TechRadar News

• Perforce says it found an authentication bypass flaw affecting all versions of all software
• The flaw could grant malicious actors admin privileges on target endpoints
• A patch is being worked on, so be on your guard

Perforce recently discovered a major vulnerability affecting its entire software portfolio which could allow threat actors to gain full admin access without authentication. It urged its users to apply available mitigations while it works on releasing a patch.

The company said that a team of white-hat hackers found a vulnerability “affecting all versions of the platform” and posing a “severe risk to organizations worldwide, as it allows an attacker to gain full administrative access to the system without authentication.”

The bug is an authentication bypass vulnerability, affecting all versions of all Perforce software, it was said. The company reported it to global security databases, and currently awaits a CVE.

Authentication bypass

“This vulnerability compromises the core authentication protocol within Perforce software, allowing an attacker to bypass security mechanisms and take full control of the administration interface,” the company explained. This means that a threat actor could run system-wide admin commands, tamper with the data, escalate user privileges, run malware, and more.

Since the software is used in government, defense, and finance industries, and a patch has not yet been released, Perforce urges users to implement temporary security controls, including restricting admin access to trusted internal networks only, monitoring network traffic for unusual authentication attempts, and implementing additional firewall rules.

Furthermore, users should audit system logs for indicators of compromise, disable external access to Perforce servers where possible, and keep tabs on vendor announcements and security patches.

“Given the high risk associated with this vulnerability, security professionals, IT administrators, and businesses using Perforce.com software must act swiftly to secure their systems,” the press release concluded. “Perforce.com has been officially notified, and the security community expects an urgent response with mitigation measures and an emergency patch.”

Perforce is a version control system (VCS) designed for large-scale software development, enabling teams to manage and track changes to source code, digital assets, and configurations efficiently. Its flagship product is called Helix Core, a high-performance version control system designed for managing large codebases and digital assets, commonly used in game development, semiconductor design, and enterprise software development.

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• Microsoft patches Paragon Partition Manager, after finding five flaws in a kernel-level driver
• One of the flaws was being actively used to drop ransomware
• The driver can be abused even without the partition manager installed

Hackers are using a vulnerable Windows driver to escalate privileges through Microsoft software, allowing possible ransomware attacks via zero-days.

Microsoft confirmed the findings when it added the affected version of the driver to its Vulnerable Driver Blocklist - and at the same time, it patched five flaws in the flawed software and urged users to apply updates as soon as possible.

The flaws were apparently found in BioNTdrv.sys, a kernel-level driver for a piece of software called Paragon Partition Manager. Cybercriminals who already managed to gain some access to a target endpoint would either use this driver (if the software is installed on the device), or drop it, to gain SYSTEM privileges in Windows, used to mount ransomware attacks.

Checking the blocklist

"An attacker with local access to a device can exploit these vulnerabilities to escalate privileges or cause a denial-of-service (DoS) scenario on the victim's machine," CERT/CC said. "Additionally, as the attack involves a Microsoft-signed Driver, an attacker can leverage a Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) technique to exploit systems even if Paragon Partition Manager is not installed. "

Microsoft said four of the flaws affected Paragon Partition Manager versions 7.9.1 and older, with the fifth one (CVE-2025-0298) impacting version 17 and older - which was also the one apparently being actively exploited in ransomware attacks.

Now, users are urged to upgrade the software to the latest version, since it also comes with BioNTdrv.sys version 2.0.0.

Besides upgrading the software, users should also double-check if the blocklist is enabled, by going to Settings - Privacy and Security - Windows Security - Device Security - Core Isolation - Microsoft Vulnerable Driver Blocklist and making sure it’s turned on.

Via BleepingComputer

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• RayNeo announces launch month for RayNeo Air 3s glasses at MWC
• They're landing in April and only cost $259
• Despite being cheaper, they boast better specs than the last-gen Air 2s

RayNeo has set a release month for its RayNeo Air 3s XR glasses at MWC 2025 – with their budget-friendly smart specs due to land in April at a price of $259 (UK pricing to be confirmed). Based on what we’ve seen, these could be the affordable smart specs we’ve been waiting for.

These smart glasses serve as a wearable display for compatible tech like your phone, tablet, console, or RayNeo’s accessories such as its Pocket TV. They virtually project the screen in front of you like your own private movie theater – and even have in-built speakers to complete the package (though the small speakers can struggle at times)

Plus the Air 3s glasses boast several upgrades over the RayNeo Air 2s, with a 650 nits peak brightness, a larger eye box field of view, improved colors and contrast ratio, and all in a 2g-lighter 76g package.

They even look to handle the typically unimpressive audio you get from smart glasses with RayNeo promising its Air 3s glasses offer a 200% superior sound with improved highs, mids, and bass thanks to a new dual-speaker design. If that wasn’t enough, they’re also uber affordable with the new glasses costing almost half of what the $399 RayNeo Air 2s would set you back.

This marks the first of three smart glasses TCL and RayNeo plan to launch this year, with the RayNeo X3 Pro and RayNeo V3 (which we saw at CES 2025) due to land at some point too, though no specifics have been given yet.

The budget specs we've been missing

Smart glasses aren't cheap (Image credit: Future)

We’ll need to test them out for ourselves, but the RayNeo Air 3s glasses might just be the next best cheap smart glasses on our list of the best smart glasses if they can stick the landing.

These wearable displays are some of my favorite gadgets for travelling – whether commuting on a train or taking a flight – but also for using at home when I want to lie back in bed and still enjoy a big-picture experience with a show or movie. I just used a pair of Xreal specs I’m testing for a review on flights to and from Italy and they were perfect.

Unfortunately, many of this style of smart glasses aren’t the most affordable – typically landing around $400 / £400. What’s more, they can seem a little disappointing, usually offering audio that necessitates you get a pair of headphones (due to quality and sound leakage). They also typically offer merely full-HD image resolution, and you may need to buy an add-on like RayNeo’s Pocket TV or Xreal’s Beam Pro to feel like you’re getting a complete package.

At a lower $259 price, the RayNeo Air 3s makes some of these issues easier to stomach, and it sounds like the specs aren’t just settling for mediocrity either – lowering the price while simultaneously bringing upgrades over last-gen’s specs.

If they can live up to the hype, the RayNeo Air 3s specs might have put everyone on notice, and could be the glasses you need to buy if you want to dip your toes into the world of XR beyond the best VR headsets.

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• The US government's General Services Administration department's 18F has been dissolved
• Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency seems to be behind the cuts
• 18F was a software and procurement group which helped a range of government agencies

A technology unit from the General Services Administration (GSA) has had its budget all but eliminated, affecting around 70 software engineers and strategists, as well as researchers, service designers, and procurements specialists.

