TechRadar News

• Baylan Skoll's Lightsaber ushers in a few firsts
• It's the first Black Series Force FX Lightsaber with a red, orange color
• Hasbro's latest creation is super high-tech for an immersive experience

Star Wars Ahsoka captivated us all on Disney Plus, and as we await a second season, the second drop in ‘Gift the Galaxy’ from Hasbro will let you own an iconic piece from the show.

Baylan Skoll, a figure of power and intrigue, not quite a Sith but also not-not-friends-with-Jedi, has left an indelible mark on the Ahsoka story with his iconic red and orange lightsaber. This unique color, a nod to his complex intentions, sets his lightsaber apart from the traditional Sith red, sparking curiosity and excitement among fans.

You can now own Skoll’s iconic lightsaber with Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Black Series Force FX Elite Baylan Skoll Lightstaber. It’s priced at $249.99 / £269.99 (we're working to confirm Australia pricing) with a shipping time frame of ‘Spring 2025’ (likely March, April, or May of next year) and goes up for pre-sale tomorrow at 1 PM ET at Hasbro Pulse and Amazon.

(Image credit: Hasbro)

It ushers in a big first for Habsro’s Black Series Force FX Lightsabers and is the largest hilt in the lineup. It won’t just be screen-accurate regarding all the details but also in size. Unlike Sith sabers from the past, including Darth Vader’s, this isn’t a true, bold red, but rather, Skoll’s saber is a red-orange and the first time this color has been offered in Hasbro’s ultimate lineup.

Baylan Skoll's Lightsaber, a testament to his formidable skills in the show, is a powerhouse of advanced features. With an onboard speaker delivering custom sound effects and multiple arrays of advanced LEDs, it promises to be the most realistic Star Wars lightsaber yet. The progressive ignition and full battle sequence mode for role-playing elements, battle clash, blaster effects, and a wall-cutting effect ensure an immersive experience.

Suffice it to say, much like his wielding skills in the show, this is a pretty stacked lightsaber with an excellent-looking hilt. As with other Force FX Lightsabers, you’ll get a stand in the box to proudly display the hilt, but the blade can be easily attached when needed.

(Image credit: Hasbro)

It’s great to see Hasbro usher in Baylan Skoll’s Lightsaber. As we all await fresh Star Wars films and TV shows to binge – Skeleton Crew is next – and Ahsoka’s second season, this will be a great way to pass the time.

With ‘Gift the Galaxy’ ongoing, you can expect more products to drop showcasing the entire Star Wars universe, and if you’re subscribed to Disney Plus, you can enter to win a Star Wars prize pack or a trip to Star Wars Celebration in Japan here.

Hasbro will begin preorders of Star Wars: The Black Series Force FX Elite Baylan Skoll Lightstaber on November 20, 2024, at 1 PM ET for $249.99 / £269.99 (we're working to confirm Australia pricing) at its Hasbro Pulse online store and on Amazon.

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• Leaks suggest Sony will cut the price of more PS5 accessories this Black Friday
• The DualSense and DualSense Edge Controllers will be discounted
• Pulse Elite and Pulse Explore audio accessories will also see a price cut

Sony's Black Friday deals have leaked ahead of the annual event, and it looks like it will be discounting even more PS5 accessories.

As reported by known and reliable leaker 'billbil-kun' of the French blog Dealabs, this Black Friday Sony will seeingly offer price cuts on its DualSense Wireless Controller and DualSense Edge Controller.

Starting November 22 in France and Europe, DualSense Wireless Controllers, in basic colors, will be discounted by €20 / £16. This means we can expect the price to come down from €74.99 / £62.71 to around €54.99 / £42.71.

It's unclear at this time if this offer will also apply to the Sterling Silver and Cobalt Blue DualSense controllers, the leaker said.

Meanwhile, the DualSsense Edge Wireless Controller, which normally costs €239.99 / £200, will also see a €20 / £16 discount. The Black Friday offer will apparently bring the device down to €219.99 / £184.

In addition, the Pulse Elite wireless headphones and the Pulse Explore Earbuds for the PS5 are also expected to see discounts.

In a separate blog, billbil-kun claimed that Sony will introduce a promotion on these select audio accessories for the first time since launching them in December 2023 and February 2024.

For a limited time, starting November 22, the Pulse Elite will receive a -12% discount while the Pulse Explore buds will get -36% discount.

"This promotion will be valid in France at all authorized merchants, and will probably be extended to Europe and the rest of the world regions," the leaker explained.

During the sale, the Pulse Elite will be priced at €129.99 / £108.77 / $137.55 from €149.99 / £ 125.50 / $158.70, and the Pulse Explore will cost "between 139.99 euros and 149.99 euros instead of 219.99 euros."

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• Sony unveils the A1 II, the Alpha A1 successor, also with 50MP stacked sensor
• It's a minor update, priced at $6,500 / £6,300 body only, Australia pricing TBC
• It goes on sale in late November

Sony has announced its most versatile mirrorless camera yet, the A1 II. It succeeds the Alpha 1, which was a truly game-changing mirrorless camera when it was launched in January 2021, and features the same stacked 50MP full-frame sensor, 30fps burst shooting, and 8K video.

With the same sensor and high-speed performance, the A1 II feels like only a minor update of the A1. However, it delivers design-based improvements that make it feel better in the hand, plus enhanced performance in a few areas, courtesy of tech that's mostly borrowed from Sony's fastest camera for sports and wildlife, the A9 III.

The A1 II's design is nigh on the same as the A9 III's, which is fine with us because we rate that camera as the best-handling Sony Alpha ever.

We've already had some hands-on time with the camera ahead of the launch, and in our A1 II hands-on review we appreciate its chunkier handgrip, especially when pairing the camera with Sony's latest professional lens, launched on the same day, the mighty FE 28-70mm F2 GM (see below).

