TechRadar News

• Images purporting to be of the MSI Gaming Trio RTX 5080 appear online – but are quickly deleted
• The images, if legitimate, support rumors that the RTX 5080 graphics card will be the first to launch after CES 2025
• The pictures also appear to confirm some of the specs for the upcoming GPU

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 appears to have leaked online, thanks to a couple of photos of the retail packaging for what appears to be an overclocked (OC) version of the card from one of Nvidia's third-party partners.

Appearing on a now-deleted ChipHell forum post (according to VideoCardz, which says it managed to grab the photos posted to the forum before the post was deleted), the retail packaging for what may be the MSI Gaming Trio RTX 5080 is shown from the front and the back, appearing to confirm some key details about the new card.

While it has to be said that ChipHell's forums have sometimes produced genuine photos and detail leaks of graphics cards and PC processors in the past, it's also an internet forum, so you'll want to take anything posted there with a grain of salt. After all, you can do amazing things with PhotoShop these days and if there's one thing to know about forum posters, it's that they are notorious clout-chasers, so they've been known to make stuff up for clicks, as well as be very susceptible for falling for fake photos and 'leaks' in the past.

That said, the photos do look pretty genuine at first glance, and the inclusion of the back of the retail box appears to confirm a few rumored spec details, and the fact that the photos purport to be of the RTX 5080 and not the flagship RTX 5090, does line up with rumors that the RTX 5080 will be the first Nvidia Blackwell GPU to hit the shelves, possibly as soon as January 21, 2025.

Confirmation of new specs? Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: ChipHell / Via VideoCardz)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: ChipHell / Via VideoCardz)

Other than their mere existence, the two photos also reveal some new details about the new GPU, assuming they are legit.

First, the new card will apparently include 16GB GDDR7 memory, as has long been speculated. It may also feature a 256-bit memory bus, much like its predecessor. These two specs alone mean it will likely be a monster of a GPU for 4K gaming.

VideoCardz goes on to claim that the card is expected to be the first consumer card to use the PCIe 5.0 interface standard and that the RTX 5080 will use Nvidia's GB203-400 Blackwell GPU, which is expected to have 10,752 CUDA cores.

If Nvidia's Blackwell architecture keeps the same SM structure as Lovelace (which is likely), that means the RTX 5080 will also have 84 SMs, so 84 ray-tracing cores and 84 tensor cores, altogether a 5% increase in core counts over the RTX 4080 Super.

None of this appears on the packaging, however, so at this point, this is all speculation, but with CES 2025 right around the corner, we can expect to know for sure by this time next week.

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Google's Gemini Live AI assistant may soon make a big leap to Windows taskbars, according to a Chromium patch spotted by Windows Latest. Though Gemini access is already available through Chrome's address bar, the Chromium patch hints at plans to integrate this AI feature into Chrome for Windows 11, Windows 10, and potentially other platforms. If this happens, it could make Gemini Live a key part of your browsing experience.

Gemini Live is designed for natural, human-like conversations while helping users a la ChatGPT. You can converse in real-time with the AI and get answers that consider context and tone of voice. It's a feature limited to the Gemini app for Android and iOS devices for now, but Google’s plans clearly involve making it much more widely available.

The patch to Chromium’s codebase that raises the possibility is labeled as addressing “floaty detach on Windows.” It’s connected to what Google calls GLIC, which appears to be shorthand for Gemini Live in Chrome. Essentially, Google is developing a floating panel to host Gemini Live in its browser. Chrome could be used for Gemini Live, which is what Microsoft Edge was used for Copilot. Microsoft’s Copilot started as a sidebar feature in Edge before transitioning into a standalone app.

The references to a floating panel suggest Gemini Live might not be tied to the browser window. Instead, it could be a standalone assistant, accessible from the taskbar, always ready to help. The Chromium patch hints that Google has solved some of the technical issues around the floating window, allowing Gemini Live to pop out as its own interface, separate from Chrome itself.

Floating Gemini

When the feature is released, you might simply click on a taskbar icon to summon Gemini Live, which could hover unobtrusively while you’re drafting an email or researching online. Unlike Copilot, which sometimes felt clunky, Gemini Live could offer a smoother and more conversational experience. And because it’s Google, you can expect tight integration with its ecosystem, from Gmail to Android devices.

Gemini Live would be ever-present, a permanent element of both online browsing and the desktop experience. Of course, that presumes any of the issues around the feature are dealt with beforehand. Chrome is already a resource-heavy browser, and adding AI features might raise concerns about performance, not to mention any expanded privacy concerns. Still, as Google tries to make Gemini usage universal, this will be a key step to beating Microsoft and other AI rivals.

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• The U.S. CPSC has announced that Apple's AirTag is now inline with Reese's Law.
• Apple's item tracker now features additional warnings about it's potential battery hazards.
• The law is centered around preventing 'life threatening ingestion of button cell or coin batteries'.

No, it’s not an AirTag 2, but Apple’s AirTag now comes with a warning label attached to the box and a symbol by the battery door to make the item tracker complaint with Reese’s Law in the United States, according to a new notice issued by U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

While Apple’s item tracker has come under scrutiny for unwanted tracking, this time, Apple’s item tracker is now in line with Reese’s Law's “warning label requirements” after being in violation.

The law is all about having the proper warning labels and notices on products with ‘button cell or coin batteries’ to prevent children from ‘life threatening ingestion.”

(Image credit: TechRadar)

Since its launch, Apple’s AirTag has had the proper mechanism for keeping the battery in place. However, units imported after the effective date of Reese’s Law – March 19, 2024 – were not in compliance because they were missing the label on the box or on the battery door for the tracker itself.

The company is now affixing a label to the box warning of the battery and to help prevent ingestion, as well as adding an icon to the interior of the door on the AirTag itself.

Additionally, since units were sold without the proper labels, an update to the Find My app’s interface for changing the battery warns “about the hazards of button and coin cell batteries.”

The CPSC worked with Apple to get the AirTag in line with Reese’s Law and is the one issuing the release revealing how the company is now compliant with the law. It’s a win-win, especially for consumer protection and hopefully to prevent battery ingestion.

Apple’s AirTag has been on the market since 2021 and has proven to be a very handy item tracker that works seamlessly with the iPhone, among other devices. One of the main benefits is that it has a user-replaceable battery, so making it safer and clearer of the potential dangers is important.

Of course, as with most Apple products, rumors are swirling around a successor to the original AirTag with better privacy and improved connectivity. That second-generation AirTag could arrive later this year, but for now, the current model is in line with Reese’s Law.

