TechRadar News

• The next Witcher game is now in full-scale production, according to CD Projekt Red
• According to the studio's joint CEO, the team wrapped preproduction several weeks ago
• The studio also revealed that Cyberpunk 2077 has now sold 30 million copies

CD Projekt Red has announced that The Witcher 4 has officially entered "full-scale production".

The latest comes from the studio's Q3 2024 earnings report, published on November 27, where joint CEO of CD Projekt Red Michał Nowakowski shared a statement regarding the development progress of the next Witcher game, aka Project Polaris.

"I’m proud to confirm that several weeks ago the Polaris team wrapped up pre-production and moved on to full-scale production - the most intensive phase of development," said Nowakowski.

"We are very pleased with our progress on this project, and I wish to thank the team for its dedication."

Polaris was announced back in March 2022 and will kick off a new saga for The Witcher series, though at this time we don't have any details to go on regarding the story and returning characters.

In the same report, it was also revealed that Cyberpunk 2077 has now sold 30 million copies, while Phantom Liberty - the game's sole expansion - has sold over eight million in just over a year since its release.

"I’m very happy to see a large, dedicated community coalesce around our Cyberpunk games," the CEO said before adding that CD Projekt Red is "looking back at another very strong quarter."

"Cyberpunk 2077 and its Phantom Liberty expansion continue to sell very well, but The Witcher 3 is also performing admirably."

At the same time, CD Projekt Red is also currently working on Project Orion, a new game set in the Cyberpunk universe, which is being made by the team responsible for Phantom Liberty.

According to Nowakowski in August, the ongoing projects are "pretty stable" and have been "progressing at a consistent pace".

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• Microsoft threatened with antitrust investigation into cloud, AI and security practices
• Latest in series of US and EU probes for the company in 2024
• FTC set for new leadership, potentially Microsoft’s ‘get out of jail’ card

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reportedly launched a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft, challenging the company’s business practices across cloud computing, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity markets.

First reported by Bloomberg, the proposed investigation would focus on allegations of market dominance and other potentially anticompetitive practices.

The company has already faced criticism over bundling software within Azure services, imposing technical limitations and offering preferential pricing, all of which locks customers into the company’s ecosystem.

FTC threatens Microsoft with far-reaching investigation

This isn’t the first time Microsoft has had to fight off antitrust regulators – in the European Union, Google recently called for stricter oversight of Microsoft’s licensing terms.

The company also reached a settlement with the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe group (CISPE) earlier this year; at that point, CISPE Secretary General Francisco Mingorance said this would mark the end of that battle.

In the cybersecurity space, Microsoft has faced criticism over the integration of its Defender antivirus within the Windows operating system, making it more difficult for other antivirus software providers to sell their own solutions and raising monopoly concerns.

A third branch of the reported FTC investigation, focusing on artificial intelligence, explores Microsoft’s deep integration with OpenAI. The company notoriously invested billions into the startup not long after ChatGPT went public, and its large language models have been used across various Microsoft applications over the years that followed.

Microsoft isn't the only company facing increased pressure from the FTC – the Commission has been cracking down on many rival firms, including Amazon, Google and Meta, too.

However, all of this could be about to change with the upcoming departure of FTC Chair Lina Khan, who has been known for her aggressive stance toward Big Tech. In contrast, the Trump administration promises a more business-friendly approach.

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• VulnCheck found a bug being actively exploited in ProjectSend
• Crooks are using it to create rogue accounts and deploy malware
• Thousands of instances are at risk, experts warn

Researchers have warned hackers are taking advantage of a critical vulnerability in ProjectSend giving them access to servers and the ability to run arbitrary commands remotely.

ProjectSend is a free, open source file-sharing software businesses can use to securely upload, manage, and share files with clients, team members, or other designated users. It's commonly used by businesses, freelancers, and nonprofits that don’t want to rely on third-party services such as Dropbox.

Apparently, an older version, that predates May 16, 2023, carried a critical authentication bypass vulnerability - and since the bug was never assigned a CVE, and thus was never publicly disclosed, most users were unaware of its existence.

Multiple attackers

As a result, the vast majority of ProjectSend users - 99% of them - were operating an older, unpatched and vulnerable version. In total, there are apparently 4,000 public-facing instances, and just 1% are using a patched version.

Once VulnCheck, a cybersecurity platform that focuses on identifying and analyzing vulnerabilities, observed the bug being actively exploited in the wild, it was given a designation CVE-2024-11680. Crooks were using it to create new accounts under their control, plant webshells, and embed JavaScript code.

VulnCheck added the exploitation picked up pace in September 2024, when Metasploit and Nuclei both released public exploits for the flaw.

"VulnCheck noticed that public-facing ProjectSend servers had started to change their landing page titles to long, random-ish strings," the platform said. "These long and random-ish names are in line with how both Nuclei and Metasploit implement their vulnerability testing logic."

"Both exploit tools modify the victim's configuration file to alter the sitename (and therefore HTTP title) with a random value."

At this time, there is no information about the identity of the attackers, or their motives, however it was said that the attempts came from at least 100 different IP addresses, meaning that numerous groups and individual hackers were taking advantage of the bug.

Via BleepingComputer

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AI is rapidly becoming a lifeline for businesses around the world, helping them to streamline operations and serve their customers better.

Small businesses, many with limited staff, experience and funds, are likely to see some of the greatest benefits, and they’re already taking steps to harness its opportunities. According to Shopify’s global 2024 Merchant Survey, 49% of British retailers plan to use AI to help them generate content like product descriptions or social media. A third (30%) also said they’re using it to enhance the product imagery on their websites, and the same are deploying it within their marketing efforts.

