarchy, "Resplendent in darkly beautiful animation, Blood of Zeus feels like a graphic novel brought to life" while Paste Magazine would clearly give season 2 of the show more than 100% if they could: "We finally have a follow-up season that largely matches and, in many cases, surpasses its predecessor thanks to compelling bad guys, improved visuals, and similarly clever allusions to age-old narratives."

Ragnarok

Now in its third season, Ragnarok takes place in a small town poisoned by pollution and rattled by melting glaciers where the End Times feel imminent. It's a coming-of-age story with a dark mythological twist and some pitch-dark humor, centring on two young men who just happen to be the latest incarnations of Thor, god of thunder, and Loki, god of mischief. 

According to Book and Film Globe: "Ragnarok is awkward and bizarre at its best" and that's a compliment: the original myths are awkward and bizarre too, and "the young characters in this show actually feel genuinely angry in a way that's appropriate for youth, particularly in terms of the kinds of problems youths these days face".

The Sandman

We're in two minds about recommending this given the allegations against creator Neil Gaiman, but it'd be a shame if the great work and performances on display here were overshadowed by its writer. We rated The Sandman very highly, describing it as "oh-so-nearly brilliant" and paying particular regard to a "supremely talented cast who breathe life into The Sandman's eclectic cast of characters":

Tom Sturridge, Gwendoline Christie, Boyd Holbrook, Vivienne Acheampong, Jenna Coleman and Mason Alexander Park. It's the story of Morpheus, one of seven mythical beings, who becomes trapped on Earth and who discovers that the Dream Dimension he called home has fallen into ruin. 

You might also like

• 5 new Netflix TV shows arriving in September
• 14 shows  I'm most excited to see in late 2024
• Netflix cancels hit supernatural series Dead Boy Detectives

Research from KnowBe4 reported that critical infrastructure sustained more than 420 million cyber attacks between January 2023 and January 2024, a rise of 30% from the previous year. Physical frameworks such as power grids, transportation, and communications networks are particularly at risk due to the disruption any failures would cause.

As infrastructure across the globe becomes increasingly digitized, reliance on the internet leaves them vulnerable to cyber threats. Power grids in Europe and the United States, for example, are increasingly at risk from a ‘cyberattack deluge’, and have been inundated with attacks by the thousand since the start of the war in Ukraine.

The infrastructure of over 160 countries has been targeted, with the primary target being the US, followed by the UK, Germany, India, and Japan. The threat actors reportedly most often originated from China, Russia, and Iran.

Cyber War

Attacks on infrastructure have the potential to cripple the daily lives of millions, with hospitals and businesses at risk, as well as millions left without access to bank accounts or power. The number of attacks on utilities has quadrupled since 2020. When you consider the heightened physical threat, such as the sabotage of internet cables, there is potential for devastating damage.

Earlier this year, US water networks were identified as a serious target for foreign-backed threat actors. Whilst so far these have only caused minimal disruption, Leonard Birnbaum, chief executive of E.ON, one of Europe’s largest utilities, said that “the crooks are becoming better by the day,” commenting, “I am worried now and I will be even more worried in the future.”

Research suggests that in the event of an attack, it’s most likely that electrical power facilities would be the first target, with railroads, communications, and manufacturing facilities behind. These are, of course, calculated scenarios - but the rise in cyber attacks highlights the need to invest in cyber security now more than ever.

Via KnowBe4

More from TechRadar Pro

• Take a look at at the best malware removal
• Never assume the end of an attack infrastructure
• Check out our picks for best antivirus software

Cybernews researchers have uncovered a colossal data leak believed to be related to People Data Labs (PDL), a San Francisco-based data broker, containing over 170 million records.

Breached data includes sensitive information like full names, phone numbers, emails, location, skills, professional summaries, education history and employment history, putting those affected at risk of identity theft.

An unprotected Elasticsearch server has been identified as being responsible for the leak, discovered by the team on June 25, indicating that a third party may have been responsible for managing PDL’s data.

PDL data leak includes 170 million records

Although an unknown threat actor is likely responsible for leaking the data, Cybernews has highlighted the poorly protected Elasticsearch server as a key vulnerability.

The team summarized: “The existence of data brokers is already a controversial issue, as they often have insufficient checks and controls to ensure that data doesn’t get sold to the wrong parties.”

If the leak does indeed pertain to PDL, it won’t be the first time the company has been associated with a leak. In October 2019, it was revealed that more than a billion records from the company’s databases were exposed online, believed to have affected 622 million individuals. At the time, PDL said that it wasn’t responsible for the leak.

Cybernews continued: “If this is a new leak, and not processed and enriched data from the 2019 leak by a third party, such an incident would show a high level of ignorance from the company regarding personal data security.”

Those who suspect they may have been affected together with anybody who has received any suspicious emails, or simply those wanting to maintain the highest levels of digital hygiene, should change their passwords regularly and use a trusted password manager, enable two-factor authentication and monitor their accounts.

TechRadar Pro has contacted People Data Labs to confirm its association with this leak, but we did not receive an immediate response.

More from TechRadar Pro

• Check out the best VPN with antivirus
• Worried you might’ve downloaded something dodgy? Here’s the best malware removal
• National Public Data finally confirms it was hit by data breach — and that millions of users are at risk

Tesla is looking to replace the widely-used Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) with its own offering.

