TechRadar News

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…

• PUZZLE
• MANIA
• BUZZ
• GATE
• CORE
• HEX
• VEX
• REX
• SLINKY
• STUMP
• POX
• PERPLEX
• JINX
• HAMM
• SPELL
• PILLED

NYT Connections today (game #544) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: State of confusion
• Green: Broomstick
• Blue: Playful Pixar pals
• Purple: The people have spoken

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 #544) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: BAFFLE 
• GREEN: CURSE
• BLUE: “TOY STORY” CHARACTERS, FAMILIARLY
• PURPLE: COLLOQUIAL SUFFIXES

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

NYT Connections today (game #544) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #544, are…

• 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

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 3 mistakes

The first thing that jumped out from today’s Connections was a collection of words ending in X. Surely we’re not going to fall into the trap of thinking they’re a group, right? Er…

No, no, let’s resist. With Wicked in theaters right now, words connected to witches seem timely, so HEX, SPELL, JINX, and POX didn’t require magical skills to spot.

Staying at the movies, the first thing that came to mind with the word BUZZ was the astronaut from the Toy Story movies. It helps being a parent who’s seen the movies about 62 times, of course, but I didn’t know the pig had two Ms until now.

As someone who exists in a near-permanent state of BAFFLEment today’s yellow was straightforward, but Purple had me stumped – my first thought was things connected to wrestling. I'm not sure what PILLED is, but it could be some killer Caretaker move, surely? Instead it was COLLOQUIAL SUFFIXES – every day’s a school day!

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, 5 December, game #543)

• YELLOW: APTITUDE FLAIR, GIFT, INSTINCT, NOSE
• GREEN: EXTERIOR FACE, FRONT, OUTSIDE, SURFACE
• BLUE: TECH COMPANIES AMAZON, APPLE, INTUIT, ORACLE
• PURPLE: __STONE BRIM, LIME, RHINE, YELLOW

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

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

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my 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 #278) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Find your people

NYT Strands today (game #278) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• LORE
• SCORE
• CROWS
• ROPE
• FELL
• FILE

NYT Strands today (game #278) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Join the gang

NYT Strands today (game #278) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: left, 4th row

Last: right, 4th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #278) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #278, are…

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

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Here’s my confession of the day – even though I only had the Spangram left I still managed to get it wrong – seeing HIP FELLOWS before the correct answer. Well, it sort of works. I’m sure there’s many a CLUB, SOCIETY, or CIRCLE whose members are hip fellows! Although they are most likely the ones where they serve port and people in woollen suits spend the entire day hiding behind enormous newspapers.

I’m an independent soul, not a joiner of things. Still, in my youth I was forever joining organizations in search of FELLOWSHIP and kindred companions who liked the same things I did then after not finding any, never returning. The truth is you need to stick these things out to “find your people” – so I would encourage readers to get with the in CROWD. Or, at least, give it a couple of weeks. We are many they are few and all that. Unless, of course, you want to form your own gang, in which case just a BUNCH will do.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, 5 December, game #277)

• ANGEL
• GRIFFIN
• DRAGON
• STORK
• BUTTERFLY
• FAIRY
• SPANGRAM: WINGED THING

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.

OpenAI's plan to celebrate the holiday season with the 12 Days of OpenAI began with a gift for ChatGPT users and a possible envelope full of cash for the company. The company announced the official release of the OpenAI o1 model for ChatGPT and a new $200 subscription tier for businesses called ChatGPT Pro.

OpenAI o1 debuted as a preview option for ChatGPT a few months ago, with the company boasting about the model's improved reasoning and logic abilities. The model breaks down questions and tasks into smaller parts and solves each before responding to a user. The idea is that OpenAI o1 improves the accuracy and usefulness of ChatGPT's answers. The preview had its standout moments, but the general release is several steps up from even that and includes more features.

According to OpenAI's tests, OpenAI o1 can solve 83% of the problems in the International Mathematics Olympiad qualifying exam, a massive improvement on GPT-4o, which only scored 13%. The new model makes fewer errors than the preview version, cutting down on major mistakes by 34%. The model's response time is also improved, which is key since the preview version was notably slower than GPT-4o.

It’s not just about raw problem-solving power, either. OpenAI o1’s general release adds the missing image processing feature available with GPT-4o but with the boosted logic of the new model. You can upload photos, and the model can analyze, explain, or even create step-by-step guides based on what it sees. It can transcribe handwriting, estimate relative size, and even explain how a random part fits into a larger machine.

You can see how it works in a post on X from OpenAI below.

OpenAI o1 is now out of preview in ChatGPT.What’s changed since the preview? A faster, more powerful reasoning model that’s better at coding, math & writing.o1 now also supports image uploads, allowing it to apply reasoning to visuals for more detailed & useful responses. pic.twitter.com/hrLiID3MhJDecember 5, 2024

(Image credit: OpenAI) $200 ChatGPT Pro

The power of OpenAI o1 comes with a commensurate cost in computing power, which is why free ChatGPT users and even those paying $20 for ChatGPT Plus won't have unlimited access to the new model.

If you want that, you'll have to pay ten times the ChatGPT Plus price for ChatGPT Pro. Because of that price point, the $200 monthly fee is aimed at businesses and professional groups, but it does come with unlimited access to the new model. ChatGPT Pro also includes better, exclusive versions of the GPT-4o model and the Advanced Voice feature. OpenAI is also setting up a grant program to give medical researchers free access to ChatGPT Pro.

Even with limits on use, OpenAI o1 is an undeniable improvement on GPT-4o that ChatGPT users at the free and $20 level will want to play with. OpenAI o1 is not GPT-5, the enormous upgrade that OpenAI fans are salivating for, but it's not nothing.