It’s clear AI has the power to revolutionize how businesses large and small operate. Yet there’s still room for improvement, notably making the shopping experience better for customers. For brands to thrive as consumer expectations grow, they need to implement AI strategies across every aspect of their business.

Consumer expectation vs AI reality

Our new 2024 Holiday Retail research report found that consumers see the benefits of AI and want more, highlighting how it can make the shopping experience better, elevate the service they receive from brands, and specifically improve the in-store experience (36%).

However, while merchants have obviously noted some of the ways AI can help them, the customer experience is sadly lacking. Only 20% of retailers plan to use it specifically to improve that area of their business this year. With so much consumer interest in AI, now is the time for brands to differentiate themselves by delivering AI-enhanced customer experiences.

Personalization through innovation

AI is going to be critical to helping merchants achieve the balance of running their business and establishing meaningful relationships with their customers. To elevate it beyond making imagery and marketing campaigns more interesting to consumers, businesses should also think about how they can incorporate AI to help drive greater personalization at scale.

Providing a personalized service to many customers at once – each who expects a service that aligns with their unique preferences – is rapidly becoming a differentiator for retailers. Thankfully AI can step in to lighten the load on these businesses. Much like Netflix recommends shows based on past viewing habits, retailers can use the data they have from customers to drive engagement.

AI can also be a useful tool to help businesses expand into new markets faster. By using AI functionalities to create product descriptions in local languages and apply sensitivity to different cultures, it can accelerate relevance and credibility for brands with local audiences.

AI and personalization isn’t limited to online though. With the rise of unified commerce – which connects all the dots across sales channels into one view of the customer – retailers can offer the same experience to shoppers in-store too.

Combined, the insights that AI solutions create could even help to lower customer acquisition costs, by enabling marketing and sales teams to focus on serving the right product to the right customers.

Maintaining the human touch

While AI has the potential to supercharge businesses, it cannot be a replacement for human interaction and creativity. A theme that consistently comes up when speaking to consumers is that, while they want fast, efficient and personalized experiences from the brands they interact with, they don’t want to feel like they are just interacting with a robot.

For businesses there is a balance to be struck. Incorporate AI into the tasks that teams either don’t have the skills or time to work on, so they can focus on delivering a best-in-class, and most importantly, human service to customers.

The AI-driven future of retail

Operations, such as product imagery enhancements and descriptions, marketing campaigns and more will all benefit from AI-based optimization. Such solutions, alongside real human interactions, are already having a material impact on what the customer experience looks like.

As expectations grow as to what customer experience should look like and a seamless online and in-store experience becomes the must-have, AI’s importance will grow further. While retailers can source and collate that data, it’s only with AI and digital tools that they can identify and act on the insights it provides to give consumers the unified and personalized service that they are looking for.

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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

The best streaming services generally slow down just before the holidays, but not Hulu: it's adding absolutely tons of new movies and TV shows this month, and you can see everything new on Hulu for December 2024 here.

One of the reasons there's so much to stream this month is of course because Hulu is the home of so many Hollywood movies. And that means you're absolutely spoilt for choice no matter what genres you prefer.

With so many new movies to choose from it's hard to pick favorites, but we're going to do just that anyway: this month's Hulu haul includes one of our very favorite action movies, one of the best Christmas family movies and a modern, transatlantic take on a Kurosawa classic.

Speed

RT Score: 95%
Age rating: R
Length: 1h 55m
Director: Jan De Bont
Arriving:

Some films never grow old, and Speed is definitely one of them: it has a fantastic concept – Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock are trapped in a bus, and if its speed drops below 50 it's explosion time – tremendous pacing and Dennis Hopper chewing the scenery as the deranged bomber. You absolutely have the need for Speed this month: as The Hollywood Reporter said at the time, "there should be traffic jams at the box office as Fox picks up many busloads of riders for its fast and furiously entertaining thriller Speed."

Miracle on 34th Street

RT Score: 96%
Age rating: PG
Length: 1h 36m
Director: George Seaton
Arriving:

Forget the nineties remake: the vastly superior 1947 original of this Christmas classic is the one you want to stream this season. It's a brilliant alternative to the saccharine sweetness of so many festive films.

The tale of a man who stands in for a sloshed Santa in Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and then claims he's the real Santa Claus is "light, it is charming, it is delightfully funny and completely captivating. It is all that, and something more," says the New York Daily News, while TIME says it's "A surefire, brightly cynical bit of whimsy."

Living

RT Score: 96%
Age rating: PG-13
Length: 1h 42m
Director: Oliver Hermanus
Arriving:

"This British remake of the Japanese classic, Ikiru, scripted by the novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, is a moving experience," says the iNews newspaper. Bill Nighy plays a strait-laced accountant who decides it's time to live after receiving the worst possible news.

The original was hailed as a masterpiece, and this reimagined version has garnered lots of five star reviews from the likes of Empire, who wrote: "It’s gorgeously executed by Hermanus, whose carefully-considered, gently-paced classical filmmaking recalls the modernism of David Lean or Carol Reed; it’s rare that a colour film has felt so black-and-white."

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The artificially intelligent classroom is already with us. It’s not about robot teachers, or VR headsets: instead, the AI classroom offers technologies that ‘upgrade’ flesh-and-blood teachers and make new educational experiences possible. The AI education market is forecast to grow at an incredible rate this decade, hitting $88.2 billion worldwide by 2030, all driven by technologies that create lesson plans, mark papers and track progress. But perhaps the most exciting application of AI technology in education is in upgrading the way lessons are taught, and the way children learn.