The company says Tesla Transport Protocol over Ethernet (TTPoE) is designed to support high-speed, low-latency communication, especially in environments where reliable data transfer is essential. 

TTPoE, integral to Tesla’s DOJO supercomputer, is optimized for the specific demands of Tesla’s systems, but Elon Musk’s firm is promoting it as a potential new standard for broader use beyond its own operations.

UltraEthernet Consortium

TTPoE is executed entirely in hardware and aids efficient data transmission across Ethernet networks without requiring special switches, instead using standard Layer 2 transport. Unlike lossless RDMA networks, TTPoE anticipates packet loss and includes mechanisms to retry transmissions, making it distinct from traditional protocols like TCP or UDP.

TTPoE offers enhanced security features, such as encryption and authentication, to protect data integrity. This makes it particularly useful in automotive and industrial applications where managing large data sets securely and efficiently is essential.

The protocol also supports scalability, allowing it to meet the growing data demands of modern electric vehicles, including those needed for autonomous driving and over-the-air updates.

The latest information about TTPoE comes from ServeTheHome, which reported on Tesla’s presentation at the Hot Chips 2024 symposium in Stanford, California. Tesla shared details about TTPoE’s architecture and suggested that TTPoE could offer lower one-way write latency over switches, including NVLink. It also announced its participation in the UltraEthernet Consortium (UEC).

You can view some of the slides Tesla shared over at ServeTheHome. The site’s Patrick Kennedy noted, “This is one of those interesting talks, but at some point it would be cool if this was used beyond just DOJO. It feels like a lot of lifting to do making custom NICs, custom protocols, and so forth for a system and not trying to benefit from economies of scale. It was cool to see that Tesla is bringing this to the UltraEthernet Consortium.”

More from TechRadar Pro

• An unpatchable AMD chip flaw is jailbreaking Tesla cars
• Nvidia is powering a mega Tesla supercomputer powered by 10,000 H100 GPUs
• Adopting generative AI to drive softwarization of automobiles

Meta Connect 2024 is fast approaching, and one of the announcements we’ll almost certainly get on September 25 will be for the Meta Quest 3S. We not only saw a batch of details from regular leakers, Meta itself leaked the headset’s existence twice in recent months, and now FCC and Dekra certifications have further cemented the idea that we’ll see a new VR device soon.

Dekra is an independent product certification company, while the FCC is the United States Government's Federal Communications Commission, and it’s normal for both to check out and certify tech before it’s released to the public. 

91Mobiles has shared details of certifications from each awarded to a new Meta device named ‘P97’ – with Dekra’s document adding that it’s a VR headset.

Even if P97 is somehow a previously unheard-of Meta gadget, given the company’s usual announcement cycle – which involves revealing and releasing new hardware at its annual Meta Connect showcase in late September/early October – these details seemingly confirm we’ll see something on September 25. So if you planned to finally buy a VR headset you might want to wait a little longer to see what Meta showcases.

The VR headset you've been waiting for

(Image credit: Meta)

It’s easy to get hyped for high-end hardware – which is why you might be sad to see reports of the Meta Quest Pro 2’s cancellation, and then happy to hear separate leaks that the Quest Pro 2 has maybe instead morphed into a very different kind of headset – but for me the Quest 3S announcement has me super excited.

I love the Meta Quest 3 – if I didn’t think it was fantastic I wouldn’t have awarded it five stars in our Meta Quest 3 review – but while it’s great value for money it is still a lot pricier than its predecessor the Meta Quest 2, costing $499.99 / £479.99 / AU$799.99 instead of the earlier version's $299 / £299 / AU$479 at launch.

Rumors suggest the Meta Quest 3S will more closely match the Quest 2’s price, while still packing essential Quest 3 specs like its Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset. If these reports are correct then the next-gen VR and MR experiences the Quest 3 offers – like the exclusive Batman: Arkham Shadow game launching later this year – could be a lot more accessible than they have been. 

And more people being able to afford great VR experiences is never a bad thing in my book.

Obviously we’ll have to wait and see what Meta announces – if anything at all. While I’m feeling confident something’s on its way there’s always a chance the leaks have it wrong and the Quest 3S is a myth. I seriously hope it isn’t but we won’t know for sure until September 25. 

You might also like...

• My favorite Meta Quest 3 games and apps from August 2024
• This leaked Meta Quest 3 rival is more powerful, but it needs one thing to be a winner
• Meta Quest 3S leak teases the VR headset's 'final design'

Cybersecurity researchers from Securonix discovered a new threat campaign that included phishing, DLL sideloading, and Cobalt Strike beacons, all using Tencent’s infrastructure, and targeting Chinese entities. Tencent is the largest and most popular cloud service provider in China.

Apparently, the group (which has not been identified and doesn’t seem to resemble any known organization) was sending out phishing emails with attachments discussing “personnel lists” and “people who violated remote control software regulations”.

Given the topics of the phishing files, Securonix speculates that the attackers might have been targeting the government sector, or “specific Chinese related businesses”, since these “would employ individuals who follow ‘remote control software regulations’”.

