TechRadar News

• Privacy experts are raising concerns over Meta's decision to bring ads to WhatsApp
• On Monday, June 16, 2025, WhatsApp announced new ad features are set to land in the Updates tab
• In 2023, Meta denied claims that WhatsApp was planning to add in-feed ads on the platform

After years of rumors, worries, and denials, it's finally happened – WhatsApp is officially getting ads.

On Monday, June 16, 2025, Meta announced that it is rolling out this new feature over the next several months. The Big Tech giant, however, claims ads are built "in the most privacy-oriented way possible," ensuring that your personal messages, calls, and groups won't be used to target these ads to you.

Needless to say, privacy experts aren't buying it and call on worried users to look for alternatives. "The introduction of ads could signal a wider shift away from private messaging toward monetized, monitored communication," warns Chief Technology Officer at NordVPN, Marijus Briedis. "Your messages may not stay as private as you think."

WhatsApp ads – what we know so far

So, WhatsApp is getting new ads, but how does this work in practice?

Contrary to past rumors about potential in-feed ads – a plan that Meta denied in 2023 – WhatsApp ads are now set to be locked within its Updates tab. For now, at least.

The Updates tab, which the company said has 1.5 billion daily users, includes both Channels and Statuses. Channels are a list of dedicated interest groups you can join, while the latter replicates the Stories feature from Instagram. Both Channels and Statuses are going to get the ad feature.

WhatsApp ads come alongside two more features of the app's Updates tab – channel subscriptions and promoted channels. (Image credit: Meta)

A new Promoted Channels feature will soon start to recommend new sponsored channels based on your interests. A new Ads in Status option will also enable businesses to promote their services and products with targeted advertising among WhatsApp users.

WhatsApp is promising that these new features have been built with users' privacy in mind. Therefore, all personal messages, calls, and statuses are set to remain end-to-end encrypted, meaning that not even the provider has access to this sensitive info.

"To show ads in Status or Channels you might care about, we'll use limited info like your country or city, language, the Channels you’re following, and how you interact with the ads you see. For people that have chosen to add WhatsApp to the Accounts Center, we'll also use your ad preferences and info from across your Meta accounts," reads WhatsApp's official announcement, adding the company will "never sell or share your phone number to advertisers."

What the privacy tech industry is saying

Despite these reassurances, the privacy world isn't exactly thrilled by the prospect of bringing data-hungry advertisements to an encrypted messaging app.

Briedis from NordVPN, today's TechRadar's best VPN recommendation, fears that this move could lead to a dangerous shift in the business of private communications.

He said: "When advertising enters a messaging app, it often marks the beginning of deeper data collection. Meta says your chats are private, but its business model relies on data-driven surveillance. This isn’t just about pop-ups; it’s about protecting your privacy."

NordVPN certainly isn't alone in taking a strong stance against WhatsApp's ad features.

Your messages may not stay as private as you think

Marijus Briedis, NordVPN

As AI, tech, and privacy expert Luiza Jarovsky pointed out, personalized ads are unlikely to be a feature WhatsApp users would want or enjoy seeing in a private app.

"Either Meta is desperate for more revenue sources, or they just don't care. It's against common sense to introduce personalized ads in a private messaging environment," she wrote in a tweet, warning that "we'll likely see hundreds of creepy examples."

Austria-based digital group Noyb has then questioned the legality of such a plan in the EU – under the GDPR and DMA's freely given consent provision – and now threatens Meta with a legal complaint.

"Without freely given consent, linking data and showing personalized advertising is clearly illegal. Meta has already introduced a 'Pay or Okay' approach on Instagram and Facebook, without the Irish data protection authority or the EU Commission taking any effective action against it. We suspect that Meta will do the same with WhatsApp," said Noyb's chairman and lawyer, Max Scherm.

Use Signal. We promise, no AI clutter, no surveillance ads—whatever the rest of the industry does. We lead we don’t follow❤️ pic.twitter.com/11naKMBLlwJune 17, 2025

Experts suggest that worried users should start looking for more private alternatives.

"If you’re uncomfortable with being tracked, you do have options," said Briedis. "Privacy shouldn’t be treated as a luxury. It should be the baseline."

If you're looking to ditch WhatsApp, I recommend checking out either Signal, Session, or Threema.

All three messaging apps come with default end-to-end encryption protection across all your messages and calls, without ads. Crucially, contrary to WhatsApp, these services also encrypt metadata, promising a truly track-free and private experience.

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• Apple recently announced that its Journal app is coming to iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe for the first time
• There are six new features landing later this year
• Apple Journal's new features are designed for both practical and creative purposes

Following Apple’s recent WWDC event, it’s safe to say that we’re in for a wave of new and exciting features coming to iOS 26 this September, and, as well as new additions like Apple Music’s AutoMix, Apple Journal is another app that’s getting several big upgrades.

After two years of absence, Apple is finally bringing the Journal app to iPad and Mac, which will be available when the new iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe updates are rolled out – which we’re expecting at the same time as iOS 26.

Apple Journal was introduced in 2023 as part of the iOS 17.2 software update, appearing as a pre-installed app native to iPhone. But the launch of iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe will mark the first time that Journal migrates to other Apple products.

(Image credit: Apple)

When it comes to Apple’s native apps I’ve never really felt the urge to experiment, particularly with Apple Journal as I’ve been more than satisfied using the Notes app for things like keeping track of my workout routine, or creating a shopping list. However, with the announcement of Journal’s six new features, Apple is encouraging me to get a little more creative with the way I use its native apps to get me through my daily life.

Apple Journal receives much-need TLC

The six new additions coming to Apple Journal cover both creative and practical functions, so it’s not just about amping your journal’s visual element but optimizing formatting and organization features within the app itself.

The first feature is the option to create multiple journals, so that you can document different types of entries and better organize them. This also allows you to have a clear view of your different journals, and with the help of the handy new map view interface, you can view your entries based on the locations you created them in.

Third, you’ll soon have more control over what entries you want to keep, discard, and revisit. Have you ever deleted an entry and immediately regretted it? Apple is taking that dreaded feeling away by introducing a function that allows you to restore recently deleted journal entries - similar to Photos’ ‘Recently deleted’ folder.

Apple is encouraging you to get more creative with Journal, allowing you to add custom drawings and hand-written text to entries. (Image credit: Apple)

Finally, in addition to its new and improved search function, Apple Journal is introducing new creative features to give you the freedom to create journal entries that scream ‘you’ – starting with inline images.

Instead of being restricted to the designated media section in an entry, you’ll be able to add images to appear inline with bodies of text, adopting the appearance of a physical journal or scrapbook.

Speaking of physical journals, one of the best parts is being able to hand-write your notes, an element that Apple is bringing to Journal. With the rollout of iOS 26, you’ll have the freedom to create your own drawings and hand-written text, which you can add to entries. It even comes with Apple Pencil support.

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There’s a lot of noise in enterprise AI right now. Under mounting pressure to deliver faster, safer digital services, businesses are turning to the next evolution in automation: Agentic AI.

No, this isn’t bolting on a chatbot and calling it digital transformation. AI agents are built to understand your organization, operating within your domain constraints with real autonomy. These agents operate inside your business, using your data to automate decisions, adapt to real-world problems in milliseconds, and embed themselves directly into operational workflows.

