TechRadar News

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

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

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

NYT Strands today (game #280) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… A timely theme

NYT Strands today (game #280) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• SAID
• BLUR
• COAL
• TIDE
• RANG
• LAID

NYT Strands today (game #280) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• On your wrist

NYT Strands today (game #280) - 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 #280) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #280, are…

• FACE
• HANDS
• BEZEL
• CROWN
• LUXURY
• DIGITAL
• ANALOG
• SPANGRAM: WATCHWORDS

• My rating: Easy
• My score: 1 hint

Today’s theme was WATCHWORDS and it got me thinking about how much I love my Apple Watch and its many uses, but also a little nostalgic for my old ANALOG timepieces of yesteryear, who had just one job – to tell me the time. Ah, simple, distant days, memory wastes, memory wastes…

In case you think I’m losing my mind, those words are from one of my favorite songs – Cattle and Cane by The Go-Betweens. It includes the evocative line “his father’s watch – he left it in the shower”. It’s about memory, being young and naive and doing thoughtless things like losing a precious belonging in the school bathrooms after gym class. It was released in 1983, but I’m sure anyone listening to it in 2024 would still think the watch in question was some beautiful Omega Seamaster or Rolex Oyster rather than erm a Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra. I mean you would be sad if you lost that, but you could also wear it in the shower, so it’s unlikely you’d leave it behind.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, 7 December, game #279)

• FRIED
• BAKED
• MASHED
• ROASTED
• FONDANT
• SCALLOPED
• SPANGRAM: HOT POTATO

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.

• A new material that generates electricity has been made by scientists
• The material was synthesized at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• It could be used in shoes, keyboard, and building to generate electricity

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in New York have made a significant breakthrough in sustainable energy, paving the way for futuristic innovations like self-charging cars, energy-generating skyscrapers, and streetlights powered by traffic.

The research team developed a new environmentally friendly material which taps into the power of the piezoelectric effect. This phenomenon causes materials to generate electricity when subjected to pressure or vibrations.

The new polymer film, infused with a chalcogenide perovskite compound, has promising applications in a wide variety of fields, from infrastructure to biomedical devices.

Chalcogenide perovskite film

The piezoelectric effect occurs when certain materials, lacking structural symmetry, produce electric charges under mechanical stress. As the material is compressed or stretched, positive and negative ions within it are separated, creating what is known as a dipole moment. This moment can then be harvested as electrical energy.

For decades, engineers and scientists have sought ways to exploit this phenomenon, but many existing piezoelectric materials contain lead, limiting their environmental friendliness.

The new polymer film developed by RPI researchers is lead-free making it a more appealing option for green energy solutions. The film’s key ingredient is a chalcogenide perovskite compound that contains barium, zirconium, and sulfur. After the research team synthesized this compound, they tested its ability to generate electricity through various human movements such as walking, running, clapping, and tapping.

According to the research, the material generated enough electricity in these tests to power a bank of LED lights. The new film is 0.3 millimeters thick thus it could be easily integrated into devices and structures without significantly altering their designs. This film could therefore be integrated into the keyboard of our laptops to charge the device as we type.

Other use cases posited include incorporating the material into shoes to charge devices as people walk, integrated into electric car tires to charge the battery as the car moves, or integrated into building structures to generate power as they sway in the wind or shift with daily use.

"We are excited and encouraged by our findings and their potential to support the transition to green energy," said Nikhil Koratkar, Ph.D., corresponding author of the study and the John A. Clark and Edward T. Crossan Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering.

"Lead is toxic and increasingly being restricted and phased out of materials and devices. Our goal was to create a material that was lead-free and could be made inexpensively using elements commonly found in nature…Essentially, the material converts mechanical energy into electrical energy—the greater the applied pressure load and the greater the surface area over which the pressure is applied, the greater the effect," Koratkar added

Via TechXplore

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• Apple has released the official trailer for season 2 of its multi-award-winning TV Original Severance
• The sci-fi mystery-thriller's latest chapter launches on Apple TV Plus in January 2025
• Its newest trailer is packed to the rafters with fascinating new mysteries and teases

Prepare your innies and outie accordingly, folks, because Severance season 2's official trailer has dropped – and it's an absolute doozy.

Ahead of the critically-acclaimed Apple TV series return to our screens in January 2025, the tech giant's streaming division has given us our best look yet at the sci-fi mystery-thriller's sophomore outing. Severance 2's first trailer was trippy and unsettling enough, but trust me when I say that there's a lot to unpack from this new, near-three-minute long teaser, too.

Major spoilers follow for Severance season 1!

Set to a slightly unsettling version of Four Tops' iconic Reach Out (I'll Be There) song, the trailer for Severance's second season is full of exciting moments. For starters, we see Mark Scout (Adam Scott) and Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman) engaging in a cat-and-mouse game within Lumon Industries and in the real world. The pair's various encounters and suspense-filled conversations come after that stunning season 1 finale, which saw Mark and two of his fellow macro data refiners in Helly (Britt Lower) and Irving (John Turturro) successfully put their innies in their outie bodies using Lumon's secretive Overtime Contingency device. We also learned that Helly is Helena Eagan, aka the daughter of Lumon's current CEO Jame Eagan, which is sure to set the proverbial cat among the pigeons.

But I digress. Surprisingly, the group aren't punished by their superiors, but installed as the faces of 'Severance Reform' instead. Clearly, Lumon wants to maintain some form of peace to prevent the quartet from causing any more trouble – but, if I know Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan (Zach Cherry), they're going to create even more chaos.

The rest of the multi-award winning show's latest trailer suggests they're going to as well. Indeed, Mark's team are seen discussing the lives of their outies later in the teaser, with Mark finally telling his colleagues that Miss Casey (Dichen Lachman), Lumon's wellness chief, is Mark's presumed dead wife Gemma. Cue shock and awe galore.

Gwendoline Christie is one of many new faces we'll see in season 2 (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

There's plenty more that one of the best Apple TV Plus shows' latest round of footage, too. There's an 'outie' showdown between Mark and Harmony Cobel/Mrs Selvig (Patricia Arquette). There are a few shots of Mark and his team, well, teaming up in the real world to unearth more Lumon secrets. There's the revelation that Christopher Walken's retired Optics and Design manager Burt is alive and well in the real world. Oh, and there are plenty of first looks at season 2's newcomers, including Gwendoline Christie's mysterious Severance character who were desperate to learn more about, someone watching a CCTV recording of the surprise kiss between Mark and Helly from season 1 episode 8, and more unsettling clips that are giving me chills. And, don't worry, we'll be seeing more of those baby goats from Severance's debut season.

Alongside all of the aforementioned actors and the character they play, Jen Tullock's Devon and Michael Chernus' Ricken are also back for as part of season 2's cast. Joining Christie on the new regular cast members front are Sarah Bock (The Coneisseur) and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (NOS4A2).

Want more details on what lies in store for Mark and company in next season's 10-episode run? Plot wise, there's not much else to glean from its two teasers, nor season 2's story synopsis, which simply reads: "In season two, Mark and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe". In short: January 2025 can't come soon enough.

Severance season 2 will launch exclusively with a one-episode premiere on Apple TV Plus, aka TechRadar's 2024 best streaming service award winner, on January 17, 2025. New episodes will air weekly until the finale on March 21.

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• Nvidia’s Project Denver began as x86 but transitioned to Arm
• Insider reports legal constraints drove Nvidia's pivot
• The Arm-based Project Denver CPU debuted in 2011

During a technical session at the recent SC24 event, Dave Ditzel, founder of Esperanto Technologies, offered some fascinating insights into Nvidia’s early server processor efforts.