Generative artificial intelligence can not only deliver personalized and adaptive learning experiences, it can also offer teachers instant feedback, and parents insight into how a child is performing. For parents, teaching is all too often a ‘black box’, and for educators, feedback is often something that is too expensive for institutions to deliver. Research by Stanford University has already highlighted the value of automated feedback delivered by AI systems, with educators in the study helping to build on students’ contributions, and students happier with classes where AI feedback was used.

The promise of the ‘AI classroom’ is to enhance the way teachers deliver lessons. For example, by using generative AI to analyze recordings of lessons, AI can become a tireless assistant that offers advice to upgrade the education experience for parents, pupils and teachers.

Forging connections

AI in education can help to break down the barriers that have historically existed around the teaching process. The Stanford study highlights the promise of offering educators feedback on their teaching, but a world where this could be applied to mainstream learning spaces would deliver entirely new learning experiences, addressing challenges from accessibility of learning materials to the historic lack of transparency in the classroom.

Automatically generated lesson transcripts (or ‘lesson summaries’) can offer parents a ‘window’ through which they can see how their child is performing. Teachers can get instant feedback on what works, and what does not. For teachers, the feedback not only cuts admin (by suggesting areas for further study), it can deliver insight which can ‘upgrade’ the teaching process and deliver learning personalized to the needs of that particular child.

Supporting the human

People often depict the classroom of the future as a dehumanised, robotic place. But the role of AI is to enhance the human. A 2024 scientific paper published in the journal Computers and Education highlighted that the teachers who are keenest on generative AI are ambitious teachers, teachers who prize autonomy and teachers who are stressed out by their burden of work. Artificial intelligence can be a workhorse that handles admin, with flourishes such as creating quizzes instantly, or generating complex lesson plans in a matter of minutes. The teacher is freed to focus on delivering for pupils, becoming a curator as well as a creator.

In education, human insight and creativity will always be at the center. AI algorithms can only work with existing data, and lack the inspiration and reasoning that human beings can bring. The best teachers of the future will be people who can create new ideas and new approaches, but who also engage with technology to deliver the best possible experiences for children. AI-augmented teachers, armed with instant feedback and content creation tools, will be able to deliver more than their unaugmented colleagues.

The classroom of the future

This is just the beginning. As more and more teachers adopt AI tools, there will be more data at the fingertips of those who are designing such tools. The most successful autonomous car projects are those that ‘learn’ from the cars around them and from the streets. In the same way, artificial intelligence will ‘learn’ from how educators deliver success, and will deliver personalized, incredible experiences. For example, if a young child is a Star Wars fan, an AI tutor could appear as Darth Vader.

For children, it will be natural to interact with advanced AI in this way. For us, it feels unusual, but for children, it will be no different to playing a video game. This evolution is going to come rapidly. For me, the AI revolution is like the Internet revolution, but the speed of iterations has increased. In five years, if AI is implemented effectively well in education, it’s going to be possible to give kids access to education that we never imagined to be possible, so that every kid has the perfect teacher, augmented by artificial intelligence.

A new way to teach

If allowed to, Artificial intelligence will totally change what is possible in education. It can work seamlessly behind the scenes to improve learning for children, while also boosting the abilities of teachers by delivering invaluable feedback. Politicians and leaders in the sector should be aware of this, and work to build AI into the teaching journey, ensuring that educators are trained in how to use AI tools, and that access to AI is considered a standard part of the educational journey for young people. Over the longer term, AI will deliver enormous good for children - and this is just the beginning.

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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

• Laptop sales are set to grow even more next year, but not all will be AI PCs, report claims
• Windows 10’s official 2025 end of life will force many to upgrade
• Businesses can’t see the benefit of expensive AI PCs just yet

After a stagnant period, the global laptop market is forecast to grow by 4.9% to 183 million units in 2025, however it might not be for the reason you think.

Although AI PCs are stealing the headlines, new research from TrendForce suggests commercial upgrade cycles and the October 2025 Windows 10 end-of-life could be the key driving forces.

If projections turn out to be accurate, 2025 would see better growth than 2024, which is on track for a 3.9% year-over-year increase in shipments to 174 million units.

PC upgrades are still being driven by Windows 10 EOL

The report claims high interest rates and geopolitical uncertainties have tampered with consumer demand in 2024, but the hope is that reduced political uncertainty following the US presidential election and Federal Reserve rate cuts could stimulate more cash flow next year, leading companies that were previously holding off on upgrades to take action.

Most prominent is the Windows 10 end-of-service deadline, as the ancient software still somehow accounts for three-fifths (61%) of all installs, which is nearly double Windows 11’s 36% market share. Still, the figures are finally heading in the right direction for Microsoft after slow uptake of its flagship AI-packed operating system.

On the other end of the scale and despite industry hype, AI-integrated laptops are not yet a major market driver. Currently carrying a 10-15% premium over their non-AI counterparts and offering little in terms of perceivable upgrade given that they’re still in their infancy, businesses are failing to see the clear use cases for them.

An Intel study also recently found that many of those who have bought into AI-capable PCs are failing to see the benefits due to an initial learning curve.

During this year’s third quarter, industry tracker Canalys found that AI PCs accounted for one in five new shipments; Windows Copilot+ PCs accounted for more than half (53%) of those.

"Despite the positive momentum, significant work must still be done to convince both channel partners and end customers of the benefits of AI-capable PCs," noted Principal Analyst Ishan Dutt, adding how the upcoming Windows 10 transition will lead to potential growth in the consumer and business sectors.