We've already had some hands-on time with the Sony A1 II ahead of its launch, and our hands-on review is linked above (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

It's a double whammy of exciting new Sony products for pro photographers and filmmakers. However, the A1 II is only a modest upgrade of the A1, which is now almost four years old, and was a camera whose superb detail and speed set the bar for rivals to follow, with those rivals having since caught up, launching the likes of the Canon EOS R1 and the Nikon Z9.

To its credit, Sony has launched the A1 II at a lower price than 2021's Alpha A1 – it costs $6,500 / £6,300 (Australia pricing TBC, around $12,000) for the body only, and will go on sale in late November. However, there are now cheaper alternatives, such as the Sony A7R V, Canon EOS R5 Mark II and Nikon Z8, which could turn heads away from the A1 II.

While it hasn't pushed the boundaries of camera technology, or explored new ground like it did with the A9 III and its global shutter, Sony has delivered a polished successor in the A1 II. So does this mean Sony Alpha cameras have hit a tech ceiling?

An AI boost to AF

There are pros for whom the A1 II's improvements will be enough to justify an upgrade. It's better in the hand, with a bigger and more comfortable handgrip and a larger multi-angle touchscreen with greater color depth, à la the A9 III.

It also has Sony's AI processing chip, as debuted in the A7R V, which should improve subject-detection autofocus performance, plus a new Auto subject-detection AF mode which intelligently picks out the subject for you, rather than you having to manually select subject type ahead of time. This is a feature I've been calling on all brands to deliver, so thank you Sony, although I'll need to do more in-depth tests to see if there are any compromises when using Auto.

The new Sony FE 28-70mm F2 GM lens was announced alongside the A1 II, and they're a formidable pairing. The lens costs $2,900 / £3,050 (Australia pricing TBC). (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)

There's also pre-capture for up to one second ahead of fully pressing the shutter when shooting high-speed sequences, in case your reactions aren't quick enough – another feature lifted from the A9 III. Sony's Bionz XR processor delivers a similar stamina to the A1: 30fps bursts can last for up to 153 raw images – impressive stuff.

Sony says the A1 II's in-body image stabilization is rated up to 8.5EV, whereas it maxes out at 5.5EV on the Alpha A1. All in all, the A1 II is one of the best professional cameras, polishing the rougher edges of the A1. However, there's virtually nothing here that we haven't already seen before from Sony, which is unusual for the great camera innovator given the improvements it's delivered over the last 15 years. It's also the only full-frame Alpha that Sony is launching in 2024, making this an unusually quiet year for the camera giant.

Is Sony running out of ideas? Perhaps, though I believe there's more to come. Sony has on this occasion focused on what pros probably needed the most – better handling – instead of the next headline-grabbing feature. It doesn't exactly make for dramatic headlines, but this camera could win the respect of pro Sony users.

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• Oracle Red Bull Racing announces Neat as official video conferencing partner
• Partnership starts from 2025 Formula 1 season
• Neat will provide video conferencing kit to the team

One of Formula 1's most dominant teams in recent years has announced a new tech partnership showing the importance of video conferencing in the sport.

Reigning Formula 1 world team and driver's champions (at the time of going to press) Oracle Red Bull Racing, has announced it will be teaming up with Neat for the start of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship.

The three-year deal will see Neat devices used throughout Oracle Red Bull Racing's entire organization, including its headquarters just outside Milton Keynes, UK, as well as branding on the team's car and uniforms.

Neat partnership for Oracle Red Bull Racing

The partnership sees Neat named as the team’s exclusive Video Conferencing Hardware Partner and an Innovation Partner, possibly replacing an existing relationship Oracle Red Bull Racing had with Zoom.

“With our shared commitment to innovation and excellence, we are excited to welcome Neat to the Oracle Red Bull Racing Team and look forward to working together to support simple and immersive collaboration experiences for our organization," said Christian Horner, Team Principal and CEO, Oracle Red Bull Racing.

"Close teamwork, passion, and creativity are key to the Team’s success on the track, and Neat’s video technology allows us to collaborate at our best."

The 2025 Formula 1 season will feature 24 races across the globe, with the team travelling to new venues every few weeks, meaning video conferencing and online collaboration tools have never been more important, especially in a sport where gaining even the slightest advantage on your competitors can mean the difference between winning and second place.

Neat offers a range of video conferencing display and camera hardware, alongside its Pulse full-service offering, which gives companies full oversight and control of device deployment across their organization.

“Oracle Red Bull Racing is known around the world as a team that has achieved the highest levels of success in Formula 1 racing, and we are pleased to join them as a partner," said Janine Pelosi, CEO of Neat.

"Neat’s passion for delivering simple yet powerful collaboration experiences aligns perfectly with the Oracle Red Bull Racing team’s dedication to bringing a complex organization together to achieve success. This partnership brings the Neat brand to a large global audience while staying true to our core ethos of bringing people together with our elegant and powerful video devices."

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• Microsoft has released the November update for its Secure Future Initiative
• New security oriented solutions have been introduced across environments
• Microsoft also announces a new Windows Resiliency Initiative

Microsoft has released the second update to its Secure Future Initiative - a program introduced to address critical security challenges and vulnerabilities experienced by the company which led to state-sponsored threat actors compromising US government data.

Microsoft has built upon progress made in its September 2024 update, where it introduced a number of security-oriented changes, including tying security to performance evaluations and introducing the Security Skilling Academy.

The company says further progress has now been made across Microsoft’s six engineering pillars to ensure “security above all else” to help protect users, businesses and contractors.

More progress across the pillars

(Image credit: Microsoft)

In the September 2024 update, Microsoft advanced the security of its first pillar, ‘protect identities and secrets’, by boosting the protection of access token signing keys on Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft Account, and Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services. Microsoft also introduced phishing resistant credentials across the productivity environment.

A number of major changes have also now been revealed, with the Microsoft Azure Portal, Microsoft Entra admin center, Intune admin center, and Microsoft 365 admin center all getting multifactor authentication enabled by default for new tenants.