According to HPCwire, Ditzel, who was previously CEO of Transmeta, revealed that Nvidia’s first server CPU, Project Denver, initially started as an x86 CPU but transitioned to Arm due to legal constraints.

Ditzel says Nvidia’s shift to Arm was influenced by its licensing of Transmeta’s Tokamak technology, which could translate x86 code into a RISC instruction set.

Failed attempt to acquire Arm

IAs he explained, “Nvidia brought out a product called Denver. It was actually that same design. It originally started as an x86 [CPU], but through certain legal issues, had to turn itself into an Arm CPU.”

This decision, he said, laid the foundation for Nvidia’s alignment with Arm architecture. Tokamak, developed by Transmeta, was intended to be its third-generation x86 chip following the Crusoe and Efficeon processors. However, the project was never officially launched and was instead licensed to companies like Intel and Nvidia.

ntel, despite acquiring the design, did not announce a product based on it either. “You can guess as to all the reasons why or buy me a beer sometime,” Ditzel said.

Nvidia officially introduced Project Denver as an Arm-based CPU in 2011, later integrating it into its Tegra lineup. HPCwire reports that while there was initial enthusiasm around Arm servers, adoption was limited by challenges in the software ecosystem. Nvidia has since developed its Grace CPU and abandoned its attempt to acquire Arm after regulatory opposition.

Ditzel founded chip design firm Esperanto about seven years ago and because of his previous bad experiences with licensing x86, he opted for RISC-V because it was cheap and there were no legal concerns to get bogged down by.

“At least we have a playground where we can test some new things out, and some lawyer is not going to be ringing your bell,” Ditzel said.

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• New Surface devices are on the way
• Intel and AMD chips could be involved
• Expect new products from March

Our Surface Pro 11 review and Surface Laptop 7 review will tell you we've been very impressed with Microsoft's own-brand computers this year – and it seems as though plenty more Surface products are heading our way in 2025.

A comprehensive leak from Windows Central outlines what's next for Microsoft Surface. We're apparently getting new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop models in 2025, both with Copilot+ PC branding and Intel Lunar Lake CPUs inside (as previously rumored).

These will be the first Intel-powered Surface computers with the AI-centric Copilot+ PC branding – following on from the Qualcomm-powered models mentioned at the start – as Lunar Lake brings with it the necessary neural processing architecture.

Don't expect too much to change in terms of the aesthetics though. Microsoft is likely to stick with the current designs for the Surface Pro and the Surface Laptop in 2025 and beyond, according to the Windows Central report.

A new mystery device

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (Image credit: Future)

Some other tidbits: the new Surface Pro and Surface Studio will get anti-reflective screens (unlike the most recent versions), a card reader option will be available, and we may even see 5G on the Surface Laptop for the first time.

The Surface Laptop Studio is getting a 2025 refresh as well, it seems. Intel or AMD chips could be used here, but again the Copilot+ PC branding will be used. According to insiders, a 16-inch version is being mulled over at Microsoft.

A new 11-inch Surface device is in the pipeline as well, the report says, to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset – though it's not clear what the form factor will be. Finally, a new Surface Dock is also rumored to be on the way.

We can expect these new products to start appearing from the first quarter of 2025, Windows Central says, so that's March at the latest. Plans and schedules can of course change, but it looks like 2025 will be a fun year for Microsoft Surface fans.

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• HPE's Cray EX4000 supports modular designs, scaling to 98,304 cores
• Slingshot 400 interconnect doubles throughput, vital for exascale systems
• AMD and Nvidia collaborations help compute density exceed 10 petaflops

Future exascale supercomputers will adopt modular designs that allow enhanced scalability and efficiency, new reports have claimed.

TheNextPlatform says Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is leading this transformation, with its Cray EX4000 systems, which use HPE’s Slingshot interconnect and innovative chassis to support up to 98,304 AMD Epyc cores per rack.

HPE’s interconnect technology is also advancing. The Slingshot 400, expected to be used in “Shasta” Cray EX systems in 2025, builds on the earlier Rosetta architecture and promises 400Gb/sec per port, doubling the throughput of its predecessor.

Staying ahead

This development is vital for managing the massive data loads produced by exascale systems, particularly for AI and scientific simulations.

The Slingshot 400’s improvements to network interface cards and switches show HPE’s drive to stay competitive in a market that includes Nvidia and Broadcom, and TheNextPlatform predicts the company could achieve “800 Gb/sec speeds with a future Slingshot 800 (perhaps in the fall of 2027) and 1.6 Tb/sec speeds with an even further out Slingshot 1600 (perhaps in the fall of 2029).”

On the compute side, HPE’s collaboration with AMD is reflected in its upcoming Cray EX4252 Gen 2 compute blades. These will feature AMD’s Zen 5c-based Epyc 9965 processors, offering 192 cores per CPU.

According to TheNextPlatform, “With eight Epyc 9965s on each blade and 64 blades in one EX4000 chassis, that works out to a total of 98,304 cores in a single liquid-cooled rack.” This setup achieves up to 2 petaflops per rack and with 500 racks, “you could build an all-CPU exascale supercomputer."

Nvidia, naturally, also plays a key role in HPE’s systems. The forthcoming EX154n blade, expected at the end of 2025, will include Nvidia’s Grace-Blackwell complexes, combining CPUs and GPUs in a unified design. A single cabinet using these components could exceed 10 petaflops.

HPE’s advancements, showcased at the SC24 supercomputing conference, include storage upgrades. The new Cray E2000 all-flash array doubles the performance of its predecessor with PCIe 5.0-enabled NVM-Express drives, ensuring storage keeps pace with compute and network advancements.

By upgrading its lineup from top to bottom and blending cutting-edge compute, networking, and storage technologies, HPE, which already leads the HPC server market, is demonstrating its determination to push the frontiers of high-performance computing and maintain its dominance over the likes of rivals Dell and Lenovo.

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There are iPhone cases, and then there are iPhone cases. The Moft Creator Kit – a 5-in-1 accessory package for iPhone-owning content creators – sits firmly in the latter camp.

Admittedly, Moft’s MagSafe-compatible Snap Phone Case (which is made from high-color-retention vegan leather and microfiber) is only one part of this creator-friendly toolkit, but when working in tandem with the various other accessories that Moft includes in the Creator Kit, it becomes the iPhone case to end all iPhone cases.

Designed for on-the-go TikTokers and compatible with iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, 16 Pro, and 16 Pro Max, the Moft Creator Kit features four distinct tools: the phone case itself, a lanyard clip with a strap, a snap-on stand and wallet, and what Moft describes as an Invisible Tripod (it unfolds to reveal a third magnetic surface). If you go for the iPhone 16 Pro version, you’ll also get a magnetic notepad stand and a little wad of sticky notes (talk about luxury!).

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The whole kit comes in a neat, shelf-like box that’s designed to be re-used as a handy storage space for each of the four (or five, depending on your iPhone model) tools, and everything is presented in a minimalist, off-white, and decidedly Apple-like color.

As mentioned, the Creator Kit is intended for digital creators who produce social media content on the go, and although it might seem like overkill for regular folk (sticky notes, really?), I’ve found myself using many of Moft's attachable tools on a daily basis, especially the wallet and tripod, which have become features of both my office and home desk setups.

(Image credit: Moft)

The only small (okay, big) snag is the price. The Moft Creator Kit costs a whopping $198 / £159 – that’s outrageously expensive for a handful of phone accessories, but there is a sliver of good news. The case maker is currently running a Christmas sale, meaning you can pick up the Kit for a discounted price of $168 / £134. Yes, that figure is only marginally less outrageous, but if you like the look of certain tools over others, Moft does sell most elements of the Creator Kit individually (the Snap Phone Case, for instance, can be purchased separately – and in many different colors – for a much more reasonable $49.99 / £40).