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In a tweet on X.com, OpenAI CEO and founder Sam Altman listed what people most want most from the company in 2025. It makes for very interesting reading, and it's not all about ChatGPT.

In answer to the question “What would you like OpenAI to build/fix in 2025?” Altman has identified a list of common themes, and honestly, it’s a great wishlist for OpenAI to get started on. The themes are: AGI agents, a much better 4o upgrade, much better memory, longer context, a “grown up mode”, deep research feature, a better Sora, and more personalization.

common themes:AGIagentsmuch better 4o upgrademuch better memorylonger context“grown up mode”deep research featurebetter soramore personalization(interestingly, many great updates we have coming were mentioned not at all or very little!) https://t.co/lMZmlZif66December 30, 2024

AGI

The first thing on Altman’s list is AGI. AGI stands for Artificial General Intelligence and is the next level of artificial intelligence, where we create human-equivalent, or smarter-than-human intelligence, which some people think comes with as many dangers as opportunities.

I don’t think we’ll be getting AGI in 2025 despite it being top of the wishlist. When I interviewed Dr Ben Goertzel, one of the people who created the term AGI, last year he thought that 2029 was a more realistic date for it, but that's not to say that companies like OpenAI won't make some significant strides towards it in 2025.

Agents

The second thing listed on Alman’s list is Agents. These are automated AI bots that can perform tasks for you, and act like a true personal assistant, perhaps rescheduling missed appointments or ordering food items you’ve run out of.

We were expecting OpenAI to release its long-awaited Operator Agent as part of its ‘12 days of OpenAI’, but we were left disappointed. Since Operator Agent was supposed to be released in January, we’re expecting OpenAI to release something in the very near future.

ChatGPT improvements

I’m assuming that most parts of the wishlist referred to ChatGPT, specifically: longer context, more personalization, “grown up mode”, much better 4o upgrade, deep research feature and much better memory.

It’s been noticed that the rate of improvements in Large Language Models is slowing down significantly the more they evolve, so people’s everyday experience of ChatGPT is not as significantly different between the 4o model and the new o1 model as it was between the older ChatGPT 3 and ChatGPT 4 models. It’s interesting to note that most of the requested changes are not about the ability to answer deep math questions or generate better code, but rather they’re about more simple things like a better memory of who it’s talking to and a more personalized user experience.

Call me superficial, but I would love these things too. It’s not immediately clear what a “grown up mode” means, but presumably, this would involve taking off some of the guardrails that ChatGPT currently works within. Personally, I think they’re there for a good reason, so I’m not sure how I feel about that.

An example of video generated by Sora. (Image credit: Future) A better Sora

Sora was released, to a lot of praise, as part of ‘12 days of OpenAI’ event, and while it is without doubt one of the best AI video generators out there, its long development process (it was announced in February 2024) has allowed others to catch up.

While it may sound ungrateful to ask for a "better Sora" so soon after its release, rivals like Pika can already do things that it can’t do and are stealing its thunder. I'd like to see a more practical Sora. Give me some more reasons why I'd want to create AI video. We're not all budding film directors, and some of us just want to use AI to make our lives easier.

What would I love to see?

I don’t think the world is quite ready for AGI yet, even if it was a technical possibility. Of everything on the wishlist, improvements to ChatGPT top my list. Particularly better memory, a feature that Google is spending a lot of time developing for ChatGPT rival Gemini, along with its deep research feature.

To finish off his tweet, Altman ended with the enigmatic, “Interestingly, many great updates we have coming were mentioned not at all or very little!”

Perhaps he’s just trying to keep us on our toes about what 2025 will look like, but wondering what OpenAI is going to come up with that's not on the wishlist has certainly whetted my appetite for 2025. Bring it on!

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• New details have emerged regarding recent cyberattack
• A malicious Google Chrome extension led to 400,000 users being infected with malware
• Attackers were reportedly planning the campaign as early as March 2024

The recent cyberattack which hit security firm Cyberhaven and then affected a number of Google Chrome extenions may have been part of a ‘wider campaign’, new research has claimed.

A BleepingComputer investigation found the same code was injected into at least 35 Google Chrome extensions, which are being used by roughly 2.6 million users worldwide. This led to 400,000 devices being infected with malicious code through the CyberHaven extensions.

The campaign started as early as December 5, over two weeks earlier than first suspected, although command and control subdomains have been found dating back as far as March 2024.

Data loss prevention

Ironically, cybersecurity firm Cyberhaven is a startup which provides a Google Chrome extension aimed at preventing sensitive data loss from unapproved platforms, such as Facebook or ChatGPT.

In this particular case, the attack originated from a phishing email against a developer, which posed as a Google notification alerting the administrator that an extension was in breach of Chrome Web Store policies and at risk of being removed. The developer was encouraged to allow a 'Privacy Policy Extension', which then granted attackers permissions and allowed access.

After this, a new malicious version of the extension was uploaded, which bypassed Google’s security checks, and was spread to around 400,000 users thanks to automatic extension updates on Chrome.

It has now been discovered the attackers were aiming to collect Facebook data from victims through the extensions, and domains used in the attack were registered and tested back in March 2024, before a new set was created in November and December ahead of the incident.

"The employee followed the standard flow and inadvertently authorized this malicious third-party application," Cyberhaven said in a statement.

"The employee had Google Advanced Protection enabled and had MFA covering his account. The employee did not receive an MFA prompt. The employee's Google credentials were not compromised."

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Apple's Dynamic Island, that pill-shaped and wholly fungible black space that sits atop your iPhone 16 (along with iPhone 15 and iPhone 14 Pro models), is relatively small in the scheme of things. As measured by me, it usually sits between 22mm and 32 mm wide and 6mm deep – unless you touch it and then it can expand to 7 centimeters wide by almost 3 centimeters deep.

It's a sometimes useful space, but it's also screen real estate that I'm tired of giving up.

Please understand that I'm generally a Dynamic Island fan and wrote about it lovingly in 2022 (I called it "clever and impressive"). But I'm a bigger fan of everything else happening on my iPhone 16 Pro Max screen and grow weary of this rather large and often mostly dark cutout.

I started pondering the future of this space again after a spate of new rumors regarding Apple's possible plans for the iPhone 17. Some claim Apple might be looking to reduce the size of the island by shrinking the components contained within it.

One of the reasons I like the Dynamic Island is because it's not just dead space, and it's also not all screen. Instead, the Dynamic Island is a clever combination of the two. There's a proximity sensor, an infrared projector (a.k.a Time of Flight [ToF] sensor), and a 12MP camera.