SLOW#TEMPEST

Among the distributed files were UI.exe, and dui70.dll. The executable file is actually LicensingUI.exe - a legitimate tool that displays information about software licenses and activation. The .DLL file, on the other hand, is an old and vulnerable dynamic link library file that, through sideloading, allows the crook to deploy Cobalt Strike.

"The legitimate file is designed to import several legitimate DLL files, one of which is dui70.dll and should normally reside in C:\Windows\System32. However, thanks to a DLL path traversal vulnerability, any DLL containing the same name can be sideloaded upon the execution of the renamed UI.exe by the LNK file," the researchers said.

Cobalt Strike is a cybersecurity tool used for simulating advanced persistent threats (APTs) in penetration testing, but it is also exploited by malicious actors for command and control operations. In this scenario, it was used to deliver all kinds of malware, including a port forwarding tool, a network reconnaissance tool, a scanner used in red teaming, and many more.

All IP addresses used in the attack were hosted at Tencent, China’s #1 cloud service provider, the researchers added. Furthermore, since the attackers were lurking for more than two weeks before making any moves, the researchers dubbed the attack SLOW#TEMPEST.

Via The Register

More from TechRadar Pro

• Chinese hackers target Mac users with boosted Macma malware
• Here's a list of the best firewall software around today
• These are the best endpoint security tools right now

Windows 11 has finally done it and managed to overtake Windows 10 when it comes to market share with PC gamers.

As you might have guessed, this is the Steam Hardware Survey which is conducted every month and is a snapshot of the configurations of the various gaming PCs used on Valve’s platform.

The figures for August 2024 show that Windows 11 has gained 3.36% of Steam users, so now it has a total of 49.17%.

Windows 10 dropped by a proportionate amount, dipping by 3.07% to finish on 47.09% for the month – so there are now over 2% more gamers on Windows 11, than on its predecessor.

Other Windows versions are basically negligible on Steam, with Windows 7 being the only OS worth mentioning, but even that only has 0.37% adoption. Outside of Windows, Linux holds a 1.92% share of gamers, and macOS accounts for 1.3%.

Windows 11 represented 46.63% of gamers on Steam in June, and 47.45% in July, and was increasing in jumps of a percentage point, or half a percent or so, in recent times – so this is a pretty big growth spurt for August.

(Image credit: Microsoft / Valve) Analysis: Sudden surge

We weren’t expecting Windows 11 to outgun Windows 10 quite so quickly, in short. Is there any particular reason for the sudden surge? None that springs to mind, though it could just be that the need to move from Windows 10 is feeling a bit more pressing now there’s not much more than a year left before the older operating system reaches its End of Life (in October 2025).

If you look solely at Windows versions on Steam, Windows 11 now holds just a touch over 50% of that market now.

Sadly for Microsoft, this progress isn’t remotely reflected outside of the world of gaming. For overall users, according to Statcounter, Windows 11 is on 31.6% for August, compared to 64.1% for Windows 10, so the latter still has double the headcount of the former – it’s not even close.

Microsoft will be hoping that overall picture changes radically over the next year, that’s for sure – and AI will be a big part of that drive, wrapped up with Copilot+ PCs which are predicted to do big things in terms of shifting units.

You may also like...

• Don’t make these 5 big mistakes when using Windows 11
• Acemagic X1 unveiled as world’s first dual-screen laptop with side-by-side displays
• Impatient for Nvidia’s RTX 5090 to arrive? Check out this 'frankenGPU' instead

I don't know about you, dear reader but I can't quite believe the fact that there are (at the time of writing) four months left of 2024. Still, as we wave goodbye to summer – or winter, for those in the southern hemisphere – there's one thing we can all look forward to: plenty of not only potentially great new shows, but also returning favorites.

With that in mind, I've compiled a list of the 14 TV series I can't wait to see between now and December 31 on the world's best streaming services. With multiple genres catered for, I think one or more of the below recommendations will make it onto your 'to watch' list, too. So, let's waste no more time: here are my most anticipated shows (ones that were announced prior to this article's creation, anyway) to stream in late 2024 on Netflix, Prime Video, Max, and more.

Slow Horses season 4 (Apple TV Plus)

Release date: September 4

I saw a tweet – are we still calling them that? – from someone recently that suggested this Apple TV Plus show would be a colossal hit if it held a primetime slot on, say, UK terrestrial channel BBC One. And, frankly, it's difficult not to agree with that sentiment. Slow Horses is arguably the most underrated Apple TV Original, with the Gary Oldman-led spy thriller series earning praise and award nominations aplenty from critics and its loyal fanbase alike.

With Slow Horses season 4's imminent release galloping over the horizon, then, now's as good a time as any to binge watch one of the best Apple TV Plus shows' first three seasons, each with just six episodes apiece, ahead of its return. Capisce?

Slow Horses season 4 episode 1 debuts on launch day. New episodes air weekly until October 9.

Agatha All Along (Disney Plus)

Release date: September 18 (US); September 19 (UK and Australia)

Debuting just two weeks before the most haunting month of the year arrives, Agatha All Along will be Marvel's final live-action TV series of 2024. But, with the Kathryn Hahn-fronted WandaVision spin-off reuniting us with fan-favorite character Agatha Harkness for what's expected to be one of the MCU's most spooky projects yet, I'm cautiously optimistic about its chances of casting a spell on, well, everyone.