So, if you’re an iPhone-owning content creator who’s keen on upgrading their on-the-go shooting setup, or you’re simply looking for a Christmas present for the iPhone fan in your life, I'd recommend adding one of Moft’s excellent iPhone accessories to your basket sooner rather than later.

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Captain America: Brave new World: key information

- Releasing worldwide next February
- Will be the second-to-last Marvel Phase 5 film
- Trailers released in July and November
- Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson/Captain America is the movie's protagonist
- Harrison Ford among its supporting cast
- Story synopsis unveiled in July
- Other plot details leaked online
- Unclear how it'll set up future MCU movies, including the next two Avengers flicks

Captain America: Brave New World feels like an apt description for the superhero's next tentpole movie adventure. Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson first stepped into the shoes vacated by previous incumbent Steve Rogers in the TV series Falcon and the Winter Soldier (FATWS), and now it's time for the former Falcon and Cap's sidekick to take flight as the so-called Star Spangled Man With a Plan in his own right.

Before the penultimate Marvel Phase 5 film arrives in theaters, we'll break down everything we know about Captain America 4. In this guide, you'll find official details on its release date, confirmed cast, story specifics, trailers, and more. Potential cast and plot spoilers follow, so proceed at your own risk.

Captain America: Brave New World release date

Marvel Studios' #CaptainAmericaBraveNewWorld. Only in theaters February 14, 2025. pic.twitter.com/7quDHgwnIKJuly 12, 2024

Captain America: Brave New World will be released in theaters worldwide on February 14, 2025.

The Marvel Phase 5 movie was originally scheduled for release on May 3, 2024, but the 2023 Hollywood strikes meant several Marvel films were delayed by many months. Unsurprisingly, that contingent included Wilson's first silver screen outing as the titular shield-wielding superhero, initially pushed to July 26, 2024. However, in November 2023, it was given its third launch date slot, which it's subsequently held onto despite numerous recent reshoots.

Captain America: Brave New World trailer

With just over three months to go until its release in cinemas, Captain America: Brave New World's official trailer was posted online in early November. Alongside a new Thunderbolts movie teaser, Captain America 4's latest trailer suggested Marvel Phase 5 would go out with a bang rather than a whimper, too.

This trailer arrived four months after Captain America: Brave New World's first trailer, which premiered online in mid-July. That was the first time the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) flick revealed it was returning to the film series' political thriller vibes. Oh, and that legendary actor Harrison Ford was not only playing Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross in the movie but he'd also be hulk-ing out as Ross' iconic Red Hulk alter-ego, too.

Captain America: Brave New World confirmed cast

Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross and Sam Wilson won't always see eye-to-eye in Captain America 4 (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Potential spoilers follow for Captain America: Brave New World.

Here's the confirmed cast for the next MCU movie so far:

• Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America
• Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres/Falcon
• Harrison Ford as Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross/Red Hulk
• Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns/The Leader
• Shira Haas as Rut Bat-Seraph
• Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley
• Giancarlo Esposito as Seth Voelker/Sidewinder
• Liv Tyler as Betty Ross
• Takehiro Hira as Ozaki
• Xosha Roquemore as TBC
• Rosa Salazar as TBC
• Seth Rollins as TBC

Some of the above actors and their Marvel characters will be familiar to MCU fans. Wilson has been ever-present since 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Ramirez and Lumbly made their debuts in FATWS, while Nelson and Tyler played supporting roles in 2010's The Incredible Hulk – a flick some viewers may have forgotten is an MCU movie. Indeed, it was the second Marvel Studios film to land in theaters after 2008's Iron Man. You can learn more about this duo and other MCU films in our Marvel movies in order guide.

Say hello to Red Hulk, everyone (Image credit: Marvel)

On the newcomer front, veteran actor Harrison Ford was hired to play Ross following William Hurt's passing in March 2022. As mentioned, Ford will also portray Red Hulk, a much angrier and seemingly unstoppable version of Bruce Banner's gamma-irradiated superpowered alias.

As for the rest of the confirmed cast: Haas is playing Bat-Seraph, a Marvel character whose backstory has been significantly altered from her comic book counterpart. In the source material, Bat-Seraph is an Israeli superhero known as Sabra – another of Marvel's many mutants who possesses numerous superhuman abilities, including being able to withstand high-caliber rounds. Per Marvel.com, though, her MCU adaptation has been retooled to turn her into a former Black Widow and one of Ross' closest confidantes.

Meanwhile, Hira will play Japanese Prime Minister Ozaki, who's expecting to have a small role in the proceedings. The same is expected of Esposito's Sidewinder, who'll be a secondary antagonist in Captain America 4 and is the leader of a villainous group known as the Serpent Society.

Hira's Prime Minister Ozaki (left) will reportedly have a small role to play in Captain America 4 (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Speaking of the Serpent Society, Salazar and Rollins' roles haven't been confirmed by Marvel, but the pair are rumored to be playing two members of this team, Diamondback and Cutthroat. Lastly, Roquemore is involved as an unnamed secret agent.

There are other characters rumored to appear in Captain America 4, but we won't spoil them ahead of time. Two individuals who aren't expected to make cameos, though, are Sebastien Stan's James 'Bucky' Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, and Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/The Hulk.

Where 'Bucky' is concerned, he's one of the major players in Thunderbolts, which arrives in theaters next May, so it wouldn't make sense for him to be involved in this film if he's caught up in events elsewhere. As for Banner, despite Ruffalo appearing to suggest (during a chat at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival) that he'll appear in Brave New World, Variety reports that he misspoke about his involvement.

Captain America: Brave New World plot synopsis and speculation

Captain America: Brave New World is being billed as a geopolitical thriller (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Potential spoilers follow for Captain America: Brave New World.

Here's the movie's official plot synopsis: "Captain America: Brave New World follows Sam Wilson who, after meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red."

That's not much to go on, but Captain America 4's cast and crew have provided some additional details about its story – starting with the titular hero.

Speaking to Empire magazine, director Julius Onah spoke about the challenges that Mackie's Wilson will face in Brave New World. "Part of the challenge for Sam as Captain America, working within the government, is the way he’s going to make decisions,” Onah said. "The point of view he’s going to have will, at times, put him at odds with the president. Sam [also] finds himself almost standing between Samuel Sterns and what he thinks the government owes him, and how he wants to go about getting that.

"The action in this movie is incredibly exciting because this is a guy who can break, this is a guy who can bleed," Onah added. "We get to have a lot of fun pushing him to the limit."

Red Hulk won't be an easy foe for Cap 2.0 to overcome (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

It sounds like Wilson will be put through the wringer, then! Considering he'll be going up against Red Hulk at some point, that's to be expected, but how will Wilson, who isn't imbued with the super soldier serum, withstand an assault from a far more menacing Hulk who can melt matter with his radiated skin? Taking to the stage at Disney's APAC Content Showcase in Singapore, Mackie explained how his character would level the playing field.

"With Sam, him being a counselor, he uses more of his brains than brawn," Mackie said (via comicbookmovie.com). "When you don’t have the serum, you have to be smart and engineer different ways of defeating [enemies]. He uses more of his wit than his fist. He’s more of a friend to everyone.

Elaborating on Wilson's new superhero costume, Mackie added: "It’s a high-tech suit. I went to Wakanda, met with everybody in Wakanda, we had dinner. It was a great time. They threw me a welcome party. It was dope. But when I was leaving, they gave me a suit, right?" We're not sure if you're joking here, Anthony, but we'll take you at your word and believe that Wilson will travel to Wakanda to acquire a new, vibranium-infused suit to combat Red Hulk.