The cuts were masterminded by Elon Musk’s Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE), and are part of an ongoing campaign to slash government spending.

Founded in 2014, the Unit, 18F, developed key public-facing IT services, like Login.gov - the central login system for services like Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare. 18F was also responsible for helping government agencies buy and build technology, improve user experience, and make services accessible, and the unit collaborated with many departments, so the effects of the cuts will be felt across the board.

A sledgehammer approach

The department had previously been labeled as a ‘far left government wide computer office’ by a Musk supporter, to which the de-facto DOGE director replied “That group has been deleted”.

“All 18F's support on that work has now abruptly come to a halt,” the group said in a statement.

“Since the entire staff was also placed on administrative leave, we have been locked out of our computers, and have no chance to assist in an orderly transition in our work. We don’t even have access to our personal employment data. We’re supposed to return our equipment, but can’t use our email to find out how or where.”

These are not the first federal workers to be laid off, with over 110,000 federal employees leaving their posts since Trump took office, although around 77,000 of these accepted the administration’s deferred resignation program.

“Dismantling 18F follows the gutting of the original US Digital Service. These cuts are just the most recent in a series of a sledgehammer approach to the critical US teams supporting IT infrastructure.”

DOGE was also recently hit with a wave of lawsuits following complaints about the department breaching the privacy of millions of Americans by accessing “extraordinarily sensitive” details about federal workers and anyone who has ever applied for a federal job.

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• The iPad Air and 10.9-inch iPad could be upgraded very soon
• They’re expected shortly after the upcoming M4 MacBook Air launch
• But one source says they “probably won’t come in the next few days”

If you’re in the market for one of the best iPads, you might want to hold off buying one for now. That’s because freshly updated models are supposedly just around the corner, and they could bring a powerful chip upgrade that will make it worth the wait.

Specifically, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman says in his latest Power On newsletter that stock of the iPad Air and 10th-generation iPad are running low at Apple Stores. This is usually a sign that new models are coming soon, as Apple often stops refreshing supplies of its soon-to-be-replaced devices in preparation for new arrivals.

However, while a new MacBook Air with M4 chip could launch as soon as this week, Gurman says that the new iPads “probably won’t come in the next few days.” The timeframe hasn’t been narrowed down any more than that, but it suggests that the tablets could launch within weeks rather than days.

Minor upgrades

(Image credit: Future)

Both the iPad Air and entry-level iPad are expected to receive minor upgrades this year, with new chips among the only changes anticipated. The iPad Air could get the M3 or M4 chip, while the 11th-generation iPad is likely to be outfitted with either the A16 Bionic or the A17 Pro chip.

Don’t bet on wide-ranging changes to the designs or displays of these devices, though. The rumor mill has been very quiet on this front, suggesting most of the changes will come to the tablets’ internals. It’s possible there will be other new features, with Wi-Fi 7 and a new Magic Keyboard both potentially in the cards.

Despite these models reportedly being imminent, the same can’t be said for the iPad Pro and the iPad mini. The iPad Pro probably won’t get an update until Apple’s M5 chip launches later this year, while the iPad mini was only just refreshed a few months ago.

If you’re looking at buying one of those devices, you should be safe to go ahead. But if the iPad Air or entry-level iPad are on your shopping list, it would be best to wait a while longer until the new models come out.

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• The two latest patches for Windows 11 24H2 are causing some users problems
• Allegedly, the worst affected hardware is the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K
• Game crashes and slowdown appear to be exclusive to the latest updates

Some users of Windows 11 24H2 have been experiencing some issues, including slowdown and even crashing, with people quick to blame the latest update of the popular operating system.

As spotted by Neowin, two of the most recent Windows 11 24H2 patches (KB5050094 and KB5051987) have caused crashing and instability problems. Neowin forum user kiddingguy first observed game crashes with the latest update halting The Settlers: New Allies in Ubisoft Connect, but others have experienced far worse issues since.

Writing to Borncity, one Windows 11 24H2 user running an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor on an ASRock Z890 Pro RS motherboard could only get the newly built system running with a beta bios. The failure to launch was attributed to the Intel microcode update integrated into the bios, despite the latest version of Windows 11 being installed as normal.

The performance issues did not stop once the new hardware was up and running either. With Windows 11 24H2, it's claimed that a "new massive performance problem" was impacting the system as soon as a program was minimized or not the main "focus". It's claimed that applications are "massively throttled", so much so that the CPU's clock rate was even decreased. Screenshots show the differences in utilization.

Arguably, the most worrying thing about the impact of the two most recent Windows 11 patches is the fact that this user was able to replicate the problems with different applications. These include 7Zip and Prime95, proving it doesn't seem to be tied to any one specific program with incompatibility or stability issues with either KB5050094 or KB5051987.

The user claims that the performance in 7Zip's benchmark was effectively halved when minimizing the program and that distributing the workload across all available cores (for which the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K has 24 in total) did not alleviate the issue. No solid fix is yet to be implemented, other than a workaround of forcing the maximum energy-saving plan to push "full CPU performance" in the background processes, which is far from ideal for long-term use.

Interestingly, it's claimed that the same problems did not occur with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X processor as it did with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, nor with the older Intel Core i9-12900K. Because of this, it's possible that the bulk of severe issues could be specific to Intel's latest LGA 1851 platform, but this does not seem to be as widespread as the software crashing and incompatibilities seen so far.

To double-check your processor's compatibility with Windows 11 24H2, you can read through Microsoft's official supported processors list, which outlines AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm CPUs that are confirmed to run without issue. If you're experiencing any slowdown or crashing, then it may be time to revert to a previous version of the operating system until things begin to stabilize.

The problems with Windows 11 continue

Recently, it seems that there's been no shortage of issues with Windows 11, with the 24H2 version of the operating system having a few outstanding problems. As well as the newly reported crashing and slowdown, this variant of the OS included more advertising in the Settings menu, high CPU utilization from Task Manager, and consistent reminders to back things up.

Another strange Windows 11 24H2 bug even featured half the interface displayed in one language, with the latter half mixed up in another. This glitch was apparently tied to a faulty installation where two language options were layered upon each other, something which was previously unheard of until last month.

Of course, artificial slowdown and software crashes are more severe than advertising, throttling, and language errors, but it culminates in a user experience which has been less than ideal since the most recent version rolled out on October 1, 2024. The two most recent problematic patches are optional, at least, so if you're having trouble with them, we recommend reverting to a previous (more stable) version or freshly reinstalling Windows 11 altogether.