So, what's it about? The Marvel Phase 5 series will see Harkness create her own coven of dark magic misfits to embark on a quest down The Witches' Road, a dangerous and terrifying realm that grants wishes to anyone who successfully navigates it. Here's hoping it's good – oh, and remember, it was Agatha all aloooooong!

Agatha All Along launches with a two-episode premiere. New episodes air weekly until November 6.

The Penguin (Max)

Release date: September 19 (US); September 20 (UK and Australia)

The sequel to the 2022 smash hit The Batman is still a few years away, but this TV spin-off will aim to fill the crime thriller-shaped hole in my life and yours very soon. Colin Farrell reprises his role from the aforementioned Batman flick as Oz Cobb, one of numerous crime bosses who'll vie for a greater slice of the underworld pie following Gotham's criminal kingpin Carmine Falcone's death in The Batman. The biggest obstacle standing in Cobb's way? Carmine's menacing daughter Sofia (Cristin Milioti), who's out to prove Gotham's new criminal mastermind doesn't need to be a man.

A darker and more mature offering than its movie forebear, The Penguin looks set to be the next HBO TV Original that'll waddle its way onto our best Max shows list (NB: it'll air on Sky/Now TV in the UK, and Binge in Australia). I, for one, can't wait to see Farrell deliver another commanding acting performance that'll surely earn him more a few award nominations on next year's circuit.

The Penguin's first episode arrives on release day. New episodes air weekly until the miniseries' finale on November 10 (US) and November 11 (UK and Australia).

The Legend of Vox Machina season 3 (Prime Video)

Release date: October 3

It's been over 18 months since The Legend of Vox Machina last graced out screens, but Prime Video's R-rated animated adaptation of Critical Role's beloved Dungeons and Dragons series is ready to return with its eagerly anticipated third installment. Indeed, we'll be reunited with the titular gang's eccentric ensemble in early October, with Vox Machina still searching for a way to defeat the Chroma Conclave – aka a group of fearsome dragons who threaten Tal'Dorei's entire existence. 

I'm a big fan of Amazon's adult animation line-up, which counts Invincible, Hazbin Hotel, and Undone among its number. So, it'll come as no surprise to learn that one of the best Prime Video shows is among the programs I'm looking forward to seeing before the year ends.

The Legend of Vox Machina arrives with a three-episode premiere. New episodes will be released in three batches of three until October 24.

Heartstopper season 3 (Netflix)

Release date: October 3

Heartstopper, Netflix's hugely popular coming-of-age rom-com drama, returns for its third season in early October, and I suspect there are millions worldwide who are desperate to see what Nick, Charlie, and the rest of the gang get up to this season.

Understandably, Netflix is playing it coy over the plot of its hit show's third entry, but it has teased that Nick and Charlie will navigate even more high-school romance-based challenges. With the pair starting to look to their higher education future, too, Heartstopper season 3 could be the funniest, most dramatic, and tear-jerking installment yet. Have a tissue or 20 handy, folks.

Heartstopper season 3 will release in full on launch day.

Disclaimer (Apple TV Plus)

Release date: October 11

Based on Renee Knight's novel of the same name, this Apple TV Plus project has all the ingredients to be another acclaimed Apple series that bafflingly passes most people by. 

A terrifically talented leading lady in Cate Blanchett? Check? One of the best directors of the modern age in Alfonso Cuaron? Double check. A pulsating psychological thriller plot – one centered around Blanchett's veteran war correspondent who bizarrely finds out she's become the protagonist of a fictional story – that promises to leave audiences guessing week to week? Triple check. I'd love to see Disclaimer break into the mainstream like Presumed Innocent did earlier this year, and it has every chance of doing so with the talent attached to it.

Disclaimer will debut with a two-episode premiere. New episodes air weekly until November 15.

Cobra Kai season 6 part 2 (Netflix)

Release date: November 15

It won't be much longer until Cobra Kai closes the doors of its dojo for the final time, but at least we've got two more batches of episodes to look forward to until it does. The next lot of those will swan kick their way onto Netflix in mid-November, with Cobra Kai season 6 part 2 delivering five more entries for fans (myself included) to be captivated by.

Unsurprisingly, season 6's sophomore volume will pick up directly after its predecessor, with the Miyagi-Do team arriving in Barcelona to compete in the Sekai Taikai. Expect punches to be thrown, tears to be shed, and plenty of comical and dramatic moments to play out as the tension is ratcheted up in season 6 part 2. Make sure you enjoy what's on offer, too, because season 6 part 3 won't arrive until sometime in 2025. It's going to be a long wait, my fellow students.

Cobra Kai season 6 part 2 will launch in full on release day.

Arcane season 2 (Netflix)

Release date: sometime in November

Anyone who's frequented these parts since November 2021 will know how much I love Arcane. I'm not a League of Legends devotee – sorry, LoL fans and Riot Games, it's just a game franchise that passed me by – but I'll watch the game series' animated TV projects for as long as they're pumped out.