Before the Dynamic Island, there was the TrueDepth notch, which was introduced with the iPhone X as part of the then-new Face ID system. I also love Face ID with all my heart. It's so much more efficient than unlocking your phone, apps, and services with your finger.

A closer look at the Dynamic Island (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff) Island living

What Apple did with the Dynamic Island is it moved the notch down and into the screen space and then sliced it up so that the three components are bisected between the two sensors and the one camera by a tiny bit of active screen. This is how notifications and display elements notifying you of system activity (a red dot to show you the camera or microphone is active, for instance) appear between the Face ID sensor and the camera lens.

I like this effect and how Apple designed all the Dynamic Island animations to make it appear as if the pill smoothly grows and shrinks to fit the current purpose. It's all so well done.

Even so, I want as near an unblemished iPhone 17 screen as possible – what the iPhone display was before the iPhone X. I know it was smaller and of a lower resolution, but it had no weird notch, not even a cutout.

The OG iPhone screen (Image credit: Future)

In the world of modern, edge-to-edge displays, this is almost but not quite a pipe dream. The Samsung Galaxy S24, for instance, has just a tiny drill-through for the front-facing camera. On the interior flexible screen of its Galaxy Z Fold 6, Samsung covers the camera cutout with pixels that disappear when it's time to take a selfie.

This is what I want for the iPhone 17. No more half-measures to accommodate the True Depth Module. I want Apple to find a way to permanently hide Face ID and the proximity sensor behind the display. I wonder if one of them can be shrunk enough to live in the ultra-thin screen bezel.

It's not easy to spot the camera on this Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, is it? (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

For the 12MP (or maybe 48PM) front-facing camera, let's go the Samsung route and hide it with live pixels that shift to transparent when it's selfie time.

You might think this will kill the Dynamic Island. It might, but the concept of surfacing app status and other activity notifications could be handed over to Siri. Maybe it could sometimes go from the screen surrounding glow to a Dynamic Island-like animation that briefly appears at the top of the screen. I'd enable it when you shake the phone.

Considering that Siri's Apple Intelligence update is supposed to bring more third-party app knowledge to its digital assistant, I think this makes sense.

Building a raft

Even if Apple does away with the physical island and all those little status notifications, will we miss it that much? How often do we have to stare at our phones to know what's going on? If the status or activity update is that important, it should be a notification.

There's a non-zero-percent chance this will happen. The iPhone 17 could, after all, be a major handset redesign. We think it'll be a lot thinner (at least one model, usually referred to as the iPhone 17 Air) and have way better cameras. If the screen undergoes a major update, like the tandem OLED technology in the ultra-thin iPad Pro M4 13-inch, then the removal of the Dynamic Island makes some sense.

It's not that I don't appreciate the Dynamic Island, but sometimes I feel like I've been stranded on (or at least with) it, and I'm ready for a rescue.

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• Huawei has won a number of court rulings in its legal wrangles with Netgear
• The patents involved are crucial to WiFi 6 technology used in Netgear's wireless routers
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Huawei has won a series of legal victories against Netgear in its ongoing patent disputes over WiFi 6 technology, with the latest development potentially having far-reaching implications for Netgear’s operations across Europe.

As reported by intellectual property activist Florian Mueller, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) recently granted Huawei a multi-country injunction against Netgear, following a ruling in its Munich Local Division.

This decision, centered on a WiFi 6 standard-essential patent (SEP), applies to seven countries, including Germany, France, and Italy. Mueller says it marks one of the most commercially impactful rulings in the UPC's history regarding SEPs.

Netgear facing a tough choice

Netgear, a major US router brand best known for its Nighthawk and Orbi products, has been defending itself against Huawei’s claims, but faces mounting challenges. A new ruling from the Munich I Regional Court, expected on January 9, 2025, could further complicate matters. In this case, Huawei is asserting another WiFi 6 SEP, which appears likely to be deemed valid and infringed, based on court proceedings.

Netgear’s defenses hinge on arguments related to FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) licensing obligations and patent exhaustion. However, Mueller says the court has historically been skeptical of such defenses unless supported by strong evidence. Patent exhaustion, which Netgear hoped would protect devices using Qualcomm chips, has limited applicability. According to the UPC ruling, the exhaustion defense only applies if Qualcomm chips were first sold within the European Union, creating logistical and manufacturing hurdles for Netgear.

The ramifications extend beyond Netgear, as the decision reinforces the UPC's stance on SEPs and FRAND obligations. The court has emphasized that implementers must engage constructively in licensing negotiations and, in some cases, accept pool license offers. Netgear’s rejection of a pool license, combined with its litigation strategies, has not helped its position.

With enforcement of the injunction imminent, Mueller says Netgear faces a tough choice: negotiate a license or risk further legal and operational setbacks. This case not only highlights the complexities of SEP enforcement in Europe it also sets a precedent for similar disputes in the future.

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• Microsoft claims 10 billion generative AI chats happened within Edge borwser during 2024
• Edge leader also praises its performance enhancements
• Security features protected Edge users against trillions of trackers

Microsoft has boldly suggested its Edge browser has been central to the AI experience for users across the world over the last 12 months.

In a blog post, the company's General Manager for Product Management and Growth at Microsoft Edge, Search and Mobile, Roger Capriotti, revealed users accessed Copilot within the Edge browser window to engage in over 10 billion generative AI chats in 2024.

Edge has also, apparently, proven instrumental in other areas, like improving accessibility with built-in translation and supporting the world of ecommerce.

Microsoft gives us Edge unwrapped: 2024

An estimated 38 trillion characters were translated using Edge’s auto-translate function in 2024, with built-in shopping features saving shoppers $400 per year on average. Furthermore, 800 million articles and stories were consumed on MSN, with 46 million messages and files shared with Drop.

Capriotti also drew attention to the browser’s performance enhancements, quantifying their usefulness by stating seven trillion megabytes of PC memory were saved by using sleeping tabs.

Security features also got a major mention for the role in preventing over 1.4 billion phishing, malware, and scam attacks on Edge and over 1.8 trillion trackers on the Edge mobile app.

However despite all this success, Edge still lags behind in the global browser market. Google Chrome accounts for two in three (67%) desktop browser sessions (via the December 2024 Statcounter figures), with Edge in a very distant second place (13%). Across all platforms, including smartphones and tablets, Edge resides in third place with a tiny 5% market share, second to Safari (17%).