#CaptainAmericaBraveNewWorld details • It's a return to the grounded aspects of 'The Winter Soldier' • Giancarlo Esposito will play Sidewinder — King of the Serpent Society• Celestials are made out of Adamantium • Harrison Ford turns into Red Hulk while giving a… pic.twitter.com/EbVHVQ5AT3July 28, 2024

And what of the new Captain America-Falcon dynamic that was introduced in FATWS? In another Empire article, Onah teased: "There’s this incredible big brother/little brother dynamic between them [Wilson and Torres]. It’s going to be one of the key emotional centers of the film."

The pair will need to have each other's backs throughout the film, too, because of the geopolitical storm they become embroiled in. Indeed, as Captain America: Brave New World's trailers have teased, the world's biggest nations are after a brand-new material that's been discovered in the Indian Ocean. The substance in question? Adamantium – yep, the very same metal that iconic X-Men member Wolverine's bones are coated in.

Per numerous online rumors, the precious metal is found on the corpse of Tiamut, aka the Celestial that was set to emerge from Earth's core in the 2021 MCU movie Eternals. However, thanks to Sersi's matter transmutation abilities and the titular team using their shared Uni-Mind powers, the group manages to stop Tiamut's emergence (and Earth's subsequent destruction) by turning the Celestial to marble. It seems the group's combined efforts also created adamantium. Once it's discovered, and its unique properties are scientifically proven, the US, Japan, and other first-world countries will try to forcefully claim it as their own after a breakdown in diplomatic talks.

Marvel Studios’ #CaptainAmericaBraveNewWorld arrives in theaters February 14. pic.twitter.com/PkB3yCgPD6November 9, 2024

There are plenty of other questions – many of which were conceived by fans after Brave New World's trailers were released – that need answering.

Why does Ross want Wilson to reform the Avengers if he was previously at odds with the group's formation? What's Samuel Sterns/The Leader's role in proceedings? Who brainwashes Lumbly into trying to assassinate Ross? And how will Captain America 4 set up future MCU movies? We can't answer all those yet, but we'll deliver our best guesses about the last question in this guide's final section.

Where to watch the Captain America movies

You can stream Captain America: The Winter Soldier exclusively on Disney Plus (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Want to re-watch the other Captain America movies, or stream them for the first time, before Brave New World arrives? You can do so on Disney Plus.

The last three Captain America films, two of which are among the best Marvel movies ever made, are viewable on one of the world's best streaming services, but you'll need to sign up to the platform to watch them. Read our Disney Plus price guide for more details on how to purchase a subscription.

How will Captain America: Brave New World set up future Marvel movies?

Brave New World may set the stage for Sam Wilson (right) to assemble the next Avengers line-up (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

The short answer is: we aren't sure, but we can speculate on how it'll set up some Marvel Phase 6 films.

Depending on how Captain America: Brave New World ends, we'd be surprised if Wilson doesn't try to reform the Avengers. There are plenty of new recruits who could replace the likes of Iron Man and Black Widow on the team, and veterans including Thor, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, and Doctor Strange would answer the call if, well, they're called upon.

It'll be in the team's interests to regroup, too, ahead of the next two Avengers movies. Indeed, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will cap off the Marvel Multiverse Saga – and, with The Fantastic Four's legendary villain Doctor Doom (who'll be played by none other than ex-Iron Man superstar Robert Downey Jr) set to be the main villain of that duology, Earth's Mightiest Heroes will be required to defend our world once more.

Looking further ahead, the emergence of adamantium in the MCU continues the long-drawn-out arrival of the X-Men. Marvel President Kevin Feige has already stated that the post-Secret Wars era will "lead us into a new age of mutants", and the introduction of the malleable metal in Brave New World is further proof that the X-Men's MCU debut will be upon us in the next few years. Considering they've been teased in everything from Ms Marvel and Deadpool and Wolverine to The Marvels and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it's high time they appeared, too.

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• Get the lowdown on everything we know so far about Daredevil: Born Again
• Alternatively, read more on The Fantastic Four: First Steps
• Or find out what we know about Spider-Man 4

• An iPhone 17 Air has been rumored for a while
• It'll apparently shave 2 mm off the iPhone 16 Pro
• Apple's own modems will be smaller

There's been plenty of talk around a potential iPhone 17 Air (or iPhone 17 Slim) model next year – replacing the iPhone 16 Plus, apparently – and now we've got details on just how thin this upcoming handset could be.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who tends to know what he's talking about when it comes to Apple information, the iPhone 17 Air is going to be around 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) thinner than the iPhone 16 Pro.

Considering the iPhone 16 Pro is only 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) front to back, that's quite a serious reduction – knocking off some 24%. It would be Apple's thinnest iPhone yet, beating the iPhone 6 from 2014 (6.9 mm or 0.27 inches).

The slimming down is due in part to Apple's expected switch to using its own modem in next year's iPhones, rather than using chips from Qualcomm. It's a rumor we've heard before, and which Gurman has now mentioned again.

Chipsets and screens

Remember the iPhone 6? It's the thinnest iPhone ever

We'll see the new Apple modem in the iPhone SE 4 first of all, according to Gurman – that is tipped to arrive in March 2025. After that, it'll show up in the iPhone 17 models, with an improved version set to be ready in time for the iPhone 18 in 2026.

Apple is even planning to use its own modem chipset to add cellular connectivity to Macs and the Apple Vision Pro, according to the report – but that's unlikely to happen before 2026, as the technology needs to be further developed.

As for the iPhone 17 Air, previous leaks suggest it's going to do without a physical SIM card slot to keep it as thin as possible, while it might also introduce a screen that's thinner and more efficient compared to the current iPhone displays.

All of this thinning down will eventually help Apple in the development of its first folding iPhone, according to Gurman. That device looks unlikely to launch before 2026 at the earliest – but it is now reportedly on the way.

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• Cold fusion revival sparked Google curiosity but yielded no conclusive evidence.
• Google’s bold nuclear projects highlighted innovation beyond traditional tech
• Google's NERD explored nuclear energy with audacious and pioneering ideas

Google has been at the center of many innovative developments, but its foray into nuclear energy development - aided by unexpected detours into cold fusion and machine learning - is a lesser-known chapter of its innovation journey.

To achieve its goals, Google partnered with TAE to enhance Norman, a machine designed for advanced plasma experiments, and NERD (Nuclear Energy R&D), Google’s bold program to explore clean nuclear energy.

A Google insider has now shed light on how this journey unfolded, complete with pioneering successes, bureaucratic battles, and a strange sidetrack into the discredited realm of cold fusion.

Tackling advanced nuclear policy

Google’s interest in nuclear energy wasn’t merely about technology, it extended to reshaping policies.

In collaboration with think tanks like Third Way, Google worked to create a policy landscape conducive to advanced nuclear development. Advanced reactor designs, which promise safety, efficiency, and better waste management, often face bureaucratic hurdles due to outdated regulatory frameworks.

To address this, the NERD team supported legislative efforts, resulting in multiple laws that modernized nuclear licensing and provided funding for demonstration projects.

This advocacy bore fruit. The US federal government committed billions to support the next wave of nuclear reactors, including small modular reactors (SMRs). Notably, Google recently signed an agreement to purchase nuclear power from SMRs, signalling its practical commitment to the nuclear renaissance.

In the realm of nuclear fusion, Google combined its computing prowess with plasma research at TAE Technologies. The centerpiece of this effort was Norman, a reactor designed to heat plasma to extreme temperatures. The “optometrist algorithm”, a machine learning tool that optimized the reactor’s settings was key to this initiative.