MFA is also being enforced across Microsoft’s productivity environments to reduce the risk of phishing and credential theft.

For pillar two, ‘protect tenants and isolate production systems’, the September update saw Microsoft introduce lifetime management and secure defaults for Microsoft Entra ID accounts, alongside removing management from legacy platforms such as the Azure Service Management API. These updates saw 5.75 million tenants eliminated and 440,000 resources removed.

The company says its progress since September has seen Microsoft introduce the Entra Conditional Access template which requires users to meet a certain level of device compliance. Moreover, Microsoft says it has rolled out almost 100,000 ‘locked-down’ devices, with 28,000 high-risk users moved to secure virtual machines.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

September’s update to the third pillar, ‘protect networks’, saw Microsoft configure over 99% of its network devices to a baseline standard, with physical devices continually monitored for vulnerabilities and security hygiene. All Microsoft services had service tags added to help identity owners of traffic in the Microsoft network, and centrally configured network policies were introduced.

Since then, Microsoft has made Azure Virtual Network Encryption available, with Domain Name System Security Extensions support in public preview. Microsoft also refined its ‘over 99%’ number to 99.3%, and highlighted the implementation of mandatory access control lists to isolate physical assets and prevent lateral movement in the event of network compromise.

September saw Microsoft increase security for pillar four, ‘protect engineering systems’, by tracking software assets in production environments, applied new policies to harden code repositories, as well as a number of changes to pipelines, testing environments and derived credentials.

Microsoft has now introduced GitHub Advanced Security to allow customers to scan Azure DevOps Git repositories for secret exposures, as well as blocking new secrets from being exposed at push. More work is to be done here, however, as Microsoft is still working towards removing secrets from code, but the report highlights the introduction of authentication protocols to eliminate exposed credentials and secrets.

For ‘monitor and detect threats’, Microsoft's fifth pillar, September saw Redmond introduce service-level security audit logging in standard libraries, as well as a centrally enforced security log retention period. Microsoft also said it was working to add new methods for detecting known threat actors’ tactics, techniques and procedures to red teaming tools, and expanded the availability of Microsoft 365 audit logs.

November’s update shows that Microsoft has also introduced consistent audit logging across all services with a retention period of two years, with logging also expanded to Microsoft’s cloud services.

Finally, September's update to the sixth pillar, ‘accelerate response and remediation’ saw the reduction of Microsoft’s time to mitigate critical cloud vulnerabilities, the introduction of cloud common vulnerability and exposures (CVE) publishing, and the launch of the Customer Security Management Office that provides updates and advisories on unfolding security incidents.

Now, Microsoft has released figures showing that they successfully addressed 90% of high severity cloud vulnerabilities within their reduced time to mitigate and published 800 cloud CVEs. Microsoft is now looking to issue security reports on nation-state actors direct to customers through Azure, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics 365.

Microsoft has also announced it is introducing the Windows Resiliency Initiative which is aimed at increasing the security of business devices, addressing the lessons learnt from the Crowdstrike outage, and increasing the usage of Windows 11.

The new initiative is aimed at reducing the number of admin privileges applications require in order to run, introducing better security controls for running apps and drivers, and boosting phishing resistance.

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• Microsoft unveils a host of AI-powered agents at Ignite 2024
• AI agents promise to solve even specialized business problems
• Microsoft Teams and Share Point among tools getting the upgrades

Microsoft has revealed a host of new AI-powered agents it says will help users and businesses alike address some of their most pressing issues.

At Microsoft Ignite 2024, the company unveiled several new specialized agents working across the Microsoft 365 suite alongside office software stalwarts such as SharePoint and Teams, as part of an initial look at how transformative the technology can be.

The company says the launch will see the agents, "take on unique roles, working alongside or on behalf of a team or organization to handle simple, mundane tasks as well as complex, multi-step business processes."

AI agents for Microsoft 365

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Among the new agents is Employee Self-Service Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot Business Chat (BizChat), which can quickly provide answers for employees concerning specific HR and IT policies within their business. Users can get information from BizChat on anything from payroll data, holiday allowance, requesting a new laptop from IT, and much more, all in a single location.

Microsoft also revealed users will be able to create and customize agents for its SharePoint collaboration platform in order to help support everyday tasks and processes. For example, an agent can be designed to learn about a specific project or business area, with users able to ask the agent questions about specialized areas, and the answers shared in real time across emails, meetings and chats.

As for Microsoft Teams, there is a new Facilitator agent which the company says can provide more effective collaboration and communication by taking notes in real-time, before sharing a summary of the most important information as the chat continues. There is also a new Interpreter agent which can translate up to nine languages at one time in a Teams meeting, allowing participants to speak and listen in the language of their choice.

Finally, a new Project Manager agent is able to automate project management in the Microsoft Planner platform, either creating an entirely new plan, or offering one of a series of pre-configured templates. The agent can then handle assigning tasks, tracking progress, and sending reminders and notifications to get status updates.

Build it smarter

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Elsewhere, Microsoft has also announced several updates for Copilot Studio, the platform used for building new agents.

Going forward, users will now be able to build smarter autonomous agents, able to take action on their behalf, for example responding to an email, or recording an uploaded file, without having to prompt the agent each time.

There will also be a library of agent templates for common business scenarios, helping users create an agent for the first time, alongside the existing range of customizations on offer.

Users will also be able to upload images to Copilot Studio, with agents able to analyze the uploads and ask questions about the images in order to gain extra context and insight. Any unanswered questions can be solved by matching specific instructions to fix a knowledge gap at the root of each unanswered question, with the ability to add new sources over time and build up the agent's intelligence.

Developers will also be able to build "full-stack, multichannel, trusted agents" using a new Agent SDK that brings together tools from Azure AI, Semantic Kernel and Copilot Studio, and can be deployed across multiple channels, such as Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 Copilot, the web and other third-party messaging platforms.

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• Up to 51 spoken and 31 translation languages now on offer
• Copilot-generated file summaries also coming to boost productivity

Connecting with colleagues, customers, and friends across the world is set to get much simpler thanks to a significant update to Microsoft Teams.