They blend the general reasoning power of today’s large language models with domain- specific intelligence grounded in company data. That might be clinical records, compliance frameworks, or engineering logs - whatever your business runs on. The result? Systems that take action: surfacing insights, automating tasks, and adapting based on your company policies and workflows.

Why it matters now

Demand for automation is growing, as are expectations around compliance, transparency, and data governance, especially in Europe. Agentic AI offers a response to both: scalable intelligence, designed to work inside complex regulatory frameworks.

That matters in sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services, where data security, explainability, and reliability aren't negotiable. These aren’t markets where “good enough” is acceptable. Customers simply can not tolerate hallucinated responses or unreliable systems where their data hits the public domain.

Agentic AI is safer. Not because it’s slower or more cautious, but because it’s built for the environment it’s deployed into.

Inside the architecture

Agentic systems rely on a layered approach, with different types of agents operating across an organization:

1. Human assistance agents support real-time decisions, generating summaries, highlighting next steps, and assisting in code review or sales workflows. They keep humans in control while removing friction from day-to-day tasks.
2. Transactional agents manage system-to-system workflows. They handle onboarding, verification, or inventory reconciliation autonomously when appropriate, with escalation when edge cases arise.
3. Autonomous agents identify and solve problems independently. In domains like DevOps, logistics, or diagnostics, they monitor environments, anticipate failures, and act proactively rather than reactively to resolve these types of issues. These agents work in tandem rather than in isolation. Together, they form an intelligent layer across enterprise systems - learning, adapting, and coordinating actions in ways that were previously siloed or manual. True digital transformation across the enterprise.

Vector-based context

Key to all of this is the use of custom vector databases. Vector databases enable AI agents to fetch relevant, security-controlled context from sensitive data without actually exposing that data in its original form to the agent. This is a game-changer for regulated industries. Rather than relying on generic training data from the public internet, this draws directly from the institutional knowledge inside your firewalls.

That means better accuracy, stronger compliance, and fewer surprises. It also means outputs that reflect your standards, rather than what’s statistically likely.

European inferencing

Agentic systems are already transforming highly regulated sectors in Europe. In healthcare, they reduce administrative overheads, improve triage, and accelerate innovation while protecting patient privacy. In manufacturing, they’re powering predictive maintenance, supply chain optimization, and real-time field service. Within finance, these agents enhance fraud detection, refine compliance, and provide hyper- personalized services.

Agentic AI adoption is particularly strong in regions with tighter data controls - namely France, Germany, and the Nordics - because these systems respect the boundaries enterprises are required to operate within.

These systems increasingly rely on serverless inference, which allows businesses to scale their AI infrastructure without wedding themselves to their maximum theoretical usage. That’s critical in Europe, where innovation budgets are often tight, and sovereign infrastructure matters. Agentic AI is being built to meet those regulatory requirements from day one.

Yes, Europe’s regulatory environment slows things down. But that friction forces better thinking. It pushes enterprises to build with trust, accountability, and explainability. Creating market conditions where sustainable AI can thrive.

GDPR, the EU AI Act, NIS2 and other regulatory frameworks define the standards by which responsible AI can scale. As US start-ups chase MVPs and launch before the proper guardrails are in place, European enterprises may end up with AI that’s more compliant and generally more effective in the long term.

The next step

Agentic AI marks a turning point in how businesses interact with their data and workflows. It moves beyond static automation to deliver systems that act, learn, and improve within the constraints enterprises define.

This is not a plug-and-play future. It’s a future that demands thoughtful design, domain- specific strategy, and an unflinching focus on outcomes. The rewards will be sustainable and significant for the organizations that build smart and scale responsibly. The hype in off-the-shelf, plug-and-play solutions will fade. Agentic AI infrastructure is built for the latest ways of working. Enterprises that invest now and build with intent will lead in the next stage for what’s next.

We've featured the best AI writer.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

When my AirPods Max broke at the beginning of the year, I was faced with a difficult decision: double down and spend another $549 / £499 / AU$899 on headphones that certainly haven't dropped in price since their December 2020 release (and might let me down again) or find a pair that I could count on.

Swapping them for a pair of headphones that cost half as much has made me realize there’s something better out there for me. And I’d argue there’s something better out there for you, too.

It’s hard to overstate how much I loved my AirPods Max when I first got them and they still absolutely merit a mention as some of the best headphones out there. Their sound is exquisite, both dynamic and detailed yet bassy and zealous. And spatial audio was still a bit of a rarity back then, making them a real game-changer for watching movies and TV on the go. Even their noise cancelling – oft placed in a distant third place after that of Bose and Sony – was a revelation, still offering blissful silence on busy streets and public transport.

Sure, they’re a bit on the old side now and despite adding wired USB-C lossless audio earlier this year have been been sorely in need of some quality-of-life updates for a while. Their cheaper stablemates, the AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro, include a bunch of features they don’t, such as Conversation Awareness, more powerful chips and weatherproofing, despite their much cheaper price. But I was willing to put up with their occasional quirks, given that they were always so dependable – it was easy to fool myself into believing they’d always be there for me.

Until they weren’t. After just over two years of use, my AirPods Max started to act up. In contrast to their previous rock solid connectivity, they developed the Memento-esque habit of forgetting their connection every time they slept, even though my Macbook and iPhone’s OS still showed them as paired. Attempting to reconnect would fail; performing a soft reset did nothing. Worse, whenever I pressed their pairing button, I was greeted with a slow blinking orange light, a distress signal I’d never witnessed before.

The only solution I eventually did hit on was to perform a full restore to factory settings and set them up from scratch. They would then stay connected until the next time they were switched off or left idle for 15 minutes, at which point they’d lose the connection again.

(Image credit: Future)

I dealt with this the same way I diagnose any mystery malady – I turned to Dr Google, which helped me diagnose the likely culprit as a faulty Bluetooth module. Unfortunately, as Apple Care+ only lasts two years, the cost of repair was likely to be expensive; Apple’s repair prices are frustratingly opaque but users online who’ve undergone similar repairs have said they’ve been billed up to half the cost of the device.

This left me with a bit of a dilemma. Paying the repair cost would have undoubtedly given my headphones more life. But how long would it be before the next issue arose, like the battery reaching the end of its lifespan? Even if Apple replaced the whole unit – as it’s often wont to do, to save on the hassle of repair – where was the guarantee I wouldn’t just get a further two years of life, followed by another hardware fault?

Mentally totting up the cost of several hundreds pounds of repairs or buying a whole new pair every two years, I started to wonder if I was really willing to burn potentially thousands of pounds to feed my headphone habit for the next decade.

Typically, I’m not one to make a decision today that I can instead procrastinate over tomorrow, so I wanted to pick up a stopgap pair of cans I could use until I’d made my mind up. As TechRadar’s review editor, I’m lucky enough to have access to a library of the best noise cancelling headphones for testing, so I borrowed a loaner pair for using in the office: the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100. And, boy, was this an eye-opener (read: ear-opener) and a half.

Starting with audio quality, the P100 sounded way better than I’d expected for a mid-range pair of noise cancelling headphones – they lack the whomp of some of their bassier rivals but they’re also seriously expressive and don’t neglect certain frequencies just to artificially boost the low end. I can’t work without music playing so I wear headphones for easily eight hours straight, yet at no point did they start to feel uncomfortable. And at a list price of $239 / £199, I wouldn’t find it quite so galling even if they gave up the ghost in just a couple of years. And that won't happen, since Cambridge Audio tells us the battery module can be replaced (although for how much, I'm not sure).