Like an optometrist adjusting lenses for clarity, this algorithm enabled physicists to refine experiments efficiently, resulting in groundbreaking advancements in plasma stability and temperature control.

These collaborations pushed TAE to new heights, as Norman surpassed its initial goals, and the insights gained fueled the development of Copernicus, a reactor targeting the holy grail of energy breakeven, where energy output equals input.

However, NERD’s most unconventional project was its exploration of low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR), colloquially known as cold fusion. While cold fusion’s credibility was tarnished after controversial claims in the late 1980s, Google approached the topic with rigorous scientific scrutiny. Partnering with external researchers, Google funded 12 projects investigating whether anomalies in earlier experiments could yield a breakthrough.

The result? No evidence of cold fusion, but a wealth of peer-reviewed publications and unexpected applications. Nevertheless, Google’s nuclear endeavors didn’t stop with fusion and policy. The company explored nuclear excitation, a cutting-edge method to tailor nuclear reactions for energy generation or waste reduction.

The scale of Google’s ambition from transforming US nuclear policy to leveraging machine learning in fusion and re-examining debunked science is absolutely ballistic. This unconventional journey reflects Google’s broader philosophy: no idea is too big, too wild, or too controversial to explore. While not every initiative hit the mark, each contributed to a greater understanding of nuclear energy’s potential.

Via IEEE Spectrum

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• A new AI capable of recognizing complex visual data has been developed
• SMAST can learn and predict complex human actions
• The tool could be used in surveillance, healthcare, and autonomous driving, researchers say

Researchers at the University of Virginia's School of Engineering and Applied Science have taken AI's visual data capabilities a step further with their latest innovation - an AI-driven video analyzer called the Semantic and Motion-Aware Spatiotemporal Transformer Network (SMAST).

This system offers precision in detecting human actions, promising applications in areas like public safety, motion tracking, and even autonomous vehicle navigation.

At the heart of SMAST’s capabilities is its ability to process complex video footage by focusing on the most relevant parts of a scene.

A new AI tool for video analysis

The system integrates a multi-feature selective attention model and a motion-aware 2D positional encoding algorithm. These features work in tandem to ensure that the AI can accurately detect and interpret human actions.

The selective attention model allows SMAST to concentrate on crucial elements, such as a person or an object in motion, while ignoring irrelevant details. For instance, it can distinguish someone throwing a ball from someone simply raising their arm.

Meanwhile, the motion-aware algorithm enables the AI to track movements over time, remembering how objects and people have shifted within a scene. This gives SMAST the ability to comprehend the relationships between different actions, making it more effective at recognizing complex behaviors.

In the security and surveillance sectors, the SMAST system can enhance public safety by detecting potential threats in real-time. For example, it can identify suspicious behavior in a crowded space or recognize if someone is in distress. In health care, the technology could be used to track patients' movements, enabling better motion analysis for rehabilitation or monitoring during surgery.

The researchers claim SMAST stands out in its ability to handle chaotic, unedited footage. SMAST’s AI-driven approach apparently allows it to learn from data, adapting to various environments and improving its action detection capabilities. The tool has been subjected to several academic benchmarks including AVA, UCF101-24, and EPIC-Kitchens and it did quite well.

"This AI technology opens doors for real-time action detection in some of the most demanding environments," said professor and chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Scott T. Acton. "It's the kind of advancement that can help prevent accidents, improve diagnostics and even save lives."

Via TechXplore

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Watch the I'm A Celeb final 2024

It’s……… Coleen Rooney's title to lose, isn't it? If she wasn't already a national treasure (she was), Wagatha Christie has only enhanced her credentials on I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, so it's no surprise she's the odds-on favorite to be crowned the new Queen of the Jungle. Here's where to watch I'm A Celeb final 2024 online for free – from anywhere with a VPN.

Coleen has serious competition in Strictly's Oti Mabuse, however, who played a blinder in midweek by securing immunity on consecutive nights. That does, however, put a target on her back.

McFly's Danny Jones and Coronation Street's Alan Halsall – aka Tyron Dobbs – have been popular with viewers throughout the show too, though it was Coleen's expert rumbling of Maura Higgins, Rev Richard Coles and Dean McCullough that will live long in the memory.

Read on as we explain how to watch I'm A Celeb final 2024 from anywhere.

Can I watch the I'm A Celeb final 2024 for free?

Yes. Viewers in the UK can watch I'm A Celeb final 2024 for free on ITV1 and the ITVX streaming service.

Away traveling and don't want to miss the final? Don't forget you can use a VPN to watch the I'm A Celeb 2024 final on your usual free streaming service from abroad.

How to watch the I'm A Celeb 2024 final from anywhere

If you're keen to watch the I'm A Celeb final 2024 but you're away from home and access to the show is geo-blocked, then you could always use a VPN to access it (assuming you're not breaching any broadcaster T&Cs, of course). You may be surprised by how simple it is to do.

Use a VPN to watch I'm A Celeb final 2024 from anywhere - our favorite is NordVPN.

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The best value plan is the two-year deal which sets the price at $3.69 per month, and includes an extra 3 months absolutely FREE. There's also an all-important 30-day no-quibble refund if you decide it's not for you.

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Can I watch the I'm A Celeb final 2024 in the US?

Any plans to make the British version of I'm A Celeb available to watch in the US are yet to be announced.

However, Brits currently away from home can use a VPN to watch I'm A Celeb final 2024 on ITVX from abroad.

How to watch the I'm A Celeb final 2024 for FREE

Brits can watch the I'm a Celeb final on ITV1 at 9pm GMT on Sunday, December 8.

It will also be available to stream both live and on demand on ITVX.

I'm a Celebrity... Unpacked will air immediately after, at 10.40pm on ITV2, and will also be available to stream online on ITVX.

Outside the UK? Brits abroad can use a VPN to tune into ITVX while away from home, and watch I'm a Celeb final for free.

Can I watch the I'm A Celeb final 2024 in Canada?

As with the US, it's unlikely that I'm A Celeb 2024 will ever air in Canada.

However, UK nationals currently traveling in Canada can use a VPN to unblock ITVX and watch the show from anywhere in the world. We recommend NordVPN.

Can I watch the I'm A Celeb final 2024 in Australia?

Despite being filmed there, any plans to make I'm A Celeb 2024 available to watch in Australia are likely a long way off.

Brits currently away from home can use a VPN to watch the I'm A Celeb final 2024 on ITVX from abroad.

I'm A Celeb finalists 2024

• Alan Halsall – actor
• Coleen Rooney – media personality
• Danny Jones – musician
• GK Barry – social media personality
• Oti Mabuse – dancer
• Rev. Richard Coles – broadcaster, musician and Church of England priest

If you’re looking for the absolute best camera phone you can buy, then well, according to our guide that would be the iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max, but the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra lands just behind them, and there’s every chance the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will have them beat.

You probably won’t have to wait long for this phone either, as it’s likely to land in January, alongside the standard Samsung Galaxy S25 and the Galaxy S25 Plus.

We don’t know for sure what cameras the S25 Ultra will have yet, but leaks suggest they could be an upgrade on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s camera system, so this might be an exciting handset for photographers. Below, you’ll find everything we’ve heard about the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s cameras so far.

What cameras will the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra have?

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Image credit: Future / Roland Moore-Colyer)

Before discussing the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s cameras, let’s take a quick look at the cameras the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has, since the upcoming phone will likely be building off these.