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Last night’s 2025 Oscars marked the 97th annual ceremony of the biggest night in Hollywood, and out of the 10 Best Picture nominees, Sean Baker’s drama Anora came out on top and took home the trophy. Out of all the recent releases, Anora has sat in my Letterboxd watch list for a while and now that award season has come to a close, there’s only a few weeks left before it arrives on one of the best streaming services – and I can’t wait to finally watch it.

In addition to winning Best Picture, which was the icing on the cake of what was a huge night for Baker and the Anora squad, it triumphed four out of the ‘big five’ categories including Best Actress for Mikey Madison, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for Sean Baker, as well as Best Film Editing. If Anora’s five Oscar wins isn’t enough to convince you to stream it this month, perhaps its contemporary rags-to-riches story will entice you.

If you’re in the same boat as I, and was foolish for not catching it in theaters on time, fear not, as Hulu will be the place to go in the coming weeks.

Anora (2024) will be available to stream on March 17. (Image credit: Neon) Where can I stream Anora?

Anora lands on Hulu on March 17 and this month it really has its ear to the ground with its new March 2025 titles, from previous Oscar-winning movies to yet another slew of titles with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, but there’s no hiding that Anora is the one I’m most excited for. You might need to sign up to Hulu to watch Anora, though if you’re a student then you can reap the benefits of a Hulu student discount and pay only $1.99 a month. There's also the excellent Hulu and Disney+ bundle, bringing you both services from $9.99 per month.

If you’re based outside of the US, then you might have to wait a little longer before you can stream Anora. At the moment, you can rent it from the likes of Apple TV or Amazon for £4.99 / AU$19.99, or buy it for £11.99 / AU$24.99.

It's also coming to 4K Blu-ray in May, as part of the Criterion Collection, with a load of interesting features, including two separate commentary tracks. Collectors with one of the best 4K Blu-ray players might want to take this route regardless of whether you've got Hulu or not.

What's Anora about?

Brooklyn sex worker Ani (Mikey Madison) has her life turned upside down when she meets Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a notorious and incredibly wealthy Russian oligarch who she hastily marries.

At first, her new, modern Cinderella tale life seems like the best thing that could ever happen, but things turn ugly when news of the marriage reaches Vanya’s family back in Russia, which ignites a mob chase to hunt down the young couple and end the marriage.

It's far more of a comedy than a thriller, and really is laugh-out-loud funny for huge section – but as is typical from Sean Baker, it's also dark and emotional.

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• Google has added memory ability to the free version of Gemini in a browser
• It can now remember anything about you that you tell it to
• Mobile app version will hopefully roll out soon

Google has added the ability to remember personal information to the free version of Gemini, just a few weeks after launching the feature for Gemini Advanced subscribers.

The ability to recall information is one of the most useful features of an AI Chatbot, and makes it feel much more personal. That ability has been available in Gemini rival ChatGPT for about a year now, so Google are late to the game, but making the 'saved info' feature available to all Gemini users so quickly is a really great move.

Talking to a friend

'Saved info' means you don’t keep having to tell Gemini the names of your children or what job you have, which makes the conversations with it feel much more natural. For example, I’m currently working on writing a book, and once I’ve asked Gemini to remember this, and a few things about it, I can simply refer to it as “my book” in future conversations and it knows what the subject is and what level it’s aimed at, meaning our conversations about it feel much more natural. It really is like talking to a friend.

If you’ve been using Gemini for a while now with the app on your phone or through a web browser then you’ll know that it’s a powerful chatbot, on a par with ChatGPT, and you can also voice chat with us using Gemini Live, which comes with 10 different voices, just like you’re having a conversation with a human.

Gemini Live requires a Gemini Advanced subscription on an iPhone, but Android users get it free.

(Image credit: Google) Free vs Advanced

With a Gemini Advanced subscription Gemini’s ability to remember things works in both the standard chatbot interface and in Gemini Live. To get Gemini to remember something just say, or type, “Remember that” or “keep in mind”, followed by what you want me to remember. On a free account you'll now notice that 'Saved info' has been added to the web interface so you can now use it in the same way Gemini Advanced subscribers can, however we haven't been able to access it in the mobile app yet for free users. Hopefully it will roll out in the next few days.

Gemini doesn’t have to remember what you've told it to remember forever, either. To delete something you’ve saved just write or say, for example, “Forget everything I told you about my sci fi novel”. You can also manage what Gemini has saved for you on the ‘saved info’ page accessible from tapping on your profile image.

You might be wondering if it’s still worth being a Gemini Advanced (via Google One AI Premium) subscriber, which costs $19.99 / £18.99 / AU$32.99 a month, since a lot of the benefits have now transferred over to the free Gemini, including use of the latest Gemini 2.0 Flash LLM. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that the premium service gives you access to a number of other new LLMs like 2.0 Experimental. You also get 2TB of storage and access to NotebookLM Plus.

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You don't need me, or HMD (Human Mobile Devices), to tell you that there's a screen time epidemic among young people, but the latter's new research into the subject does highlight just how badly smartphones (and specifically social media) are actively harming an entire generation.

Of 12,000 teens surveyed by the Nokia phone maker for a recent study, over half said they’re worried that they may be addicted to their phone, while 37% said they’ve had a stranger approach them and try to move them into an encrypted chat like WhatsApp. 53% said they’ve seen something that they wish they hadn’t – which for most respondents was content of a sexual or violent nature – and 56% said they’ve seen bullying online. The bleak stats go on.

Parents, too, know that these issues exist, but existing smartphone safeguards like screen time apps are easily circumvented by any curious teenager with access to YouTube or Reddit. To address this, HMD has partnered with smartwatch manufacturer Xplora to develop the ‘first smartphone for teens’ – a seemingly regular-looking handset that gives parents greater control over their child’s (potentially first) smartphone experience.

Launching in May for £229 (international pricing is yet to be confirmed), the HMD Fusion X1 – when purchased alongside an Xplora subscription – will allow parents to remotely enable, disable, or limit access to apps of their choosing. This subscription also includes continuous location tracking at 20-second intervals, emergency SOS calling for the smartphone-owning teen, as well as low battery alerts and remote device access for parents.

Additionally, a dedicated School Mode function will minimize distractions during school hours by locking specific apps and features as desired, and HMD has also confirmed that its SafeToNet software – which uses AI to detect and block harmful content before it reaches the user – will begin rolling out to compatible devices (the Fusion X1 included) later this year.