The video conferencing service has revealed it will be introducing transcription for multi-lingual meetings, supporting more languages than ever, even when it comes to meeting recaps.

Revealed as part of Microsoft's Ignite 2024 event news announcements, the news will also see an improved version of document summaries, generated and supplied by Copilot, to help users stay on track with their chats.

Microsoft Teams translation

Microsoft says the upgraded transcription and translation software features will help break down language barriers and facilitate improved collaboration among global teams.

Users will be able to select one of 51 spoken languages and one of the 31 translation languages on offer, with the meeting transcript able to record and supply the whole conversation, no matter what language is spoken.

The feature, which is coming in 2025 for Microsoft Teams desktop, web, and mobile apps, will also see live translations for captions and live transcripts supported.

Users will also receive an automatically-generated meeting recap supplied in whatever language they chose, after the meeting has ended, and can even alter the translation language via the Recap tab.

Elsewhere, the company revealed that Teams users will also be able to have a Copilot-generated summary of a file shared with them in a chat without needing to switch between apps.

Often, when a file is shared in a Teams chat, users aren't able to read through and digest in quickly, but the new feature, coming in preview in early 2025 will be able to quickly summarize the content so the user can understand the main points without opening the file.

Only users with access to the file will get a summary, so there's no risk of security leaks, with summaries carrying the same sensitivity label as the original file for extra safety.

Finally, the company is looking to make Microsoft Teams a place for employees of all levels to communicate via an upgrade to its Storyline feature, which will now be integrated within the platform.

Storyline will give all employees the opportunity to follow updates and notifications from leadership, discover content, contribute ideas and perspectives and express themselves to senior management, all from within Microsoft Teams.

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• Windows 365 Link Cloud PC unveiled at Microsoft Ignite 2024
• Offers dual monitor connection, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and more
• Windows 365 Link device will be available in April 2025 for $349

Microsoft has unveiled a new Cloud PC device aimed at getting business workloads onto Windows 365 quicker than ever.

The new Windows 365 Link is a business-focused mini PC able to give users their classic Windows desktop experience on a cloud PC, with everything hosted in Azure, in an easy to deploy and manage low-footprint device.

Announced as part of the company's Microsoft Ignite 2024 event, the Windows 365 Link device will be available in April 2025 for $349, and is in preview now for selected customers.

Windows 365 Link

(Image credit: Microsoft)

The compact and lightweight device features a fanless design that should mean it can easily fit in to most workspaces, as well as being able to be unplugged and taken somewhere else when needed.

Microsoft says the Windows 365 Link takes seconds to boot up and will "instantly" wake up from sleep mode. Monitoring and management will come via Microsoft Intune, meaning the device can easily sync up with other Windows PCs, and configuration can reportedly be completed within minutes of turning on, with automatic updates coming as a standard - with the ability to factory reset remotely in minutes for easy reuse.

When it comes to connectivity, the device will offer dual 4K monitor support, four USB ports, an audio port, an Ethernet Port, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, with Microsoft promising "seamless" connectivity to wired and wireless accessories alike.

Microsoft says the new Windows 365 Link will be "secure by design", as it has no local data or local apps, so your data will stay within Microsoft's cloud at all times.

Security baseline policies will be enabled by default and security features cannot be turned off, with passwordless authentication for logins via Microsoft Entra ID and the Microsoft Authenticator app or USB security keys.

Given its promised flexibility, Microsoft has also made the Windows 365 Link stand out in terms of sustainability. The device is made with 90% post-consumer recycled aluminum alloy in its top shield and 100% pre-consumer recycled aluminum alloy in its bottom plate. Its motherboard contains 100% recycled copper and 96% recycled tin solder, and the device as a whole reportedly offers lower energy consumption than most desktops.

If your business wants to try out the new device now, a preview program is now open for applications to organizations with desk-based workers using Windows 365 in Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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• More Copilot-powered features coming to top Microsoft 365 tools
• Microsoft Excel gets new template-building tool
• PowerPoint can now build richer slides, and Outlook gets smarter calendar integration

Microsoft has unveiled a host of Copilot-powered upgrades to some of the most popular office software tools in use today.

The likes of Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint are all set for another AI-enabled update after the company revealed the news at its Microsoft Ignite 2024 event.

Microsoft says the changes will lead to greater efficiency and productivity across the board, freeing up more time and space for workers at all levels to focus on the tasks that really matter.

Copilot upgrades

Included in the new updates is a new Microsoft Excel tool which aims to make creating specialized spreadsheets more straightforward for workers at all levels.

The new "start experience" will let users tell Copilot exactly what kind of spreadsheet they are creating, whether it be a project budget, inventory tracker, sales report, or anything else, and the tool will suggest a template file.

This template can then be refined further with headers, formulae and even visuals, giving the user a kickstart on creating the perfect spreadsheet.

This feature will be generally available by the end of the year with Microsoft 365 Copilot in Excel.

Elsewhere, Copilot will soon be able to better integrate with a user's Outlook platform in order to analyze their calendar to pick and schedule the best time for events such as 1:1 meetings, or even just some focus time.

The tool, available by the end of November 2024, can even help draft an agenda for a meeting by prompting it with details about the goals of the event, for example, “The goal of this meeting is to review the next project and introduce a team member”, and create an agenda to help the meeting stay on track.

Microsoft Places will also get closer integration with both Outlook and Teams, bringing AI-powered location tools that will help workers get the most out of being in the office.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

There are also a range of new PowerPoint tools enabled by Copilot that Microsoft says will help users create better presentations in a matter of minutes.

This includes Copilot's Narrative Builder feature, which will use information from a pre-established template and referenced file from the user to create a full-scale first draft presentation, including branded design, speaker notes and built-in transitions and animations.

Copilot can also now handle translation of PowerPoint presentations, with 40 languages initially available, all whilst keeping the slide design as intended, helping get your message across to colleagues around the world.