That handset then has a 200-megapixel (f/1.7, 1/1.3-inch, 24mm) main camera, a 12MP (f/2.2, 1/2.55-inch, 13mm) ultra-wide with a 120-degree field of view, a 50MP (f/3.4, 1/2.52-inch, 111mm) periscope camera with 5x optical zoom, and a 10MP (f/2.4, 1/3.52-inch, 67mm) telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom.

All except the ultra-wide have optical image stabilization (OIS), and there’s also a 12MP (f/2.2, 26mm) camera on the front.

So this is one camera-packed phone, and it’s likely that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will be just as packed full of cameras, albeit with at least one key difference, as you can see in the chart of predicted camera specs below.

That key difference then is the ultra-wide, as multiple sources have suggested the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will have a 50MP ultra-wide camera rather than the 12MP of its predecessor.

All those extra megapixels could allow for more detailed shots, but we’re not sure for now how else this camera might differ from the current one – whether for example the sensor will be a different size, or the field of view will differ.

Sadly, the leak above claims that the rest of the cameras on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra won’t be changing though, so we may once again get a 200MP main snapper, a 50MP periscope, a 10MP telephoto, and a 12MP selfie camera.

That said, we haven’t heard a vast number of camera leaks yet, so it’s still possible that there will be other changes.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

In fact, one tip from @BennettBuhner suggested that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra would not only have a 50MP ultra-wide camera, but also a 50MP periscope camera with 10x optical zoom, a 50MP 3x-5x variable zoom telephoto camera, and a main camera with a larger 1-inch sensor (but still 200 megapixels).

But while another source has backed up the 50MP ultra-wide claim, no one else has echoed those other specs, and this tipster doesn’t have much of a track record, so we’re doubtful these specs will pan out.

Even if there are no other upgrades to the lenses or sensors though, the new chipset in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra – expected to be the top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite – is sure to prove beneficial.

For one thing, its ISP (image signal processor) – which is essentially the brain of the camera and handles the processing of photos – is likely to be more capable than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s.

We’re also likely to see new and improved AI photography features, and the existing AI photography tools may work better on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra too, as with its extra power it will probably be able to handle AI tasks more smoothly.

But ISP and AI improvements aside, our best guess for now is that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s cameras will be the same as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s, with the exception of a new 50MP ultra-wide sensor.

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The year might be coming to a close, but there’s still a few more weeks of 2024 for the tech giants to cram in some announcements ahead of 2025 and CES in January – and that's exactly what they're doing.

Hot on the heels of Black Friday and Cyber Monday we’ve had some major moments take place such as PlayStation turning 30 – sorry if that makes some of you feel old – and Spotify Wrapped 2024 highlighting what our year looked like in music. One of our colleagues listened to Beyonce for over 17,000 minutes this year (or over 12 days) and we can’t decide if that’s far too much or not enough.

To catch up on all that and more (tech news we mean, not 17,000 minutes of Beyonce) then scroll down for this week’s seven biggest tech news stories. And once you’re all up to speed check out our picks for the seven new movies and TV shows to stream this weekend.

7. Sony turned the big 3-0

(Image credit: Sony)

Even if you missed out on the quick-to-sell-out 30th Anniversary edition PS5 consoles and accessories, you can still celebrate the 30th anniversary of PlayStation (which officially took place on December 3) with some limited-time digital cosmetics and gaming deals.

The first are new free PS5 themes which aim to mimic the look and sound of PlayStation eras on your dashboard, with options for PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, and a general 30th anniversary theme. The catch? They’re only available for a limited time but this writer hopes Sony changes course so they’ll get to keep using their PS2 theme for years to come.

Then there’s the Anniversary sale which boasts sales and a large range of iconic PlayStation titles across PS4 and PS5 consoles. Of note, The Last of Us Part 1 is 50% off, the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is 60% off, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, received a massive 80% price cut. The sale will run until December 20.

• Read more: Sony announces its PlayStation 30th Anniversary sale

6. IKEA smart lights got brighter

(Image credit: IKEA)

IKEA smart tech – such as its bulbs, fixtures, and lamps – might not be as expensive as the competition but they can offer a lot of the same useful features at fraction of the cost. And thanks to an update this week they just got a feature to more closely match the smarts of Philips Hue lights – now IKEA’s smart lights can intelligently adjust their settings throughout the day

The feature just dropped onto the iOS version of IKEA’s Home Smart app, with this dynamic adaptive lighting tool automatically adjusting the bulbs to cooler temperatures during the middle of the day, and warmer hues towards the beginning and end of the day.

So if you’re looking to update your smart home on a budget IKEA’s bulbs might have just become a more appealing offering.

• Read more: Ikea's smart lights now offer one of Philips Hue's most compelling features

5. DJI Flip leak teased the foldable drone

The DJI Mavic 3 Pro (Image credit: DJI)

A new DJI Flip drone could land soon, according to new leaks. It's not entirely clear where the tiny foldable drone will sit in DJI's line up – although it will most likely be a DJI Mini series successor to rival the HoverAir X1 Pro and DJI's own Neo.

A recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing suggests the Flip could have a Mini 4 Pro-beating battery life, and the latest Lidar-powered obstacle avoidance sensors, much like in the pricier Air 3S. Leaked images of the Flip appear to show it has a gimbal-stabilized camera, too.

The DJI Flip is a mysterious new drone but we expect more leaks that will clear a few questions up in the build up to its launch. It appears that the threat of a US ban has only served to accelerate DJI's drone-making powers.

• Read more: DJI Flip leak gives us our first glimpse of tiny foldable drone

4. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew impressed us

Skeleton Crew tells the story a group of 10-year-olds who accidentally get lost in space (Image credit: Disney Plus/Lucasfilm)

Star Wars projects over the past few years could politely be described as a mixed bag. While some projects (like Visions season 2 and Tales of the Empire) earned critical acclaim, The Acolyte was cancelled just one month after its season 1 finale. So fans may have been cautious about Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, a new story about four kids who discover a star ship buried on their home world and accidentally transported halfway across the galaxy.

Writer Tom Power says that three episodes in the new show “possesses an unmistakable individuality that other Star Wars series lack” and calls it “one of the best Disney Plus shows of 2024.”

Hopefully Disney and Lucasfilm learn from Skeleton Crew’s successes, but we’ll have to wait and see what future projects and episodes of the series have in store for us.

• Read more: Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is a thrilling galactic misadventure

3. AI said “I’m Batman”

(Image credit: kavan-the-kid/DC)

This week we were exposed to one of the most impressive-looking AI-made films yet, with Reddit user kavan-the-kid showing off a Batman movie that was created using virtually every consumer tool going – including KLING AI, Hailuo AI, Runway Act-One, Midjourney, Topaz Labs AI, Lima Dream Machine, Eleven Labs, Magnific, Blender, Character Creator 4, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop and Davinci Resolve – over the course of three weeks.

It takes a lot of visual cues from Matt Reeves’ The Batman, even borrowing the likeness of key actors. And there’s certainly something uncanny about the movie, from the way the characters look and talk to the movie’s sound effects, which are noticeably off much of the time. But considering where AI video was at the start of 2024 and where it appears to be now, to reference a different billionaire superhero, it’s a stark improvement.

• Read more: New Batman fan film is made entirely with AI

2. Spotify Wrapped 2024 exposed our musical secrets

(Image credit: Spotify)

Spotify Wrapped was simultaneously the biggest highlight and letdown of the week, depending on which Spotify fan you ask. Some enjoyed the annual recap’s new AI podcast feature, which turned the cringe dial to 11 as two Google-powered AI hosts praised their listener’s immaculate music taste.