I know what you’re thinking: no teenager would willingly give their parents this level of control over their smartphone. And that may have been true a few years ago. But young people are absolutely becoming more aware of the dangers of social media addiction (HMD’s findings are by no means anomalous) and if the draw of ‘just one more scroll’ is too strong to resist, perhaps teenagers are now more willing to give someone else the keys (after all, ‘brain rot’ was named the 2024 Oxford Word of the Year for a reason).

A promotional tease for the upcoming HMD Fusion X1 (Image credit: HMD)

Indeed, as HMD Founder Jean-Francois Baril put it at MWC, the Fusion X1 is “the phone teens want, with the safety parents desire.” It won’t have an infantilizing design, either, with the company teasing a conventional-looking, industrial-style handset at MWC.

HMD also has two new feature phones on the way: the HMD Barca 3210 and the HMD Barca Fusion. The first is a rebranded version of the Nokia 3210, featuring exclusive, Barcelona-themed notes and easter eggs like an engraved logo, hidden messages from players, custom wallpapers, and, yes, even a Barcelona-themed version of Snake.

@techradar

♬ stellar (Sped Up) - .diedlonely & énouement

HMD Barca Fusion, meanwhile, is a custom version of HMD’s Fusion handset with 11, glow-in-the-dark player signatures engraved into its rear panel. Like the 3210, the Fusion is also designed with TikTok doom-scrollers in mind, so it features a detox mode to keep users focused on the things that matter.

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♬ original sound - TechRadar

Drew Barrymore also appeared on stage at HMD’s MWC keynote to tease ‘Project Wildflower,’ an upcoming collaboration between the actor and HMD to tackle the aforementioned screen time epidemic. We don’t have the details just yet, but the involvement of one of Hollywood’s biggest names will no doubt bring much-needed attention to an issue that HMD is clearly intent on addressing.

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• V-Copter Falcon Mini features two tilt-rotors for "unmatched agility"
• It follows the V-Copter Falcon from 2020 as a lighter, sub-250g model
• 4K camera is stabilized with a 3-axis gimbal

Zero Zero Robotics has unveiled the V-Copter Falcon Mini. It looks like a beginner drone with a difference, and a compelling DJI alternative from the makers of our favorite selfie drone – the HoverAir X1 Pro – especially for people who want a longer period of flying fun.

Most drones are quad-copters in that they feature four propellers, but the V-Copter Falcon Mini is a bi-copter, meaning it has just two propellors, positioned in a V-shape above the drone's body.

The pay-off is what Zero Zero Robotics claims is "lightning fast acceleration" and "unmatched agility", compared to the likes of the DJI Mini 4K, while aerial photographers are served by a three-axis stabilized 4K camera.

We've seen this tech before in the V-Copter Falcon from 2020, but that chunkier model weighs over 700g and is in a different category of drones hit with various flight restrictions and regulations. The 'Mini' version on the other hand weighs less than 250g, which makes it a much simpler option for beginners.

Currently, this is a soft reveal on the V-Copter website and we don't have pricing info or a sales start date yet. However, you can subscribe on the website for early bird offers and the launch announcement.

(Image credit: Zero Zero Robotics) Half the propellors, twice the fun?

The V-Copter Falcon Mini's two rotors are positioned above the drone's body and, within miliseconds of the drone being engaged, tilt downwards to optimize airflow and thrust for fast and powerful acceleration.

Those twin rotors can work independently too; by tilting in opposite directions, sharp turns and precise maneuvers are possible. There's also a video on the V-Copter site showcasing the drone's flight stability, which is seemingly the fruit of real-time flight adjustments and a 0.01 rotor angle precision. Together with that three-axis gimbal, users should enjoy smooth 4K video footage.

V-Copter is also showcasing a Reverse Flight Kit, which unleashes new flight skills and tricks, including upside down flight and a reverse one foot spin – these look like a bit of fun and not for aerial shots.

The tech all sounds very impressive and has certainly piqued my interest, but is it any good? We plan to review the V-Copter Falcon Mini once it's available to find out.

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• The charging case can charge your phone too
• Distinctive hinged design
• £179.99 (about $227 / AU$365)

HMD's new Amped Buds are very different from your average earbuds: the buds themselves have a very distinctive hinged design instead of the AirPods style of so many headphones. And their charging case looks more like a power bank than an earbuds case – because that's exactly what it is.

The charging case is also a Qi2 wireless power bank with a 1,600mAh battery, and that's a very beefy battery for a case – so beefy in fact that if you only use it for charging your earbuds, you can expect nearly 100 hours of playback time before you need to hunt for a USB-C charger.

To clarify, 1,600mAh isn't as big the battery you'll get in a dedicated power bank – they tend to come in multiples of 10,000mAh – but it's enough to charge an iPhone 16 Pro to about 20%, so still pretty useful if you're running dangerously low on juice.

(Image credit: HMD) HMD Amped Buds: key features and pricing

The quoted battery life is 95 hours, although as ever that's with ANC off: put the noise cancelling on and you can expect a still impressive 58 hours. The buds by themselves will run for 8.1 hours without ANC and 4.9 hours with.

Of course it doesn't matter how long the battery lasts if your earbuds don't sound good. But the drivers here are 10mm so they should be pretty punchy, and the buds support Snapdragon Sound; there are also three mics for clear voice calling and for yelling at your chosen virtual assistant.

Bluetooth is 5.4 with fast pairing, and on Android there's support for Find My Device. They're IP54 rated for dust and water resistance and you can choose from black, cyan or pink.

We don't have news of a US launch or pricing as yet, but the HMD Amped Buds will be £179.99 in the UK and €199.99 in Europe. The UK launch will be "VERY soon", HMD says.

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• Samsung has announced 5 key upgrades coming to its third-gen earbuds
• The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro/Buds 3 upgrades are exclusive to One UI 7
• …which means that right now, you need a Galaxy S25 to get them

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Buds 3 just got several key upgrades – for those of you who just bought one of the company's newest Galaxy S25 or S25 Ultra smartphones, that is.

I'll list the updates coming to Samsung's July 2024-issue earbuds in detail momentarily – there are five to get through – but you should know right from the get go that to enjoy them, you'll need to be running One UI 7 (read: Samsung's answer to Android 15). It's the much-touted OS that made its debut in Samsung's S25 lineup, introducing a UI overhaul with all-new AI and navigation perks, including the Now Bar.

But as any Galaxy S24 or S24 Ultra owner knows, you could be waiting until May to get One UI 7, owing to Samsung's apparent plan for multiple beta versions for anything not in the S25 lineup – and if Google goes ahead and announces Android 16 in May, that might instantly make the update feel, ahem, outdated before it gets its full rollout.