Narrative Builder is coming to Copilot in PowerPoint in January 2025, with translation coming to Copilot in PowerPoint on the web beginning in December and for desktop and Mac in January 2025.

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• Leak suggests the box for Arc B580 is being readied
• This comes on top of rumors that Intel will launch Battlemage next month
• We can hope for a true budget 1080p champ in those 2nd-gen Arc GPUs

Rumors around Intel’s next-gen Battlemage desktop GPUs are ramping up, with the latest being a sighting of the Arc B580 graphics card – or at least a hint that the packaging is being readied.

Tom’s Hardware noticed the appearance of a shipping manifest, presented in a post on X, seemingly for the box of the Battlemage (BMG) B580 GPU.

First Battlemage B580? pic.twitter.com/uz0aaJlPtANovember 18, 2024

Naturally, take this with some seasoning – plus the leaker in question is not one we’ve heard of before – but the packaging for the next-gen Arc graphics cards being readied (since September, apparently) falls in line with recent spinning from the rumor mill.

That includes speculation from a couple of days ago that showed a leaked teaser, showing Intel has a Battlemage announcement for December, which follows a rumor from earlier this month suggesting the exact same thing.

So, at least in theory, the revelation of these new 2nd-gen Arc GPUs is almost upon us.

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler) Analysis: Battling at the lower-end of the GPU market

An imminent reveal makes sense in terms of Intel wanting to get in ahead with its Battlemage GPU launch, given that both AMD and Nvidia are at this point strongly rumored to be about to reveal their respective next-gen ranges of graphics cards – RDNA 4 and Blackwell – at CES 2025.

Previous rumors had suggested an early 2025 launch for Battlemage, but perhaps Intel fears its 2nd-gen Arc graphics cards might get lost in the hype battle between RDNA 4 and RTX 5000 GPUs if it waits that long – drowned out by the noise made around those rival GPUs, even if they aren't direct rivals for Intel – so Team Blue has stepped up its plans.

Remember, we might just get a Battlemage announcement in December, and the boards themselves may not go on sale until later (in fact, that’s likely to be the case).

Seeing the Arc B580 mentioned specifically is interesting, as the gist of what we’ve heard regarding the performance of Battlemage GPUs is that they’ll all be targeting the lower end of the market.

Rumor has it that the top 2nd-gen Arc graphics card will run with 32 Xe cores, so will equal the current-gen (Alchemist) Arc A770 – so that’d fit with a theoretical B580 model. (Intel would have to drop this configuration down a tier to make sense, in other words – remember, though, there’ll be architectural performance improvements here, too, it’s not all about core count). So, perhaps the B580 will be the top offering with Battlemage, but this is all guesswork, really.

Whatever the case, it’ll be great to get some new budget GPUs – with truly affordable price tags – as this is an area Nvidia especially, and AMD too, has neglected for too long. Therefore, it’s a space where Intel can hopefully get in and make a meaningful difference in the world of desktop GPUs. Fingers and toes crossed.

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Netflix is no stranger to shocking programs. Among the best Netflix shows you can find documentary hits like Don't F*** with Cats and dramatizations like the chilling Woman of the Hour, which I hailed as my scariest movie of 2024. Now I'm adding a brand new "true-ish" series to my watchlist, which follows a fraudster as she claims she cured her stage four brain tumor through health and wellness methods.

In an age where influencers are recommending all sorts of products on social media, stories like this are horrible to witness. Apple Cider Vinegar tells the story of Belle Gibson, a wellness influencer who pretends she cured her terminal cancer to boost her social media presence and earn money. Her lies were eventually exposed and she was convicted, with the series based on the book The Woman Who Fooled the World by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano.

Take a look at the shocking trailer below. We don't have a release date just yet, so we'll have to keep our eyes peeled!

What else do we know about Apple Cider Vinegar?

Tudum revealed that: "Apple Cider Vinegar is a true-ish story based on a lie, about the rise and fall of a wellness empire; the culture that built it up, and the people who tore it down. Certain characters and events have been created or fictionalized."

So while this is inspired by the real life fraudster Belle Gibson, it's important to note it is not a straight documentary or biopic and that not everything you see on screen happened. So take that with a pinch of salt (or spoonful of apple cider vinegar?) before you decide to jump in.

The series stars Kaitlyn Dever, who you may recognize from the Hulu series Dopesick, as Belle. She's joined by other great stars including Alycia Debnam-Carey, Aisha Dee, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, and Mark Coles Smith.

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• The Night Agent season 2 gets a release date on Netflix and it's closer than you might think

• ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode could be getting 'eyes' soon
• Initially unveiled in May 2024, we haven't heard much about the feature since
• Beta code references 'Live camera' hinting an impending launch

ChatGPT's long-anticipated 'eyes' could be coming to Advanced Voice Mode soon allowing you to have video calls with AI.

OpenAI originally unveiled the feature in May showcasing how Advanced Voice Mode could see what you show it and speak back to you about the subject.

In the demo, Advanced Voice Mode was shown a dog and was able to determine the subject and everything else related to it, including the animal's name. Since that demo and an Alpha release, OpenAI hasn't mentioned this feature and we've heard nothing about its development. Until now.

Code in the latest ChatGPT v1.2024.317 beta build, originally spotted by Android Authority, hints at ChatGPT's eyes coming sooner rather than later. OpenAI hasn't officially confirmed the name for the sci-fi video call feature yet, but according to the code strings it's going to be called 'Live Camera'.

For users who have been waiting for further information on ChatGPT's Visual Intelligence and Google Lens competitor, this is a good sign that Live camera could be entering into beta soon followed by a wider official release.

Trying #ChatGPT’s new Advanced Voice Mode that just got released in Alpha. It feels like face-timing a super knowledgeable friend, which in this case was super helpful — reassuring us with our new kitten. It can answer questions in real-time and use the camera as input too! pic.twitter.com/Xx0HCAc4ToJuly 30, 2024

Would you video call with AI?