But others, including TechRadar’s resident Spotify guru Rowan Davies (a top 0.8% worldwide listener, no less), were aghast at the lack of genre breakdowns and the more superficial nature of Wrapped 2024’s new AI features. Whatever you thought of it, everyone can agree that ‘Pumpkin Spice Hollywood Indie' is best left on an artisanal coffee shop menu rather than in our musical recaps.

• Read more: Spotify Wrapped 2024 is here – how to find it, plus the best new features

1. We reviewed the Amazon Kindle Scribe

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The new Amazon Kindle Scribe fixes all of my complaints about the last Kindle Scribe and adds AI and it’s … actually good?! Amazon AI does the best job of any writing tablet at recognizing my chicken scratch handwriting and it offers summaries of all my notes. Amazon has also added tons of books to the Kindle book store that you can write on with a Kindle Scribe, and there are new tools to write notes on the page of any book you own.

The Kindle Scribe (2024) is more expensive, but it’s a better Kindle Scribe than before, especially in that sweet Metallic Jade color. And if you want to upgrade, the good news is that all the older cases and pens will work with the new Kindle Scribe. It's available now for $399.99 / £379.99 / AU$649 with 16GB of storage or for $449.99 / $429.99 / AU$729 for 64GB (and the Jade is only 64GB, sadly).

• Read more: Amazon Kindle Scribe (2024) review

• You can try the Grok AI chatbot on X for free
• The free tier is limited to 10 messages an hour and 3 images a day
• Using Grok more than that still requires an X Premium subscription of at least $7 a month

XAI's AI chatbot Grok is now free to chat with on X (formerly Twitter), at least to a limited extent. Grok has been available only to people paying for an X Premium subscription until now, but after a few tests over the last few weeks, the free tier is now rolling out globally.

The free version of Grok employs the Grok-2 AI model, just like the Premium option. It includes a feature for producing images and Grok's signature "Fun Mode," which is supposed to make Grok's responses edgier, more provocative, and wittier than usual.

I'd recommend carefully watching your interactions with Grok if you don't want to pay for the subscription, though. The usage restrictions on the free tier may somewhat slow any rush of people switching from ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini.

You can send up to 10 messages to the chatbot every two hours without paying, and you can only ask the AI to make three images a day. That's enough for a taste, but clearly, X and xAI are hoping it's enough to entice people into signing up to pay at least $7 a month to engage with the chatbot more.

Grok and go

Even with these issues, X likely sees value in opening up access to Grok to those reluctant to pay for it. At the very least, it puts the chatbot in a better position to compete with ChatGPT and its rivals. It also fits with other moves by xAI, such as an expected mobile app launch in the near future.

Whether these moves will be enough is unclear, but with 12 Days of OpenAI keeping people interested in the technology focused on the ChatGPT creator, xAI may see value just in drawing any attention at all this month.

And there's the matter of the Flux AI image creator fueling Grok's feature. The tool has a somewhat laid-back approach to copyright and trademark rules, leading to lawyers issuing notes telling people to take down AI images they post of Mario and other characters owned by corporations.

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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 Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

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

NYT Connections today (game #544) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SUN
• FLY
• HORN
• WINGS
• ASSOCIATE
• LEGS
• FELLOW
• BOW
• STORM
• CHUM
• RELATE
• LIBERTY
• BAIT
• EQUATE
• LURE
• AFFILIATE

NYT Connections today (game #545) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Collected thoughts
• Green: Angling essentials
• Blue: Female ballers
• Purple: Extended words

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 #545) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: THINK OF TOGETHER
• GREEN: WAYS TO ATTRACT FISH
• BLUE: W.N.B.A. TEAMS
• PURPLE: LONG___ 

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

NYT Connections today (game #545) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #545, are…

• YELLOW: THINK OF TOGETHER AFFILIATE, ASSOCIATE, EQUATE, RELATE
• GREEN: WAYS TO ATTRACT FISH BAIT, CHUM, FLY, LURE
• BLUE: W.N.B.A. TEAMS LIBERTY, STORM, SUN, WINGS
• PURPLE: LONG___ BOW, FELLOW, HORN, LEGS

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 3 mistakes

In the UK, if someone is being friendly – or, indeed, unfriendly (it’s a fine line) – to a stranger in a bar they’ll most likely call them "mate". But what jumped out at me from today’s grid was some nicer ways to address someone you don’t know. Were you working for some fancy legal establishment I’m sure you’d be calling every other person your ASSOCIATE, AFFILIATE or FELLOW but where’s the fourth word for this formal group?

Casting my net not very far from home, it was easy to net FLY, CHUM, BAIT, and LURE into a bucket (see what I did there?). but the fact that it was the GREEN group meant there must be an easier catch on the grid.

Connections really does have a way of keeping you humble, and I went into a Shuffle frenzy trying to see the other sets. Thinking it must be describing an animal, I selected HORN, WINGS, LEGS, and BOW but was one away.

Scrubbing the “mate” idea completely, guesswork got me the YELLOW, and it was luck rather than knowledge of the WNBA that got me home. But it was hardly a slam dunk.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 6 December, game #544)

• YELLOW: BAFFLE PERPLEX, PUZZLE, STUMP, VEX
• GREEN: CURSE HEX, JINX, POX, SPELL
• BLUE: “TOY STORY” CHARACTERS, FAMILIARLY BUZZ, HAMM, REX, SLINKY
• PURPLE: COLLOQUIAL SUFFIXES CORE, GATE, MANIA, PILLED

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.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 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 NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

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

Quordle today (game #1048) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

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

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

Quordle today (game #1048) - 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 #1048) - 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 #1048) - 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 0.

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 #1048) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• S

• C

• V

• G

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

Quordle today (game #1048) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1048, are…

• SHAKY
• CROOK
• GHOUL
• VERSE

OK, Quordle, the gloves are off.

Having been nearly defeated yesterday I decided to have a proper go at the four-headed beast today and treat it like letter Battleships. First I hit it with that Wordle classic starter ADIEU – not a word many of us employ in regular life, but pretty useful for weeding out vowels in 5-letter word puzzle games. Next up, with just three strikes, I went O hunting and figuring that there’d be plenty on the board what with the lack of take up for A, E, I, and U guessed ‘boost” and hit double-O-heaven.

From here the remaining letters helped everything fall into place seamlessly. Take that Quordle!

I bid you adieu, gentle people.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1048) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1048, are…

• DULLY
• SNOOP
• PRAWN
• ATONE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1047, Friday 6 December: BRAWL, UNTIL, DOWRY, STING
• Quordle #1046, Thursday 5 December: AGING, BICEP, CLOVE, SPILL
• Quordle #1045, Wednesday 4 December: JUDGE, GIVER, GNASH, CLOAK
• Quordle #1044, Tuesday 3 December: FUDGE, THICK, CRANK, STASH
• Quordle #1043, Monday 2 December: TROPE, HOVER, SAUNA, SHAPE
• Quordle #1042, Sunday 1 December: NAIVE, CIRCA, STEAD, MICRO
• Quordle #1041, Saturday 30 November: MAMMA, SNUCK, CRYPT, TAROT
• Quordle #1040, Friday 29 November: JOIST, DROOL, DUSKY, GLIDE
• Quordle #1039, Thursday 28 November: GRADE, WORRY, NOISE, DAISY
• Quordle #1038, Wednesday 27 November: HEART, ROGUE, INEPT, UTILE
• Quordle #1037, Tuesday 26 November: PRIED, FAINT, HURRY, WOOER
• Quordle #1036, Monday 25 November: NUDGE, SNOOP, SHACK, DRYLY
• Quordle #1035, Sunday 24 November: CLOTH, CLAMP, PETTY, CHEST
• Quordle #1034, Saturday 23 November: AVOID, PLANT, FILET, TWIRL
• Quordle #1033, Friday 22 November: CUTIE, ALOOF, ETUDE, SILLY
• Quordle #1032, Thursday 21 November: RABBI, EAGER, COUGH, BRASH
• Quordle #1031, Wednesday 20 November: MINTY, TOPAZ, BRUSH, LAPEL
• Quordle #1030, Tuesday 19 November: NINJA, PENCE, PAINT, FOIST
• Quordle #1029, Monday 18 November: ASCOT, BRINK, WEIRD, HOMER
• Quordle #1028, Sunday 17 November: STATE, BRAWN, SWORE, URBAN