Anyway, back to the upgrades for some of you and, following an announcement on February 27, Samsung has explained five changes to be on the lookout for if you own an S25 or S25 Ultra along with a set of 3-suffixed Galaxy Buds.

The first is new Galaxy Buds 3 settings, found within the rejigged One UI 7 Quick Settings panel. Basically, you'll no longer have to fire up the Galaxy Wearable app in order to tweak your Buds’ settings – you’ll now be able to do it right from Quick Settings. Less clunky!

Also mentioned by Samsung was the ability to set sound preferences for individual apps (also within Quick Settings), a tailored sound experience for those with hearing issues, Galaxy AI with Interpreter in 20 languages, and a new microphone software upgrade that should interpret the ambient sound around you to adjust volume.

Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Buds 3: the 5 upgrades

• Tweak sound settings more easily: with One UI 7, you won't need to go in through the Galaxy Wearable app on your smartphone, you can do it directly in the quick settings panel.
• App-specific personalized sound settings: you can set sound preferences for individual apps within the quick settings panel.
• Tailored sound for specific hearing needs: an updated Adapt sound feature expands on ambient sound capabilities for more clear and accurate in-call experiences or when watching videos and so on.
• Easy communication in 20 Languages: thanks to Galaxy AI with Interpreter in Listening Mode, you'll be able to hear translations for conversations piped directly into your Galaxy Buds.
• Intelligently optimized sound: Adaptive Noise Control will use your Buds' onboard mics to analyze your immediate surroundings and automatically adjust the optimal level of noise-nixing, without the need to tweak it yourself.

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Galaxy Buds 3 were launched in July 2024 and to stay sitting pretty on the cutting-edge of technological advancements, these upgrades – especially within Samsung's flagship earbuds – feel both necessary and welcome.

The issue, of course, is whether or not you've got the necessary software to enjoy it, which is currently tied exclusively to whether or not you've bought a 2025 Samsung phone. Of course, if you need to have the newest and best, updating to the latest handset as and when it lands, this is no stumbling block for you. But that's not all of us.

As we noted in our review of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Samsung chose to take a leaf out of Apple's playbook last year, by introducing a swatch of decidedly 'walled garden' features with the proposition – perks you'll always need a new-ish Samsung source device to enjoy. And that's all well and good if there's reasonable backwards compatibility. But if the electronics giant can't deliver its latest One UI 7 update to its wider fanbase (and by that I mean people who bought one of the company's newest phones and earbuds in 2024) sooner rather than later, that could be an issue.

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• Truffle Security found thousands of pieces of private info in Common Crawl
• The archives are used to train some of the biggest LLMs today
• The researchers notified the vendors and helped fix the problem

Cybersecurity researchers have found thousands of login credentials and other secrets in the Common Crawl dataset.

Common Crawl is a nonprofit organization that provides a freely accessible archive of web data, collected through large-scale web crawling. As of recent estimates, the organization hosts over 250 petabytes of web data, with monthly crawls adding several petabytes more.

Recently, security researchers from Truffle Security analyzed roughly 400 terabytes of information, collected from 2.67 billion web pages archived in 2024. They said that almost 12,000 valid secrets (API keys, passwords, and similar) were found hardcoded in the archive. They found more than 200 different secret types, but the majority were for Amazon Web Services (AWS), MailChimp, and WalkScore.

Training AI

“Nearly 1,500 unique Mailchimp API keys were hard coded in front-end HTML and JavaScript,” the researchers said, noting many secrets were found in multiple instances. In fact, almost two-thirds (63%) were found on multiple pages, with one WalkScore API key appearing “57,029 times across 1,871 subdomains”.

Software developers often leave login credentials and other secrets in the code, to simplify the process during development. However, many seem to forget to remove the data, leaving a simple backdoor for malicious actors to exploit.

Cybercriminals could scour the archives for the secrets themselves, but there is an ever bigger problem here. Many of the world’s most popular large language models (LLM), such as the ones from OpenAI, DeepSeek, Google, Meta, and others, are trained using Common Crawl’s archives, meaning that crooks could use Generative AI to uncover login credentials and other secrets.

LLMs don’t use entirely raw data, and it is filtered to remove sensitive information, but the question remains how well the filters work, and how many secrets make it through.

That being said, Truffle Security allegedly reached out to impacted vendors and helped them revoke compromised keys.

Via BleepingComputer

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• XPANCEO has unveiled a trio of smart contact lens prototypes at MWC 2025
• Technology showcased includes fully remote power transfer
• Other prototypes include a biosensing smart contact lesns, and a lens that can help manage glaucoma

A self-acclaimed "deep tech" company focused on the next generation of computing has unveiled three smart contact lens prototypes at MWC 2025, giving us a glimpse into the technology that could shape vision health of the future.

XPANCEO took the covers off its three prototypes, each one showcasing a unique technology that could feature in future "smart" contact lenses.

The company's prototypes highlight fully remote power transfer (charging over the air), biosensing, and intraocular pressure sensors for managing and detecting diseases such as glaucoma.

Here are the three prototypes and what they could mean for the future of vision health. After all, we'll happily wear the best smartwatches and smart rings, as tech progresses, it seems only natural that more and more ubiquitous items take on the "smart moniker."

1. Smart Contact Lens with a Wireless Powering Companion

(Image credit: XPANCEO)

XPANCEO's first prototype (and these are all prototypes likely years from production) showcases fully remote power transfer technology. Naturally, any "smart" device including a contact lens requires power from a battery or other source to run. This prototype technology offers twice the range of previous industry solutions, powering a contact lens wirelessly from a compact companion device such as a contact lens case you'd carry around.

Having literal electricity fired into your eye doesn't sound like a great starting point for any smart health device, but XPANCEO says its solution puts out radiation levels similar to other common wearables such as the best wireless headphones.

2. Biosensing Smart Contact Lens

(Image credit: XPANCEO)

XPANCEO's prototype biosensor can measure body parameters directly from tear fluid. The lens purportedly uses nanoparticles to enable high-sensitivity monitoring of biomarkers such as glucose, hormones such as cortisol, estradiol, estrone, progesterone, and testosterone, and vitamins B1, B2, B3, E, and D.

While Apple is still trying to wrap its head around non-invasive blood glucose monitoring on Apple Watch, XPANCEO is proposing a decidedly more clinical sci-fi future where you can measure body metrics through tears.

3. Smart Contact Lens with an IOP (Intraocular Pressure) Sensor

(Image credit: XPANCEO)

XPANCEO's third tech prototype is a non-invasive glaucoma management system. Using an AI-powered smartphone app and a built-in intraocular pressure sensor, the company says it can provide "instant, highly precise measurements" that can be used to detect early glaucoma before significant vision loss occurs.