A video call option sounds like the natural evolution of ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode, allowing you to effectively video call AI. While that might sound incredibly dystopian, it could end up being a fantastic addition to the way we interact with AI models.

ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode and other AI voice assistants, like Gemini Live, have proven that there is far more to interacting with AI than a chatbot. Offering as many ways to interact with AI as possible allows users to decide how it best fits their needs and opens up new ways of implementing the software into daily life. I expect this 'Live camera' functionality to be a game-changer for accessibility needs, especially for those with visual impairment.

Hopefully we hear more about 'Live camera' soon, but it's good to know, at least, that OpenAI hasn't forgotten the feature's existence.

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• Perplexity has launched a new AI-powered shopping feature
• Buy with Pro will help you make purchase decisions
• You can then buy with one click directly within Perplexity

Popular AI search tool, Perplexity, has been updated just in time for Black Friday with a new 'Buy with Pro' shopping feature.

The AI-powered shopping tool is available for users in the US right now, but will be expanding to other countries soon. When searching for a product, Pro members can click the Buy with Pro button to launch the AI-powered shopping experience that remembers their method of payment and delivery address. In order to entice users to use Buy with Pro over the Holiday Season, Perplexity is offering all users free shipping, too.

Think of Buy With Pro as an AI-powered shopping experience that uses Perplexity's amazing AI search functionality to not only help you make informed decisions, but also shop without the need of the company's competitors, like Google.

Over the last year, users have flocked to AI search engines such as Perplexity and ChatGPT Search. This new addition, allowing you to shop directly from within Perplexity is the next step in the company creating a true Google Search competitor.

Ask AI for shopping advice

Perplexity's new Snap-to-Shop feature helps you buy what you're looking at. (Image credit: Perplexity)

Perplexity is also launching a Snap-to-Shop experience that is similar to Google Lens. So, you can take a photo of an object and search for it, then ultimately buy it, all from within Perplexity.

Perplexity's Buy with Pro will help you with purchase decisions by allowing you to ask detailed questions about products and get detailed answers, thanks to Perplexity's LLM.

Buy with Pro includes new easy-to-read product cards for each product it recommends summarizing the most relevant items, key details, and a link to visit the website or buy. Perplexity maintains that its product recommendations aren’t sponsored, are completely unbiased, and are tailored to your search by its AI. Product cards will be visible to people searching using Perplexity regardless of whether they are a Pro user, or not.

The company says it will be expanding Buy with Pro to other countries in the future, but for now, only those in the US will be able to make the most of Perplexity this Black Friday.

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• A known hacker posts a new thread on an underground forum, offering Ford data for free
• Ford responds by saying it is investigating the claims
• There is no confirmation of data's authenticity yet

Ford says it is looking into a potential data breach after internal company information ended up on the dark web.

A known leaker with the alias EnergyWeaponUser recently posted a new thread on BreachForums, offering Ford’s data for free. “Today, I have uploaded the Ford Motor Company internal database for you to download, thanks for reading and enjoy!,” the post reads. EnergyWeaponUser added that the company was breached together with IntelBroker, another infamous leakster.

“In November 2024, Ford Motor Company, an American multinational automobile company suffered a data breach,” the post further adds. “It exposes 44k records of customer names, physical locations, bought product.”

"Actively investigating"

The crooks also shared a small sample of the stolen data, which appears to include customer names, postal addresses, country codes, customer type codes, city information, sales types, account codes, last update timestamps, and other records.

After the thread surfaced, The Register reached out to the company, which confirmed looking into the allegations of data theft.

"Ford is aware and is actively investigating the allegations that there has been a breach of Ford data," spokesperson Richard Binhammer told the publication. "Our investigation is active and ongoing."

EnergyWeaponUser and IntelBroker are quite active in the underground hacking community, often posting archives from breached corporations. As such, they have seen leaking Cisco information, and sensitive data from AMD, in the past. IntelBroker was also seen leaking Europol, Nokia, and others.

Whether or not Ford’s data is authentic, remains to be seen. Losing sensitive customer data can result in all kinds of headaches for the company, from regulatory fines, to class action lawsuits. Most of the time, however, the biggest expense is paying for identity theft protection and credit monitoring services, which most companies provide to affected individuals, for up to two years.

Via The Register

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Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.

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 #527) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• FOCUS
• FACE
• FIELD
• JEOPARDY
• RIBBON
• PIN
• WHEEL
• EAR
• PASSWORD
• AGENT
• CONCENTRATION
• FINGERPRINT
• STANDARD
• ELBOW
• SPECIALTY
• DRIBBLE

NYT Connections today (game #527) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Thing you're good at
• Green: Security measure
• Blue: BOW is another
• Purple: [Twice] blank

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 #527) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: AREA OF EXPERTISE
• GREEN: WAYS TO UNLOCK A DEVICE
• BLUE: PASTA SHAPES
• PURPLE: DOUBLE ___

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

NYT Connections today (game #527) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #527, are…

• YELLOW: AREA OF EXPERTISE CONCENTRATION, FIELD, FOCUS, SPECIALTY
• GREEN: WAYS TO UNLOCK A DEVICE FACE, FINGERPRINT, PASSWORD, PIN
• BLUE: PASTA SHAPES EAR, ELBOW, RIBBON, WHEEL
• PURPLE: DOUBLE ___ AGENT, DRIBBLE, JEOPARDY, STANDARD

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: Perfect

I managed a perfect score today, but it owed a huge amount to luck. Not on the first two groups, green and yellow in that order, which were both pretty simple. Green – WAYS TO UNLOCK A DEVICE – was particularly easy given that I'm a technology journalist when not writing this column, with FACE, FINGERPRINT, PASSWORD and PIN all rather obvious.