With rumors of stalled progress on recent AI models, OpenAI will need OpenAI o1 and whatever else it announced during the next 11 days to stay ahead of the burgeoning competition from the likes of Google Gemini, Meta AI, and other AI chatbots.

Of course, the most important question is how the new model's sense of humor compares to its preview form. Judging from this real example, there's plenty of work to be done:

"Santa trying to get LLM to do a math problem
Prompting really hard and not working
How did he fix it?
He used Reindeer enforcement learning"

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• AWS reveals new way for customers to buy partner and company software
• "Buy With AWS" aims to streamline procurement process
• Customers can add options such as free trials and request demos

Buying new or upgraded software services from AWS is set to get a whole lot more straightforward thanks to a new launch from the company.

At its AWS re:Invent 2024 event, the cloud and services giant revealed a new "Buy with AWS" button allowing users to buy from the company with just a single click.

The service will be available to any companies selling their products through the AWS Marketplace, helping them boost visibility and discovery to new customers and partners.

Buy with AWS

(Image credit: AWS)

Similar to its existing "Buy with Prime" consumer shopping tool, the company says its new Buy with AWS button will allow for quick and secure purchases, with using simply needing to log into their AWS account to complete the transaction.

Being located entirely within AWS Marketplace also means customers can enjoy combined and consolidated billing, and manage their subscriptions in one easy location - including access to upgrades and updated offerings.

Users will also be able to request demos, access free trials, and submit cost requests, with access to cost optimization tools also meaning they can get the best deal possible.

"AWS Marketplace is a curated digital store for you to find, buy, deploy, and manage cloud solutions from Partners," a company blog post announcing the news noted. "Buy with AWS is another step towards AWS Marketplace making it easy for you to find and procure the right Partner solutions, when and where you need them."

The likes of Wiz, Bytes, Databricks and more have already been signed up for the service, with many others set to join soon.

The service is available now - you can find out more information here.

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• Microsoft's AI assistant can now see in the Copilot Vision preview
• Now out in a limited beta for a select few, Copilot can browse the web in Edge
• It's entirely opt-in, but you'll be able to converse with Copilot about what you're seeing

Similar to how Windows Recall will give AI access to what’s on your screen, Microsoft’s rolling out a similar experience for Copilot in a limited preview. Originally teased alongside the redesign of Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot Vision is now rolling out as an early preview for a select few in the United States.

As the name suggests, it will let Copilot see what’s on your screen, specifically within Microsoft’s Edge browser, so it can essentially browse the web with you. This way, you can hit it with topical questions about what you’re seeing – be it an illustration, a video, type-based text, or even handwriting. And no, you won't need to type these out, but you can converse with Copilot with just your voice.

In an announcement post published by Microsoft, Copilot Vision is described as: “When you choose to enable Copilot Vision, it sees the page you’re on, it reads along with you, and you can talk through the problem you’re facing together. Browsing no longer needs to be a lonely experience with just you and all your tabs.”

It seems like it’s almost being pitched as a companion, so if you’re browsing a shopping website like Amazon or Zappos, you could potentially ask for suggestions about what you’re looking at. Moreover, though, if you're browsing restaurant reviews, you could ask if any mention a specific event – like good for anniversaries – or ask for other recommendations. Seeing how it’s built directly into Edge – if you opt-in – Microsoft seemingly hopes that it’ll be called upon quite a bit and prove to be useful.

Microsoft is also sharing three of Copilot Vision being used for shopping, planning a trip to a museum, and gaming. The latter is almost similar to Game Assist in Edge, which reduces the need to alt-tab.

Suppose you’re concerned about privacy with Copilot Vision, which may be similar to Recall, which finally launched in November in beta. In that case, you'll be happy that Microsoft is taking a better approach with this new AI feature. It’s entirely opt-in and is only currently available via Copilot Labs to a limited number of Copilot Pro subscribers in the United States.

Furthermore, in its current build, Copilot Vision is only available for a select set of websites, and it seems Microsoft will only expand on that when it deems it ready to do so. Slow and steady will be the approach for adding more subscribers and expanding the sites it works with; Microsoft explains: “We’re taking our time to gather feedback, iterate on the technology, and will expand access to more Pro subscribers and more websites over time.”

If you’re in the early beta of Copilot Vision, another win is that after the session, the associated data and the context it’s used within will be deleted. So that information does not stick around Copilot, only the response to the tools “are logged to improve our safety systems,” says Microsoft.

If you’re keen to give it a go and are a Copilot Pro subscriber in the United States, you can check via Copilot Labs to see if Copilot Vision for Edge is available as a preview for you.

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• The MSI Claw 8 AI+ and MSI Claw 7 AI+ are MSI's second-gen gaming handhelds
• Both handhelds are powered by the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V with Intel Arc Xe2 graphics
• Preorder the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+ at Amazon, Best Buy, or the MSI store

MSI launched its latest gaming handhelds, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and MSI Claw 7 AI+, this week, following up on its inaugural MSI Claw that launched earlier this year.

The new MSI Claw handhelds will feature the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V system-on-a-chip (SoC), which features Intel's new Arc Xe2 graphics architecture for improved gaming performance and efficiency. The first MSI Claw featured Intel's previous generation SoC, and the handheld received somewhat mixed reviews regarding performance.

With the second-generation Intel Core Ultra 7 chip, however, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+ should be able to move past the problems of its predecessor. Though, we won't know for sure until we get our hands on one ourselves.

In addition to the Core Ultra 7 chip, the Claw 8 AI+ will feature an 8-inch 1200p, 120Hz display with 100% sRGB color gamut and up to 500 nits brightness. It also comes with 32GB LPDDR5x-8533 RAM (impressive for a gaming handheld), a 1TB PCIe SSD, and a massive 80 WHr battery with 65W USB 3.,0 power delivery.

