TechRadar News

• A vulnerability in an old camera is being used to create a botnet
• The camera is no longer supported by its vendor and will not receive a patch
• Users are advised to move to a newer model

Security researchers are warning cybercriminals are abusing a command injection vulnerability in an old IP camera to build out a botnet.

The IC-7100, manufactured by a Taiwanese networking gear maker called Edimax, is vulnerable to a command injection flaw caused by the improper neutralization of incoming requests, security researchers from Akamai found.

Akamai says that a malicious group is using this flaw right now to build out a botnet - however it isn't known which botnet, or how big it is - although usually, botnets are used in DDoS attacks, illegal proxy services, ad click fraud, and more.

Obtaining confidential information

The flaw is tracked as CVE-2025-1316, and has a severity score of 9.3/10 (critical). It allows threat actors to send a custom-crafted request to the device, and thus gain remote code execution (RCE) capabilities.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) reportedly tried reaching out to Edimax, to no avail. Akamai was somewhat luckier, being told by Edimax that the camera reached end-of-life and was no longer supported. However, the manufacturer did not say if other, newer models, were also susceptible to the same flaw, and if it would be addressing it any time soon.

The Edimax IC-7100 is a network camera designed for home and small business surveillance. It is used by homeowners, small businesses & retail stores, in offices, and by remote workers. It was released in 2011, and its discontinuation date isn't specified. Unfortunately, many owners don’t keep track of outdated gear, and continue to use hardware and software that is no longer supported, putting themselves at risk.

Unfortunately, the only way to defend against this attack is to remove the cameras and replace them with newer, supported models. Putting it behind the firewall might help mitigate the risk, but it won’t eliminate it entirely.

Via BleepingComputer

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• The NHS is reportedly looking into allegations of a third-party software flaw
• A vulnerability of this kind could leave patients exposed
• However Medefer denies wrongdoing, says it was unaware of issue

The NHS is reportedly “looking into” allegations that a software flaw in a virtual booking provider left patient data exposed for a number of years.

Reports from ComputerWeekly say a researcher found a flaw in Medefer, which handles 1,500 NHS patient referrals per month, with its system allowing patients to book virtual appointments with doctors, as well as giveingphysicians access to the relevant patient data.

However, the APIs in Medefer's software were apparently not secured properly, meaning sensitive patient data could have fallen into the wrong hands, the researcher confirmed.

Patients vulnerable

The researcher, who wished to be anonymous, told Computer Weekly hackers could target these reported vulnerabilities by using "a suite of automated tools and techniques" in order to retrieve personal and sensitive information that could be monetised or used for further malicious activity. Since authentication wasn't required, threat actors could "script automated calls to the APIs to exfiltrate large amounts of data, for example all patient records."

The flaw could have existed for at least 6 years, the researcher said, meaning a large amount of NHS data could be at risk.

However Medefer says that it first heard about the NHS investigation in the media, and that it has had no prior contact from the NHS on this issue.

"There is no evidence of any patient data breach from our systems at any point. This has been formally confirmed by an independent specialist cybersecurity agency" Dr Bahman Nedjat-Shokouhi, CEO of Medefer told TechRadar Pro.

"The external cybersecurity agency has asserted that the allegation that this flaw could have provided access to large amounts of patients’ data is categorically false, confirmed that all of Medefer’s data systems are currently secure, and that it is not possible to access any patient data without appropriate security authentication. The issue has been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) by Medefer, and the commission confirmed no further action needs to be taken."

Healthcare data is incredibly valuable for threat actors, as medical information can be sold on the dark web, and personally identifiable information (like names, addresses, emails) can be used in social engineering attacks or identity theft, so anyone potentially exposed should monitor their accounts carefully.

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• OnePlus will no longer outfit its phones with the iconic Alert Slider switch
• Future OnePlus phones will feature an iPhone-style customizable button
• The button will offer the same functionality as the Alert Slider plus new features

OnePlus will replace the iconic Alert Slider found on most of its premiere phones with an Apple-style customizable button, according to a new statement by the company’s CEO.

In a post to the OnePlus Community forum, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau confirmed that the Alert Slider would be replaced due to the limited functionality offered by the three-position slider.

This means the successors to the OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 13R will likely lack one of the brand's most iconic features.

Lau gave few details about the Alert Slider’s successor, only that it would offer more functionality than the current three-position switch, and that switching between sound profiles without unlocking the phone would still be possible.

In fact, the post implies that Lau personally insisted that the new button should be able to offer the same functionality as the outgoing Alert Slider, as well as new and expanded functions that are yet to be revealed.

Overall, this new OnePlus button sounds theoretically identical to Apple’s Action Button, first seen with the release of the iPhone 15 Pro – so we can look at the iPhone to make some educated guesses about the new button’s potential capabilities.