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

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

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

NYT Strands today (game #279) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Prepare to be eaten

NYT Strands today (game #279) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• STOP
• STAMP
• HEAT
• MATCH
• CHOP
• TOAST

NYT Strands today (game #279) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Spuds up

NYT Strands today (game #279) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: bottom, 4th column

Last: top, 6th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #279) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #279, are…

• FRIED
• BAKED
• MASHED
• ROASTED
• FONDANT
• SCALLOPED
• SPANGRAM: HOT POTATO

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Having spent far too long watching The Walking Dead, zombies – or “walkers” – was my first thought about today’s clue “Prepare to be eaten". I used to love that show, but then it turned into a zombie itself and self-replicated into other weaker versions of itself. Then those weaker versions self-replicated into even weaker more boring versions, so you could hardly recognize the old Walking Dead anymore.

Anyway, I digress because today’s Strands was actually about the greatest vegetable of them all – the beloved HOT POTATO – and some of the multiple ways in which it can be cooked. My favorite is smashed potatoes – boiled whole, then squished, then drizzled, then BAKED – it works, my friends.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, 6 December, game #278)

• CLUB
• BUNCH
• GROUP
• CROWD
• CIRCLE
• CLIQUE
• SOCIETY
• SPANGRAM: FELLOWSHIP

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.

Stop your dancing, lip-syncing, how-tos, restorations, commiserations, and online shops; TikTok just took another big step closer to the sharp blade of a US ban's guillotine. The massively popular app could disappear from US phones as early as next month, and while it's an outcome few want, it's the one we're most likely to get.

On Friday, a US federal court dismissed TikTok's counterclaim that the US government-ordered ban was unconstitutional in that it infringed on the platform's First Amendment free speech rights. The US Court of Appeals wasn't buying that argument and denied TikTok's petition. TikTok's owner, ByteDance, is fully expected to appeal at its last stop: the US Supreme Court.

No one, including me, expects them to win. The last best hope for TikTok is that exiting President Joe Biden decides to grant a last-minute extension. It's an option actually outlined in the ban and also unlikely, considering Biden fully backs this action.

Now, I know most of you know what TikTok is, and if the numbers are right and roughly more than half the country is using it, you understand how the social media platform works and why you're probably addicted to it. What you might not know is the source of the US government's near universal discomfort with TikTok: company owner ByteDance, a Chinese operation. All Chinese companies operate under the ever-watchful eye of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and, if asked, have to let them closely examine everything they do; this includes algorithms, programming, and data.

Right, you get where this is going.

An existential threat

When US lawmakers raised these concerns and started questioning TikTok directly, including CEO Shou Chew, the company responded with a detailed plan, Project Texas, to create a separate US arm that included all US-based executives and employees and the relocation of any US data that had been China to Oracle servers in California. TikTok in the US operated for all intents and purposes as a separate company from ByteDance's Chinese operations (the TikTok app doesn't even have the same name in China).

This was never enough for lawmakers or President Joe Biden, who signed the law that included the ban.

These efforts, however, do not have widespread support outside of Washington, D.C. TikTok users are almost apoplectic over the possible ban and have posted news reports and sometimes pleas to keep it alive in the US. In the past, TikTok enlisted major platform influencers to post on its behalf. None of it matters.

The issue here is the existential threat posed by China and its potential access to data regarding millions of Americans. Yes, the data is shielded from them, but there is not much clarity on whether Chinese officials can see or influence the algorithm that decides what you see next in your TikTok feed.

For TikTok fans, though, none of that matters. I recall seeing a TikTok where one young user told China to have her data. She did not care and was only interested in keeping TikTok.

That's a widely shared attitude among users. They're unsure what valuable secrets China gets from seeing their TikTok data. If the US Govt' says it's their personal details like name, home address, birth date, email, and phone number, the reality is that data is already out there and likely on the dark web. We've already been through the biggest data breaches, and often not at the hands of foreign adversaries.

At the same time, TikTokers understand that perhaps government officials shouldn't be on the platform because they're dealing with sensitive information relating to things like our infrastructure, water supply, and the grid.

Nothing better to do?

It's a bit galling that the US Government can somehow figure out how to ban an almost universally loved platform but cannot seem to agree on how to address any of our other larger problems.

There's always a chance that ByteDance will cave and sell because there is no other option. Still, I have trouble seeing China give up a crown jewel like TikTok to its greatest global rival (I contend it will be China and not ByrteDance, who decides if a sale happens).

The x factor here may be a change at the top. Incoming President Trump, who initially used an executive order in 2020 to address "the threat posed by one mobile app in particular, TikTok," joined Tiktok during the campaign but has offered little clarity on his ban stance. At one point, he claimed that banning Tiktok would strengthen Meta, an American company that Trump doesn't particularly like.

Trump's decision will hinge not just on his personal feelings but also on those around him. As one commentator noted, sitting right next to Trump will be Elon Musk, a key advisor and owner of X (formerly Twitter).

TikTok is doomed, isn't it?

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The second day of OpenAI's 12 Days of OpenAI shifted to less spectacular, more enterprise interests compared to the general rollout of the OpenAI o1 model to ChatGPT on day one.

Instead, OpenAI announced plans to release Reinforcement Fine-Tuning (RFT), a way to customize its AI models for developers who want to adapt OpenAI's algorithms for specific kinds of tasks, especially more complex ones. This release marks a clear shift toward enterprise applications compared to day one’s consumer-focused updates. You can think of RFT as a method for improving how AI models work through their reasoning for responses. Using a dataset and evaluation rubric from a developer lets OpenAI’s platform train their specialized AI without lots of expensive reinforcement from later experiences.

RFT could be a boon for AI tools employed in law and science. OpenAI highlighted in its live stream the CoCounsel AI assistant built with RFT by Thompson Reuters and how RFT helps researchers studying rare genetic diseases at Berkeley Lab. However, the business partnerships aren't going to make much difference in the short term for average users of ChatGPT or other OpenAI products.

today we are announcing reinforcement finetuning, which makes it really easy to create expert models in specific domains with very little training data.livestream going now: https://t.co/ABHFV8NiKcalpha program starting now, launching publicly in q1December 6, 2024

Enterprise or consumer

If you're more keen on the consumer side of things, don't give up just yet. While the enterprise tilt contrasts with day one, it's easy to imagine OpenAI wanting to have as broad a range of news during the 12 days as possible. There will almost certainly be plenty more consumer news to come. Perhaps alternating days or some other pattern.

Still, at least the ending joke from OpenAI was a little funnier than yesterday. The AI described how self-driving vehicles are popular in San Fransisco, and Santa is keen to make a self-driving sleigh as part of the trend. The problem is that it keeps hitting trees. What's the problem? He didn't pine-tune his models. Maybe the image ChatGPT made for TechRadar's Editor-at-Large Lance Ulanoff will sell the humor better.

(Image credit: ChatGPT) You might also like...

• ChatGPT o1 goes live and promises to solve all our science and math problems
• OpenAI’s Sora AI video generator set to launch as company announces '12 days of OpenAI
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