The Claw 7 AI+, meanwhile, differs from the above only in its screen size – it's 7 inches rather than 8 inches – and a smaller 54.5 WHr battery.

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is available for preorder now at Best Buy, Amazon, and the MSI Store for $899.99 in the US, while the Claw 7 AI+ is available for $799.99 (about £700 / £630, respectively, in the UK, and about AU$1,400 / AU$1,245 in Australia, though UK and Australia availability and pricing have not yet been confirmed).

Time to get excited for the MSI Claw again?

When the original MSI Claw debuted at CES 2024, I was as excited as anyone to see what the new handheld, the first powered by an Intel chip, could do. With the Intel Core Ultra 100-series SoC, the first Claw had some things going for it, such as hardware accelerated upscaling via XeSS, the first gaming handheld to do so.

Unfortunately, the gaming performance of the Intel Core Ultra 100-series chips was somewhat underwhelming, especially compared to the AMD Z1 chips powering devices like the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally.

However, the new MSI Claws might be in a much better position this time, thanks to Intel's upgraded Lunar Lake chips. In the laptops we've been able to test with Intel Core Ultra 200-series chips, their performance has been fantastic, and their gaming performance has been surprisingly excellent.

Pair that with improved energy efficiency from the re-engineered Intel architecture, and you might have a gaming handheld that gets fantastic performance and much longer battery life – two things that can make or break a gaming handheld's appeal.

I can't say yet whether the new Claw models can deliver, but in my limited time previewing the Claw 8 AI+ at IFA 2024, it did seem to be a very different beast than the original. Was it enough to justify an $899.99 price tag? That remains to be seen.

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As 2025 approaches and 'New Year, new you' pressures build for those of us not keen on jogging or hitting the gym, you should know that there’s an awesome alternative to traditional fitness with Quell, one of my favorite workout apps of 2024. And today’s big announcement is that the gamified routines it offers are finally coming to Meta Quest headsets in January 2025.

For those of you that missed Quell at launch, it was originally a PC fitness platform. You’d use the controllers to punch your way through its fantasy adventure game Shardfall while wearing resistance bands that make it tougher than typical shadow boxing. The full-body HIT sessions felt intense, yet Shardfall did an excellent job of keeping me motivated by contextualizing my actions – I wasn’t just doing another rep for the sake of it, I was throwing another punch because I needed to defeat the monster in my way.

VR players can soon try this experience using a Meta Quest headset – sans the resistance bands unless they choose to buy some. That’s because Shardfall is coming to Quest as Shardfall: FitQuest VR for $19.99 / £14.99 at Meta.com, and I’m pretty darn excited about it.

Shardfall will be at home in VR

Quell is great, but it'll be right at home in VR (Image credit: Quell)

The Quell hardware system costs $199 / £189 while the software subscription to access Shardfall (and future game releases) only costs $4.99 / £4.99 a month or $39.99 / £39.99 a year which I feel is a pretty good price for the kit when compared to other fitness gear or a gym membership, but it is an added expense that people might not be willing to pay for a system that can only be used with Quell games.

As a $19.99 / £14.99 add-on to your existing VR headset, Shardfall in VR is a much easier sell, and I strongly recommend everyone give it a try at launch. The combat exercises are an engaging boxing sim that does well to incorporate a full-body routine with ducks and jumps to dodge certain attacks and hazards, and it also includes jogging sections between fights that get your heart rate up.

It'll be a shame to lose the resistance bands, but again that could aid Shardfall’s accessibility as its exercises will be a little less challenging – though I expect the full-body routines will still give you a decent workout without them.

When the VR version launches I’ll certainly be there to give it a go, and if you’re looking for a more interesting way to kickstart your 2025 fitness schedule I recommend you join me.

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• Azure Integrated HSM boosts security with cryptographic key protection
• Reduces latency and scales better than network-attached HSMs
• Keys stay isolated, ensuring tamper-resistant, in-use protection

Microsoft has introduced a new hardware security module designed to boost cloud security by enabling cryptographic key protection directly within server environments. 

Azure Integrated HSM addresses latency and scalability challenges often associated with traditional network-attached HSMs while adhering to FIPS 140-3 Level 3 security requirements.

The new hardware module provides locally attached cryptographic services for encryption, decryption, signing, and verification. Keys remain isolated from software, including guest and host systems, ensuring strong physical and logical tamper protection. Unlike traditional HSMs, which introduce network latency or require key release to local environments, Azure Integrated HSM securely retains keys within the module for continuous in-use protection.

Coming to all new Microsoft data center servers

"As part of our systems approach in optimizing every layer in our infrastructure, security is a key priority, and we are designing our infrastructure hardware with multiple layers of defense with dedicated innovations to ensure robust protection for Microsoft and for our customers," noted Mark Russinovich, Microsoft’s CTO for Azure.

The module is designed to integrate seamlessly with both confidential and general-purpose virtual machines and containers, providing dedicated, secure partitions for each workload. These partitions are hardware-isolated, allowing workloads to access keys only through controlled oracle functions. This design boosts security and reduces latency with node-integrated connections and cryptographic hardware accelerators.

Azure Integrated HSM will be installed in all new servers across Microsoft data centers starting next year, bolstering protection across Azure’s hardware fleet. This deployment is part of the Secure Future Initiative, which also includes Adams Bridge quantum-resilient accelerator and Caliptra 2.0 silicon root of trust.