The OnePlus 14 will likely feature an iPhone-style customizable button (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

The Action Button found on the iPhone can be assigned to a long list of functions, including turning the flashlight on and off, opening the camera, activating a shortcut, or toggling do not disturb.

OnePlus takes fairly liberal inspiration from Apple when it comes to software - there is a simulated Dynamic Island on the latest OnePlus 13 interface, for instance - so I wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar from the company’s future handsets.

Lau’s post mentions that backlash to the OnePlus 10T, which launched in 2022 sans Alert Slider, inspired internal debate about the future of the iconic hardware feature, and that removing the slider will allow for better use of the devices’ internal space. OnePlus has yet to announce the first product that will feature the new button.

The end of an era

OnePlus is the last remaining major phone maker to fit its handsets with a physical ringer switch – though, as this news entails, not for much longer.

I’ve always found the ringer switch affixed to OnePlus phones to be a useful addition – other functions are easy enough to find in the UI or on the lock screen, and it’s nice to be able to switch my phone into silent mode without even looking at the display when I’m taking a break.

Perhaps even more important is the character the alert slider brings to OnePlus phones – it’s a unique feature that made the best OnePlus phones stand out in a field of increasingly homogenous phone designs, lending as much personality as utility.

When I was daily driving the OnePlus Open, I used the slider every day, and I still use it whenever I’m testing a OnePlus or Oppo phone (Oppo and OnePlus are related companies under the same umbrella parent). Tactility is a rare and underrated thing in modern phone design, so I’ll be genuinely sad to see the Alert Slider go.

What do you think about this decision? Should OnePlus have kept the Alert Slider as is? Let us know in the comments.

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• We’ve had word of the rumored specs for Nvidia’s RTX 5050 desktop GPU
• Two sources are saying that it’ll use slower GDDR6 VRAM, rather than the GDDR7 modules used with other Blackwell GPUs
• Based on that, and the rest of the supposed spec, some PC gamers are not impressed, but it’s too early to judge yet

Apparently Nvidia does have an RTX 5050 inbound as a desktop graphics card (and likely a laptop GPU too), and we’ve just caught a bunch of spilled specs for this low-tier Blackwell model.

As flagged up by VideoCardz in both cases [1, 2], there have been two purported leaks around the RTX 5050, both of which insist that the graphics card will use a slower type of video memory than the rest of the existing Blackwell desktop GPU range.

First off came an assertion from Chinese tech site Benchlife that the RTX 5050 will have 8GB of video RAM, but that it’ll be slower GDDR6 memory, rather than the new GDDR7 featured in all the RTX 5000 GPUs so far (and rumored for the RTX 5060 models, too).

That’s backed up by a regular hardware gossip on X, Kopite7kimi, who also claims to have word on the specs of the RTX 5050. This leaker believes the VRAM will end up as 8GB of GDDR6 (with a 128-bit memory bus), and that the RTX 5050 will have 2,560 CUDA Cores (using the GB207 bottom-tier Blackwell chip).

The power consumption is supposedly set at 130W, we’re told.

GeForce RTX 5050PG152-SKU50GB207-300-A12560FP32128-bit GDDR6 8G130WMarch 9, 2025

This is the first concrete info on the full specs of this graphics card, but obviously, take all this with plenty of caution. However, the fact that we’re hearing more and more about the RTX 5050 now, including firmer spec details, does suggest that it’s more likely to be something Nvidia has up its sleeve, not just as a laptop GPU, but a desktop graphics card. (Remember that the RTX 4050 was a mobile graphics card only, present in budget gaming laptops – there was no desktop incarnation for PCs).

Indeed, the buzz on the rumor mill is that the RTX 5050 could arrive in a matter of weeks, and the RTX 5060 models aren’t too far off either. We may be looking at April (or May) for all these graphics cards to arrive (and announcements from Nvidia could come very soon indeed).

Kopite7kimi also mentions the RTX 5060, echoing previous rumors of the spec, with the RTX 5060 Ti supposedly set to be offered in 16GB and 8GB flavors, and the vanilla 5060 just an 8GB version (with GDDR7 VRAM, though).

The leaker reckons the RTX 5060 Ti will sport 4,608 CUDA Cores, and a power consumption of 180W.

(Image credit: Future) Analysis: RTX 5050 in the bin already? Not so fast…

There’s nothing unexpected in equipping the RTX 5050 with 8GB of video RAM – indeed, this would be the expected allocation at the far budget end of the RTX spectrum – but slower GDDR6 memory is a bolt out of the blue (or green, rather).