The update also notes Bing reached over 140 million daily active users, however it, too, lags behind competition. Google, with a 90% market share, leads the way, with Bing taking just a 4% slice.

Looking ahead, Microsoft is hoping injecting artificial intelligence into its browser to improve its usefulness could be one way to help it boost takeup.

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In the spirit of Festivus, I am airing my grievances for the smartphone world. Gather round the Festivus pole! To paraphrase the impeccable Frank Costanza, ‘I got a lotta problems with you phones, and now you're going to hear about it!’ While I’m sure there will be time later for the feats of strength benchmark tests, now I want to discuss the ways my loved ones have disappointed me over the past year.

You think I’m going to drone on and on about AI? Don’t worry, I’ll get to it. It will be a Festivus miracle when I finally see AI features that make a smartphone worth buying. I’d settle for AI that doesn’t tell me my son sold the family dog every time he texts updates about football practice.

These are my biggest problems with some of the best phones I saw this year, and just like I tell my own family, if I didn’t love these phones I wouldn’t spend so much time criticizing every way they aren’t perfect.

Apple Vision Pro at launch (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future) The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold I really want… in Korea and China only?!

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 has a flaw: Z Fold phones are simply too narrow when closed. The front screen looks awkward and some apps don’t fit right. I hoped Samsung would fix the problem with the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but the new phone was only a bit wider than previous Galaxys Z Fold. The problem persisted, while the OnePlus Open and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold showed how a foldable tablet is supposed to look.

Then Samsung fixed the problem! It launched a Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition with a bigger display up front and a proper aspect ratio. It also got a big 200-megapixel camera upgrade, but I don’t care about that because I forgive foldable phones for their camera foibles.

But wait, the new Galaxy Z Fold 6 Special Edition phone is only on sale in Korea and China!? Okay, so those countries actually spend money on foldable phones. Sorry US, UK, and Australia readers, maybe if you’d just dropped a few grand on a Samsung foldable last year, you’d have the correct Galaxy Fold model this year. I hope the Galaxy Z Fold 7 doesn’t disappoint.

The iPhone 16 Camera Control isn’t a shutter button

(Image credit: Future)

I was very excited about the new Camera Control on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models. I’ve been hoping two-stage shutter buttons would make a comeback (every Windows Phone had one!), because it makes shooting much easier when you want a steady focus and a sharper shot.

Then the Camera Control showed up and it was nothing like what we’d seen before. It was so much more than just a shutter button with focus lock. I really like the Control! And I love that every iPhone 16 model gets a Camera Control. I think there’s a lot of potential.

I just have one big problem: it doesn’t do the thing I wanted. I wanted a button that has a halfway stopping point – a two-stage shutter that you can press a little bit, then press harder. You can do that with the Camera Control, but there’s no real stopping point, you get haptic feedback from the iPhone when you get there. I’m not very good at stopping my finger at precisely the right point without some physical resistance.

Also, the focus lock feature wasn’t available at launch, it took a few months to arrive, and by the time it did, the Camera Control became known for its Apple Intelligence powers more than its camera convenience. Maybe that was the point all along? Hopefully when Samsung inevitably copies this button, it will offer a proper two-stage shutter button like I wanted.

I can’t buy a Xiaomi 14 Ultra. Or a Huawei. Why?!

(Image credit: Future)

There’s a camera phone that haunts my dreams: the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. It might be the best camera phone on the market right now, but not my market. You can get a Xiaomi phone in plenty of other English-speaking countries. But the US doesn’t have an official retail channel, and I wouldn’t buy an import model because I won’t get full network or warranty support.

So, I borrowed a Xiaomi 14 Ultra from our UK team, and its cameras are jaw-dropping. I took photos that were light years ahead of what some of our favorite US camera phones can produce, especially shooting macro photos, portraits, and enhanced zoom shots. The level of control is amazing, with the best aperture control I’ve seen on a smartphone.

I’ve never gotten a satisfying answer explaining why I can’t buy Xiaomi phones. For that matter, why can’t I buy any cool Huawei phones, like the Huawei Mate XT?! I have heard from industry analysts that there is a political reason more than a technological impediment. In any case, it’s clear the US market is missing out on something good.

Stereotypes from generative AI, now on your smartphone

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

There are so many problems with generative AI that it’s tough to nail down my favorite bugbear. Is it rampant and blatant copyright infringement? Supervillainous levels of energy consumption? I think my favorite generative AI problem to whine about is the way AI image generators usually create images that adhere to racist, sexist, ableist… pretty much any stereotype you can imagine, and probably a few we haven’t defined.

That isn’t a bug, it’s a feature because of the way they were trained, and it’s now a feature on your smartphone. Google and Samsung have avoided the worst problems by limiting AI wallpaper features. But when I reviewed the Motorola Razr Plus 2024, the results I got from the image generator presented a strong pattern of Antisemitic and misogynist stereotypes. It was shocking.

This is not acceptable. These AI image generators are not useful enough to justify the danger. Why do I need a problematic wallpaper app on my phone? When did it become acceptable for electronics companies to foist offensive features on users? I’m guessing it’s when we decided we weren’t going to buy those foldable phones.

When AI works properly, I’ll be excited to use it. Until then, I don’t need it, just like I wouldn’t need a text messaging app that can’t send text messages, or a web browser that goes to the wrong URL. AI features don’t work, and that is the end of that.

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• Twitter user posts alleged zero-day exploit for 7-Zip software
• However 7-Zip creator quickly debunks flaw
• Igor Pavlov says AI hallucination is to blame, and flaw isn't legitimate

As a New Years Day gift, a Twitter user had posted details of a zero-day exploit in popular file compression software 7-Zip - but its creator, Igor Pavlov, swiftly debunked it as an AI hoax.

“The common conclusion is that this fake exploit code from Twitter was generated by LLM (AI),” he began in comments on software repository Sourceforge.net (via Tom’s Hardware).

Pavlov went on to suggest that the exploit code is, essentially, the product of an LLM hallucination - an AI making things up, which has become a common occurrence with AI’s rise in popularity.

7-Zip exploit code hallucination

"The comment in the "fake" code contains the statement: 'This exploit targets a vulnerability in the LZMA decoder of the 7-Zip software. It uses a crafted .7z archive with a malformed LZMA stream to trigger a buffer overflow condition in the RC_NORM function.'"

"But there is no RC_NORM function in [the] LZMA decoder. Instead, 7-Zip contains RC_NORM macro in LZMA encoder and PPMD decoder. Thus, the LZMA decoding code does not call RC_NORM. And the statement about RC_NORM in the exploit comment is not true."