“By integrating advanced hardware security features such as the silicon root of trust and secure control modules, we are providing the foundation for the trust and security that Azure delivers to our customers,” Russinovich said. “We are committed to continuously enhancing our cloud hardware security capabilities to meet the evolving needs of our customers.”

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The BBC have released a new look at Joy to the World, the 2024 Doctor Who Christmas Special and it looks every bit the bonkers brilliance we’d expect from the The Doctor’s (Ncuti Gatwa from Sex Education) festive outings.

The new trailer gives us a much bigger glimpse of the 'Time Hotel', a secret venue in which guests can stay in rooms throughout the hotel’s history, bending the rules of time and space to spend a night or two in the past. We also meet Nicola Coughlan’s (Derry Girls) Joy, a one off companion and mysterious guest of the hotel. As Joel Fry’s (Game of Thrones) concierge Trev puts it, it’s “Christmas, everywhere, all at once”. There’s also runaway trains, a hungry T-Rex, ancient tombs, and the small matter of a second Doctor.

The special will air on BBC One and be available to stream on BBC iPlayer on Christmas Day in the UK, with international viewers able to stream on Disney Plus. And it promises to be quite the present to unwrap as “the episode introduces Joy, who checks into a London hotel in 2024, only to discover that her quiet stay is anything but ordinary. When Joy opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel, she discovers danger, dinosaurs and the Doctor. But a deadly plan is unfolding across the Earth, just in time for Christmas. Where has the Doctor been? What is going on in Joy’s hotel room? An old enemy of the Doctor’s is lurking in the wings and all of human history hangs in the balance. Can the Doctor save Christmas?”

While Russell T. Davies is now back on board as showrunner for this new era, the 2024 special is penned by another former head honcho – Steven Moffat. Moffat ran the show during the tenures of the Eleventh (Matt Smith) and Twelfth (Peter Capaldi) Doctors, producing what many fans would argue are the best Christmas specials the show has aired. Add that to the fact that a Christmas Day visit from the Doctor only made its return last year after somewhat of a hiatus (although there were a few New Years episodes during that time), and it’s safe to say excitement is out of this world.

The new special continues somewhat of a reboot phase for the show, which rebranded to season one when Ncuti Gatwa took the reins for his first full season earlier in the year. The return of Davies as showrunner signaled an attempt to recapture the heights of the David Tennant era, even going so far as to sneak the actor back in as the Fourteenth Doctor, a short tenure between Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor and the current incarnation that lasted through just the three 60th Anniversary Specials.

Gatwa took over after the bi-generation in that mini-run’s finale and had his debut proper in last year's Christmas special, “The Church on Ruby Road.” But with an entire season under his belt, it’s all now business as usual for Gatwa, who excelled in the role throughout the eight-episode run, delivering one powerhouse performance after another. The Christmas specials are normally fluffier affairs than the likes of space racists and vengeful ancient gods, so this should be an opportunity for Gatwa to have some fun with the role. Although if the adventures of the Fifteenth Doctor so far are anything to go by, while snow may not fall this Christmas, tears certainly will.

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• Cyber Monday spend hits $13.3bn in 2024 as the season total draws in on $240.8bn
• American consumers spent $15.8 million every minute at its peak
• Generative AI is starting to play a bigger role in purchasing decisions

American consumers pushed Cyber Monday spend to $13.3 billion in 2024, making it the biggest such event in history and surpassing initial predictions by over $100 million, new figures have claimed.

Adobe’s analysis found sales were up 7.3% year-over-year, meaning Cyber Monday has now become the largest online shopping day of the year, building on the hype of the preceding Black Friday deals.

In two hours alone between 8pm and 10pm, US buyers spent a whopping $15.8 million every minute, or about $1.9 billion in 120 minutes.

Cyber Monday is America’s favorite shopping day

The report claimed the five-day 2024 "Cyber Week" – beginning on Thanksgiving and ending on Cyber Monday – brought in $41.1 billion in sales, up 8.2% year-on-year. Current predictions estimate that the two-month holiday season, from November 1 to December 31, will bring in $240.8 billion in sales. If this is true, it would mark an 8.4% yearly rise, but already this season sales stand at $131.5 billion, up 9.0%.

Continually tough economic conditions have kept some consumers thinking twice about their spending, however generous discounts countered this and kept up spending. Electronics saw an average markdown of 30.1%, toys at 26.1%, and clothing at 23.2%.

Surprisingly, while the true power of artificial intelligence is yet to be realized outside of the office, GenAI-powered chatbots helped consumers make purchasing decisions more than ever this year, boosting traffic to retail sites by a staggering 1,950%. Social media influencers also saw their share of revenue increase 6.8% year-over-year.

Most consumers (57%) purchased via mobile, with Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services accounting for $991.2 million in transactions – about 7.5% of Cyber Monday’s purchases from a financial perspective.

“Early discounts were strong enough that many consumers felt comfortable hitting the buy button earlier on during Cyber Week, with Cyber Monday becoming ‘last call’ for shoppers to take advantage of big holiday deals," noted Adobe Digital Insights lead analyst Vivek Pandya.

Looking ahead, Adobe predicts discounts to become less attractive through December 2024, but key categories like electronics, toys and appliances are still likely to offer healthy savings, enabling buyers to purchase higher ticket items and driving total spend up.

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• Ikea's smart lights can now intelligently adjust throughout the day
• These aren't the first lights to do this, and Ikea is taking a page out of Philips Hue's book
• It remains to be seen if these intelligent features will be expanded on

While Ikea’s smart lights – bulbs, fixtures, and lamps – are generally much less expensive than the likes of Philips Hue products, a new update sees the furniture giant taking a page out of the more expensive smart lighting brand's book. Oh, and Apple’s, too.