Previous rumors suggested Nvidia was sticking with GDDR7 for the entire Blackwell range, but then, we’ve never been sure Team Green intends to make a desktop RTX 5050. Indeed, we still can’t be sure – but as noted, it’s looking more likely at this point.

Would much slower VRAM effectively hamstring the RTX 5050? Well, clearly it wouldn’t help, and a big part of the performance increase with Blackwell has been achieved by Nvidia thanks to the faster GDDR7 modules on these graphics cards. (As Blackwell’s VRAM loadouts have largely stagnated, as we’ve seen with the RTX 5080, 5070, and indeed the rumored plan to stick with the same video memory configurations with the RTX 5060 models).

So, leaving that generational boost out of the equation isn’t going to be good for the RTX 5050, and as gamers are already speculating, we might get a GPU that’s not a whole lot better than the RTX 3060 here (or one that’ll fall short of the RTX 4060, anyway).

Going by the rumor mill, the RTX 5050 is a reaction to the launch of Intel’s Arc B580 graphics card, which would appear to suggest that it’s aiming to compete with Team Blue’s well-received offering. At least in theory, but it feels like what we’re seeing on paper here for the RTX 5050 doesn’t fit that bill, and Nvidia would need something a fair bit peppier. Given that the B580 handles 1440p duties capably – and notably has 12GB of VRAM – whereas the RTX 5050 presented here looks more 1080p fare.

Perhaps Nvidia intends to push clock speeds with the RTX 5050, which the power consumption hints at, in order to get a faster graphics card – but overall, something doesn’t quite add up with the chatter from the rumor mill here, particularly that B580 comparison.

Really, though, speculating on performance at this stage is a bit premature – albeit the temptation is inevitable – but of course we need the price of the RTX 5050 to get a fuller perspective on what’s being offered.

Personally, I think there’s quite a lot of pressure on Nvidia to get some goodwill back with gamers, given how the Blackwell launch has limped along thus far. So an RTX 5050 which is priced very affordably – which lesser performance levels could hint at – would be a great way to do that. We’ve been a long time waiting for an Nvidia RTX desktop GPU at a true budget price level, after all.

Is this naïve thinking? Quite possibly, although other rumors have indicated a possible MSRP as low as $199 (or $249) in the US, and the point is, let’s not go throwing the (purported) RTX 5050 in the bin just yet. It might end up wresting the crown away from Intel’s B580, our reigning best budget GPU, you never know.

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• Security researchers Tarlogic found a hidden feature in the ESPC32 Bluetooth chip
• The affordable chip is found in millions of domestic IoT devices worldwide
• The flaw allowed malicious actors access to the devices and sensitive data coming through

A low-cost Bluetooth chip which allegedly powers millions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices around the world has a “hidden feature” that allows those who know of it, to run arbitrary commands, unlock additional functionalities, and even extract sensitive information from the devices.

Cybersecurity researchers at Tarlogic have claimed ESPC32 chips, which allow connectivity via WiFi or Bluetooth, “have hidden commands not documented by the manufacturer.”

“These commands would allow modifying the chips arbitrarily to unlock additional functionalities, infecting these chips with malicious code, and even carrying out attacks of identity theft of devices," they said.

Obtaining confidential information

The ESP32 chip is built by a Chinese semiconductor company headquartered in Shanghai, called Espressif. It costs approximately $2 per unit and, according to the manufacturer, has been sold a billion times from its inception to 2023.

Tarlogic says that its affordability is one of the main reasons why it is so commonly found in Bluetooth IoT devices for domestic use.

Tarlogic first described the findings as a “backdoor”, but later backtracked on that terminology: “We would like to clarify that it is more appropriate to refer to the presence of proprietary HCI commands—which allow operations such as reading and modifying memory in the ESP32 controller—as a “hidden feature” rather than a “backdoor.”,” it said.

Stil, threat actors could use these commands to run supply chain attacks, hide backdoors in the chipset, or execute more sophisticated attacks, Tarlogic added. They could impersonate known devices to connect to mobile phones, computers, and smart devices, even when they’re in offline mode.

Tarlogic said the purpose is, “to obtain confidential information stored on them, to have access to personal and business conversations, and to spy on citizens and companies.”

We have reached out to Espressif for a comment and will update the article if we hear back.

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• The Electric State directors have revealed why they didn't use animatronic robots
• Joe and Anthony Russo say it would've been too expensive to make them
• The pair's comments come amid reports that the Netflix movie cost over $300 million

The Electric State's directors have revealed why the forthcoming Netflix movie doesn't actually have any robots in it – and it's all down to money.

Speaking ahead of the film's release this Friday (March 14), Joe and Anthony Russo said it would've been too expensive to make every single android that appears in the sci-fi flick.