For me, that really drove home something that often gets overlooked with modern wireless headphones – we’re increasingly paying more for lower longevity. And maybe you’d actually be better off spending a bit less.

(Image credit: Future)Most headphones aren't built to last

Look, I appreciate in some ways two years is quite a long time. Twenty-four months ago, I didn’t even write for TechRadar. Elon Musk was in charge of the dumpster fire that was Twitter rather than the dumpster inferno that is X. And the phrase ‘Brat summer’ would have attracted mystified looks, rather than weary eyerolls.

But in the world of audio equipment, two years is not a long time. Most audio equipment doesn’t tend to be a biennial purchase; instead it’s built to last. I bought my budget pair of KEF Cresta 3 floorstanding speakers and Cambridge Audio A5 amplifier when I was 20 years old. Terrifyingly, I’m almost double that now and yet both gadgets work as well as the day I bought them. Even wired headphones, properly taken care of, can last years – especially given they’re often repairable and have replaceable parts.

I don’t need to be a soothsayer of snark to know that some will likely write off this whole episode as being unique to Apple products, given they’re notoriously hard to repair and often tied to short product cycles. But I’d argue the issue runs far deeper than that: across many of the major headphone brands, premium prices have become a guarantee of fancier features, not necessarily increased reliability. And part of that is down to their evolution from a predominantly analog product to what amounts to a sophisticated computer in their own right.

(Image credit: Future)

As wireless headphones have become smarter, they’re increasingly reliant on chipsets and firmware that aren’t necessarily designed with longevity in mind. The CPUs and modules required to apply sophisticated audio processing or drive connectivity are incredibly sophisticated components and each introduces an extra point of failure. Meanwhile, firmware updates can be abandoned at a brand’s discretion when shinier products become their new priority. Just like our smartphones, which many of us throw out on a three-year upgrade cycle, we’re increasingly sacrificing audio gadgets’ Methuselah-like longevity and sustainability for something that burns much brighter but for a fraction as long.

Clearly we shouldn’t abandon all the great features offered by noise cancelling headphones just because they have the life expectancy of a butterfly entering a jet engine's air intake. I’m not going back to the dark days of having to untangle a bramble of wires every morning or hear other human beings’ conversations on the subway. But it has all made me wonder whether I’m willing to commit myself to spending $549 / £499 / AU$899 every two or three years, just to gain relatively modest improvements in terms of features and sound quality.

This feeling has been compounded the more I’ve tried out some of the excellent competitors available at the lower end of the market. For example, the aforementioned Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 have expressive spacious sound, decent – if not exactly silent – noise cancelling and a battery life that puts most rivals to shame, lasting a ludicrous 60 hours with ANC on and up to 100 hours without.

Inevitably, the P100 lack certain features: you don’t get proprietary spatial audio (Cambridge Audio doesn't dig that kind of thing), nor the sumptuous bass of Apple’s cans but, even if they did die after a couple of years, their $239 / £199 price means I could get 2.5 times as long a period of use before I’d spent as much as I would on another pair of AirPods Max. And the fact that elements like the battery are user-replaceable with standard tools means that they shouldn’t cost anywhere near as much if you’d rather opt for the sustainable option of repairing them, rather than handing them in at my local recycling center.

So while I’ve loved all the premium, audiophile-grade noise cancelling headphones I’ve owned in the past, I think those days are behind me. Sorry, AirPods Max: I’m not coming back.

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• Wix announced buying Base44
• Base44 is a popular low code/no code platform powered by AI
• It will remain a separate entity

Wix.com, one of the best website builders in the world, is jumping on the vibe coding bandwagon with the acquisition of Base44.

This morning, the company shared a press release with TechRadar Pro, in which it announced its purchase of the AI-powered platform that “enables anyone to create fully functional, custom software solutions and applications using natural language, without the need for traditional coding.”

Wix bought Base44 for $80 million, and agreed to possibly pay even more through 2029, depending on how well Base44 performs. It did not detail which metrics it will be tracking in that respect.

Base44 will not be merged into Wix but will instead remain a distinct product and business, the company confirmed. It doesn’t expect the acquisition to be felt in its 2025 bookings and revenue, too. “We expect to incur approximately $25 million in retention bonus payments paid to Base44 employees in 2025 as part of the above initial consideration paid on the transaction, which will be excluded from non-GAAP and free cash flow (FCF) results,” the press release reads.

According to Similarlabs, Base44 has more than 40,000 users, making it a rather popular solution among web app builders, particularly those looking to bypass conventional development hurdles. It comes with built-in services like database management, user authentication, email, analytics, storage, hosting, and even domain/DNS setup. It has a drag-and-drop interface, as of recently also supported by a conversational AI chatbot.

AI galore

In recent times, Wix has been aggressively adding Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) across its suite of products and solutions. In December 2024, it demonstrated AI Site-Chat, a feature designed to serve as a virtual agent for customers. In January 2025, it released Business Launcher, an AI-powered tool designed to help entrepreneurs create new business initiatives, from concept to execution, and a few months later, in May, it introduced the Wix Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, which enables users to generate code through AI assistants such as Claude, Cursor, and Windsurf.

“This acquisition marks a pivotal milestone in Wix’s commitment to transforming creation online,” said Avishai Abrahami, CEO and Co-founder of Wix. “Maor and his team at Base44 bring cutting-edge technology, strong market penetration, and visionary leadership that seamlessly align with Wix’s dedication to enabling users at all levels of expertise to express their intent while intelligent agents manage execution. "

For Maor Shlomo, CEO of Base44, there isn’t a better fit than Wix.

“Wix is probably the only company that can help Base44 achieve the scale and distribution it needs while maintaining, if not accelerating, our product velocity," he said. “Our market is massive. It has the potential to replace entire software categories by enabling people to create software instead of buying it. Wix’s DNA – its customer obsession, innovation, and speed – perfectly aligns with ours, and its scale will catapult Base44 forward at exactly the right time.”

You can read this insightful blog post from Avishai Abrahami to learn more about the acquisition and Wix's AI vision.

Comment from the expert

Given all the buzz around vibe coding, I was expecting Wix to jump into the space in some way, shape, or form in the coming months.

Although the world's biggest website builder isn't the first through the 'vibe' party door, Hostinger launched its own vibe coding platform called 'Horizons' back in February of this year, that doesn't mean it is behind. By acquiring Base44, Wix has skipped a stage of major development, helping it unlock an industry leading product without having to go through the often problematic early iterations.

Given Wix's commitment to becoming an all-in-one platform for businesses, I am surprised by the decision not to integrate Base44 into the Wix platform. I asked Wix if you would need a separate membership for Base44 - you will - although there is currently a free plan available so you can give it a go without having to pay for yet another subscription.

The press release didn't mention any plans to add the Base44 platform to Wix, I suspect that may be in the pipeline, but when that might be is unclear.

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LLMs have been plagued by hallucinations from the very start. Developers are investing huge amounts of money and time into improving these models, yet the problem remains: hallucinations are rife. And in fact, some of the newest models – as OpenAI confessed to on its recent launch of o3 and o4-mini – hallucinate even more than previous ones.

Not only do these programs hallucinate, but they also essentially remain ‘black boxes’. Hallucinations are hard to defend against, because they are the result of random chance. The answers simply seem plausible, serving some basic use cases, but requiring extensive human oversight. Their hallucinations remain imperceptible to non-subject matter experts.