In the least surprising news of the year, then, you don't need me to tell you that I'm super excited for Arcane season 2. It's been a long, long, loooong time since one of the best Netflix shows made its debut, but the excruciating three-year wait for its second and final season will be over soon. I'm crossing my fingers and toes that we finally, finally get a confirmed release date at Netflix Geeked Week 2024 in mid-September. I wouldn't turn my nose up at an announcement or two about the follow-up series that'll replace it, too, Riot.

Arcane season 2's release schedule hasn't been revealed yet, but expect it to be released in three parts like season 1.

Dune: Prophecy (Max)

Release date: sometime in November

I'm going to warn you up top: this Dune TV series won't feature Timothee Chalamet's Paul Atreides. So, if you were going to tune in with the hope of seeing the A-lister, reset your expectations accordingly. That doesn't mean Dune: Prophecy won't be worth tuning into, however. The sci-fi drama, which is set 10,000 years before Atreides' journey begins in Dune, will chart the rise of the Bene Gesserit, the covert, all-female organization that sets events in motion surrounding the successors of the Padishah Emperor. 

Like Arcane, this prequel show doesn't have an official launch date yet, but it's certainly giving me Game of Thrones and Shogun vibes with its inter- and intra-familial melodrama, bloody violence, and other R-rated material. It'll join The Penguin in launching on Sky/Now TV in the UK and Binge in Australia, by the way.

Dune: Prophecy's release schedule hasn't been unveiled, but this HBO TV Original's episodes will likely launch one per week.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (Disney Plus)

Release date: December 3 (US); December 4 (UK and Australia)

Star Wars: The Acolyte disappointed a lot of people earlier this year – and, with Andor season 2, which is my most anticipated Star Wars series, not due out until early 2025, this "Goonies in space" TV show will look to get Lucasfilm's iconic franchise back on track on the small screen. 

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew stars Jude Law as an enigmatic rogue-cum-Force wielder who, after a chance encounter, is charged with helping four kids navigate their way home. Given the vastness of that infamous galaxy far, far away, it'll take the quintet a while to reach their destination, not least because of the threats that lurk in the depths of space.

Skeleton Crew is one of two new Disney Plus shows that'll make their grand entrance this festive season, so Disney will hope its primary streamer will win the holiday streaming wars. Until it's released, though, the jury is out on whether Skeleton Crew will join our best Disney Plus shows list.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew will arrive with two episodes on launch day. New entries will debut weekly.

Win or Lose (Disney Plus)

Release date: December 6

The second of Disney Plus' new kid-friendly series in December, Win or Lose, will bring Pixar's signature (and reborn) big-screen magic to TV screens worldwide for the very first time. Set in the hours and/or days before a high-school championship softball game, Win or Lose's joker in the pack lies in its approach to its lead character – or, rather, lead characters. Indeed, each of the eight-part series' installments will focus on a different softball team member, ranging from the Will Forte-voiced coach and a lovesick umpire, to its insecure players and overprotective parents.

Win or Lose's first trailer makes it look like a cross between Pixar's best high-school-set movies in Inside Out and Turning Red. If it can embody the best parts of that duo, I'm sure Pixar's first TV venture will be an *ahem* home run.

Win or Lose's release schedule is yet to be determined, so it's unclear if it'll debut in full on release day or receive a weekly episodic timetable.

Secret Level (Prime Video)

Release date: December 10

Not content with giving us one terrific anthology TV show in Netflix's Love, Death, and Robots, Tim Miller and his production company Blur Studios will present us with a new series, one inspired by some of the world's best videogame franchises, called Secret Level.

Each episode will tell standalone, non-canon stories in a variety of gaming universes, such as God of War, Pac-Man, and Unreal Tournament, that'll aim to thrill long time fans of these game series, as well as newcomers looking for something fun to stream – and, maybe, get them hooked on said game franchises, too. If Secret Level proves to be a success, I'll be very interested in seeing Blur's take on other iconic gaming franchises (as long as they can get the rights to tell stories in these worlds, that is).

Secret Level's release schedule is currently unknown, but I imagine all 15 episodes will arrive on release day.

Squid Game season 2 (Netflix)

Release date: December 26

Disney may win the fight when its comes to family-friendly content this Christmas but, let's be honest, there's only one show that the world will be tuning into in the final week of the year: Squid Game season 2. Netflix's most successful TV Original is set to dominate online discussions once more when it returns for its sophomore season, and I'm already looking ahead of streaming it with a leftover turkey dinner sandwich in one hand and an ice-cold beer in the other.

Lee Jung-jae reprises his role as Squid Game protagonist Gi-hun, who's gunning for the titular games' creators after his remarkable but traumatizing victory in the hit show's first outing. Between you and me, he might not be successful in putting an end to the life-threatening gameshow, either. Indeed, with Squid Game season 3 already confirmed for a 2025 launch, I imagine Netflix will hold back Gi-hun's real victory until the series' final entry.

Squid Game season 2 is expected to launch in full on December 26.

Creature Commandos (Max)

Release date: sometime in December

2025's Superman movie is being viewed as the "true" beginning of James Gunn and Peter Safran's rebooted DC Cinematic Universe (DCU), but it won't mark the franchise's official starting point. That'll come with Creature Commandos, which is technically the DCU's first project as it's set to be released on Max in December.