We have no reason not to believe that what Pavlov is saying is true: 7-Zip is open source, for starters, so anyone can verify his claims.

And while we’re not going to name the Twitter user responsible for spreading the rumour, or link to the tweet, we would say that it sounds like a craven attempt at attention-grabbing on the internet - inconceivable, we know - given that the user claims to be running a week-long reveal of software 0-days as a “thanks to all new followers.”

It seems like the stormiest teacup you could imagine, but maybe you’ll hear from us again in a week’s time.

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The 2024 festive season has come and gone, but it wasn't completely devoid of entertainment-based news. Indeed, the holidays didn't stop the world's biggest studios from releasing trailers for new movies and TV shows, or making other notable announcements ahead of New Year's Day.

We covered a couple of those reveals over the break, with Creature Commandos confirmed to be returning for a second season and Apple TV Plus being free to watch this weekend (January 4 and 5) chief among them. There were plenty more we didn't get to, though, so here are six other big entertainment news stories you may have missed during the so-called most wonderful time of the year.

Marvel comes out swinging with Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's first trailer

After a largely successful 2024, Marvel will be hoping for another stellar year in 2025. The comic giant endured a torrid time throughout 2023, so the Disney subsidiary will have been delighted with last year's various success stories, such as the multi-billion dollar-making Deadpool and Wolverine.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will be going all-out to replicate those wins this year, too, starting with Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (YFNSM). An animated Marvel Phase 5 series that'll debut on Disney Plus on January 29, it reimagines the iconic webslinger's origins story, subsequent superhero adventures, and how he marries the latter with his high-school studies. With its modern take on Peter Parker and his wallcrawling alias, plus its comic-like, cel-shaded animation, YFNSM will aim to get 2025 off to a *ahem* spectacular start for Marvel.

The Batman Part 2 has been delayed – again

"What do you mean my next film has been delayed again, Selina!?" (Image credit: Jonathan Olley/Warner Bros.)

The first of two big DC Comics new stories that broke over the festive season, Batman fans were left disappointed by the revelation that The Batman Part 2's launch date had been pushed back once more.

Per Deadline, the highly-anticipated sequel, which was originally delayed from October 2025 to October 2026 just 10 months ago, has seen its release postponed by another year. It'll now land in theaters on October 1, 2027. Defending the delay, DC Studios co-chief James Gunn said (via Threads) that co-writer and director Matt Reeves wasn't happy with the movie's script, hence the decision to move its launch again.

Jason Momoa joins the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow cast as Lobo

A post shared by Jason Momoa (@prideofgypsies)

A photo posted by on

If that Batman news was a source of disappointment, this Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow announcement wasn't. Before 2024 ended, Deadline claimed Jason Momoa had been cast as Lobo in the forthcoming DC Cinematic Universe (DCU) film, with Gunn and Momoa later confirming Deadline's report was true on social media.

An immortal mercenary who's also the sole survivor of an alien race known as the Czarnian, Lobo will be the second DC character that Momoa has played. He previously played Aquaman in the now defunct DC Extended Universe (DCEU), portraying the Atlantean superhero in two solo movies and the DCEU's Justice League flick. He'll star opposite House of the Dragon alumnus Millie Alcock, who'll play the titular Kryptonian in the DCU Chapter One project and Supergirl's first big-screen adventure for over 40 years.

The Night Agent season 2 gets an explosive first trailer ahead of its January 23 premiere

The Night Agent season 2 is not only one of Netflix's first big releases of the year, but also one of our most anticipated TV shows of 2025. The debuting of its thrilling first trailer over the 2024 holiday season, then, has only added to our excitement ahead of its January 23 release.

Released publicly during Netflix's NFL on Christmas event, one of the best Netflix shows' latest teasers puts Gabriel Basso's Peter Sutherland at the heart of another conspiracy-laced plot. With The Night Agent's first season raking in millions of views, we'd be amazed if its sophomore chapter doesn't do likewise.

Netflix confirms Cobra Kai season 6 part 3 will arrive in mid-February

It's almost time for the dojo doors to close for the last time. The third and final part of Cobra Kai season 6, which is the hit series' final installment, will arrive on Netflix on February 13. Part 3 will comprise the last five episodes of not only this season, but also the action comedy-drama as a whole.

Still, while this'll mark the end of The Karate Kid's pseudo-TV sequel, it isn't the end for everyone involved in the show. Ralph Macchio is set to reprise his role as Danny LaRusso in the Karate Kid: Legends film, which arrives in theaters this May. Cobra Kai's showrunners also have ideas for potential spin-offs of the popular show, too. Hey, the saying 'Cobra Kai Never Dies!' isn't just for show, you know.

Zero Day's first trailer puts Robert de Niro's ex-US President at the center of a political conspiracy thriller

Netflix went all-out in the marketing stakes over the Christmas period. Indeed, as evidenced by the first trailer for upcoming TV original Zero Day, its pre-2025 announcements weren't reserved for hugely successful shows that we can't wait to return to our screens.

So, what's Zero Day about? For one, it'll star legendary actor Robert de Niro, who makes the leap to the small screen for the very first time. He'll play an ex-US president who's tasked with unraveling a mass conspiracy in the wake of a devastating cyber attack that threatens the heart of American democracy and sociopolitics. With a behind-the-scenes crew comprising veterans from hit series including Homeland and Narcos among others, Zero Day could be another early 2025 hit for the world's best streaming service when it's released on February 20.

• US DoJ issues final rule on Executive Order Executive Order 14117
• Large transactions of US citizen data to hostile nations will be banned
• Ban will protect US national security by prevent US citizens from being targeted en mass in cyber espionage and foreign influence

The US Department of Justice has issued a final rule on Executive Order 14117, which President Joe Biden signed in February 2024, preventing the movement of US citizens’ data to a number of “countries of concern”.

The list of countries consists of China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela, all of which the DoJ says have “engaged in a long-term pattern or serious instances of conduct significantly adverse to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of U.S. persons.”

It added these nations could, “access and exploit Americans’ bulk sensitive personal data and certain U.S. Government-related data.”

No US data for hostile nations

The final rule will come into effect in 90 days, with Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division stating, “This powerful new national-security program is designed to ensure that Americans' personal data is no longer permitted to be sold to hostile foreign powers, whether through outright purchase or other means of commercial access.”

The Executive Order is aimed at preventing countries generally hostile to the US from using the data of US citizens in cyber espionage and influence campaigns, as well as building profiles of US citizens to be used in social engineering, phishing, blackmail, and identity theft campaigns.