These two problems present major barriers to AI’s widespread adoption, especially in regulated industries like law and healthcare where accuracy and explainability are paramount. It’s ironic, since these industries are at the same time often the most likely to benefit from software that can automate information processing at scale. So if current models are failing to overcome these barriers, where can we go from here?

Why most AI is fundamentally untrustworthy, and getting worse

Large Language Models, or LLMs, have taken the world by storm over the past few years. This type of software uses predictive algorithms to produce outputs in response to inputs in the form of text. They’re incredible pieces of technology, but nobody knows exactly how they produce specific outputs. The answers they produce simply happen to satisfy our requests… until they don’t.

Since LLMs use statistics to determine their outputs, they occasionally come up with answers or responses that are incorrect. Just as when somebody bets on a horse in a race, even if they were to account for all the variables that could affect all of the competitors’ performances, they’ll occasionally be wrong. When LLMs do this, we refer to it as a ‘hallucination’.

Hallucinations are inherent to LLMs; one cannot have an LLM without them, since they’re statistically prone to them. And because LLMs do not truly understand the information they receive and produce, they’re unable to notify users when they do it. That’s problematic for everyone, but especially so in applications where the stakes are much higher: in law or healthcare, for example.

What symbolic reasoning is, and why it's key to reliable AI

As OpenAI has essentially just confessed, nobody knows how to solve this problem using current generative AI models. There is, however, a way to solve it using another model: a type of AI that uses ‘symbolic reasoning’ to address the faults inherent to LLMs.

Symbolic reasoning is an old, well-established method for encoding knowledge using clear, logical rules. It represents facts as static pieces of knowledge, meaning that it’s not possible for software to manipulate or interpret them incorrectly.

It’s the same kind of technology that allows us to perform calculations and run formulae on spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel (people don’t check twice to see if the calculation is correct or not). Symbolic systems prove their trustworthiness through determinism – the same inputs to a symbolic system should always produce the same outcome; this is something an LLM could never guarantee.

Unlike LLMs, symbolic AI allows users to see exactly how it has made a decision, step by step, without hallucinating the explanations. When it doesn’t understand the input, or can’t calculate the answer, it can tell the user so: just as when we receive error messages on Excel if a formula is input incorrectly. This means that symbolic systems are truly transparent and traceable.

How neurosymbolic models could be the future of enterprise-grade, auditable AI

The reason why we don’t just use symbolic models for generative AI programs is because they’re not particularly good at processing language. They lack the flexibility of LLMs. Each model has its own strengths and weaknesses.

The solution to this, then, is to combine the strengths of both to create a new category of AI: ‘neurosymbolic AI’. Neurosymbolic AI benefits from both the rules-based features of symbolic AI and the flexibility of the neural networks that underpin LLMs. This allows users to perform functions that process unstructured information in documents, while following a formula that provides structured answers the software is able to explain.

This development is crucial to the adoption of effective AI within business, but especially in heavily-regulated industries. In those contexts, it’s not good enough to say that a certain outcome has been generated and we don’t know how the program has come to that answer, but it looks about right. It’s imperative, above all, to understand how the program has come to its decision. That’s where neurosymbolic AI comes in.

What’s special about doing things this way is that neurosymbolic AI will admit when it cannot produce an accurate response. LLMs don’t, and will often produce convincing answers anyway. It’s easy to see how this can be hugely useful in insurance, for example, where a neurosymbolic AI program could automatically process claims, flagging cases to trained humans when it’s unsure of the suitable outcome. LLMs would just make something up.

It’s time for us to recognize that, while they’ve certainly pushed the technology forward, our current models of AI have reached an insurmountable wall. We need to take the lessons from the progress we’ve made and seek other solutions that will allow us to approach from a different angle. The most promising of these solutions is neurosymbolic AI. With it, we’ll be able to foster trust in a technology that, in its current format, has none.

We've featured the best AI website builder.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

• Asana AI-powered tool had a bug which exposed user data to other users
• It was fixed after a month, but users should be on their guard

Popular project management platform Asana is warning users a newly-introduced tool may have leaked their data to others on the service

Research from security experts UpGuard noted in early May 2025, Asana introduced Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, a tool that lets AI products such as ChatGPT or Copilot interact with Asana’s Work Graph.

This allows users to query for information using natural language, manage their tasks and projects with the help of AI, and get real-time updates using the MCP standard.

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A month of leaks

However, the tool was implemented with a bug that exposed data from Asana instances to other MCP users.

Not all data was exposed, though, as it was limited to each user’s access scope.

Still, given that many enterprises rely on Asana when managing important tasks and large projects, it could mean sensitive information was leaked (such as project metadata, team details, discussions, uploaded files, and similar).

Asana apparently discovered the bug on June 4, meaning the platform was leaking data for a month - the company is sending out notices with links to communication forms to impacted organizations, but apart from that it’s staying relatively silent on the matter.

We don’t know if any users suffered any meaningful damage as a result of this flaw, but the company did tell BleepingComputer that it impacted roughly 1,000 customers. It has more than 130,000 paying customers all over the world including, according to some sources, heavy hitters such as Spotify, Uber, or Airbnb.

In any case, users should review Asana logs for MCP access, review generated AI summaries, and report to Asana if they see information seemingly coming in from a separate organization.

Furthermore, users are advised to set LLM integration to restricted access and pause auto-reconnections and bot pipelines for the time being.

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Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, June 18 (game #472).

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 #473) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Life is a highway

NYT Strands today (game #473) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• MOLE
• ROLE
• MORAL
• SCENE
• COAT
• HOOT

NYT Strands today (game #473) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 8 letters

NYT Strands today (game #473) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: bottom, 4th column

Last side: top, 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 #473) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #473, are…

• SCENERY
• GAMES
• PLAYLIST
• MOTEL
• PHOTOS
• AUDIOBOOK
• SPANGRAM: ROAD TRIP

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

The theme clue rather gave this one away, so it wasn't a particularly tough strands to complete, but it did make me think about planning my own next ROAD TRIP.

I do love a nice road trip, although the ones you do in the UK are not really on a par with those in the US, given that you could drive from the far north to the far south in a day, albeit a long one. In the States, of course, you could drive for a week and not get across the country (unless you didn't stop to sleep).

All the more reason why you might need a good PLAYLIST, plenty of AUDIOBOOKs, some GAMES for the kids in the back and lots of breaks to take PHOTOS of the SCENERY.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, June 18, game #472)

• BLUE
• GLOOMY
• TEARY
• DOLEFUL
• WOEBEGONE
• MELANCHOLY
• SPANGRAM: SADNESS

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which 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.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, June 18 (game #738).

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 Connections hints.