So, what's the adult-animated DCU Chapter One TV series about? Essentially, Creature Commandos will see a gang of superpowered, monstrous miscreants embark on a secret mission to tackle a villain more powerful than any of them. Gunn has made a habit of turning lesser-known superheroes and villains into household names, so I expect this cross between The Suicide Squad's anti-hero roster and themes, and Guardians of the Galaxy's dysfunctional found family vibes to perform admirably enough.

Creature Commandos' release schedule hasn't been revealed, but I believe all seven episodes will drop on release day. There's no word on whether it'll launch in the UK and Australia in December yet, either.

For more TV-based coverage, read our guides on the best Hulu shows, best Paramount Plus shows, and best Netflix documentaries.

Exclusive Reuters reporting reveals potential upcoming cost-saving measures likely to be put forward by Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger to the company’s board of directors later this month.

Citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter, Intel plans to set free unnecessary businesses and revamp capital spending in order to address ongoing finance concerns.

The California chipmaker recently posted quarterly revenue of $12.8 billion, down 1% year-on-year, while simultaneously predicting similar next-quarter income of $12.5 billion to $13.5 billion.

Intel could be doing some more cost-cutting

Gelsinger expressed concern about the company’s Q2 results: “Our Q2 financial performance was disappointing, even as we hit key product and process technology milestones.”

Company CFO David Zinsner blamed gross margin headwinds from Intel’s AI PC efforts as well as “higher than typical” costs relating to non-core businesses for the poor performance.

Reuters reports that the CEO could announce plans to sell its programmable chip unit Altera.

Gelsinger’s plans may also include a pause – or termination – to Intel’s $32 billion Germany factory plans, which have already been delayed.

Once a market leader, Intel has struggled to play catchup against other established rivals in the AI race. It currently has a market cap of $94.04 billion, placing it far behind AMD ($240.44 billion market cap, $5.8 billion in revenue last quarter) and Nvidia ($2.93 trillion market cap, $30.0 billion in revenue last quarter).

The news comes around a month after the company laid off around 15,000 of its workers, accounting for some 15% of its headcount. At the time of the announcement, Gelsinger stated: “We must align our cost structure with our new operating model and fundamentally change the way we operate.”

TechRadar Pro has asked Intel to confirm the report, but the company did not immediately respond.

More from TechRadar Pro

• Intel confirms plans to lay off 15,000 employees following poor 2024 performance
• Prepare with the best job sites and best recruitment platforms
• We’ve rounded up a list of the best processors

Windows 11 won’t offer an option to uninstall the divisive Recall feature after all, it seems, when clues in a preview build appeared to suggest it might – at least in some regions, anyway.

Deskmodder, a German tech site, recently flagged up the option in a new preview for Windows 11 24H2, the big update due to land later this year.

This prompted Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc, who is Windows senior product manager, to contact The Verge with a statement to clarify: “We are aware of an issue where Recall is incorrectly listed as an option under the ‘Turn Windows features on or off’ dialog in Control Panel. This will be fixed in an upcoming update.”

So, presumably the next build of 24H2 will have this option removed from the Control Panel.

Windows 11’s Recall feature is essentially an AI-powered search that takes regular screenshots of the activity on your PC, and uses them to find things, going way beyond the scope of a typical Windows search (and no, that isn’t difficult, we’d agree).

The trouble is Recall has been making serious waves and causing a whole bunch of concerns to be aired since it was first announced, to the point that Microsoft pulled plans to debut it (in preview) with Copilot+ PCs, and then yanked it from test builds of Windows 11. It is now coming back to testing, mind, in October – so ready your surfboards for more waves of controversy (no doubt).

We should also note that Recall is only for Copilot+ PCs, although down the line, it’s likely a lot more computers will have the requisite NPU (and security) in place to be classified as such a device.

(Image credit: Shutterstock) Analysis: The option to remove has been removed

We found it difficult to believe Microsoft would include a choice to completely strip out Recall from Windows 11, when the software giant can simply offer an option to disable it (the scheme previously in place). Removing the entire workings of Recall from a Windows PC would mean it’s more of a hassle to turn it on, should any given user dump it, and then maybe change their mind at a later date – a niche scenario, perhaps, but still, why would Microsoft facilitate such an uninstall option?

It probably wouldn’t, but the company might have to do so in the EU, where data and privacy regulations may push back against Recall harder than in other regions. If this option is a bug, though, does that mean a choice will be present for European users somewhere else – or just that they won’t get Recall? Or might there be no difference for EU users at all? Possibly.

It has to be said that this is a bit of a strange bug, too (not that odd bugs being visited upon Windows is anything hugely new, of course). Whatever’s going on here, some folks were pleased to see the ability to strip out Recall, and now that Microsoft has clarified that this isn’t happening, they’ll probably be less than happy about the functionality even sitting in the background of their PC.

The worry for some is that the feature will eventually end up being turned on in the future – or rather that the concrete presence of Recall, embedded in Windows 11, is an indication of this being the direction Microsoft is heading in at some point, anyway.

You might also like...