The Ikea Home Smart app for iOS has added the ability for dynamic adaptive lighting, which means the various connected lights can intelligently change brightness and color throughout the day. Ikea succinctly sums up the feature as “It’s great for mind, body and soul.”

(Image credit: IKEA)

Like Apple Home’s Adaptive Lighting or Philips Hue's ‘Natural’ scene, Ikea Home Smart will adjust the bulbs to cooler temperatures during the day, and warmer hues towards the end of the day. Ikea notes that the adjustments will be automatic. Still, considering that you can manually set brightness, color, and temperature, it’s likely that you'll be able to override the adaptive adjustments or potentially bake these into a custom routine.

Seeing that bulbs from Nanoleaf and Philips Hue integrate with Apple Home’s own adaptive lighting, whether Ikea’s lineup will integrate with that standard remains to be seen. Remember, you have previously needed an extra hub to use Ikea’s products within Apple Home.

The update containing dynamic and adaptive lighting first hit Apple’s App Store on December 3, 2024, with a subsequent bug-fixing focused on December 5, 2024. However, the Ikea Home Smart app for Android does show a new version on December 3, 2024, but the Play Store doesn’t detail the changes, as Notebook Check first pointed out.

Either way, considering how affordable Ikea’s smart light lineup is, scoring a feature that’s found on more expensive bulbs and ecosystems is a real win. It might just up the appeal of Ikea’s lights if you’re considering investing in new smart home products.

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• Epic Games has released new details regarding Fortnite OG
• Fortnite OG will bring back the game's original weapon pool and iconic locations
• Building and traversal mechanics present in the base game will be featured in Fortnite OG

Epic Games has shared new details on Fortnite OG ahead of its long-awaited release tomorrow.

Fortnite will finally return to its roots on December 6 with the addition of Fortnite OG, a permanent game mode that will take players back to the game's vanilla form, and was first introduced last year for a limited time.

In a new blog, posted today, Epic Games revealed the details for the highly-anticipated update, confirming that all original loot, locations, and gameplay will make a return in Fortnite OG Chapter 1 - Season 1.

"To start, Fortnite OG will run through the original initial Seasons of Chapter 1, recreating those early days, right down to loot pool changes and feature introductions," Epic explained.

Fortnite OG seasons will be shorter than they are in Battle Royale currently, so players can expect Season One to end on January 31.

While Solos, Squads, and Zero Build will be available right away, Ranked mode will be "coming soon".

Epic also made it clear that although Fortnite OG will be returning to its original state, quality-of-life changes that have been implemented over the years will still be present.

For instance, building mechanics will stay the same, and traversal will still feature all the latest abilities like sprint, slide, mantle, door bash, and healing while moving.

"Some of the rough edges from that era have been preserved, while others have been polished," the developer added. "For example, you’ll find Reboot Vans and be able to see the glare from a sniper scope, but max building resources are set to 999 and double pump is enabled for Shotguns (for now)."

As previously mentioned, the original loot pool will be available, meaning all weapons featured in the game seven years ago will be accessible, like the Assault Rifle, Burst Assault Rifle, Scoped Assault Rifle, Pump Shotgun, Tactical Shotgun, Grenade Launcher, Damage Trap, and more.

Like every new mode, Fortnite OG will also have its own Battle Pass. This version will feature 45 tiers of "retro rewards with a modern twist on classic items and Outfits" and players will be able to earn Renegade Rebel, Aerial Assault Bomber, and Skull Commander, with an unlockable alt style for each.

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• Chrome for Android is testing a new feature to easily reorder tab groups with a long-press function
• The new feature allows users to drag-and-drop tab groups more easily, improving tab management and organization in Chrome
• This update follows other enhancements like color-coding, syncing across devices, and sharing tab groups for better organization

Google’s Chrome team is currently testing a new feature for the Android version of the browser, namely a new way to reorder tab groups more easily. A tab group allows you to organize your open tabs into collections, which can make them easier to manage and to keep track of.

It’s reported that a reference to the new feature, the experimental tag #tab-strip-group-reorder-android, was found in a preview version of Chrome for Android. MSPowerUser explains that the flag adds a new functionality to this feature that enables you to enter ‘reorder mode’ in the browser by long-pressing the tab group indicators. Once in this mode, you can then drag-and-drop the tab group into a new position.

Previously, you would have had to tap and hold the group name or colored circle of the tab group to do this.

(Image credit: Google) Glimpses for what lies ahead for Chrome

Savvy observers spotted recent Chromium Gerrit changes seemingly related to the new feature, with Chromium being Google’s open source browser project on which many browsers are based on (Chrome included) and Gerrit being a code review tool used by Chromium developers. Here, a message describing the #tab-strip-group-reorder-android flag explains the long-press function that would allow users to reorder tab groups.

The hope is that those of us who get overwhelmed and overrun with tabs can get a handle on them by being able to sort them into groups.

This change follows other recent updates that have made tabs easier to track and manage, including color-coding which allows you to assign colors to a tab group, syncing across devices so you can see tab groups created on other devices with the same Google account, and sharing tab groups with others.

Google Chrome is still the market leader when it comes to browsers – in fact, so much so that US regulators are pressuring Google to spin it off into a separate company. However, I’m glad to see that Chrome developers are continuing to improve the experience for users and I think their efforts are a huge reason why people continue to use Chrome. Since this new long-press feature is already in previews with users, I expect that we’ll see it in an update including it pretty soon.

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• Expressive Captions add feelings and [gasp] emotions to Android's Live Captions
• Google Lookout gets new Gemini enhancements
• Gemini on Pixel phones will now remember more information about you and your interests

Google has released a number of new AI features for most Android phones, plus a couple that work only on its Pixel range of devices.