To combat this, the pair and the film's sizable crew utilized a combination of visual effects (VFX) and motion capture (mocap) performance work to bring the movie's robot ensemble to life. It's a tactic that the Russo brothers say they really got to grips with in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame – the last Marvel movies they directed and, at the time of publication, are two of the three highest-grossing films of all-time.

The Electric State's robot contingent vastly outnumbers its human cast (Image credit: Netflix)

"There are so many robots that, if we went with animatronics, it would've cost five times as much to make," Joe Russo said when I asked why they didn't create real-world versions of the robots that popular one of March's new Netflix movies. "Having worked on [Infinity War and Endgame villain] Thanos, we also have a good sense of what's required to get great mocap performance.

"It's really important for live-action actors to have other actors to work off of," he continued. "We had an incredible troupe of mocap actors who were trained to move like the robots, say their lines, and create that chemistry with Chris [Pratt, who plays John Keats] and Millie [Bobby Brown, who portrays Michelle].

You're actually getting more human performance within the robots themselves

Anthony Russo, The Electric State co-director

"It was a very layered process. We would record the voice actors before we began shooting. Then, we had the mocap actors listen to the voice actors' recordings and perform the robot parts. When we were done shooting and were layering on the VFX, we brought the voice actors in again so they could see their character fully fleshed out and then re-record their lines."

I can see why the at-time gigantic Herman wasn't created, but still... (Image credit: Netflix)

"Our movie explores the idea that you can find humanity in technology, and you can find inhumanity in humans," Anthony Russo interjected. "So, it was very important to us to bring a strong human texture to the robots. I don't know if we could've achieved that through animatronics.

"When we work with mocap actors, we're capturing all the subtleties of their body language, the way they move, and their emotions," he continued. "When we record our voice actors, we're doing a similar thing. We're capturing their body language and facial expressions, so all of that information goes to our animators as they create the robots. You're actually getting more human performance within the robots themselves that we couldn't have achieved with puppetry or animatronics."

Hey, big spender

"Wait, our new Netflix movie cost how much!?" (Image credit: Netflix)

Keeping the cost down on a film like The Electric State makes a lot of sense. After all, moviemaking is becoming an increasingly expensive outlay for many studios, including Netflix.

That didn't stop the Russos and Netflix from reportedly throwing cash at the movie, mind you. According to articles published by Puck News and World of Reel last June, The Electric State cost an eyewatering $320 million to produce.

Per early critical reactions, that titanic expenditure hasn't paid dividends. Indeed, in my review of The Electric State, I called it "another subpar non-Marvel project to add to the Russo brothers' library of movie and TV show misfires" and "a pale imitation of nostalgia-fuelled sci-fi flicks with richer human stories at their core". At the time of publication, its abject 23% Rotten Tomatoes critical score suggests many of my fellow reviewers agree. Don't expect to see it join our best Netflix movies guide, then.

Such terribly-received Netflix Movie Originals aren't a cause for concern for the world's best streaming service, though. Per Variety, Netflix's chief financial officer Spencer Neuman says the streaming giant is set to spend an astronomical $18 billion on content in 2025. That's an 11% jump up from last year's spending.

The long and short of it, then, is that Netflix will continue to churn out movies and shows no matter how they perform critically and commercially. So, don't be surprised if (and it's a big if!), despite its rubbish reviews, The Electric State becomes one of Netflix's most-watched original films ever and a sequel is quickly greenlit.

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• Report claims security architects are earning around $200,000+ a year
• West and Northeast US companies pay the best, IANS finds
• However many workers belieive there’s not enough career progression

Although cybersecurity workers are unhappy with their employers, they’re still getting high compensation for their jobs, new research has claimed.

A report from IANS Research and Artico Search has revealed security engineers are earning an average of $191,000, with security architects earning an even higher average of $206,000.

The research confirms specialized skills in areas like cloud security, application security and threat intelligence command the highest salaries.

Cybersecurity continues to pay well

Despite high salaries, the report found regional pay gaps across the US, with the West (home to a considerable portion of Big Tech) leading. The Northeast follows in second place, with the Southeast and Central US reporting lower salaries.

The study also included Canada, which lags behind all US regions when it comes to total pay.

Even with attractive salaries, cybersecurity workers continue to be dissatisfied with their employers, with only one in three prepared to recommend their employer. Limited career growth was highlighted as a primary concern, with fewer than two in five happy with their career advancement opportunities and nearly half (45%) frustrated with slow progression. Consequentially, three in five cybersecurity professionals are considering a job change.

The two companies also looked at the impact these factors have on employers. Organizations with compensation gaps, limited career growth and strict return-to-office policies (which have been sweeping the industry in recent months) tend to have talent acquisition and retention issues.