The final rule sets out the threshold for transactions of data that carry an unacceptable level of risk, alongside the different classes of transactions that are prohibited, restricted or exempt. Companies that violate the order will face civil and criminal penalties. The types of prohibited data are:

1. Certain covered personal identifiers (e.g., names linked to device identifiers, social security numbers, driver’s license, or other government identification numbers)
2. Precise geolocation data (e.g., GPS coordinates)
3. Biometric identifiers (e.g., facial images, voice prints and patterns, and retina scans)
4. Human genomic data and three other types of human ‘omic data (epigenomic, proteomic, or transcriptomic)
5. Personal health data (e.g., height, weight, vital signs, symptoms, test results, diagnosis, digital dental records, and psychological diagnostics)
6. Personal financial data (e.g., information related to an individual’s credit, debit cards, bank accounts, and financial liabilities, including payment history)

The DoJ also outlined the final rule does not apply to “medical, health, or science research or the development and marketing of new drugs” and “also does not broadly prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in commercial transactions, including exchanging financial and other data as part of the sale of commercial goods and services with countries of concern or covered persons, or impose measures aimed at a broader decoupling of the substantial consumer, economic, scientific, and trade relationships that the United States has with other countries.”

Via The Hacker News

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• LG's next generation of OLED panels could reach 3,700 nits
• Coming to G-series TVs but not LG's more affordable models
• Samsung's also working on brighter QD-OLED displays

As much as we love the best OLED TVs, there's one area where there's still room for improvement: brightness. Even the elite models are a little dark compared to mini-LED, and that's something LG in particular has been working on. The LG G4 was significantly brighter than the G3, and that in turn was significantly brighter than its predecessor. And now it seems that the 2025 LG OLED TVs will be brighter still.

A new report says that LG will be bringing a new four-layer OLED TV panel to market this year, and that this will be significantly brighter than the three-layer panel in its current flagship TVs.

What to expect from LG's latest OLEDs

According to display industry analyst Ross Young, as reported by FlatpanelsHD, LG has been developing a four-layer OLED TV panel with an additional light-emitting layer of pixels; that panel tech is expected to reach the market this year "with a peak brightness of 3,700 nits". That's exceptionally bright for an OLED, though bear in mind that LG Display (which makes the panels) claimed last year that its latest-gen panel (as used in the LG G4) could hit 3,000 nits, and the TV was never close to hitting that (nor did it promise to).

LG has already shown off this new OLED tech: it displayed a small prototype at the IMID conference in South Korea back in August, telling reporters that the tech would not only boost brightness by 25%, but would deliver a longer lifespan and better energy efficiency too.

LG Display didn't say when the panels would come to market. But the 2025 LG G5 already leaked with a 165Hz screen, and has been listed in Hong Kong's electronics certification system with reported energy figures that suggest the new panel tech is inside: its consumption is listed as 132W for the 55-inch model and 164W for the 65-inch version, which is around 20% lower than the 161W and 209W for the equivalent G4 models.

That suggests that the new panel is about to launch, although LG Display is not listed as one of the firms appearing at CES 2025 – though LG overall is, and we expect the company to announce its new TVs there.

But when this screen is announced, don't expect it in LG's more affordable 2025 panels: the energy consumption listed in the database for the C5 is barely different to that of the C4, which suggests that this will be high-end only.

LG isn't the only big name working on better panels. Samsung is doing it too. The same industry analyst, Ross Young, says that the 2025/26 QD-OLED panels will boost brightness even further to 3,600 nits or more, and possibly as much as 4,000 nits. The OLED TV arms race continues…

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• RansomHub claims intrusion into what appears to be MetLife’s Latin-American division
• Group leaks MetLife documents to corroborate the claim
• However MetLife says the intrusion pertains to a company owned by a subsidiary

Infamous ransomware group RansomHub claims it breached the Latin-American division of insurance giant MetLife on New Year’s Eve, but the company itself is denying any incident.

RansomHub did provide receipts on its homepage in the form of company documents written in Spanish, but a MetLife spokesperson claimed in a statement to Cybernews that “there is no incident that we’re aware of impacting MetLife’s Latin American division.”

The same representative did acknowledge an incident pertaining to Fondo Genesis, a financial services firm operating only in Ecuador and owned by a MetLife subsidiary.

MetLife and RansomHub

“Fondo Genesis operates separately from MetLife’s enterprise systems. Therefore, the impact of this incident is limited only to Fondo Genesis,” they said.

If you’re curious, the leaked confidential files, per Cybernews, comprise of ‘crisis’ and Treasury committee minutes, lists of company IP addresses, and executive paperwork dated as far back as to last July.

RansomHub is a fairly new name in ransomware, with its first known victim dating back to February 2024, but last year became the top outfit for sheer number of ransomware victims claimed, with a fifth of all known attacks attributed to them.

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• The Samsung Galaxy S25 series could come with crash detection
• Other rumors point to a free year of Gemini Advanced
• Official information about the S25 lineup is expected this month

It’s 2025, and as such the Samsung Galaxy S25 series feels closer than ever – we’re expecting to hear official news of the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra within the next few weeks.

We’ve already seen and reported on the latest Samsung Galaxy S25 specs rumors, camera rumors, and rumored colors for each of the models, but a new crop of leaks point to Samsung taking some inspiration from the Google Pixel 9 Pro when it comes to software.

One of these rumored new features is crash detection, which both the Google Pixel 9 series and iPhone 16 lineup support already. As Android Authority found when digging through Samsung code, references to crash detection were found in leaked files from the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.

However, as Android Headlines notes, a dedicated app for crash detection has existed within OneUI since version 5.1.1, though Samsung has never enabled it.

It’s likely that crash detection on Galaxy would work in a similar manner to the iPhone and Pixel’s implementation of the feature, using sensor readings and potentially AI to detect a car crash and subsequently allowing the user to call emergency services with one tap or swipe.

Speaking of AI, the Samsung Galaxy S25 lineup could come with a free 12-month trial year of Google Gemini Advanced, according to another rumor reported by Android Authority.

Though we wouldn’t expect any AI used in crash detection to be paywalled whatsoever, some AI features in Google’s suite are held behind the Google One AI Premium plan, which normally costs $19.99 / £18.99 / AU$30 per month.

Gemini Advanced gives users access to the Pro model of Gemini, which the company says is better at logical reasoning, as well as the latest experimental model that's better suited to coding and mathematics.