Some of the new features work in Google Gemini, Google’s AI app, but most of them work throughout the whole Android operating system, which means there will be some big changes for Android users. Let’s break it down.

Expressive Captions

Here's how the same football game looks with Expressive Captions turned off and on (Image credit: Google)

First up are Expressive Captions, which are a way of bringing more emotions into the rather dull and lifeless world of subtitles and captions. Google introduced Live Captions to Android back in 2019, so if anything plays audio on your phone, it also has captions. They work much the same way that automatic subtitles do on YouTube videos – your phone generates them live, based on what it interprets the person is saying.

Live Captions, however, remain rather lifeless. With Expressive Captions, Google is utilizing the power of AI to help you get more of the context of what's happening. You’ll see comments in square brackets like [whispers] and [cheers and applause] appearing amongst captions, giving you a better understanding of the feelings and emotions being conveyed.

Intense vocalizations will be written in [ALL CAPS], while vocalizations like [sighing], [grunting] and [gasping] will also appear. Ambient background sounds will also be tagged. Because Live Captions are part of the operating system you’ll now get Expressive Captions with most things you watch, so look out for them.

Gemini in Lookout

(Image credit: Google)

Google Lookout is an assisted-vision app that’s available on Android devices via the Play Store. It uses AI to help people with low levels of vision, or sight loss, explore the world around them using their phone’s camera. You can use it for reading out text, scanning food labels, currency identification, and even scanning your surroundings to identify things like doors and windows and find out how far away they are.

Now Gemini AI is part of the Lookout app, which means it has much richer, more helpful descriptions. If you take a photo in the app you’ll now hear its description read aloud in a natural-sounding voice, and you can ask Loopout follow-up questions about it.

New Gemini extensions

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

The more extensions that Google Gemini has, the more apps it can bring its AI magic to. Now Gemini has a new Spotify extension, which means you can play your favorite songs or discover playlists from within Gemini.

Gemini will now also connect to your phone and messages app, meaning you can call contacts and send messages from within Gemini. Google says that “soon” you'll be able to use Gemini to control your smart home devices. Finally, Gemini will now also connect to Maps, which means you’ll get more information about places.

More Android features

Pizza-themed sticker combos available in Emoji Kitchen. (Image credit: Google)

Also in the December update you’ll find new pizza-theme sticker combos that you can share with friends using Emoji Kitchen in Gboard, Google’s keyboard app. You can also use QR codes in Quick Share, which makes it easy to share pictures, videos and documents without having to add people as contacts or verify devices. Now you just generate a QR code for people to scan. Documents you scan using your phone will also now be improved, with better contrast and white balance.

Pixel-only features

Circle to search on a Pixel phone. (Image credit: Google)

If you’ve got a Google Pixel phone then you get some extra features in the December Android update. There are a lot of small updates to things like the camera and security settings, but the most important feature is Gemini Saved Info. This means you can ask Gemini to remember more about you, what you’re interested in, and what you like, so that it can tailor its responses to more of what you’ll be interested in.

Pixel users will also get some updates to the Pixel-exclusive app, Pixel Screenshots. Pixel Screenshots uses Gemini to analyze and recall the information embedded in your screenshots. Now you can use Pixel Screenshots to save things when you’re using Circle to Search with just one tap.

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• iVerify has asked volunteers to scan devices for spyware
• Of the 2,500 scanned, 7 were infected
• The Pegasus spyware found is notoriously used against high-value targets

Spyware risks have been rising fast in recent years, and although security firms always advise caution, the consensus has been that only a very small number of people are affected by the attacks.

However new research from iVerify claims high-powered Pegasus spyware may be more common than previously thought.

The mobile security firm scanned the devices of 2,500 users who volunteered to use the iVerify Mobile Threat Hunting feature - and seven instances were discovered. This might not seem like a high number, or even a high percentage, but at a rate of 2.5 infected devices per 1,000 scans - this is "far higher than any previously published reports," iVerify confirmed.

High risk targets

Given the nature of the spyware and threat detection users, Mobile Threat Hunting software users are more likely to be those who are at a higher risk of spyware, such as government officials, journalists, and corporate executives.

The Pegasus software was developed by the Israeli NSO group in 2011, and can be used to remotely surveil individuals on both Android and iPhone devices. The spyware has been linked to so many instances to target political opponents, journalists, and dissidents, that the US halted the visas of anyone involved in its misuse earlier in 2024.

By offering a mobile threat scanner, iVerify is working to ‘democratize’ the mobile threat landscape, hoping to reveal the true scope of malware and protect mobile users.

“Traditional security models fail to capture the nuanced threats facing mobile devices,” iVerify confirmed in a statement.

“In the past, Pegasus detections have been rare due to a lack of effective detection solutions, but with improved detection and remediation methods, we believe there is more compromise than is currently understood.”

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• Samsung's first One UI 7 beta is rolling out to Galaxy S24 devices
• It ushers in some major Galaxy AI updates, including call transcription
• Beyond AI, One UI 7 also makes some UX changes

At long last, Samsung has begun rolling out a beta version of its One UI 7 software update for Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra devices.

Based on Android 15, One UI 7 – which will debut in finished form alongside the Samsung Galaxy S25 series next year – overhauls several key Samsung UI elements, including default app icons, the Quick Settings tray, and the Galaxy camera interface.

Galaxy S24-owning Samsung users in the US and South Korea can download the One UI 7 beta now, with other regions set to follow in the coming days. Below, we’ve rounded up five new features to check out once you’ve installed it.

Advanced writing assist tools

(Image credit: Samsung / Future)

Samsung kicked off the Great Smartphone AI Craze of 2024 with its Galaxy AI feature suite in January, and the company has continued to improve its AI features with each new update to One UI.