“CISOs who create growth opportunities for their high-performing team members through leadership training, mentorship, and skill development have a far greater ability to attract and retain top security professionals,” said Steve Martano, IANS Faculty member and partner at Artico Search.

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• Nvidia's new GeForce Hotfix Display Driver 572.75 supposedly fixes overclocking issue for some
• Black screen login issues remain, as users voice further complaints
• It adds to the growing list of Team Green's controversies amid the RTX 5000 series launch

Nvidia's recent Game Ready Drivers have come with a list of issues, which appear to have begun with the launch of its RTX 5000 series and seem to be affecting all manner of RTX GPU owners. However, while Team Green is working hard to resolve driver hiccups, some users are still frustrated.

As highlighted on Nvidia's support page, a new GeForce Hotfix Display Driver 572.75 has been released with patch notes addressing an overclocking issue, including black screen problems (notably on RTX 5000 series GPUs). This comes after the previous Game Ready Driver 572.70 that added support for the new RTX 5070 GPU and was supposed to solve a black screen booting issue that leaves users stuck at a blank login screen when connected via DisplayPort on certain monitors. Unfortunately, it appears as though the latter remains for some users.

It's not exactly clear whether the issue stems from the drivers' dedicated support for Team Green's new Blackwell GPUs - one thing that is clear though, is that the black screen issue mostly occurs during system boot which renders PCs inoperable (beyond the BIOS) until repaired via Windows recovery mode.

Having faced black screen issues myself, I have switched back to driver 572.47, and it's been smooth sailing without any glaring problems to note. Due to reports that this latest hotfix doesn’t appear to have completely fixed the issues, it’s yet another reason why it may be best to avoid updating drivers for now unless necessary.

Comment from r/nvidia Comment from r/nvidia Comment from r/nvidia

(Image credit: Andreas Merchel / Shutterstock) More momentum for AMD...

It's no secret that the RTX 5000 series launch has been a bit of a mess - from reports of missing ROPs, limited availability, inflated prices (partner cards), and now driver issues, it's left some fans of Team Green in a sour mood.

AMD's Radeon RX 9070 series has also just launched, enjoying heaps of praise for its performance capabilities at affordable prices - and while it's not a perfect launch since prices at some retailers are above MSRP, Team Red has been off to a much better start compared to its main rival.

The tide appears to be turning drastically now, as AMD's Radeon GPU drivers were often criticized for issues in the past - which some used as a reason to avoid Radeon GPUs - but this is now happening with Nvidia's Game Ready Drivers.

If this same pattern continues, I expect AMD GPUs to become much more popular among PC gamers - and as one who has been crying out for competition against Nvidia’s market domination, it's pleasing to see - though I’d rather AMD’s success didn’t come at the cost of poor experiences for Nvidia GPU owners.

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• Garmin recently issued its 13.35 software update
• It has confused users because it looked like a beta release
• Turns out it's a regular public update with some bug fixes

Garmin has confused users of its best Garmin Watches with a new software update that looked like a beta but actually wasn't.

As reported by NotebookCheck, Garmin teased a stable release for its best Garmins, the Garmin Fenix E, Fenix 8, and Enduro 3 watches last week, before reports emerged that it was delivering a "new stable update" with the same build number as its latest beta.

As the report notes, Garmin has previously done this, but tends to post changelogs on its forum to notify users of a new stable rollout. Because the company didn't do that in this case, many users started to think they'd accidentally been sent a beta software release despite never signing up for the beta program.

"Did someone screw up at Garmin because I'm not signed up for beta and got the update as well," one concerned user asked in Garmin's forum. "Same here - I'm not on beta and 13.35 just hit my E3," another user stated.

Garmin 13.35 software update explained

Since the confused rollout, Garmin has now issued confirmation that this is a stable update, version 13.35, with various bug fixes, not an accidental beta rollout or anything else for that matter. The release for the Fenix 8, Fenix E, and Enduro 3 fixes the following:

• Fixed Blank Map Covering Activity Data
• Fixed Blank Completed Strength DSW
• Fixed Crash when Using Keyboard to Respond to Text Messages in Activities
• Fixed Device Lockout when Enabling Passcode
• Fixed Potential Bug Preventing Activity Uploads
• Fixed Potential Crash when Using Keyboard in Emergency Assistance
• Fixed Virtual Partner Pace Range

While ultimately turning out to be a minor hiccup, it says a lot about the confidence of Garmin's users that there was concern the company had accidentally rolled out a beta to all users.

Such an instance could have disabled the life-saving ECG feature on affected models, so it's great to hear this didn't actually happen.

With Garmin recently suffering a global outage that caused all of its devices to stop working for more than 24 hours, and users complaining that devices like the Fenix 7 are being left behind by fragemented software support, clearly users are a least a little bit on edge when it comes to Garmin's support track record, as evidenced by some of the more nervous comments on this latest release.