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Max's December 2024 schedule is a little frosty when it comes to Christmas titles. Aside from HGTV's annual White House Christmas decorating special and OWN's festive TV movies, there's not much else offering the Christmas spirit in the list below. But, if you're hunkering down during the cold, winter months, you will be pleased to hear that there's an abundance of movies and TV shows joining the platform for the whole family to enjoy.

In November, one of the best streaming services brought us all the Christmas cheer it could seemingly muster up. So, while we go fully festive, those titles are still on offer alongside some of the best Max movies. And during December, there's new seasons of some of the best Max shows, comedy specials, documentaries, and lots of other content to add to your watchlist. Plus, Clint Eastwood is back in the director's chair for new movie, Juror #2. Here's everything new on Max in December 2024.

Everything new on Max in December 2024

Arriving on December 1

Cedar Rapids (movie)
Clash of the Titans (movie)
Cop Out (movie)
Death Race (movie)
Glee The 3D Concert Movie (movie)
Hamlet 2 (movie)
How I Live Now (movie)
Invisible Stripes (movie)
It All Came True (movie)
Jupiter Ascending (movie)
Key Largo (movie)
Kid Galahad (movie)
King of the Underworld (movie)
Lightning Strikes Twice (movie)
Lord of the Rings (movie)
Man from God's Country (movie)
Marine Raiders (movie)
Marked Woman (movie)
Meet Me in St. Louis (movie)
Megamind (movie)
Mr. Popper’s Penguins (movie)
National Velvet (movie)
Ninja Assassin (movie)
Overland Telegraph (movie)
Passage to Marseille (movie)
Person to Person (movie)
Pistol Harvest (movie)
Results (movie)
Riders of the Range (movie)
Saddle Legion (movie)
San Quentin (movie)
So This Is Paris (movie)
Stagecoach Kid (movie)
State's Attorney (movie)
Strike Up the Band (movie)
Take This Waltz (movie)
Teen Titans Go! 400th Episode (TV show)
The Goonies (movie)
The Hobbit (movie)
The Maltese Falcon (movie)
The Oklahoma Kid (movie)
The Return of Doctor X (movie)
The Return of the King (movie)
The Roaring Twenties (movie)
The Secret Fury (movie)
The Shop Around the Corner (movie)
The Threat (movie)
The Two Mrs. Carrolls (movie)
The Wagons Roll at Night (movie)
The Woman on Pier 13 (movie)
They Drive by Night (movie)
Tomorrow is Another Day (movie)
White Bird in a Blizzard (movie)
White God (movie)
Words and Music (movie)
You Can't Get Away with Murder (movie)

Arriving on December 3

90 Day: The Last Resort Between the Sheets season 2 (TV show)
90 Day: The Last Resort season 2 (TV show)
Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North (documentary)
Kids Baking Championship: Frosting the Snowman (TV show)
Mecum Full Throttle: Las Vegas NV 2024 (TV show)

Arriving on December 5

Creature Commandos season 1 (TV show)
Roadworthy Rescues season 3 (TV show)

Arriving on December 6

Batwheels, The Great Christmas Caper season 2 (TV show)
Mini Beat Power Rockers season 4 (TV show)
Mini Beat Power Rockers: A Villain's Carol (movie)
Teen Titans Go! season 8 episodes 30-34 (TV show)
The Official DC Podcast (Max Original)
Tiny Toons Looniversity: Winter In Blunderland season 2 (TV show)

Arriving on December 7

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (documentary)
Evolve and Flex episode 1 (TV show)

Arriving on December 8

A Season to Remember (movie)
Motortrend: Mecum Presents: The 2025 Kissimmee Preview Show (TV show)
Motortrend: Mecum Presents: The Steve McQueen 917K (TV show)

Arriving on December 9

999 Murderer Calling season 1 (TV show)

Arriving on December 10

Nature of the Crime (documentary)

Arriving on December 12

Bookie season 2 (TV show)
Fear Thy Neighbor season 10 & 11 (TV show)
Lost in the Amazon: The Rescue That Shocked the World (documentary)
Was I A Sex Object? (documentary)

Arriving on December 13

Batwheels season 2 episodes 22-37 (TV show)

Arriving on December 14

Evolve and Flex episode 2 (TV show)

Arriving on December 15

Frozen Planet II season 2 (TV show)
Mistletoe & Matrimony (movie)

Arriving on December 16

Truck U season 20 (TV show)
Two Guys Garage season 23 (TV show)
Very Scary People season 6 (TV show)
White House Christmas (TV show)

Arriving on December 17

Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: Is Ozempic Right For You? (documentary)

Arriving on December 19

Fast Friends (TV show)
Rose Matafeo: On and On and On (comedy special)
Texas Cheerleader Murder Plot (documentary)
The Head season 3 (TV show)

Arriving on December 20

Juror #2 (movie)
X-Rated Queen season 1 (TV show)

Arriving on December 21

Evolve and Flex episode 3 (TV show)

Arriving on December 22

Build for Off-Road season 1 (TV show)
24-Karat Christmas (movie)

Arriving on December 23

Alien Files: Reopened season 1 (TV show)

Arriving on December 27

Building Outside the Lines season 2 (TV show)
In with the Old season 7 (TV show)
The Flipping El Moussas season 2 (TV show)

Arriving on December 28

Evolve and Flex episode 4 (TV show)
Mecum Full Throttle: Kansas City MO 2024 (TV show)

Arriving on December 30

Home Town season 9 (TV show)
Teen Titans Go! season 8 episodes 35-37 (TV show)
Yellowstone Wardens season 6 (TV show)

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• T-Mobile details how Salt Typhoon accessed its routers
• It explained what the hacker's methods and how they were spotted
• T-Mobile's CSO stresses hackers didn't steal any data

T-Mobile has revealed the hackers who recently targeted its infrastructure were seen running commands on its routers, but stressed its defenses worked as intended and that no major damage was done.