That trend continues in One UI 7, with AI-powered writing tools (Chat Assist, etc.) proving the subject of the latest software-based facelift. Galaxy AI users can already summarize content, check spelling and grammar, and automatically format notes into bullet points, but One UI 7 now “allows users to boost their productivity where texts can be selected, without needing to switch between applications,” Samsung says.

We’ve reached out to the company for confirmation on exactly what that means, but it sounds like One UI 7 will make Samsung’s existing AI-powered writing tools more readily available (i.e. useable) in more apps.

AI-powered call transcription

(Image credit: Samsung / Future)

Owners of the best Samsung phones have had access to a built-in phone call recording tool since Android 9, but until now, there’s been no native method for transcribing phone calls on Galaxy devices.

One UI 7 finally introduces an AI-powered call transcription feature, meaning users can now choose to have their recorded calls automatically transcribed for reference later on. Apple rolled out a similar Apple Intelligence-based feature in iOS 18.1, as did Google for the Pixel 9 series, so we’re glad to see Samsung joining the pack.

At launch, Samsung’s AI-powered call transcription feature will support 20 languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean.

The Now Bar

(Image credit: Samsung / Future)

The most interesting new One UI 7 feature of the bunch is the Now Bar, a new notification system that “highlights relevant activities across various features like Interpreter, Music, Recording, Stopwatch and more.” Samsung says this new widget – which is accessible from your phone’s lock screen – “reduces the need to constantly unlock the device and allows users to engage with key information effortlessly.”

Think of the Now Bar as Samsung’s version of Apple’s Dynamic Island, but bigger and capable of displaying a larger number of notifications.

A redesigned camera UX

(Image credit: Samsung / Future)

Good news, photography fans: One UI 7 introduces a redesigned camera UX. Samsung says camera buttons, controls, and modes have been “reorganized [in One UI 7] to make it easier to find the features you need and to give you a clearer preview of the picture you’re taking or the video you're recording.”

The manual settings layout has also been simplified in Pro and Pro video shooting modes, meaning it should be easier to focus on your subject, and a new zoom control has been added, too, to help you control the zoom speed for smoother transitions. Neat!

Streamlined home screen

(Image credit: Samsung / Future)

In addition to bringing changes to notifications, Galaxy AI features, and the Camera app, One UI 7 also streamlines the Galaxy home screen. The update brings a “significant new look” and a “simple, impactful, and emotive design” to One UI widgets, app icons, and the lock screen, which Samsung hopes will encourage customization and de-clutter previously mess-prone pages.

In the past, we’ve been critical of Samsung’s approach to app and menu presentation, so we’re glad to see the company taking a leaf out of Apple’s book in this regard. Indeed, Samsung executive Patrick Chomet told TechRadar back in January that his “dream for Galaxy AI [is to reach a point where he doesn’t] ever need to go to settings,” and One UI 7 brings the Galaxy ecosystem one step closer to that utopian vision.

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• 'Fix problems using Windows Update' is a handy tool for solving issues
• It lets you quickly reinstall Windows 11
• It's only available in Windows 11 22H2 or newer

Windows 11 has been having a rough time of it recently, with Microsoft releasing a series of controversial and sometimes faulty updates – but to be fair, it’s also been releasing tools to help its users who encounter problems, and one of the most promising is called, with a refreshingly straightforward name, ‘Fix problems using Windows Update.’

As Neowin reports, while the tool first appeared for testing back in 2023, it’s now officially been added to Windows 11, and Microsoft has released support documentation explaining what the tool does, saying it “will reinstall the current version of Windows on your device.”

Over my many years of helping friends, family, and - most importantly of all - TechRadar readers fix their PCs, one sure-fire way of getting things running normally again is to reinstall Windows. In the past, this was usually left as a last resort due to how time consuming reinstalling the entire operating system was.

To Microsoft’s credit, reinstalling Windows 11 is now a much easier process, as you don’t need to dig out a DVD or product key, and there are options to ‘reset’ your PC while keeping your personal files (rather than having to back them up to external storage).

It looks like ‘Fix problems using Windows Update’ will be another easy way to reinstall Windows 11 with (hopefully) minimal disruption to users. Windows 11's Settings app says the tool will “Reinstall your current version of Windows (your apps, files, and settings will be preserved).”

I’ve not tried it yet (thankfully I’ve not needed to) but when it mentions preserving your apps, hopefully that means your applications remain installed, rather than what currently happens when you reset Windows 11, which removes all programs, but gives shortcuts to redownload apps from the Microsoft Store.

Not for everyone

The tool can be found by going to Settings > System > Recovery, and will also appear if an update fails to install.

This does seem to be a genuinely useful tool that is sadly increasingly necessary as more Windows 11 problems emerge. The issue Microsoft has, which Apple doesn’t face with its macOS operating system, is that there are essentially an infinite range of PCs it needs to support with a mixture of hardware from different companies, and this means that issue-free releases for Windows can be rare. Making it easier to reinstall important files and fix problems is a good step in the right direction.

However, not everyone with Windows 11 will be able to use the tool – you’ll need to have Windows 11 22H2 or newer installed with the February 2024 optional update also installed. People on older versions of Windows 11, or use Windows 10, are out of luck.

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• Longmire will move from Netflix to Paramount Plus on January 1, 2025
• Paramount Plus is becoming the home of contemporary western dramas
• The author of Longmire novels shared desires for the series to be revived

Over the years, Paramount Plus has built up a packed library of neo-Western dramas. It's not just responsible for the behemothYellowstone, along with its two prequels 1883 and 1923, but it's also home to other modern Westerns like Joe Pickett and Deadwood.