• I've been using Google Search for 25 years and AI overview is the one thing that could ruin it for me
• What is an NPU: the new AI chips explained
• Don’t make these 5 big mistakes when using Windows 11

Stock of Apple’s faux-leather FineWoven iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands is at an “all-time low”, suggesting that the controversial product line might be discontinued just a year after launching.

That’s according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who says low stock of FineWoven iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands means that Apple is either planning to discontinue the accessories or refresh the lineup with new colors and support for new devices. 

The next major Apple event, titled ‘It’s Glowtime’, is scheduled to take place on September 9, and we expect to hear news of the iPhone 16 family, the Apple Watch Ultra 3, and Apple Intelligence at the Cupertino-set showcase. If Apple is keeping FineWoven around, the company is likely preparing for a case refresh alongside these new hardware products.

Apple launched its line of FineWoven iPhone cases, Apple Watch bands, and AirTag holders alongside the iPhone 15 series in September 2023.

The Pacific Blue FineWoven case on an iPhone 15 Pro (Image credit: Future)

FineWoven was introduced to replace leather in Apple’s accessories as part of the company’s mission to make every product carbon-neutral by 2030. The material is made up of 68% “post-consumer recycled content” according to Apple, but the company has not released details on what, exactly, the stuff is made of.

However, customer reaction to FineWoven has been generally poor since Apple began using the fabric for accessories just one year ago.

In our review of the FineWoven iPhone 15 Pro case, we called the product “a disaster”, while The Verge called FineWoven “categorically terrible” and CNET said it “can’t applaud” the cases while respecting Apple’s move away from leather.

Apple closing the upcycled curtains on FineWoven would be an unprecedented move, given that the company typically maintains features and product lines for several years, even in the face of bad reviews.

The unreliable Butterfly Keyboard introduced to MacBooks in 2015 remains one of the most notorious examples, with Apple even launching a repair scheme before finally ditching the keyboard with the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Regarding FineWoven, we’ve only heard rumors at this point, and it’ll be up to Apple to decide whether FineWoven will be a rare exception to the rule. 

Gurman adds that stock shortages are also being noted for the third-generation iPhone SE, the iPad mini, AirPods, and multiple Apple Watch models, suggesting updates for these products could be on the way, too. 

You might also like

• The best iPhone 2024: which Apple smartphone reigns supreme?
• This leaked image shows just how tiny the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s bezels might be
• I'm a photographer – here are 5 reasons why I'll be upgrading to the iPhone 16 Pro

Major League Soccer finishes up next month and to tempt you into the action Apple has dropped the cost of its season pass to the lowest price ever. It's even better if you're an Apple TV Plus subscriber, as you can get it for free. 

If you're not a subscriber, the Season Pass is down to $9.99 for the rest of the season. That's a really good deal, because the season pass is usually $14.99 per month. 

As we reported last month, Apple's 10-year, $2.5 billion deal with Major League Soccer appears to be paying off and Lionel Messi is a big part of that: when Messi joined Inter Miami, subscriber numbers doubled in the first month.

Whether you're an Apple TV Plus subscriber or not, it's worth noting that this is a strictly limited deal: when the current season ends, MLS Season Pass reverts to its usual price. Apple's good at letting you know when subscriptions are about to renew but you might want to keep an eye on that one just in case.

How to watch MLS Season Pass on Apple TV

You can access MLS Season Pass via the Apple TV app, which is available for a wide range of platforms now and not just Apple ones. It's available on PlayStation, on Xbox, on Amazon Fire Stick, on Roku and on the web at tv.apple.com too. 

Sports are becoming an increasingly important part of the best streaming services, because of course sports are big business and can attract huge audiences. Max is adding streaming from MLB, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and the National Collegiate Athletics Association, and Prime Video's NFL coverage is a key differentiator between it and its rivals. 

Research by industry watchers Ampere Analysis says that streamers spent a whopping $8.5 billion on the rights to stream sports in 2023, and according to the New York Times sports accounted for 95 of the 100 most viewed programs on TV. That's a lot of eyeballs, and with this Season Pass promo Apple clearly hopes to persuade many of those eyeballs to become subscribers who'll keep on streaming MLS for years to come.

You might also like

• How to watch Premier League 2024/25: live stream options, and more
• In live sports streaming, some minutes matter more than others
• ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. play ball for a new mega sports streamer

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has submitted an order to fine security camera company Verkada $2.9 million after the FTC found to have failed to protect customer information or implement proper security measures. Verkada was targeted by at least two security breaches between 2020 and 2022 which allowed threat actors to access sensitive data.

The company claimed to use ‘best-in-class data security tools’ and practices to keep customer data safe from unauthorized access. However, customers were apparently left vulnerable after hackers gained access to 150,000 live feeds from internet connected cameras, including in schools, prisons, and psychiatric hospitals.

The company was also found to be in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act, after sending customers marketing emails without offering the option to unsubscribe. The company reportedly sent 30 million emails over the span of three years.

Poor Practice

The FTC determined that Verkada did not adequately encrypt customer data, implement secure network controls, or require complex passwords - which meant customer information like emails, passwords, and full names were exposed. The company’s security practices allegedly fell short of HIPAA and Privacy Shield framework.