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 #739) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• FINAL
• DESTINATION
• TRAIN
• STOPS
• BLOCKS
• BALL
• MASKS
• PAPERS
• FOILS
• JACKS
• JACKETS
• ROUTE
• ATTENDANCE
• GLOVES
• STARTING POINT
• HOMEWORK

NYT Connections today (game #739) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Student essentials
• GREEN: Sat-nav staples
• BLUE: Play time
• PURPLE: Stick em with the pointy end

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 #739) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: COMPONENTS OF ONE’S GRADE
• GREEN: MAP APP OPTIONS
• BLUE: CLASSIC TOYS
• PURPLE: FENCING GEAR

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

NYT Connections today (game #739) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #739, are…

• YELLOW: COMPONENTS OF ONE’S GRADE ATTENDANCE, FINAL, HOMEWORK, PAPERS
• GREEN: MAP APP OPTIONS DESTINATION, ROUTE, STARTING POINT, STOPS
• BLUE: CLASSIC TOYS BALL, BLOCKS, JACKS, TRAIN
• PURPLE: FENCING GEAR FOILS, GLOVES, JACKETS, MASKS

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 mistake

I couldn't live without my sav-nav app. I can't imagine how people managed to get themselves to the right place without them, particularly driving – and particularly driving in a city.

I guess the answer is that they sometimes didn't; I'm old enough to remember plenty of road trips with my parents spent sitting in the back seat while they argued over a map and found themselves stuck in a one-way street to the wrong side of a town. Happy days.

Maybe that's why I solved green, MAP APP OPTIONS, first, with DESTINATION, ROUTE, STARTING POINT and STOPS all jumping out at me early on.

After that I was a little stuck and got 'one away' with purple before correctly identifying that FOILS, GLOVES, MASKS and JACKETS were all types of FENCING GEAR.

Yellow was COMPONENTS OF ONE’S GRADE, but that one confused me slightly; is ATTENDANCE really a part of a grade? I guess it is in the sense that if you never go to school you won't get a good mark, but it's not like anyone gets a B rather than an A because they had an extra couple of days off sick. Maybe this one got lost in translation between the US and UK…

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, June 18, game #738)

• YELLOW: QUALITIES OF A RAINY DAY COLD, GRAY, WET, WINDY
• GREEN: SQUARELY DEAD, EXACTLY, RIGHT, SMACK
• BLUE: CONTENTS OF A POD ASTRONAUT, COFFEE, PEA, WHALE
• PURPLE: BODY PART PLUS A STARTING LETTER BARM, LEAR, RANKLE, SHIP

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.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, June 18 (game #1241).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 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 #1242) - hint #1 - VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

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

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

Quordle today (game #1242) - hint #2 - repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 0.

Quordle today (game #1242) - hint #3 - uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appears among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1242) - 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 #1242) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• B

• I

• F

• P

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

Quordle today (game #1242) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1242, are…

• BRUSH
• ISLET
• FRUIT
• PRIVY

I had no major problems with today's Quordle, on account of their being no repeated letters, no uncommon letters and no particularly obscure words.

ISLET was probably the hardest, even though I had all five letters for it; assembling them into a word proved a surprisingly tricky feat. But I got there in the end. The Daily Sequence, meanwhile, was a much harder beast on account of PUPAL and GAUZE being included.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1242) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1242, are…

• TEASE
• MOVIE
• PUPAL
• GAUZE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1241, Wednesday, 18 June: MEDIA, SHARK, GUPPY, MOURN
• Quordle #1240, Tuesday, 17 June: LEAPT, PRISM, ADMIN, WHINE
• Quordle #1239, Monday, 16 June: RETRY, SCALD, DINGO, FEIGN
• Quordle #1238, Sunday, 15 June: SHOCK, STEIN, BROIL, COVEN
• Quordle #1237, Saturday, 14 June: STICK, FERRY, THESE, IONIC
• Quordle #1236, Friday, 13 June: REPEL, LARGE, SNIDE, CARRY
• Quordle #1235, Thursday, 12 June: SCANT, BATCH, UNDER, PARSE
• Quordle #1234, Wednesday, 11 June: CRAVE, ROOST, ANGLE, FLOOD
• Quordle #1233, Tuesday, 10 June: DECRY, CHEEK, FILET, EASEL
• Quordle #1232, Monday, 9 June: DERBY, LEMON, WRITE, HOVEL
• Quordle #1231, Sunday, 8 June: REBAR, ALERT, PAYEE, FLUME
• Quordle #1230, Saturday, 7 June: FLUNK, ESTER, SPITE, CHEAP
• Quordle #1229, Friday, 6 June: ELUDE, KHAKI, VISTA, SMOKY
• Quordle #1228, Thursday, 5 June: CHIDE, RABBI, GUSTY, LANCE
• Quordle #1227, Wednesday, 4 June: BANAL, STOUT, SEDAN, HIPPO
• Quordle #1226, Tuesday, 3 June: FUGUE, SYRUP, FLACK, WORST
• Quordle #1225, Monday, 2 June: THINK, BELLE, CRONE, BOULE
• Quordle #1224, Sunday, 1 June: POINT, MERIT, WHOOP, APHID
• Quordle #1223, Saturday, 31 May: CRUMB, ELFIN, DRIER, QUITE
• Quordle #1222, Friday, 30 May: RAJAH, CAUSE, BLACK, ETUDE

• Leica has announced a new 35mm film
• Monopan 50 is a fine-grain monochrome film
• Priced at £10 (around US$13 / AU$20) for 36 exposures

Leica’s decided to celebrate its centenary with a surprise. To honor 100 years since the first production Leica camera, the brand with the red dot is dropping its first-ever 35mm film. A fine-grain monochrome roll with 36 exposures, it’s a niche product to launch in 2025. But the bigger bombshell is the price: the Monopan 50 costs just £10 (around US$13 / AU$20).

Leica isn’t a brand often associated with affordability. Its camera gear is known for quality craftsmanship that’s priced to match. When I tested the Leica Q3 43 last year, I was both awestruck by the build quality and terrified of damaging it. Because it costs $6,295 / £5,900 / AU$11,890. Leica is and always has been an unapologetically premium brand.

For most people, the prospect of buying or shooting with anything Leica sits somewhere between bucket list and lottery win territory. Until now, the most affordable way to shoot Leica has been the D-Lux 8 – a premium compact with a Micro Four Thirds sensor, which you can buy today for $1,595 / £1,450 / AU$2,790. Or cross all your fingers and toes in the hope of finding a secondhand analog Leica bargain.

The Monopan 50 changes that. Granted, it’s a 35mm film, not a camera. But it also feels like the first Leica product that’s accessible enough for stills photographers to use on a daily basis.

Leica for all

The Monopan 50 lands 100 years after the Leica I, the camera that effectively invented 35mm photography as we know it. Unlike most Leica releases, the new film feels like something to be used, not collected.

That’s not to say it isn’t special. The Monopan 50 is a fine-grain monochrome film made for black-and-white enthusiasts. With a resolution of up to 280 line pairs per millimetre, it promises gallery-grade detail. Its ISO rating of just 50 makes it a low-sensitivity film, inspired by the the original rolls around when the Leica I launched. In that sense, it’s as Leica as it gets. But crucially, it’s not outrageously expensive. In fact, quite the opposite.

Even for someone like me who doesn’t regularly shoot film, that’s a compelling proposition. It’s even more appealing for those who do, of which are there more and more.

Film photography isn’t just back: it’s quietly booming. Prices for vintage cameras have surged and new analog releases are arriving in greater numbers. Fujifilm is rumored to be resurrecting color stocks, Kodak is upgrading its factories to meet demand and Pentax dropped its new half-frame film camera last year. All of which speaks of a new generation rediscovering film.

It’s into this analog revival that Leica steps. The company still produces three fully mechanical 35mm film cameras, the M-A, the MP and the re-released M6. Equipped with high-quality optics and designed for a deliberate approach, all three are expensive models which cater to purists.