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China-developed DeepSeek AI has raised plenty of privacy and security concerns since its launch, with some governments no longer offering the service at all or launching investigations into its data-handling practices. In terms of privacy, however, the Chinese chatbot may not be the worst offender.

As per recent data from Surfshark, one of the best VPN providers on the market, Google Gemini takes the gold medal for the most data-hungry AI chatbot app. DeepSeek comes, in fact, only fifth out of the 10 most popular applications for aggressive data collection.

Surfshark researchers also found a worrying 30% of the analyzed chatbots share user data, such as contact details, location, and search and browsing history, with third parties, including data brokers.

The real cost of using AI chatbots

As Tomas Stamulis, Chief Security Officer at Surfshark, explains, the apps we use every day regularly collect our personal information. While some of this data is necessary for the applications' functionality, others are linked to our identities. He said: "AI chatbot apps can go even further by processing and storing conversations."

To determine the real privacy price tag affixed to AI chatbots, Surfshark researchers looked at the privacy details of the 10 most popular apps on the Apple App Store. They then compared how many types of data each app collects, whether it collects any data linked to its users, and whether the app includes third-party advertisers.

The analysis uncovered an average of 11 different types of data out of the 35 possible. As mentioned earlier, Google Gemini stands out as the most data-hungry service, collecting 22 of these data types, including highly sensitive data like precise location, user content, the device's contacts list, browsing history, and more.

Among the analyzed applications, only Google Gemini, Copilot, and Perplexity were found to collect precise location data. The controversial DeepSeek chatbot stands right in the middle, collecting 11 unique types of data, such as user input like chat history. The main issue here – and what attracted privacy complaints under GDPR rules – is that the provider's privacy policy claims to retain this data for as long as it's necessary on servers located in China.

Its rival, ChatGPT, is hot on Gemini's heels, with 10 types of data collected. These include contact information, user content, identifiers, usage data, and diagnostics. It's also worth noting that, while ChatGPT also collects chat history, you can opt to use temporary chats instead to ensure this info gets deleted after 30 days – or ask for the removal of personal data from its training sets.

Apps' data collection is only one side of the privacy problem, though.

This is because, Stamulis explains: "This data could be used within the company or shared across third-party networks, potentially reaching hundreds of partners, and leading to highly targeted ads or an increase in spam calls."

Researchers also found that 30% of these chatbot apps track user data, too. This means that the user or device data collected from the app is linked with third-party data for targeted advertising or advertising measurement purposes.

Copilot, Poe, and Jasper are the three apps that collect data used to track you. Essentially, this data "could be sold to data brokers or used to display targeted advertisements in your app," Surfshark experts noted. Copilot and Poe only collect device IDs for this purpose, while Jasper gathers device IDs, product interaction data, advertising data, and other usage data, which refers to "any other data about user activity in the app".

"As a rule, the more information is shared, the greater the risk of data leaks," said Stamulis, adding that cybercriminals are known to exploit these incidents to create personalized phishing attacks that could lead to massive financial losses.

Stamulis recommends being mindful of the information you provide to chatbots, reviewing your sharing settings, and disabling chat history whenever possible.

• The Samsung Galaxy A26, A36, and A56 are due to launch with One UI 7
• Users of the Galaxy S24 and older are still waiting for their update
• One UI 7 gets its stable release in April this year

Samsung revealed three new mid-range A-series phones, the Galaxy A26, Galaxy A36, and Galaxy A56, at the end of February, and we now know that every model will ship with One UI 7 (aka the latest version of Samsung's mobile operating system) out of the box.

One UI 7, which is based on Android 15, was first made available with the release of the Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra in February – though in its current state, the software is still technically a pre-release build.

Samsung's new, One UI 7-compatible A-series models will be available on March 19 in the UK, with the Galaxy A26 and Galaxy A36 available from March 28 in the US (the Galaxy A56 will launch in the US at an as-yet unspecified date later this year). However, as Samsung recently confirmed, older Galaxy smartphones – even former flagships – won’t be getting One UI 7 until April.

That’s got to sting for customers that shelled out up to $1,649 / $1,549 / AU$2,799 for the Galaxy S24 Ultra as recently as February this year. With that kind of price tag, I’m sure many users would expect Samsung to prioritize updating their previous flagship devices over issuing the new software to more budget-conscious users.

Samsung's new A-series phones, including the Galaxy A56 (pictured), are due to launch in March (Image credit: Future)

The Samsung Galaxy A26 starts at $300, with the Galaxy A36 starting at $400 and the Galaxy A56 starting at $500. This year marks the first time a Galaxy A5-series phone has landed in the US, which is a big deal as the Galaxy A55 currently features on our list of the best UK cheap phones.