As well as Gemini, Samsung equips its phones with its own Galaxy AI suite of tools – we may see some new additions to our list of the best AI phones once the S25 series is released.

Over in Cupertino, Apple is suspected to be taking inspiration from the Google also, with rumors suggesting the iPhone 17 could come fitted with a Pixel-style camera bar instead of the usual square housing.

For the latest updates on the Galaxy S25 lineup as we hear them, be sure to check out our Samsung Galaxy phones coverage.

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There's nothing quite like a warm slice of homemade bread topped with a slather of butter – absolute heaven. Making your own bread, however, isn't always as heavenly.

Fortunately, there are some great gadgets and apps available to help raise your bread-baking game, and I've tried a lot of them. So, if your New Year resolution is to master the art of making perfect loaves – without a bread maker – you're in the right place.

These gadgets and apps won't make you a bread master overnight. It can take some time and practice to perfect the art of bread making, and in the meantime, you may end up with some sunburnt tiger loaves, squishy bloomers, and baguettes dense enough to take onto the battlefield.

They will, however, do some of the work for you by proofing, kneading, and slicing your homemade bread – as well as give you some inspiration for what to whip up next. So get your apron on, it's time to bake...

1. App inspiration

Rise Above (left) and Kneady (right) are both great companion apps, whether you want to make sourdough or ciabattas. (Image credit: Rise / Kneady)

Let's start at the beginning, shall we? You want to start making bread but need recipes to try or inspiration. There are lots of cooking websites and apps out there, but there are a few that really stand out when it comes to baking and bread.

3 quick break-making tips

1. Proofing perfection
When using the proofer for a basic white bloomer, I set the minimum to 30 and the max to 30.1, then put my dough (in a bowl covered with cling film) in for at least two hours. Once your dough is twice the size, take it out and you can fold the proofer away easily into a cupboard. Alternatively, you can put the risen dough in the fridge overnight which will enhance the flavor!

2. Kneading your dough
When kneading a white bloomer dough in the Aucma, I turn it on for about five minutes at setting two.

3. Don't weigh the bowl!
Make sure you pop your bowl (or whatever you're weighing the ingredients into) onto the scale first, then zero it, so the weight of the bowl isn't factored in alongside your ingredients.

First up, there's Rise, an app that's perfect for those wanting to learn how to make sourdough bread. While some recipes are available for free, the main features of this app are locked behind a pretty reasonable subscription: $3.99 /£3.99 / AU$5.99 a month, $14.99 / £14.99 /AU$29.99 a year, or a one-time payment of $19.99/£19.99/AU$22.99.

Not only does this app include lots of recipes for sourdoughs and other breads, but the paid version lets you schedule reminders to feed your sourdough starter, access recipes from other users, and estimate how long your dough needs to rise based on factors like hydration, salt, and temperature. If you're only starting out, though, there are free resources for creating a sourdough starter and how to fold and shape dough.

If you're less fussed about sourdough, check out Kneady. This is also a subscription service, but 50 recipes are available for free, including ones for boules, ciabattas, baguettes, and more.

Kneady Pro's subscription costs are a bit confusing, but the current offer is £1 (roughly $1.27 / AU$1.98) a week for three months, £1.61 (roughly $2.05 / AU$3.18) a week for one month, or £0.58 ($0.74 / AU$1.15) a week for a year. This unlocks over 500 professional recipes, a bunch of baking guides, and even the ability to ask the author of a recipe any questions you may have.

2. Accurate kitchen scales

(Image credit: AccuWeight)

You've got your recipe, and now you need to measure everything out. This may seem very basic, but a good set of kitchen scales is critical in my opinion – with bread baking and anything else you cook.

While traditional kitchen scales can do the job, electronic ones are often more accurate and you don't need to keep resetting them. If you've got slightly wonky electronic kitchen scales, it's worth considering a replacement or checking the batteries.

Fortunately, a good set of scales don't cost the earth, nor do they have to be super fancy. I recommend the Accuweight 201 Digital Kitchen Scales from Amazon, which RRP at $24.99 / £11.99 / AU$29.44 and will do the job nicely.

Weighing your ingredients incorrectly will have a major impact on your dough, making everything else much trickier.

3. A kitchen mixer with a dough hook attachment

(Image credit: Future)

A kitchen mixer isn't essential to bread making, but if you have a recipe that requires you to knead dough, a mixer with a dough hook attachment makes the task much easier.

I recently got this 6.5 Litre Aucma Stand Mixer from Amazon (for $169.99 / £129.99 / roughly AU$257), which has a whisk, beater, and dough hook attachment. This isn't a super fancy kitchen mixer but it does the job wonderfully, is very easy to clean, and has suction cups at the bottom to ensure it doesn't slip all over your countertop.

If you want something more professional (and expensive), I highly recommend the Kenwood Titanium Chef Baker, which is probably the only mixer you'll ever need – but it's pretty big and retails at £529.99 (roughly $672 / AU$1,046).

4. A convenient proofer

(Image credit: Future)

When I was a kid, my mum would put a towel over her bread dough and put it in the airing cupboard to rise. While this method works, it can be temperamental, so it's worth getting a proofer if you want to make doughs that require proofing/rising.

When I came to the realization I needed a proofer (because it's winter and my old Victorian house isn't the best environment for proofing), I was worried about the cost – but then I found my secret weapon.

This Versatile Dough Proofer from Molgayol is $39.99 / £39 /AU$82 on Amazon and has been my bread-making savior. Now, it doesn't look exactly like its pictures, but it works.

Essentially, it's a yellow, foldable box (a bit like a picnic cooling bag) that comes with a heating pad, thermometer, and temperature control device. Simply put the heating pad in the bottom of the box along with the thermometer, plug it in, and then set the controller to the maximum and minimum temperature you want.

5. An electric carving knife

(Image credit: Russell Hobbs)

You've made your bread, and it's cooled – so it's time to see whether your hard work paid off.

While a standard bread knife can cut bread with no bother, if, like me, you make an absolute mess with a bread knife – with everyone getting a different-sized slice – you can make your life easier with an electric carving knife.

An electric carving knife isn't essential but can be a handy kitchen gadget to have, especially at Christmas. I'm a fan of this one from Russell Hobbs that's only £18.99 (roughly $24.16 / AU$37.57). Just make sure to watch your fingers!

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• Researchers found 4.5 million fake stars on GitHub
• The platform’s ranking and recommendations lean heavily on stars
• Users are being urged to consider much more than just the number of stars

New research has revealed how widespread fake stars are across the GitHub platform, which could prove dangerous by increasing the visibility of malicious repositories associated with scam activity.