In that sense, the Monopan 50 is a natural companion. Feeding those cameras with a fine-grain black-and-white film will yield gorgeous results, while leaning into the slower, almost meditative experience of shooting with a 35mm rangefinder camera.

But the wider appeal of Monopan 50 film will lie in the fact that it’s democratic. With roll prices for standard emulsions creeping past £10 a pop, a tenner for 36 exposures of premium monochrome film feels like a bit of a steal. That it comes from Leica only sweetens the deal.

(Image credit: Leica Monopan)

Next to the metal-bodied cameras that made its name, there’s something refreshingly humble about the most attainable Leica product in recent memory being a roll of plastic-coated acetate. But it also makes sense. As film becomes more mainstream again, brands are waking up to the fact that the audience has shifted.

It’s no longer just enthusiasts developing Ilford rolls in a home darkroom. It’s Gen Z photographers looking for slower, more tactile ways to create. And if they’re going to spend their cash on film, why not give them a reason to spend it on Leica?

Yes, the real cost of shooting Leica body and glass is in the thousands. But Monopan 50 at least opens the door. More than a nod to Leica’s past, it might be a sign of a different future for the brand, where more people are able to handle and shoot something with the Leica name on it.

Obviously, Leica would love you to pair Monopan 50 with an M-A or an MP. Maybe a vintage M6. But even with a Nikon F, or one of the best second-hand film cameras, its potential for fine detail and tonality is exciting.

Either way, I’m intrigued. Low-ISO film isn’t always easy to shoot, especially in the UK, where overcast conditions are the default. But the Monopan 50 feels like a film worth trying. Not just for what it can do, but for what it represents: Leica, leaning back towards the medium it helped to define a century ago, in a way that’s unexpectedly accessible.

So I didn’t expected to be buying Leica stock this year. But now I’m planning to.

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• AWS has managed to enforce MFA for 100% of root users
• The achievement is a great advancement for the AWS cloud platform
• More major security announcements were made at re:Inforce

Amazon Web Services (AWS) says it has managed to get 100% of root users to enforce multi-factor authentication across all account types.

The news represents a significant milestone in security posture, with AWS fully meeting its past commitment to enforce the use of MFA for management and standalone accounts with root access.

Chief Information Security Officer Amy Herzog made the milestone announcement at the company's AWS re:Inforce conference, stating, “I'm so happy to say that we now have 100 percent MFA enforcement for root users.”

AWS continues voluntary commitments

As an achievement on its own, this is major, but what makes it even more impressive is that the 100% MFA root user account milestone is part of AWS’ voluntary commitments to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Secure By Design initiative.

Multi-factor authentication has become a key part of most organizations' security structure, offering a phishing resistant verification method that can stop an attacker in their tracks even if they’ve got their hands on a stolen username and password.

This wasn’t the only significant security announcement made at re:Inforce though – as AWS also announced some significant new feature that has been added to the platforms Identity and Access Management hub. Within the Access Analyzer, you can now check which users have access to critical resources on a central dashboard.

The AWS Security Hub now offers notifications and signals ranked by their significance to help security teams deal with the most pressing issues first.

“For example, Security Hub can combine the multi-stage threats detected by GuardDuty Extended Threat Detection with other signals like vulnerabilities, and prioritize critical security issues and help you simplify your overall cloud security operations across your entire organization,” Herzog said.

Additionally, GuardDuty Extended Threat Detection now offers support for container-based applications running on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service.

AWS Shield has also been boosted with a new network security director that looks for misconfigurations on the network that could be exploited during a distributed-denial-of-service attack, or SQL injection.

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• AWS reveals European Sovereign Cloud to allay fears about US providers

• The Sitecore CMS had an account with a hardcoded password
• Threat actors could use it to upload arbitrary files, achieving RCE
• Thousands of endpoints are potentially at risk

Sitecore Experience Platform, an enterprise-level content management system (CMS) carried three vulnerabilities which, when chained together, allowed threat actors full takeover of vulnerable servers, experts have warned.

Cybersecurity researchers watchTowr found the first flaw is a hardcoded password for an internal user - just one letter - ‘b’ - making it super easy to guess.

The account does not have admin privileges, but watchTowr found malicious users could authenticate via an alternate login path, which would give them authenticated access to internal endpoints.

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Patching the flaws

This sets the stage for the exploitation of the second flaw, described as a “Zip Slip” in the Sitecore Upload Wizard.

In a nutshell, the now-authenticated attackers can upload malicious files due to insufficient path sanitation, and the way Sitecore maps paths. As a result, they can write arbitrary files in the webroot.

These two issues alone could be enough to cause some serious damage on the compromised server, but the problems don’t stop there.

If the website has the Sitecore PowerShell Extensions (SPE) module installed, which is commonly bundled with SXA, attackers can upload arbitrary files to specific paths, bypassing extension or location restrictions and resulting in a “reliable RCE”.

All Sitecore versions from 10.1 to 10.4 are apparently vulnerable, which translates to roughly 22,000 publicly exposed instances, at press time - but just because they’re all accessible and running these versions, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re all vulnerable.

"Sitecore is deployed across thousands of environments, including banks, airlines, and global enterprises — so the blast radius here is massive," watchTowr CEO Benjamin Harris told BleepingComputer.

"And no, this isn't theoretical: we've run the full chain, end-to-end. If you're running Sitecore, it doesn't get worse than this – rotate creds and patch immediately before attackers inevitably reverse engineer the fix."

So far there were no reports of abuse in the wild, but a patch is available now, so users should update as soon as possible.

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• Satellite communications giant Viasat was also targeted by Salt Typhoon
• The company found unauthorized access via a compromised device
• Breadth of attacks highlights Salt Typhoon's threat to US comms

Another victim of the massive Salt Typhoon cyberattack which targeted US telecommunications giants has been identified as Viasat.

Bloomberg News reports the company found a breach in its systems earlier in 2025 linked to the wider attacks against US communications infrastructure, as the satellite communications company was working with the country's government.

Viasat has numerous contracts and partnerships across the maritime, aviation, and networking industries, alongside several contracts with the US Department of Defense and US Space Force.

Satellite comms targeted by Salt Typhoon

The attack in 2024 saw the Chinese-linked Salt Typhoon group hack into numerous networks belonging to telecommunications companies such as Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen, which likely gave the hackers access and record calls and messages. The group also allegedly breached a backdoor system used by US authorities to carry out court-ordered wiretaps.

Moreover, the Salt Typhoon group also hit the presidential campaigns of both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in the run up to the 2024 US presidential election.

China has frequently denied having any links to the hacking group, even going so far as to accuse the CIA of being behind attacks committed by another Chinese-linked group, Volt Typhoon.

Following Viasat’s investigations into the breach which occurred via unauthorized access through a compromised device, the company said it had found no customer impact following the attack.

“Viasat believes that the incident has been remediated and has not detected any recent activity related to this event,” the company said.

The full impact of the Salt Typhoon attack may never be known as huge cuts to government departments and advisory boards were made immediately following President Trump’s return to the White House.

The main investigation being pursued by the Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) was cancelled after the advisory board was axed to “eliminate a misuse of resources,” according to former acting Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Benjamin C. Huffman.