The streaming service has added another hit Western to its sprawling catalog with Longmire, which is set to leave Netflix after a decade on the US platform on January 1, 2025, according to What's On Netflix.

Longmire is Netflix's version of Yellowstone if you will, and premiered on A&E Network in 2012, before being added to the best streaming service where it completed its six-season run in 2017. Longmire is regarded as one of the best Western shows of all time by ScreenRant, so it's a shame to see it leave Netflix especially since the genre has had a resurgence thanks to the likes of Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone.

While Longmire is still a popular series with an 88% Rotten Tomatoes score from the critics, it was ahead of its time as it was released before Yellowstone rode onto the scene and made cowboys popular again. However, it is a relief to hear that Longmire has found a new home on Paramount Plus, which could give the series a new lease of life and attract a wider audience.

What is Longmire about?

Based on the Walt Longmire Mysteries novel series by Craig Johnson, Longmire follows Sheriff Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor), who investigates major crimes in a small town in Wyoming with the help of his staff, friends and daughter following the death of his wife.

With the news that Longmire was being moved to Paramount Plus, author Craig Johnson took to social media (see below) to share his hopes that the series would be revived and what he thought about the show leaving Netflix.

Posted by OfficialCraigJohnson on 

We can only hope that Paramount Plus will bring back another season of one of the best Netflix shows, especially since there's plenty of source material to inspire more seasons. After the show came to an end, Johnson published eight new books including Depth of Winter, Land of Wolves, Next to Last Stand, Daughter of the Morning Star and more.

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• Former PlayStation chief Shawn Layden thinks hardware innovation "is starting to plateau"
• Layden doesn't think there will be another PS1 to PS2 jump in performance
• He says the real competition is "content"

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden has said there likely won't be another major jump in hardware performance as it's already been 'maxed out'.

Speaking in a recent interview with Eurogamer, Layden discussed the future of PlayStation amid the company's 30th anniversary, as well as the technological advancement of today's current consoles compared to that of the PS1.

"I think we're at a point where the console becomes irrelevant in the next... if not the next generation then the next next generation definitely," Layden said.

When asked if he thinks consoles could see another major leap in performance ever again, like the recent release of the PS5 Pro, the ex-PlayStation chief said he isn't sure what that would look like.

"I don't think so. I mean, what would that leap look like? It would be perfectly-realized human actors in a game that you completely control. That could happen one day. I don't think it's going to happen in my lifetime," he said.

"We're at a point now where the innovation curve on the hardware is starting to plateau, or top out. At the same time, the commoditization of the silicon means that when you open up an Xbox or PlayStation, it's really pretty much the same chipset. It's all built by AMD. Each company has their own OS and proprietary secret sauce, but in essence [it's the same]. I think we're pretty much close to final spec for what a console could be."

Layden went on to discuss the release of PlayStation's consoles over the years and how each improved upon the other in some way, however, he doesn't think the market will see something as significant as the jump from PS1 to PS2 again.

"If you look at it from my lens, which is of course the PlayStation lens, the leap from PS1 to PS2 was dramatic..." Layden said, before touching on the following generations.

He explained that the jump from PS2 to PS3 was "remarkable" with HD standard and the introduction of 60 FPS gameplay and network capability.

"Then PS3 to PS4 was just, like, getting the network thing done right. Then to PS5, which is a fantastic piece of kit, but the actual difference in performance... we're getting to the realm, frankly, where only dogs can hear the difference now," Layden added.

"You're not going to see another PS1 to PS2 jump in performance - we have sort of maxed out there. If we're talking about teraflops and ray-tracing, we're already off the sheet that most people begin to understand."

Layden concluded by saying that the "real competition" will be "content", which "should be the competition for publishers, not which hardware you get behind."

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• MirrorFace pivoted to spear phishing to target high-profile Japanese
• The group is looking for information regarding China-US relations
• It is using backdoors not seen in years

MirrorFace, a Chinese state-sponsored threat actor also known as Earth Kasha, has been observed stepping away from its usual practice to target specific individuals, with even more specific backdoors.

Cybersecurity researchers from Trend Micro recently observed MirrorFace engaging in spear phishing attacks, targeting individuals in Japan.

Previously, the group was focused on business entities, and abused vulnerabilities in endpoint devices such as Array Networks and Fortinet for initial access.

Targeting individuals

This time around, MirrorFace seems to be particularly interested in topics around Japan’s national security and international relations, the researchers stressed. They came to this conclusion after analyzing the victims, and the lures used in the spear phishing emails. The lures were mostly fake documents discussing Japan's economic security from the perspective of the current US - China relations.

"Many of the targets are individuals, such as researchers, who may have different levels of security measures in place compared to enterprise organizations, making these attacks more difficult to detect," Trend Micro said. "It is essential to maintain basic countermeasures, such as avoiding opening files attached to suspicious emails."

Those who failed to spot the attack, ended up getting two backdoors - NOODPOOR (also known as HiddenFace) and ANEL (also known as UPPERCUT). Trend Micro said the latter was particularly interesting, since it was basically nonexistent for years.

"An interesting aspect of this campaign is the comeback of a backdoor dubbed ANEL, which was used in campaigns targeting Japan by APT10 until around 2018 and had not been observed since then," they said. APT10 is likely MirrorFace’s umbrella organization.

Earth Kasha is quite an active group these days. In late November, researchers saw the group targeting organizations in Japan, Taiwan, India, and even Europe, through holes in Array AG, ProSelf, and FortiNet. They were also seen using SoftEther VPN, a legitimate open-source VPN tool, to bypass a target’s firewall and blend into legitimate traffic.

Via The Hacker News

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