Similar to likes on social media, stars allow users to show their support for repositories. The more stars given, the more likely it is to appear in GitHub’s global ranking system and recommendations, extending its reach to more unsuspecting users.

Knowing this, threat actors have now gone on to create automated accounts to artificially star their dodgy repositories to spread malware.

GitHub star ratings helping to spread malware

The company confirms on a help page: “Many of GitHub's repository rankings depend on the number of stars a repository has. In addition, Explore GitHub shows popular repositories based on the number of stars they have.”

A new study published in December 2024 by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, Socket Inc and North Carolina State University reveals that 4.5 million stars on the platform are believed to be inauthentic. They summarize the problem as a “prevalent and escalating threat happening in a platform central to modern open-source software development,” describing GitHub repositories as the “defacto distribution channels for software components.”

In total, an estimated 4.5 million stars across nearly 23,000 repositories were attributed to 1.32 million accounts, highlighting just how widespread the problem has become on the platform.

The study also noted a rise in fake star activity throughout 2024, with GitHub already taking action to counter dodgy users and repositories.

Previously used as a measure of how good a repository is, GitHub users are now being advised to consider other factors, such as its activity, authenticity and code quality.

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• Hints of a OnePlus Watch 3 Pro have emerged
• New health features for the companion app have leaked too
• The smartwatches could launch very soon

In our OnePlus Watch 2 review we gave the wearable 4.5 stars out of 5, so we're very much looking forward to what its successor has to offer – and new information tips some potential health features, as well as the possibility of a Pro edition of the watch.

Starting with that OnePlus Watch 3 Pro rumor, it comes from the team at Android Authority: references to a more premium version of the wearable are hidden in the OHealth phone app that accompanies OnePlus and Oppo watches.

The OnePlus Watch 3 Pro apparently has the model number WWE251, and is distinct from the standard OnePlus Watch 3. For the time being though, we don't know what the differences might be in terms of features or price.

We haven't seen a Pro model in the OnePlus Watch series so far, but it makes sense that an extra option would be introduced – what with Apple having the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Samsung having the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra.

New health features

How the new Health tab could look (Image credit: AssembleDebug / Android Authority)

On to the next tidbit, and once again we're indebted to Android Authority for it. The OHealth app has more to reveal besides the presence of a second OnePlus Watch 3 model apparently – specifically, some notable health upgrades.

Code currently hidden in the Android app reveals ECG (electrocardiogram) functionality, with the ability to detect conditions such as an unusually high or low heart rate, atrial fibrillation, and PVCs (premature ventricular contractions).

There's also a wrist temperature reading option, which can help in assessing your body's overall health. Other features spotted in the code include a quick '60-second checkup' tool, and a new Health tab in the app that provides deeper and longer-term insights into your health based on the readings you're getting from your watch.

It's not clear yet which watch models might get which features, but this shows that a substantial software upgrade is on the way, as well as the new hardware. Based on recent leaks, it looks as though a launch for the OnePlus Watch 3 and the OnePlus Watch 3 Pro could be imminent.

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• Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.0 arrives on January 15
• It adds a new world for players to explore
• This is in addition to two new five-star playable characters

Hoyoverse has announced some new details about the Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.0, or ‘Paean of Era Nova’, update and it seems absolutely massive.

First and foremost, it kicks off a new chapter in the main story and allows players to experience the new world of Amphoreus.

Isolated from the rest of the universe, residents of Amphoreus worship the Titans - 12 legendary beings that created the planet. After a series of tragedies that saw the world overtaken by an evil black tide, humanity is isolated in the besieged Holy City of Okhema, which is protected by the Worldbearing Titan Kephale.

Players will encounter a mysterious but adorable new companion quickly named ‘Mem’ thanks to their inability to make any other sound. Mem can be summoned in battle, gradually charging Energy. At full charge, Mem will trigger a Support effect that deals additional True DMG that can help turn a dire battle around.

You will also be free to wander around Okhema, which features distinctive landmarks like the vast Marmoreal Palace, grand baths, and more.

That’s not all, however, as there will also be the city-state of Castrum Kremnos to explore. The home of the Strife Titan, players will be able to use a unique time-travel power to transport themselves to the city in its golden age.

This is on top of a few other environments, including the world’s starting point of The Vortex of Genesis.

Image 1 of 2

The Herta (Image credit: Hoyoverse)Image 2 of 2

Aglaea (Image credit: Hoyoverse)

The update will also introduce two new powerful five-star playable characters. The first is The Herta, who players have previously only been able to encounter through her magical puppets. She is an Ice-Type Erudition character with a focus on massive area-of-effect damage, targeting up to five enemies at once. She can stack Interpretation on enemies and allies, increasing her damage output further.

The second character is Aglaea, a native of Amphoreus. She is the first limited five-star Remembrance character and can summon the Garmentmaker memosprite to fight alongside her in battle. Together they dance around the battlefield, attacking with an enchanting cadence.

Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.0 will arrive on January 15 in the US and January 16 in the UK. The free-to-play game is available now on PC, Android, iOS, and PlayStation 5.

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• PS Plus's monthly free games for January are coming soon
• Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered, and The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe head the lineup
• They'll be available across every PS Plus tier from January 7

The PS Plus free games for January have been officially revealed, and it's looking like a pretty strong start to the year for the subscription service.

Announced via the official PlayStation Blog, January's PS Plus monthly games are headlined by Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered, and The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe. The three games will be available to download from January 7 across all three PS Plus tiers.

Subscribers currently have until January 6 to download and keep December's monthly offerings, which are It Takes Two, Aliens: Dark Descent and, Temtem.

While Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League didn't do much to impress upon launch - with an exhausting live service model and heavily repetitive gameplay - it's still worth checking out for free this month as the now content-complete version of the game offers plenty to do. It's also deeply discounted at the PlayStation Store's January sale if you'd prefer to acquire the game that way.

Meanwhile, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered is an absolute must-play. This is arguably Criterion's best work since the Burnout series and much of that DNA translates over to Hot Pursuit. With two campaigns that pit cops and racers against each other, it's a thrilling experience and certainly one of the best racing games of recent memory.

Finally there's The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, a comedic game that offers some brilliant, thoughtful commentary on the nature of video game storytelling and the legacies great games leave behind. It's a very relaxed experience but definitely one worth checking out if you fancy a good, hearty laugh in tandem with an unforgettable and endlessly creative narrative journey.

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