The declaration follows recent news of an incident where Salt Typhoon, an infamous Chinese state-sponsored threat actor, breached T-Mobile's network in a cyber-espionage campaign on behalf of the country’s government.

The FBI also recently confirmed the group had successfully gained access to networks and private communications of members of the US government.

Working as intended

Now, T-Mobile’s Chief Security Officer, Jeff Simon, told Bloomberg the attackers were spotted while running commands, usually used in the reconnaissance stage of a cyberattack, on company routers. Some of the commands used matched indicators of compromise previously linked to Salt Typhoon, he added.

At the same time, Simon published a blog post in which he said the company’s defenses worked as intended, so Salt Typhoon was unable to cause any significant damage, or steal any sensitive customer or company information.

"Many reports claim these bad actors have gained access to some providers' customer information over an extended period of time – phone calls, text messages, and other sensitive information, particularly from government officials. This is not the case at T-Mobile," Simon said.

"Our defenses protected our sensitive customer information, prevented any disruption of our services, and stopped the attack from advancing. Bad actors had no access to sensitive customer data (including calls, voicemails, or texts).”

Simon also said that the attack originated from a wireline provider’s network that was connected to T-Mobile. "We quickly severed connectivity to the provider's network as we believe it was – and may still be – compromised."

After blocking the access, T-Mobile said it now sees no additional attacker activity, suggesting Salt Typhoon abandoned the initiative. In any case, the information was shared with government and industry partners.

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• The Roku Channel has teamed up with Walmart for an interactive festive movie
• While free to watch, it will let viewers buy products on their TV during specific parts of the story
• This is the retailer's second attempt after trialling a social media romcom series

It's the end of November, and as the most wonderful time of the year approaches everyone is settling down to watch Christmas movies. There's plenty on offer whether you want a cozy classic, a cheesy Hallmark guilty pleasure, or some alternative horror festive offerings (I'm usually the latter, admittedly). The best streaming services have a lot on offer, but the Roku Channel has announced a very different kind of movie, one that might end up costing you more than you planned.

Jingle Bell Love is currently streaming on The Roku Channel, one of the best free streaming services. It stars Joey McIntyre, a member of the boy band New Kids on the Block, who plays a single father visiting his late wife’s hometown where he finds love in an unexpected place. So yeah, exactly the kind of feel-good romance you'd expect!

But it's not your average movie, it's interactive because it allows viewers to buy products from Walmart on their TV during specific parts of the story. So if you've ever seen something in a movie and thought "Hey, I want one of those", now's your chance.

Take a look at the trailer below.

How does Jingle Bell Love's interactive elements work?

Reaching into the TV and taking something is a concept that's still not yet available, as cool as the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie made it look. So Walmart has a different approach to what they're describing as a "shoppable TV".

Prior to Jingle Bell Love, the supermarket trialed a social media romcom series Add to Heart, which had 23 episodes released on TikTok, Roku, and YouTube last December. Clearly a lot of work went into this, as even some of the best Netflix shows don't have 23 episode runs.

During each minute long episode, we saw a bunch of products like an ELF lipgloss and a drone, and the YouTube description had a link to buy the products featured in that episode.

According to Business Insider, they're going one step further with Jingle Bell Love, as it's a feature length movie and Walmart will make it easier to buy products seen on the TV screen by enabling account connections between Walmart and Roku, so that payment information can be filled out automatically. Feedback off the back of Add to Heart suggested that it was "too much work to buy stuff."

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• NordLayer introduces Download Protection, a tool that scans files in download
• The tool was previously introduced to NordVPN
• It comes at no additional cost, but currently only to Windows users

NordLayer has introduced a new feature called Download Protection in order to better protect its users from internet-borne threats.

NordLayer provides secure remote access, private gateways, and encrypted connections to enhance cybersecurity and support modern work environments. It is a sister company to NordVPN, one of the biggest and most popular VPN providers around today.

NordVPN introduced Download Protection as part of its Threat Protection Pro upgrade in early 2024, allowing users to scan files for malware during downloads, helping to prevent malicious content from infecting devices - and the same tool is now being added to NordLayer, as well.

Download Protection in NordLayer

“Download Protection, a reactive anti-malware solution with easy-to-understand single-toggle controls, is adopted from our sister company NordVPN where it has already been used and trusted by millions of users worldwide,” noted Evaldas Kasnauskas, product manager at NordLayer.

“By bringing this proven technology to NordLayer, we’re enhancing our customer’s defense against cyberattacks that spread and are executed through infected files as well as strengthening our Secure Web Gateway (SWG) offering.”

Download Protection is a simple tool - whichever files the user downloads, it will scan for potential malware.

NordLayer said it works at all times, even if a user is not connected to a VPN. It was also said the tool works in real time, removing infected files before they land on the computer, and “seamlessly integrates” with existing security measures. The functionality is enabled by a single click of a button, and comes at no additional cost to all NordLayer subscription tiers.

At the moment, the new feature is available to Windows app users, and is managed through the cloud-hosted NordLayer Control Panel. Other desktop platforms are soon to follow, it was concluded.

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• Three more Sega Genesis games have been added to Nintendo Switch Online
• ToeJam & Earl: Panic on Funkotron, VectorMan, and Wolf of the Battlefield: Mercs are now available
• The three titles now bring the total number of Genesis games to 47

Nintendo has added three more classic Sega Genesis games to its Switch Online subscription service.