These new mid-range phones are likely to be decently powerful devices for their respective price brackets, and as PhoneArena notes, Samsung’s diverse portfolio begets a wider range of hardware specifications that need to be accounted for and tested with any new software.

Still, I reckon users of the best Samsung phones from years past will feel somewhat left out with the release of these new A-series handsets.

The wait for One UI 7 continues

The wait for One UI 7 is starting to feel rather long indeed. Even compared to Apple’s half-baked launch of Apple Intelligence and iOS 18 late last year, Samsung is making a hash of this rollout.

Though Samsung’s latest Android wrapper is admittedly excellent, with a stylish new look and a very smooth user experience, it doesn’t excuse taking almost an entire update cycle to release it – indeed, Android 16 is likely to be out shortly after One UI 7 makes it to stable release.

You don’t have to look far online to find discontent within the Samsung fan community, either – Reddit user Healthinfoman theorizes that the update has been “intentionally delayed to promote the [Galaxy] S25 as the only device with One UI 7." Other forums and posts are full of frustrated comments.

There is, however, an end in sight. As mentioned, One UI 7 is due to launch in April – but I fear this staggering rollout may have already overshadowed its eventual release. Let us know what you think about the One UI 7 rollout in the comments below.

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• Demand has reportedly been weak for the OLED iPad Pro
• This means there are some expected changes to Apple's OLED roadmap
• This year's iPad Pro upgrade is set to be a minor one

Our iPad Pro 13-inch (2024) review will tell you that we love the most recent version of the tablet – the first to sport an OLED screen – but it doesn't come cheap, and its price is reportedly leading to weak demand for the Apple slate.

This comes from the industry analysts at Meritz Securities (via @Jukanlosreve), with around 5.7 million units apparently shipping last year. If accurate, that figure is some way down on the nine million units Apple was originally hoping to shift.

What's more, the same report says there won't be many changes in the OLED iPad Pro rumored to launch later this year. While it is predicted to get an upgrade to an M5 chip, it sounds as though everything else will be more or less the same.

Given that the device isn't exactly flying off the shelves right now, and won't get a big upgrade this year, Apple is said to be revising its OLED tech plans – with some products coming forward and some getting pushed back.

What's coming next

▶ Apple’s OLED Transition Roadmap Update – Meritz Securities• The OLED iPad Pro model, first launched last year, incorporated several new technologies such as tandem displays and a hybrid OLED structure. Although it…March 10, 2025

Under the new schedule, the OLED iPad mini will make an appearance in 2026, while the OLED iPad Air is going to jump forward from 2028 to 2027 – that's if Meritz Securities and its sources have got their information correct.

An upgrade to the OLED tech in the iPad Pro – incorporating something called Capsule OLED Encapsulation, for improved performance and durability – has apparently been pushed back from 2027 to 2028.

While the starting price of $999 / £999 / AU$1,699 might be putting potential buyers off the 2024 iPad Pro, it seems Apple will continue to use the most expensive OLED displays for it. The iPad mini and iPad Air are thought to be getting cheaper OLED tech.

We most recently saw a new 7th-gen iPad Air and a refreshed entry-level iPad from Apple – neither of which come with an OLED display. If you're wondering which one is the right pick for you, check out our guide to the best iPads.

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• DOJ says Google should sell off Chrome to address search monopoly
• Its AI investments are safe and Android discussions quieten down
• Google worries about the impacts on national security

Although the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has dropped its AI divestiture proposal for Google, which could’ve seen the tech giant forced to sell off its AI investments (including a multibillion-dollar stake in Anthropic), the company still faces an uncertain future over its Chrome browser.

The DOJ continues to seek a court order for Google to sell off its popular browser as part of a broader effort to address its alleged search market monopoly.

Google hasn’t come out completely unscathed from the AI saga, either, with the company now being required to notify the government of future AI investments.

Google might still have to sell off Chrome

The DOJ has the backing of 38 state attorneys general in its bid to split up Google from its popular Chrome browser, which accounts for two-thirds (66.3%) of all browser sessions globally (via Statcounter).

An extract from the executive summary of the plaintiffs’ revised proposed final judgement (via Reuters) reads: “Google’s conduct presents genuine danger to freedom in the marketplace and to robust competition in our economy.”

A Google spokesperson previously shared with TechRadar Pro: “We routinely meet with regulators, including with the DOJ to discuss this case. As we’ve publicly said, we’re concerned the current proposals would harm the American economy and national security.”

We’ve asked Google for a comment on the latest developments, but have not yet received a response.