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• Garmin has unveiled a new sleep tracking wearable
• It's yours for $169.99 / £149.99 / AU$299
• The band is able to track multiple metrics while you sleep

Much as I love my Garmin Instinct 3, I don't like wearing it while sleeping – it's not uncomfortable, but it's too chunky and heavy for bed. Now there's an alternative for me and everyone else who owns one of the best Garmin watches: the Index Sleep Monitor.

The newly unveiled wearable looks like an oversized Whoop tracker. Crucially, it's screenless and lightweight, so it shouldn't interfere with a good night's sleep – and it can last a week between battery charges. There are even two sizes to choose between, either small/medium or large/extra large.

This isn't a totally unexpected development: earlier this month we saw a leaked video showing off what we now know is the Garmin Index Sleep Monitor in action. Details such as the week-long battery life were leaked too.

It's a wearable for sleep tracking and sleep tracking only, and it's available now for $169.99 / £149.99 / AU$299 on the Garmin website – though at the time of writing, shipping times are listed as 3-5 weeks (US and UK), and 4-7 business days (Australia).

9 key features to know about

Garmin watches like the Instinct 3 can track sleep, but aren't the most lightweight (Image credit: Future)

Garmin wearables are usually some of the most comprehensive around when it comes to features, and the Index Sleep Monitor is no different. There are a total of nine different metrics tracked by the armband.

They are sleep stages (light. deep, and REM), heart rate variability, blood oxygen saturation, breathing variations, respiration rates, skin temperature (including extra menstrual cycle tracking for women), what Garmin calls Body Battery energy levels, and stress tracking. The ninth and final metric is an overall Sleep Score.

Add in a smart alarm feature that gently vibrates you at a time to fit in with your circadian rhythms, and it's an appealing overall package. As usual with Garmin devices, everything syncs back to the Connect app on your phone.

Garmin has also addressed another issue with sleep trackers: cleanliness. The Index Sleep Monitor band can be washed in a gentle cycle, once the actual monitor is removed, so it stays as fresh as your pajamas.

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• Microsoft's ROG Xbox Ally handhelds could launch in October
• Some rumors suggest the ROG Xbox Ally will be $499, and the Xbox Ally X will cost $799
• A price point for the MSI Claw A8, using the same processor, is also unconfirmed

Handhelds are arguably dominating the console and PC gaming market, with the long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 now available and Microsoft's ROG Xbox Ally slated for launch late this year. However, the latter may have one significant dealbreaker.

As reported by our reliable friends at Windows Central, both the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X are rumored to launch in late October. However, pricing is still up in the air, despite other rumors suggesting the base model will cost $499 and the more powerful Xbox Ally X will go for $799.

The ROG Xbox Ally X will join the MSI Claw A8 in being the first handheld gaming PCs to use AMD's Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, except Microsoft's handheld will use an AI variant. It's not exactly clear if this will have an edge over the standard Z2 Extreme – but one thing that's becoming slightly evident is the reasoning for the undisclosed price point.

It appears as though a combination of uncertainty on tariffs on Taiwan and China (where Asus manufactures products), and MSI not announcing a price for the Claw A8, could be why we're left in the dark on the ROG Xbox Ally pricing for now.

We haven't seen the performance capabilities of the Z2 Extreme on handhelds, so perhaps Microsoft is waiting for MSI or even Lenovo (with the Legion Go 2 successor using the same chip) to set the pace before committing to a price point.

It's also worth noting that the Asus ROG Ally X recently saw a price hike from $799.99 (£799 / AU$1,599) to $899, so concerns about a potential outrageous price (at least for the ROG Xbox Ally X) are warranted. The base model will use a new Ryzen Z2A processor – which is more aligned with the Steam Deck's chip in performance, using RDNA 2 architecture – so its price may be akin to the Nintendo Switch 2's.

Analysis: I'm not worried about the ROG Xbox Ally's price, but I'm very concerned about the ROG Xbox Ally X

(Image credit: Microsoft)

To put it simply, if the ROG Xbox Ally X ends up with a higher price point than the likes of the MSI Claw 8 AI+, Microsoft can kiss its success goodbye.

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is priced at $900 / £899 / AU$1,799, which is already a very steep price tag that is enough to turn gamers away from a purchase. That isn't me downplaying the device's gaming capabilities, but it's a tough sell in this economy.

The ROG Xbox Ally X won't have an 8-inch screen (which is a huge dealbreaker to me), and is using the same processor as the Claw A8, which is indeed using an 8-inch display. Unless the AI Z2 Extreme outperforms both the standard Z2 Extreme, and the Claw 8 AI+'s Core Ultra 7 258V processor, then the ROG Xbox Ally X has no place costing over $900.

I'm expecting its weaker counterpart, the ROG Xbox Ally, to do just fine as a more affordable option, if it's under or slightly closer to the Switch 2's price ($449.99 / £395.99 / AU$699.99).

Handheld hardware is getting better each year, which obviously comes with a cost increase, but it's important that prices don't go out of whack away from affordability. There's a reason Ayaneo's handhelds aren't in the spotlight, because they cost over $1,000 – and Microsoft better not even think about going there.

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• Apple’s macOS Tahoe is the final version to support Intel chips
• That means the death of the Hackintosh is nigh
• It’s sad news for the community of tinkerers and custom PC builders

Apple lifted the lid on macOS Tahoe at its WWDC 2025 event earlier in June, and one thing that it announced during the Platforms State of the Union address was that this software update would be the last one to support Intel Macs. That’s had the effect of putting the final nail in the coffin of the humble Hackintosh, and this has left me more than a little sad.

In case you don’t know, a Hackintosh is a computer that runs macOS on custom PC hardware. Apple doesn’t support or condone these computers, so building one requires a lot of complex legwork and specific files that convince macOS that it’s running on Apple-approved components.

Part of the equation is that a Hackintosh usually requires an Intel chip. You can’t buy Apple silicon chips off the shelf, but with recent macOS versions supporting Intel processors, this was a go-to alternative.

With Apple dropping this support, it’s the end of the road for Hackintoshes.

We knew this day was coming

(Image credit: Future)

For many years, I was fascinated with the idea of building a Hackintosh. I’ve long been frustrated with the day-to-day quirks of Windows, but love building PCs too much to go all-in on macOS. A Hackintosh felt like the perfect way to get hands on, build a powerful computer capable of both work and gaming, and still get all the smoothness and rich features of macOS.

But with the constantly increasing difficulties in building a Hackintosh and the ever-more complex workarounds that were needed to get one to work, I never took the plunge.

Years ago, a Hackintosh was the best of both worlds: the hardware performance that Apple simply couldn’t provide and the software features and stability that Windows sorely lacked. But now that Apple silicon offers tremendous performance – even in demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077, something once deemed unthinkable for a Mac – the need for a Hackintosh has diminished.

Despite the news, not everyone in the Hackintosh community has taken the news badly. Even before Apple’s announcement, I would occasionally browse Hackintosh forums, and the advice was often the same: modern Macs do a lot of what Hackintoshes set out to achieve.

They offer far more bang for your buck than they used to (the M4 Mac mini is a good example), and unless you fill the specific niche of loving both macOS and DIY computer building and refuse to get a Mac and a PC, Apple’s own products do the job. Many of the more recent reactions are along the same lines.

Perhaps someone will find a way to get Hackintoshes to work on Apple silicon. But with the tough security measures Apple has built into its chips, that is far from guaranteed. While many in the community are taking the news well, I can’t help but feel disappointed for what we’re going to lose.