As part of the latest November 2024 update, Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass members can now enjoy even more classic titles for the Sega Genesis collection, bringing the total number to 47.

First up, we have ToeJam & Earl: Panic on Funkotron, which was released in 1993 and is the sequel to 1991's ToeJam & Earl.

The 2D platformer was well-received back in the 90s and finds ToeJam and Earl, two aliens, on a new adventure after escaping where they originally crash-landed.

Vectorman is another 2D side-scrolling platformer and was developed and released by BlueSky Software in 1995 for the Sega Genesis. The game later received a re-release on the Wii, Steam, as well as part of the Sega Forever line of mobile releases.

Finally, there's Mercs, also known as Wolf of the Battlefield II and originally released as Senjō no Ōkami II in Japan in 1990 for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive.

The Capcom game is a sequel to the 1985 arcade game Commando and features two different game modes, including Arcade Mode and Original Mode.

To play these latest titles, Nintendo Switch users must be subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online + the Expansion Pack, which costs $49.99 / £34.99 / AU$59.95 for a 12-month pass.

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• A leak has provided our first look at a phone believed to be the OnePlus 13R
• It looks a lot like the higher-end OnePlus 13
• The phone reportedly uses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset

While we’re still waiting for the global launch of the OnePlus 13 (following its October launch in China) we’re already seeing leaks about a mid-range sibling to the phone, likely to be dubbed the OnePlus 13R, and now we’ve seen a leaked image supposedly showing this handset.

Shared by leaker Digital Chat Station on Weibo (via NotebookCheck), the image is technically said to be of the OnePlus Ace 5, but based on past form that phone will probably launch as the OnePlus 13R outside China.

In any case, the image shows a sleek, stylish phone that looks quite a lot like the OnePlus 13, especially with its circular, off-center camera island. Like that phone it appears to have a triple-lens camera, and round the front it has a flat display, unlike the curved OnePlus 12R.

(Image credit: Digital Chat Station) High-end specs at a likely mid-range price

You can also see that there’s an alert slider on the left edge, and what looks to be a metal frame. The source adds that the OnePlus 13R will use a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. That’s not the latest Snapdragon chipset, so this phone likely won’t be as powerful as the Snapdragon 8 Elite-packing OnePlus 13, but the 8 Gen 3 is still a speedy option, as it’s used in the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

There’s nothing else in this leak, but previously the same source has said the OnePlus 13R will have a huge 6,000mAh battery, a 50MP primary camera, and a 50MP telephoto one.

If that all pans out – coupled with a likely mid-range price tag – the OnePlus 13R could be a very tempting alternative to other mid-range models we’re expecting in 2025, like the iPhone SE 4, the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE, and the Google Pixel 9a.

The OnePlus 13R could also launch before any of those phones, as based on past form we’d expect to see it in January or February.

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• GSMA report claims cybersecurity spend set to rise by the end of the decade
• Unsurprisingly, 5G is set to get 2.5x more investment than 4G by 2030
• Telcos need to help enterprises undergo digital transformations

Most enterprises are not reacting to tough economic conditions by cutting costs, but rather they’re looking to boost revenue, new research has claimed.

A new GSMA report has said three-fifths of firms are now prioritizing revenue growth, customer experience and competitive positioning to help grow their companies rather than make reactive decisions to reduce costs.

But the study also found cybersecurity is at the top of many companies’ lists, with investments set to continue growing long-term.

Companies are investing in future growth

The report noted enterprises are planning to allocate a considerable 9% of their revenue during 2024-2026 to cybersecurity, with that figure climbing two percentage points to 11% during 2027-2030.

Besides increasing security, enterprises have also expressed a commitment to investing in artificial intelligence and improving their connectivity.

Most (85%) now see 5G networks and connectivity as important, with an average of 21% of digital transformation budgets set to be earmarked for connectivity – 13% for mobile and 5G and 8% for fixed and Wi-Fi. Between 2024 and 2030, investment in 5G is expected to be 2.5x great than in 4G, with high mobility sectors like automotive, transportation, logistics and warehousing driving much of this investment.

Finally, AI spend is set to continue as companies seek productivity and efficiency boosts. It already makes up for 14% of enterprise technology expenditure, with 90% of companies having incorporated the tech in some form, however the scope for growth is tremendous given that only one-third are using it in “advanced” ways.

“Telcos need to go beyond just providing network services since enterprises are increasingly looking for partners who can help them throughout their full digital transformation journeys, combining technologies such as 5G, AI, IoT and cloud to improve efficiency, security and drive revenues," noted GSMA Intelligence Head of Research Pablo Iacopino.

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• Spotify Wrapped is expected to arrive imminently according to new teaser
• Spotify says it might not appear if you haven't updated the app
• Last year proved so popular it seemed to overwhelm the servers

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat and it's very nearly time for Spotify Wrapped 2024, the annual analysis of what you've been listening to – assuming of course that you've been listening to it on Spotify.

We're expecting the annual recap to be released any day now – as we noted in our Spotify Wrapped 2024 release date predictions, the smart money is now a December 4 roll-out, based on a combination of historical dates and recent rumors. Although Spotify could go rogue and choose December 11 or another date instead.

But how do you make sure Wrapped turns up safely? Historically, the roll-out has been slightly staggered across different regions, so the timing of its arrival is a little out of your hands – but Spotify has posted some details on how to make sure you get Wrapped on time for those all-important social media shares.

Head to the Spotify app on either Apple's App Store (if you're on iPhone) or the Google Play Store (for Android fans) and see if an 'update' button appears. If it does, update the app to the latest version. That's currently version 8.9.94 on iPhone or 8.9.96.476 on Android, though Spotify may well roll out another update before Wrapped 2024 lands.