“When customers invite companies into private spaces to monitor consumers by using their security cameras and other products, they expect those companies to provide basic levels of security, which Verkada failed to do,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Companies that fail to secure and protect consumer data can expect to be held responsible.”

The complaint also alleges that Verkada misled customers by failing to disclose that some positive online reviews were written by employees and investors. Alongside the fine, Verkada will be required to implement a ‘comprehensive’ information security program with external assessment and audits. The security program must include multi-factor authentication and encryption for sensitive information.

Via Cybernews

More from TechRadar Pro

• Take a look at our best home security camera choices
• It's official — nearly all of us are much more productive when we work from home
• Check out our pick of the best small business software

There is a new ransomware group out there, and it seems to be specifically targeting VMware’s ESXi hypervisors.

Cybersecurity researchers from Truesec have recently issued a warning about a threat actor called Cicada3301, which seems to be operating a ransomware encryptor of the same name.

The group looks to have picked up the name from the online cryptographic puzzle game that was popular roughly a decade ago, but other than that, there seems to be no connection between the two.

SLOW#TEMPEST

Truesec says that Cicada3301 has two encryptors, one for Windows devices, and another one for VMware ESXi. So far, the hackers successfully compromised 19 victims, as per the information on its data leak site, BleepingComputer reports.

The same source also states that Cicada3301 most likely kicked off its operations in the first week of June this year, and started recruiting affiliates of its own, at the end of the same month. It also argues that the decision to target ESXi environments means the group is out to “maximize damage in enterprise environments,” since enterprises usually pay better.

Further analyzing the encryptor, the researchers found plenty of overlap between Cicada3301 and ALPHV/BlackCat, suggesting that it’s either the same entity, just rebranded, or a fork built by affiliates. Those with longer memory will remember BlackCat, an infamous Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) which allegedly “took the money and ran” after a successful attack on Change Healthcare.

In late February and early March this year, healthcare giant Change Healthcare was targeted by an ALPHV affiliate. The company allegedly paid $22 million in cryptocurrency, in exchange for the decryptor and its data. However, the money never made it to the affiliates who did the work. Instead, the RaaS operators took all of it and simply disappeared. They shut down the entire infrastructure, pulled everything and vanished into thin air.

The affiliate that breached Change Healthcare and was left holding a sizeable company archive, later rebranded as RansomHub and has since made a number of successful breaches.

More from TechRadar Pro

• BlackCat ransomware gang shuts down servers after multi-million dollar UnitedHealth payout — but is this really the end?
• Here's a list of the best firewall software around today
• These are the best endpoint security tools right now

Zeekr has unveiled its latest all-electric SUV, which is touted to travel further than most of today's EVs, charge faster and offer class-leading acceleration figures.

Destined for several global markets (including Europe), the 7X is the marque's first mid-size SUV that is aimed at the widest possible audience, moving away from its previous premium saloons and ultra-luxurious MPVs (multi-purpose vehicles) towards arguably the most popular body style in the western world.

The five-seater maximizes on interior roominess and comfort with a bespoke electric platform that prioritizes head and legroom for all occupants, as well as offering 32 individual storage compartments that are said to conveniently store everything from "sunglasses to lipsticks". Big bottles of water are probably covered, too.

In terms of stats, the 7X isn't pulling any punches, with silicon carbide-powered e-motors able to propel the SUV from 0-62mph in just 3.8 seconds. That’s faster than most modern sports cars.

In addition to this, the entry-level model will feature a 75kWh lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery, which is good for a claimed 605km on a single charge – or around 376 miles.

More impressive still is the longer-range variant, which will undoubtedly be a lot more expensive, but it uses a 100kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery pack that is capable of a staggering 780km (around 484 miles) on a single charge. 

That's up there with the likes of the Lucid Air Grand Touring model, which boasts an official EPA-estimated range of 516 miles, and far eclipses the current longest range Tesla Model S, which manages around 394-miles.

Leading the charge

(Image credit: Zeekr/Geely)

There is currently no word on pricing or exactly where we can expect to see the Zeekr 7X on sale, although we do know that Chinese customers will start receiving their cars as early as next month.

Regardless, the Chinese way is to undercut rivals, so you can expect a cutthroat pricing strategy if and when it does arrive in Europe and beyond. Currently, Zeekr isn't sold in the USA, but despite fierce trade tariffs recently imposed by the Biden administration, it hasn't ruled it out.

What’s more, Zeekr says that the 7X will offer a suite of advanced onboard tech, including the use of dual Nvidia Orin System-on-a-Chip (SoC) computers that will gather reams of data from lidar, high-definition cameras and millimeter-wave radars.

This will not only offer high levels of autonomous driving where the local laws permit, but will also support a number of advanced safety assistance systems.

With next generation LFP battery packs that are said to charge from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in just 10.5 minutes (ultra-fast chargers permitting) and the high likelihood of cutting-edge infotainment, Geely-owned Zeekr is once again proving that Chinese manufacturers are at the bleeding edge of EV technology.

You might also like

• Zeekr’s upcoming 007 EV will be able to charge in just 10 minutes… but there’s a catch
• BMW’s app now tries to convince combustion engine owners that EVs will work for them
• Ford slams the brakes on its pure EV plans – and is taking the hybrid road instead