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Last month, Dyson unveiled the PencilVac – a new addition to brand's floorcare lineup, and apparently the world's slimmest vacuum cleaner. Yesterday, I had a chance to try one out, and it turns out this odd-looking vac is one heck of a smooth mover.

The PencilVac looks nothing like your standard cordless stick vacuum. The motor, filters and dust cup are all hidden within the broom-like handle, which clocks in at a diminutive 1.5 inches / 3.8cm in diameter. The floorhead is equally surprising, with its four cone-shaped, fluffy rollers.

(Image credit: Dyson)

Less obvious from the press photos is just how maneuverable this cleaner is. The cleaner head can swivel on the spot and it cleans from the front and from the back sides. Like all the best Dyson vacuums, it can lie flat to the ground, and because the handle is symmetrical, you can hold it from any side, too. You can do figure-eights on your floor if you can get your angles right.

The maneuverability is impressive, but there are plenty more cool features besides. The 'QuadConical' floorhead is new on this machine, and designed so that if it encounters long hair, it'll make its way to the narrow end of the cone and pop out as a bundle on the side, at which point it can be easily vacuumed up. The soft material is perfect for delicate hard floors, and the cones protrude out from the casing so you can clean right into the corners, and even give your baseboards a bit of a dust as you go.

(Image credit: Future)

Dyson has added its distinctive green laser (which first appeared on the Dyson V15 Detect) to the cleaner head. This helps cast shadows on debris on the floor, so you don't miss even the tiniest speck of dirt. Here, it's located in the center of both sides of the floorhead, and it's just as useful as ever.

Who's the PencilVac for?

While Dyson says the PencilVac can be used on carpet, it's really specialized for hard floors. The fluffy rollers are perfect for hard floors and the laser really comes into its own on a solid surface.

While it looks looks like a strong contender for TechRadar's best vacuum for hardwood floor roundup, the soft rollers won't agitate the fibers enough to offer a deep clean on carpet. The suction is also much lower than you'll find on the main flagship range – partly due to the motor and partly due to the more open floorhead design.

(Image credit: Dyson)

For many, it'll be a complimentary machine rather than your main vacuum, but if you want something for quick cleanups on hard floors, the PencilVac looks perfect. Full review to follow when I've had a chance to put it through its paces properly.

At time of writing, I don't have any pricing information for the PencilVac, but I know it's scheduled to go on sale in Australia in August 2025, before hitting the US and UK markets sometime in 2026. If you can't wait that long, you could check out the Dyson V12 Detect Slim, which is a – for our money, underrated – scaled-down vacuum for smaller homes.

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• Salesforce Enterprise and Unlimited SKUs are going up by 6% on average
• Slack Business+ jumps to $15/month, but Pro remains unchanged
• Salesforce says added value from AI has led to the higher prices

Salesforce has confirmed it will be raising prices by an average of 6% across a number of its core products, including Enterprise and Unlimited SKUs of Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Field Service and selected Industries Clouds.

Changes are set to come into affect from August 1, 2025, giving users just a few weeks to prepare for higher bills or find alternative solutions.

Foundations, Starter and Pro Editions are set to remain unchanged, with Salesforce blaming the incremental price increases on "ongoing innovation and [significant] customer value."

Salesforce rolls out 6% price rises

A month after announcing consumption-based pricing for its AI models, Salesforce has launched new Agentforce add-ons, starting at $125 per user per month, offering unlimited employee agent use for licensed users.

The packages include industry-specific, prebuilt AI agent templates, AI analytics (via Tableau), the company's Prompt Builder and more.

Agentforce 1 Editions sits above this tier, adding to it features like one million Flex Credits per year (replacing per-conversation pricing) and 2.5 million Data Services Credits per year. It comes at the cost of $550 per user per month.

Apart from the new AI models and a 6% average price hike across Enterprise and Unlimited SKUs, Salesforce has also updated its messaging platform.

The company says it hasn't changed Slack's pricing since 2022, but earlier in 2025, Slack Business+ users will end up paying $15 per user per month, up from $12.50.

A new Enterprise+ tier joins the mix, while Pro pricing is set to remain unchanged. Free users will also continue with access to their current features.

"These updates across our portfolio are designed to help organizations buy, use, and recognize value with the latest innovations throughout their businesses," Salesforce shared, launching a dedicated page for pricing across all its products.

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Summer is here, and if you're anything like me, you've found yourself longing for a refreshing cold-brewed coffee. Not only is it nicely cooling on a hot day, it has a different flavor profile to coffee brewed hot, with a smoother, more mellow taste even if you use the same beans.

There's only one problem: making it the traditional way means steeping your ground coffee overnight, or even longer to extract the full flavor. That's fine if you're super organized, but not much use if you just want your coffee right now.

Thankfully, modern coffee machines mean that's no longer a problem. I'm lucky enough to test heaps of the best coffee makers for TechRadar, and this year all the big brands have added cold brewing to their lists of features.

Ninja, Breville (or Sage, and it's known in the UK) and De'Longhi have all launched new machines that can brew using cold water in seconds rather than hours, and produce a very similar flavor to traditional cold brew.

The trick is allowing the coffee longer than usual to pre-infuse, or bloom, before forcing cold water through at high pressure – often in pulses rather than a continuous stream for a longer extraction time.

With the Ninja Luxe Café, De'longhi Primadonna Aromatic, and the updated Sage Barista Touch with Cold Extraction all pulling great-tasting cold shots, you're spoilt for choice, but for me one machine in particular stands out above the rest: the Jura J10.

(Image credit: Future)

Most coffee machines that can brew cold do an admirable job if you enjoy your drinks without milk, but only a couple can foam cold milk as well, and as a fan of a good latte macchiato, that's something I really appreciate.

The De'Longhi Primadonna Aromatic does an excellent job of texturizing cold milk (either dairy or plant-based) and comes with a special carafe for foaming it without the use of steam. It works brilliantly, but what gives the Jura J10 the edge is its ability to not only turn any kind of milk into a fluffy cloud of chilled froth, but to infuse it with syrup at the same time.

(Image credit: Future)

This system, called Sweetfoam, involves filling a small container with your chosen syrup, then gently pushing it onto the milk dispenser. The syrup (which can be any flavor, and sugar-free or not) is incorporated into the milk a little at a time as it's dispensed, distributing it evenly throughout your drink and meaning a little goes a long way; there's no need to pump huge volumes of syrup into your cup like a barista in a coffee shop might.

It works equally well with hot milk too, so when the weather cools down again you can enjoy the pumpkin spice latte of your dreams.

The syrup never enters the coffee machine itself, and the dispenser purges itself with hot water after use, so there's no need to worry about sticky mess. The container is easy to wash with soapy water.

(Image credit: Future)

In my opinion, it's the best espresso machine for chilled drinks. There's just one drawback: the Jura J10 costs (take a deep breath) £1,795 / AU$3,990, which works out at about $2,300. However sweet you make your lattes, that's a bitter pill to swallow. When I was loaned one to test, it came packaged in a padded flight case rather than the usual cardboard box with polystyrene inserts. It's not usually delicate – it's just that expensive.

The good news is that if that price is tough to stomach, any of the other cold-brewing coffee machines available right now can produce a smooth, well-rounded drink. You won't get the flavorsome foam, but you'll still be able to make refreshing, tasty chilled drinks in seconds rather than hours.