XPANCEO's other smart lens tech

XPANCEO also showcased improved tech for its smart contact lens featuring augmented reality, which no longer uses external image sources but instead features an integrated microdisplay that can show images previously only viewable through smart glasses or AR/VR headsets. Finally, the company showcased a smart contact lens for data reading using a wireless data transmission antenna to send real-time data from the contact lens to a smartphone.

Naturally, showing off these prototypes is world's away from developing a contact lens that incorporates all of this technology in a commercially viable package that can be mass produced. But if XPANCEO can crack even one of these technologies for mass market, it might have a major health breakthrough on its hands.

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• Lossless audio over Wi-Fi without ruining battery life
• Very limited phone compatibility and definitely no iPhones
• £159 / £189 (about $200 / $240)

Xiaomi's new Buds 5 Pro have launched in Europe and are available in two flavors, the standard Buds 5 Pro and the Buds 5 Pro Wi-Fi. Both models have a very impressive specification, but the Wi-Fi ones are particularly impressive: they're capable of delivering lossless audio at up to 4.2Mbps over their Wi-Fi connection. That's way beyond anything the best Bluetooth headphones can deliver.

The Buds 5 Pro Wi-Fi have Qualcomm's S7 Pro chip and Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound Technology Suite, which supports audio at up to 96kHz/24-bit. However there's a caveat: it'll only work with certain smartphones. Xiaomi says it'll post a list of compatible devices on its website imminently. Right now the only supported phones are the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Ultra.

(Image credit: Xiaomi) Xiaomi Buds 5 Pro and Buds 5 Pro Wi-Fi: features and pricing

The Buds 5 Pro are based around 11mm dynamic drivers with a PZT tweeter and planar driver, and they support aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless. Bluetooth is 5.4 and the built-in ANC is capable of removing noise up to 55dB. The buds also offer AI features including real-time translation.

Surprisingly, the Wi-Fi models have even better battery life than the Bluetooth-only ones: ten hours compared to eight, with a total of 40 hours via the charging case.

The Buds Pro 5 are £159.99 (about $200 or AU$325) and you can have them in white or gray; the Buds Pro 5 Wi-Fi are £189.99 (around $240 or AU$385).

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MWC 2025 has arrived once again taking place in Barcelona, and a crack-team of TechRadar journalists are onsite to bring you all the latest consumer news from the big tech showcase.

Where once MWC was very smartphone-focussed, it's evolved into a bigger tech showcase, with home devices, robots, cars and more all popping up across the expansive halls of the Fira.

• For all the B2B news from MWC, check out our live blog on TechRadar Pro

Don't expect to hear any big news from the likes of Samsung or Google, but get ready for a slew of interesting products and developments that'll likely set the scene for the tech world for 2025 and beyond.

So you're in the right place for all the news and view coming out of MWC 2025. Read on.

Hello! Roland Moore-Colyer, Managing Editor of Mobile Computing here to take you on this live blog journey as it kicks off.

I'm not at MWC this year, with fellow but we have a selection of TechRadar-ians over in Barcelona to soak up all that MWC has to offer. So let's get into it.

Honor embraces AI hook, line and sinker

(Image credit: Honor)

So first up we have a report from Phones Editor Axel Metz on how phone-maker Honor has rebranded itself as an "AI device ecosystem company". That's a bit odd but there's apparently three steps the company plans to take in order to deliver “purpose-built, human-centric AI designed to maximize human potential.”

My read on this is basically Honor will go hard on AI-based tech, and we can expect its new products to contain a host of smart features. For a better and deeper lowdon, I'd suggest reading Mr Metz full report: Honor rebrands as an 'AI device ecosystem company' and commits to developing a 'super intelligent' smartphone.

So here's an odd turn up for the books: actor Drew Barrymore appeared at an HMD showcase to tease Project Wildflower, which is a mission led by the phone-maker to tackle people spending too much time on their smartphones.

Check out our TikTok video below for more.

@techradar

♬ original sound - TechRadar HMD wants to tackle a teenage screen time epidemic

(Image credit: HMD)

Following on from that TikTok below is a full report from Axel Metz on HMD's aim to help tackle a supposed screen time epidemic, especially among teenagers.

As such, the company revealed the HMD Fusion X1, a phone made in partnership with smartwatch manufacturer Xplora aimed at teenagers, which will enable parents to remotely enable, disable, or limit access to apps of their choosing via an Xplora subscription.

Now I'm not sure many teenagers would welcome relinquishing control of their phone to their parents, but the idea here is to safeguard young people against some of the darker elements of online and always-connected life.

Read Axel's full report: 'The smartphone teens want, with the safety parents desire': HMD’s Fusion X1 is here to save the TikTok generation.

Meet the Honor Earbuds Open

Reader: he loves them… (Image credit: Future)

Moving on to something different to smartphones, and let me flag the Honor Earbuds Open wireless earbuds to your attention.

Honor's inaugural open earbuds have been designed to specifically not enter one's ears, sitting on the opening to the ear canal instead.

Audio Editor Becky Scarrott to the Earbuds Open for a spin, so I suggest you go read her thoughts on them: I tried Honor's new Earbuds Open and for me, they jumped straight to the top of the pile.

Here's another TikTok from HMD's event last night, which we visited. Give it a gander... especially if you like football and retro phones.

@techradar

♬ stellar (Sped Up) - .diedlonely & énouement Watch this!

(Image credit: Honor)

Honor is having a busy MWC, as it has revealed the Honor Watch 5 Ultra, its newest smartwatch.

There's a good bit to like here, as the smartwatch sports a grade 5 titanium case, a 1.5-inch AMOLED, and a host of health-centric features. The only thing that's missing is Google's Wear OS; instead the Honor Watch Ultra 5 runs Honor's proprietary MagicOS.

Read our full report: Honor's new Android smartwatch has a 1.5-inch AMOLED display, 15 days of battery life, and works with iPhone and Android.

• A tipster has claimed the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra may come with shrunken bezels
• This could allow for a 7-inch display on the rumored flagship phone
• The tipster also suggests the Galaxy S26 Ultra won't get an under-display camera

It’s been a busy year for Samsung already, with the release of the flagship Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra, a refreshed lineup of mid-range handsets, and the reveal of the still-mysterious Galaxy S25 Edge.

However, that’s not stopped speculation about the future of Samsung’s mobile portfolio, not least regarding next year’s rumored highest-end model, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. In fact, a new rumor suggests that one of the most impressive aspects of the Galaxy S25 Ultra could be getting even better with its next iteration.