We reckon the smart thing to do is make sure you're app's updated early next week – and also have a backup plan, in case Wrapped runs into some issues like it did last year...

Preparing for a Wrapped wrinkles

Last year's Spotify Wrapped 2023 roll-out had some early teething issues, which meant it wasn't appearing immediately for some users. (Image credit: Future)

Last year, some users encountered issues where Wrapped just didn't appear.

Some of those issues appeared to be the result of overloaded Spotify servers, but there are some troubleshooting tricks that may come in handy if there's a repeat this year. The tips to keep in your back pocket are:

• Update or reinstall the app
• Do it manually: try typing spotify:datastories:wrapped or 2024 wrapped in the search bar
• Try the Spotify mobile website

Still, there's always a chance that Wrapped might go a little more smoothly this year, so making sure the app is updated remains the best best advice.

So whether you want to impress people with your top-notch taste in music – or in my case, your worrying Charli XCX obsession – or just see how Spotify follows up 'Sound Town' or its artists video messages this year, you shouldn't have long to wait.

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The best streaming services tend to take it easy in the run-up to the holidays, with lots of festive-themed entertainment already added. But there's usually at least one big blockbuster for the season, and looking at everything new on Netflix in December this year Netflix's one is the high-octane and equally highly rated Mad Max: Fury Road, which comes with screaming tires and people towards the end of the month.

It's not the only best Netflix movie you'll find on the service this December. Kathryn Bigelow movies are always worth streaming; the surprisingly nuanced Zero Dark Thirty is coming to Netflix this month. And if you want to feel deeply disturbed, the critically acclaimed Compliance makes its Netflix debut this month too.

Mad Max: Fury Road

RT Score: 97%
Age rating: R
Length: 2h 0m
Director: George Miller
Arriving: December 30

This is the perfect blockbuster for the holidays: it's big in every sense of the word and has a near-perfect 97% rating. Although officially a Tom Hardy movie the real star of the show is Charlize Theron as Furiosa, a character so good she got her own movie afterwards.

According to Alternative Lens: "It's like an insane 80's B-movie, but one made with thought, effort, and enough of a budget to match its deranged aspirations." Flickering Myth says that "Mad Max: Fury Road is a rare successful franchise resurrection; it is an 80s action film with the budget of a modern era film with mind-blowing cinematography". And The Monitor suggested that "Mad Max: Fury Road is the perfect chick flick for the discerning viewer who prefers her protagonist to be more Ellen Ripley than a musical Charlie's Angel."

Zero Dark Thirty

RT Score: 91%
Age rating: R
Length: 2h 37m
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Arriving: December 1

Although it's a work of fiction, Zero Dark Thirty is based on very real events: the hunt for terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden. Jessica Chastain delivers a superb performance as the woman who tracked him down, and provided you don't treat it as a history lesson it's a very powerful and thrilling movie.

Empire magazine gave it the full five stars, saying that it's a complex film that isn't quite the good-guy bad-guy story you might expect: "Like Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, it’s a relatively new kind of American patriotic war movie, counterprogramming jaded paranoid fantasies like the Bourne movies or the liberal horror stories (Redacted, Rendition, In The Valley Of Elah, Green Zone etc.) thrown up by the War On Terror. It’s measured, seething with suppressed emotion, unafraid of slow stretches and false trails, snapping shut like a mantrap when blood is shed."

Compliance

RT Score: 89%
Age rating: R
Length: 1h 30m
Director: Craig Zobel
Arriving: December 5

This is an unusual one. It starts with a phone call to a burger bar and becomes a meditation on how humans can be persuaded to do inhuman things, and while it's not 100% successful – it attracted very mixed reviews – it's a deeply disturbing tale of a young woman subjected to increasingly hostile interrogation.

According to MovieFreak.com: "It took me places I did not want to go, got me in a mindset so infuriating I was angry at myself for thinking the thoughts I was." And Metro UK points out that sometimes reality is just as worrying as fiction. "Plausibly acted, if implausibly directed by Craig Zobel (Great World Of Sound), the credulity of this provocative scenario would snap had it not actually happened more than 70 times across 30 US states."

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• Shuhei Yoshida announces he will leave PlayStation in January 2025
• The current Head of Indie's has worked at PlayStation for 31 years
• Yoshida said that after he hit 30 years, he thought it was "time for me to move on"

The head of PlayStation's indies, Shuhei Yoshida, has announced he will retire from the company in January 2025 after 31 years.

The news of his upcoming departure comes from a new PlayStation Blog post, where Yoshida reflected on his time at PlayStation and why he ultimately decided to leave the company behind.

"I’m leaving Sony Interactive Entertainment on January 15, 2025… it’s like announcing the launch date of a new game, [something] I haven’t done for a long time," Yoshida said.

Yoshida joined PlayStation in 1993 when Sony was still developing the PS1 and was later promoted to president of Sony Computer Entertainment, which is now known as Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SIE).

In his current role, Yoshida overlooks independent studios as the head of Sony's Independent Developer Initiative.

"I’ve been with PlayStation from the beginning, and this is my 31st year with PlayStation. And when I hit 30 years, I was thinking, hmm, it may be about time for me to move on," Yoshida said.

"You know, the company’s been doing great. I love PS5, I love the games that are coming out on this platform. And we have new generations of management who I respect and admire. And I’m so excited for the future of PlayStation.

"So you know, PlayStation is in really good hands. I thought, okay, this is my time."