As is so often the case, I struggled with blue and purple. I had a hunch that WHEEL and EAR might go together with a vague food theme: EAR of corn and WHEEL of cheese, maybe? RIBBON felt like it could work for PASTA, while ELBOW… well, I wasn't sure, but you get a knuckle of beef, so maybe there was an elbow somewhere. I guessed it without expecting it to be right, but to my amazement it was – and for nearly the right reason. I'd been on the correct path with pasta, because these were all PASTA SHAPES, which was obvious after the fact. Purple was a difficult 'blank' variety that I wouldn't have got, due to not knowing what DOUBLE DRIBBLE means.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, 18 November, game #526)

• YELLOW: USED IN HAIR CARE COMB, DRYER, HAIRSPRAY, ROLLERS
• GREEN: MONTHLY EXPENSES GAS, INTERNET, PHONE, RENT
• BLUE: THINGS WITH SPOTS DALMATIAN, DIE, DOMINO, LADYBUG
• PURPLE: ___ CRAB FIDDLER, HERMIT, HORSESHOE, SPIDER

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

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

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Pick-ups

NYT Strands today (game #261) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• POOR
• POST
• TICK
• FORT
• SNORT
• NEWS

NYT Strands today (game #261) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Kitchen essentials

NYT Strands today (game #261) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: left, 4th row

Last: right, 5th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #261) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #261, are…

• KNIFE
• TONGS
• FORK
• SPOON
• SKEWER
• SPORK
• CHOPSTICKS
• SPANGRAM: UTENSILS

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

This is about as easy as Strands get: I suspect a five-year-old knows most of this words and can probably spell half of them too. Bonus points for the NYT including SPORK as well as SPOON and FORK in order to make up the numbers; does anyone really use a SPORK? SKEWER is probably the only vaguely difficult word here, because it's not something I'd expect to find in the company of the other UTENSILS here. Well, other than on a barbecue, but that's a pretty rare thing round my way.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, 18 November, game #260)

• ORCA
• DOLPHIN
• SEAL
• MANATEE
• WALRUS
• NARWHAL
• SPANGRAM: MARINEMAMMALS

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.

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 #1030) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

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

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

Quordle today (game #1030) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.

Quordle today (game #1030) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• Yes. One of Q, Z, X or J appears among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1030) - 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 2.

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 #1030) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• N

• P

• P

• F

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

Quordle today (game #1030) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1030, are…

• NINJA
• PENCE
• PAINT
• FOIST

I very nearly failed for the second day in a row here, with the culprit this time being FOIST. Actually, the culprit was my brain, which should have spotted that FOIST, JOIST and MOIST were all valid answers to -OIST (with HOIST having been ruled out already), and that I should therefore have played something like JUMBO in order to rule out two of them. I didn't, so wasted three guesses on getting that one right then had to solve the remainder with no room to spare.

Fortunately I did that today, and in fact guessing JOIST earlier gave me the J I needed for NINJA, arguably an even harder word, what with its repeated N, uncommon J and uncommon format. I will try harder tomorrow!

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1030) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1030, are…

• FILMY
• SWAMP
• DIVER
• PIXIE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1029, Monday 18 November: ASCOT, BRINK, WEIRD, HOMER
• Quordle #1028, Sunday 17 November: STATE, BRAWN, SWORE, URBAN
• Quordle #1027, Saturday 16 November: NOTCH, BENCH, BUSED, FOUND
• Quordle #1026, Friday 15 November: PURER, TRUSS, TORCH, FORUM
• Quordle #1025, Thursday 14 November: EXALT, TASTE, CRONY, CLOUT
• Quordle #1024, Wednesday 13 November: YEARN, ELBOW, SURGE, PINEY
• Quordle #1023, Tuesday 12 November: CHORD, ATTIC, OLIVE, EIGHT
• Quordle #1022, Monday 11 November: COPSE, REGAL, GRUNT, GOODY
• Quordle #1021, Sunday 10 November: GROIN, FAULT, FERRY, SUITE
• Quordle #1020, Saturday 9 November: FLUME, THERE, ATOLL, SANER
• Quordle #1019, Friday 8 November: DELAY, NAVAL, MOLAR, SWARM
• Quordle #1018, Thursday 7 November: REPAY, SYNOD, LOATH, PITHY
• Quordle #1017, Wednesday 6 November: SASSY, DRUID, THREW, SLOSH
• Quordle #1016, Tuesday 5 November: BEGET, AMUSE, STONY, LOUSY
• Quordle #1015, Monday 4 November: CHILL, TACKY, GRAPH, PLAZA
• Quordle #1014, Sunday 3 November: QUIRK, HEART, ELBOW, KNOWN
• Quordle #1013, Saturday 2 November: SWUNG, FLOOR, PARER, CRUST
• Quordle #1012, Friday 1 November: FIFTY, GULCH, RECUT, TWEET
• Quordle #1011, Thursday 31 October: TWINE, RIGID, BELCH, AMEND
• Quordle #1010, Wednesday 30 October: SLOOP, BRINE, BROOD, FLUID

The AI health coach hyped up by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Arianna Huffington earlier this summer as Thrive AI Health may not be ready to come off the bench just yet, as first found in what seems to be a brief and inadvertently released demo by TechCrunch. The health data tracker uncovered seems like a limited version of ChatGPT centered on sharing information gathered from your health wearables and leveraged to design workout routines.

If that sounds familiar, it's because it's basically the same as a million other health apps, not to mention those services built into Apple and Android mobile devices. Personalizing (and misspelling) suggested prompts like “Can you analyze my sleep patterns?” and “What were my [sic] heart rate over the last week?” doesn't come off as much of a revolution in personal health and wellness the way Thrive's backers envisioned.

Huffington's wellness technology firm Thrive Global and the OpenAI Startup Fund set up Thrive AI Health in the summer to eventually offer personalized health coaching with expert-level guidance. Altman and Huffington boasted in a shared op-ed that the AI choice could help reduce chronic diseases by promoting healthier daily behaviors.