According to tipster PandaFlash, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could feature even thinner bezels than its current-gen counterpart. The bezels of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra were already visibly reduced from the Galaxy S24 Ultra, allowing the newer phone to attain a display size of 6.9 inches without a noticeable change to its overall dimensions.

If Samsung is able to achieve a similar improvement this year, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could be the first modern flagship slab phone to feature a 7-inch display.

As SammyFans notes, PandaFlash hinted at the bezel reduction in the reply section of a post concerning the rumored Galaxy S26’s selfie camera.

Though other rumors had pointed to the chance of an under-display camera (UDC) for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, PandaFlash seems adamant this won't be happening.

As the post (and our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review) notes, a UDC can’t offer the same performance as a regular punch-hole selfie camera, which is as good a reason as any to hold off on implementing one.

PandaFlash didn’t offer much in the way of context or sources for these claims – we have reported on their tips before during the build-up to the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s release, but these weren’t quite on the money. It’s worth taking these new rumors with a healthy does of skepticism.

With that all said, there’s nothing too outlandish about suggesting Samsung may be able to reduce the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s bezels and fit it with a regular selfie camera – we’re not talking about a drastic redesign or internal overhaul here, and it’s still likely to be one of the best Samsung phones at launch.

What would you like to see from the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra? Would a thinner bezel be reason enough to upgrade? Let us know in the comments.

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• Bad employee onboarding is costing the US $2.2 billion annually
• 29,000 IT and tech workers will leave due to poor onboarding
• HR and IT departments need to work together with automation

US organizations alone are wasting $2.2 billion every year on rehiring IT and tech talent due to poor onboarding experiences, new research has claimed.

A repoort from Nexthink found substandard onboarding has been linked with high turnover rates, meaning more workers are likely to leave their roles and companies are forced to invest in new workers, subjecting them to equally bad experiences.

Of the more than 117,000 IT or tech hires that take place in the US every year, over 29,000 (or around one-quarter) will likely leave their roles due to their initial experiences.

Proper onboarding can decrease turnover rates

Nexthink's findings blamed poor onboarding experiences on the fact IT teams tend to only have a few days to equip new hires, meaning there is limited time to not only make the right impression but also to give an indication of the company’s operational efficiency.

The research also points to rushed setups, leading to technology issues and a lack of proper access, which can often be caused by hiring managers failing to communicate the necessary tools and permissions to IT in advance.

High turnover rates among new employees is also having a negative impact on existing workers, reducing morale and making them more likely to want to leave the company, amplifying the effects. Negative employer reputations as a result could also be making potential recruits less likely to want to onboard with a company.

The report calls for HR and IT departments to work together more closely, forming a ‘Super Team’ to understand the needs of new starters. The three takeaways highlighted by Nexthink are that an interdepartmental shared understanding should be developed, real user feedback and use data should be analyzed, and that workflows should be automated wherever possible to kickstart recruitment processes and make them more efficient.

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From Netscape to Chrome, the consumer browsers we have used since the dawn of the internet were first built for a singular need: accessing information. They worked brilliantly for that purpose, which is why – thirty-five years later – the browser remains one of the most pervasive consumer-grade technologies on the planet.

In the early browsing days, the internet just consisted of websites. Applications, on the other hand, lived outside the browser. Until one day someone had the brilliant idea to deliver apps inside the browser itself. Users have been accessing web apps ever since, from communications platforms to online banking. Today, it is the most pervasive way to engage applications on the planet. Extensions were tacked onto the browser, adding productivity and other features to extend the consumer browser’s capabilities.

However, consumers have not been the browser’s only users. Over the past three decades, enterprises – from banks and manufacturers to hospital systems and universities and beyond – have inextricably integrated the browser (as well as myriad apps and extensions) into their everyday operations.

Here’s where the friction starts to arise.

Unchanged browser, evolving needs

The core functionality of the traditional browser has remained largely unchanged, continuing to serve its original purpose for consumers without evolving to meet the enterprise's specific security and productivity needs. In fact, when you consider that the consumer browser must support billions of users worldwide, it must have a great deal of openness and flexibility to meet a wide array of consumer and advertiser needs. After all, consumer browsers were not designed to be a safe application delivery platform. They were designed for accessing websites and content.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that enterprise IT teams have always fought an uphill battle to place control around consumer browsers, not to mention browser extensions, which number more than 200,000 today. When these consumer browsers are used, security teams must layer on complex stacks of tools to secure their environments​​. Further, applications teams must commonly bolt on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environments and Virtual Private Networks (VPN) for connectivity. These measures are expensive, inefficient, and ineffective.

It’s not a knock on consumer browsers – these tools were simply never designed for enterprise needs.

It’s like putting a Rolls-Royce in the Daytona 500: the car may be perfect in its own right, but it isn’t built to perform in that environment.

The browser designed for the enterprise

That’s where the enterprise browser comes in.

The enterprise browser uses its native mechanics to deliver corporate applications while embedding security, control, and productivity features directly into the browser itself – retaining the same experience users have enjoyed for decades while eliminating the need for complex add-on application delivery technologies and security stacks to keep them safe.

In an enterprise browser, security teams have full visibility into what employees can see and do at the appropriate times. Security features are native, from zero-trust and data loss prevention to session isolation and encryption. Workforce enablement is seamless, nearly eliminating the need for VPNs or virtual desktops for secure access to corporate resources. And access to cloud applications is fine-tuned without extra security tools.

For example, the enterprise browser can empower the user to freely engage personal applications such as ChatGPT, personal email, etc., while preventing users from copying sensitive data from corporate applications into such personal applications. It can enforce role-based access, ensuring that users only see and interact with resources that are appropriate for their role. And it can log and monitor all browser activity for security and compliance purposes where needed, providing visibility into who accessed what, from where, and how.

It can govern who uses what extensions under what circumstances and shut down high-risk extensions and access to unsanctioned GenAI websites in real-time. All while preserving privacy and without adding user delays or disruptions.

It’s a win for CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, and users. Employees enjoy faster, more efficient workflows in a familiar browser-based experience, while leadership gains visibility, compliance, security, and cost savings.

Secure browsers are not enterprise browsers

And what about secure browsers? Are they enough to address enterprise needs and issues? In a word, no. It’s a lingering misconception that an enterprise browser equals a secure browser. They are fundamentally different. Sure, an enterprise browser is a highly secure environment to operate within, but the concept of an enterprise browser is so much more than the old-school secure browser approaches.

Secure browsers were built primarily to prevent security breaches, relying on clunky and restrictive measures that can interfere with necessary work tasks. These browsers are often virtualization engines wrapped around consumer browsers. They degrade the user experience while offering little to no enterprise-level control.