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• Apple’s running shoe emoji is based on a famous New Balance design
• An artist has turned this emoji into a real pair of sneakers
• You can buy them from the artist’s website for $219

All the best phones come with a bewildering array of different emoji – with new ones being added all the time – but they mostly stay confined to the digital realm. Now, though, one designer has turned Apple’s running shoe emoji into a real pair of kicks that you can purchase for yourself.

Artist Jose Wong took inspiration from Apple’s particular take on the running shoe emoji, using it to create a pair of sneakers available in sizes five to 12. The upper consists of full grain nubuck leather and mesh, with EVA foam and a polyurethane rim on the midsole and heel.

There’s five percent recycled rubber in the outsole, while the insoles are printed with a chipboard design inspired by iPhone circuitry and Apple silicon chips. The packaging the shoes will arrive in also takes its cues from Apple, with a plain white paper insert reading “Designed by Josewong in China.”

You can buy a pair of the sneakers from Wong’s ABCD brand shop, where they will set you back $219.90 (around £175 / AU$340). Even the product’s URL incorporates the sneaker emoji.

Why New Balance?

(Image credit: Jose Wong / Future)

When new emoji get created and approved by the Unicode Consortium, operating system creators can interpret them in their own way. That’s why emoji can look slightly different across iOS and Android, and even on different apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and more.

Apple’s version of the running shoe emoji – the one that inspired Jose Wong – is itself a reference to the New Balance sneakers worn by Apple’s late founder Steve Jobs.

The former Apple CEO was famous for his “uniform” consisting of a black turtleneck sweater, blue jeans, and New Balance 991 or 992 shoes. Interestingly, Apple’s sneaker emoji is actually based on the New Balance 574, albeit with some subtle changes (including to the logo), but the similarities to Jobs’ chosen footwear are striking.

If you love the iOS running shoe emoji and want a pair for yourself in the real world, Jose Wong’s creation might be appealing. It’s far from the only emoji to debut IRL – giant emoji plushies are common around the world – but it might be one of the more practical ones.

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Google is planning to give Gemini a major boost in absorbing and explaining software code, as discovered in as-yet unreleased code by Android Authority. The upgrade could simplify developers' lives using the AI assistant on Android devices.

Specifically, the unreleased programming points to Gemini, adding the ability to analyze entire code folders instead of one file at a time like now. That's less of a breakthrough than a way for Google to keep up with its rivals like ChatGPT, which can already take on multiple files of code.

Based on the report, Gemini users would be able to upload a codebase of up to 1,000 files and 100MB in a single folder. You could then ask Gemini about the code, what it does, and ways to improve it. That might not seem like a big change, but the single file limit makes Gemini's insight into code much less helpful for developers.

Even if they like how Gemini explains the code, uploading a thousand files in a folder that could all go up at once takes a long time. By putting it all together in a single upload, Gemini could provide a more holistic view of a project and its strengths and weaknesses. At the very least, debugging would go a lot faster.

The raw code doesn't indicate when the new feature will be available or if it will be restricted to premium subscribers, but expect a lot of excitement from coders who would prefer to use Google's AI over OpenAI or GitHub Copilot, the coding assistant run by the Microsoft subsidiary.

Code Gemini

Even with folder uploading as an option, Gemini won't be taking over for programmers everywhere. A maximum of 1,000 files and 100MB per folder might be sufficient for smaller projects or individual developers, but it could fall short for larger, enterprise-level codebases.

Even on a smaller scale, AI tools can really only supplement human expertise. Debugging and optimizing code is one thing, but you'll still want a human checking the result of anything the AI writes. And the creative aspect of programming is not an area where AI can really shine, at least without mimicking existing ideas.

Still, many independent developers and small teams will undoubtedly welcome Gemini's upgrade as it makes coding more accessible to those with less experience and fewer resources. Imagine a junior developer using Gemini to understand a complex open-source project or a solo creator resolving all of the bugs in their app. The ability to ask plain-language questions about an entire codebase could streamline that process enormously.

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• Only one in three firms are fully utilizing cloud-based solutions
• More companies are using complex multicloud systems than last year
• Two-thirds want to upgrade their systems because of lack of confidence

Many UK businesses are falling behind when it comes to adopting critical technologies like cloud-based solutions, which is limiting their potential for growth, new research has claimed.

A report from OneAdvanced says only one-third (35%) of UK businesses fully utilize cloud-based solutions, with just 14% having successfully integrated artificial intelligence at the strategic level where it can help improve the efficiency of data-driven decision-making.

OneAdvanced’s findings are somewhat contradictory, given nearly half (44%) of Britain’s leaders identified efficiency and productivity as their top objectives for 2024.

Britain is slow to adopt new tech, it’s confirmed

It’s not always a pretty picture when companies do invest, though, because many fail to get it right. Around half (48%) of AI projects fail due to poor implementation, and despite the majority (85%) of execs recognizing AI’s potential benefits, many businesses lack the right infrastructure and expertise.

“It’s not at all surprising that so many leaders say that efficiency and productivity are their top priorities, but to find that so few are actively embracing the technology and services that will allow them to grow is quite astonishing," OneAdvanced CTO Andrew Henderson commented.

The report added says this reluctance to go all-in on cloud could also be costing businesses by increasing complexity – 42% now use a mix of cloud and on-prem systems, up from 36% last year.

“Without the proper adoption of cloud solutions and a lack of availability of reliable data, businesses will continue to find it hard to realise the full potential of AI tech," Henderson noted.

Looking ahead, two in three leaders plan to upgrade digital systems, with 15% currently lacking confidence that their existing infrastructure could support the growth they need.

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