The personal suggestions are supposedly created from peer-reviewed scientific research as well as biometric data. Thrive AI Health hired former Google product management leader DeCarlos Love as CEO, which made sense as he had overseen Fitbit, the Pixel Watch, and Wear OS.

Coach Crunch

"Thrive AI Health Coach is the product to solve the limitations of current AI and LLM-based solutions by providing personalized, proactive, and data-driven coaching across the five daily behaviors," Love said in a statement when the company launched. "This is how it will improve health outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and significantly impact chronic diseases worldwide."

Since then, the company hasn't said much about its plans, and the website doesn't offer anything beyond a beta access signup sheet for those interested in trying out the AI coach. TechCrunch noted that the only recent mention of the company was when personal health management platform Function Health cited Thrive AI Health as part of a deal where members can share their data with the AI health coach for better advice.

Using AI to personalize health and wellness makes sense, but it may be harder to embed in a product than Altman and Huffington realized. If rumors that developers are struggling to make the next generation of AI models meet expectations are true, Thrive AI may not be as close to a full release as the founders hope.

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• Recruitment drive would increase Graphcore's headcount by 20%
• Announcement marks first big moves since SoftBank acquisition
• Roles available in silicon design, software, and infrastructure

Graphcore has announced plans for a fresh hiring drive just months after its landmark acquisition by SoftBank.

The British AI chip manufacturer announced it has 75 open positions spanning a range of business functions, including silicon design, data center infrastructure management, hardware engineering, and AI research.

“Whether your expertise is in silicon, systems, software, AI research or any of the other functions that we are expanding, this is a chance to work at the leading-edge of your field,” said CEO Nigel Toon.

Graphcore hiring spree

The recruitment campaign represents a 20% increase in Graphcore’s overall workforce, and will include positions at all of its global offices.

The company currently has sites in Bristol, Cambridge, and London in the UK, along with offices in Gdansk, Poland, and Hsinchu City, Taiwan.

Graphcore was acquired by SoftBank in July 2024 in a deal described by Toon as a “tremendous endorsement” for the company. As part of the deal, the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Japanese investment bank.

While financial terms of the acquisition were undisclosed, it’s believed the deal was valued at around $600 million, representing a significant markdown on its 2020 valuation of around $2.5 billion.

Toon described the deal as a “tremendous endorsement” for the company and said the acquisition is a “great outcome”.

What does the move say about Graphcore future plans?

In its announcement, Graphcore said the move builds on a pledge to “continue to invest in the creation of high-skilled jobs spanning a range of disciplines” in the wake of its acquisition.

The open positions do point toward its potential future plans, however, particularly with regard to chip design. Of the 75 roles Graphcore is recruiting for, 10 of these alone are in Silicon engineering design, suggesting the company plans to ramp up development of its next generation chip range.

Graphcore currently boasts three generations of silicon, with its most recent - the Bow Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU) - released in 2022. The Bow IPU delivers up to 350 teraflops of AI compute, and boasts a 40% increase in performance and 16% power efficiency compared to the company’s previous generation IPU.

However, unlike other processors available on the market, Graphcore’s IPUs do not use High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) technology. Instead, they rely on internal SRAM.

Competitor chips do use HBM though, including Intel, AMD and Nvidia.

With a raft of positions available in its silicon design department, this begs the question of whether Graphcore could shake up its design to include HBM capabilities.

Similarly, advertised roles in its infrastructure solutions and software departments may also point toward a change of tack for Graphcore, perhaps with its focus on data center capabilities sharpening.

It wouldn’t be alone here, either. Nvidia offers its own software and infrastructure options for AI inferencing. This has been crucial in its rapid ascendance throughout the generative AI boom.

AMD has also focused heavily on its own data center segment in recent years to keep pace with Nvidia.

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• Yellowjackets is being sued for copyright infringement
• Showtime has been accused of stealing the idea of Yellowjackets from a 2015 survival thriller Eden
• The lawsuit alleges that Yellowjackets has 'substantially, strikingly similar elements' to Eden

If crashing planes and cannibalism weren't enough, Yellowjackets is now being sued for copyright infringement. The best Paramount Plus show is accused of ripping off the 2015 survival thriller Eden.

With Yellowjackets season 3 set to air in 2025, Showtime has been hit with a lawsuit claiming the idea for Yellowjackets has been stolen from Shyam Madiraju's Eden, which is available to stream on one of the best free streaming services, Tubi.

The copyright infringement lawsuit filed on November 14 in New York federal court alleges that Yellowstone “borrows heavily from Eden to the point at which they are substantially similar.”

According to Deadline, the complaint reads: “Comparing the Film to the Show’s plots, setting, mood, pace, stories, characters, sequence of events, themes, and scene/dialogue similarities, demonstrates that the two works, in most respects, are identical. These substantially, strikingly similar elements leave little doubt that most substantive elements of Yellowjackets are copied from Eden.”

How are Yellowjackets and Eden similar?

Both Yellowjackets and Eden follow a soccer team who start to display cult-like behavior and resort to cannibalism after crashing into a remote location. Yellowjackets is a time-hopping thriller about a 1996 New Jersey high school girls' soccer team whose plane crashes into the Canadian wilderness. They are forced to make harrowing decisions to survive the harsh conditions and must grapple with these consequences in their present lives.

As for Eden, the plot is about a US men's soccer team that crashes on a deserted island after a World Cup match. It's not just the plot that's similar, though, but also the setting, characters, mood, themes, and pacing.

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that the complaint states: “In both works, the survivors, which include various players and the coach, among others, must fight for their lives against the harsh elements, starvation through dwindling resources, and the psychological toll of isolation in the form of growing darkness within themselves. As they struggle to survive, tensions rise, alliances form, dark secrets emerge, and moral boundaries are pushed to their limits - blurring the line between good and evil.”

When Yellowjackets debuted on Showtime in 2021, it became the cable channel's biggest original series in years. With the lawsuit seeking an injunction prohibiting Showtime and the other defendants from further exploiting the series, this could be a major blow to the network if they lost the lawsuit.

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