The bottom line is security is table stakes for an enterprise browser. However, they are designed from the ground up as an application delivery platform designed to secure and optimize the entire enterprise IT environment while giving the user a very natural and familiar environment to operate within. It is an optimistic landscape where the user has freedom and comfort while the organization can rest safely knowing their applications and underlying data are secure. Indeed, that’s why we coined the term “enterprise browser.”

Different cars for different tracks

Today’s consumer browser has evolved beyond a window to the web to an unwitting participant for application consumption. It helps billions of people communicate across borders, learn new skills, watch their favorite sports, manage their money, and more – and drive trillions of dollars in ecommerce every year. Like the Rolls Royce, it’s an engineering marvel that has stood the test of time.

But at the end of the day, the enterprise requires a different vehicle. The enterprise browser finally delivers on challenges that have thus been out of reach for its consumer counterpart – empowering organizations to safeguard data, enforce policies, gather app and user insights, and more, all without compromising performance. Both have value, but enterprise demands require a different approach that can change everything.

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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

In the datacenter world, one of the biggest challenges – and one of the greatest opportunities – is heat. When server components operate, all the electrical energy they consume is ultimately converted into heat, which must then be removed. Traditionally, organizations have relied on air cooling, typically using fans to manage this heat. In fact, according to sources, 80% of datacenters still primarily use air cooling to get rid of heat from server components.

However, air cooling is both inefficient and energy-intensive. According to a recent McKinsey study, air cooling can account for 40% of all energy consumption in the datacenter – it’s no surprise, then, that 40% of datacenter operators are exploring alternative cooling methods in search of eco-friendly, cost effective options to support sustainable datacenter operations.

At a fundamental level, this approach makes sense. As anyone who has flown a kite knows, air can be tricky to direct and manage. Fluid is much easier to control– as anyone who’s squirted a water pistol (or been on the receiving end of one) will also know.

However, fluid cooling techniques are changing, especially as we encounter server loads that tend to be more energy-intensive, and as a result, run hotter.

What is direct-to-chip (DTC) cooling?

DTC is the most common form of water cooling and has been used by datacenters and gamers for decades. A metal plate sits on top of the processors (CPU or GPU) with a conducting material between the two – usually a thermal Interface Material (TIM). The plate then uses liquid in pipes to move the heat away from the chip, and a dissipation mechanism to disperse the heat.

This dissipation mechanism can be something as simple as a single fan, although in industrial settings, you tend to see dry coolers equipped with evaporative cooling mechanisms. Dry coolers are units that sit outside the datacenter. They feature radiator-like, finned heat exchangers through which the heated liquid is circulated. Fans on the outside of the units draw cool air in and pass it around the fins, cooling the liquid. This liquid is then fed back into the system and the process is repeated.

In warmer months – or locations – evaporative cooling is used alongside dry coolers. Hot air is drawn through wet pads, evaporating water and cooling the air. This air is then used to cool the liquid from the datacenter through the dry coolers.

These dissipation methods can be used across most types of liquid cooling. DTC is more focused than air cooling, largely because liquid in pipes is easier to direct to specific components than air. With air cooling, although you can direct air currents via fan orientation, DTC allows you to be very precise. It’s also more efficient, thanks to physics, because liquids typically possess higher thermal conductivity than gases.

But even with DTC, some air cooling is usually necessary because of the challenges in adapting multiple cold plate designs to accommodate all the IT equipment that generates heat. GPUs and CPUs do generate the majority of the heat in servers, but RAM and hard drives also get hot, so some air cooling is often used. The ratio of air- to water-cooling is usually in the region of 30%/70%.

However, the world of cooling is constantly moving, and there is another form of cooling which can cool all the components at once.

Immersion cooling

In immersion cooling, the entire server is immersed in fluid. There are several benefits to this: all the components can be cooled at once, and higher heat loads can be handled. Furthermore, because the entire server is immersed in liquid, dust cannot enter the system, substantially enhancing product lifespan. However, immersion cooling is a lot more complex than DTC and maintenance is a more involved process.

There are two forms of immersion cooling – single phase and dual phase. In single phase cooling, the liquid stays liquid throughout the cycle (i.e. it keeps its phase constant). In dual phase cooling, it does not.

Single phase immersion cooling

In single-phase immersion cooling, a cool fluid enters at the base of the immersion unit to cool the server, while the heated fluid leaves at the top – and as with DTC, a dry cooler is used to cool this fluid after it passes through a plate heat exchanger. A separate coolant in a loop is then used to dissipate the heat.

Dual phase immersion cooling

In a dual phase cooling system, servers are immersed in fluid, but the fluid has a low boiling point. When server components heat up, the liquid boils and is directed to a condenser unit, where the gas (vapor) is cooled and re-condensed into a liquid. The fluid can then flow back down into the system to be re-used.

However, not only are the coolants in dual-phase systems generally more expensive, but maintenance is even more difficult, partially because the liquid boils into steam, which is much harder to manage than the liquid in a single-phase system.

Waste Heat

There’s also another significant part of the equation: although we can use dry coolers and evaporative cooling to get rid of waste heat, isn’t there something better we could do with it?

This is a big challenge for datacenters, particularly ones that have been around for a while. A lot of datacenters are on industrial parks, well away from areas where heat can be easily re-used; we’ve all seen the stories about swimming pools being heated using datacenters heat, but this isn’t always practical. Water must be physically transported via pipes to other locations, and then heat exchangers used to heat the other water which results in energy losses, because no energy exchange process is completely efficient.

Additionally, some datacenters face limitations that hinder their ability to reuse waste heat. For instance, in some of our datacenters , the heated water only reaches around 45 degrees; you can safely put your hand on the ‘hot’ pipe. But this also means that the resulting heat is less useful – it’d take a considerable amount of time to heat a swimming pool with a 45 degrees heat source.

However, it’s important to keep pushing forward. In our German datacenters , for example, we don’t use gas boilers to heat our office, instead, we utilize the waste heat from the datacenters because it’s nearby. As an industry, we must continue to advance this innovation. When new datacenter sites are built, organizations should consider heat reuse from the outset.

Over the past two decades, liquid cooling technology has made significant strides and is now capable of managing increasingly high power and heat loads in both personal and industrial settings. Although we are still in the early stages of immersion technology’s evolution, it holds great promise for addressing components that operate at very high temperatures. However, like all technology, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, and we’ll almost certainly continue to see a mix of DTC and immersion cooling – not to mention a little air – across datacenter estates for years to come.

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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