Google has sought to reach an agreement that would see it loosen its exclusivity and default search engine deals with the likes of Apple. It is unclear how successful that argument was in the eyes of the court.

Moreover, the DOJ has loosened its stance on Google’s ownership of Android, the mobile operating system that accounts for nearly three-quarters (72%) of the global smartphone market (via separate Statcounter figures).

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• On-board DSP, custom amp and adjustable low pass filter
• Three models: 8-inch, 10-inch and 12-inch
• From $899 / £599 / €749 / about AU$1,224

If you're planning some epic movie nights to catch up with all the Oscar winners and nominees, Q Acoustics' new subwoofers promise to make the movies even more enjoyable. That's because extra bass is always extra entertaining, whether it's putting the sub into The Substance, making Conclave more compelling, or making Emelia Pérez... well, still terrible, but louder.

Rather than launch a single sub, Q Acoustics is launching a fleet of them: the 8-inch Q SUB80, the 10-inch Q SUB100 and the 12-inch Q SUB120. All three are designed to match Q Acoustics' own speakers, of course, but they're also for any existing 7.2, 5.1 or 2.1 system.

(Image credit: Q Acoustics) Q Acoustics Q SUB subwoofers: key specifications and pricing

These are active subwoofers with adjustable low pass filtering and digital signal processing. The DSP is designed to make placement much more flexible, working with fine delay adjustments and phase inversion switching to adjust the timing of sound arriving. Q Acoustics says that means easy installation without having to get a pro installer round.

The low pass filter offers frequency adjustment from 40Hz to 250Hz, enabling them to play nicely with the low end of any speakers they're being partnered with. And the source detection can detect whether incoming signals are stereo or mono and adjust the signal gain too.

The power amp is a custom-designed model comprising DSP, power amp and power supply. There are four digital power amp stages in a parallel bridge-tied load configuration, which reduces output impedance and delivers more efficient heat dissipation, and it can deliver up to 300W of continuous power and 600W of peak. That's in the largest 12-inch model; the 8-inch is 200W/400W and the 10-inch is 250W/500W. Harmonic distortion is very low: less than 0.1% THD up to 300W.

All three models are available now, and the prices are:

• Q Acoustics SUB80 (8-inch): £599 / €749 / $899 / about AU$1,224
• Q Acoustics SUB100 (10-inch): £699 / €875 / $1,049 / about AU$1,428
• Q Acoustics SUB120 (12-inch): £799 / €999 / $1,199 / about AU$1,630

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• Ray-Ban and Meta have created a new smart glasses design with Coperni
• It features a translucent black frame and mirrored lenses
• It's limited to 3,600 units and costs $549 / £519 / AU$859

Following last week’s teaser, the new limited-edition Ray-Ban Meta glasses design just dropped – and I’m more than a little disappointed with the result. Though at least that means you shouldn’t be too upset if you miss out on nabbing one of the only 3,600 pairs being sold.

We had predicted the new shape might draw inspiration from A$AP Rocky – Ray-Ban’s new creative director – but instead Ray-Ban and Meta have collabed with Coperni to create a reskin of its Wayfarers which debuted last night (Sunday, March 9) at Coperni’s Paris Fashion Week show.

Much like Meta and Ray-Ban’s previous limited-edition smart specs, these glasses boast a translucent frame – though they opt for a translucent black rather than the completely clear frame we saw previously. They also come with grey mirrored lenses and feature the Coperni logo on the end of each arm.

Hardware-wise they’re identical to Meta and Ray-Ban’s other smart specs, so you can rely on them as open-ear speakers for music, a first-person camera for photos and videos, and a wearable AI assistant which can help with tasks like live translation.

(Image credit: Ray-Ban / Meta / COperni)

I won’t pretend the limited edition smart glasses are anything but stylish, but they’re a lot more bland than I expected. There’s no new frame shape or interesting unique design detail that lives up to my expectations from Meta and Ray-Ban’s first-ever smart glasses collab with a third brand.

And this disappointment is compounded by the $549 / £519 / AU$859 cost which is not only much pricier than the standard Ray-Ban Wayfarer smart glasses (at $299 / £299 / AU$449) but also much more expensive than the $429 / £429 price of its previous limited-edition frames (they weren’t available in Australia).

Making matters worse, I’d argue those previous cheaper limited-edition specs were a better deal because they boasted transition lenses – which are ideal for smart glasses as you aren’t limited to wearing them in one weather condition unlike the reflective lenses the new pair use which are only practical in the sun.

If you completely disagree with me and love the new Coperni collab then you’ll probably want to act fast. With only 3,600 available across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Australia, they’re likely to sell out soonish.

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• Six Veterans Affairs hospitals were affected by an Oracle EHR outage
• DOD, US Coast Guard and NOAA also affected by the downtime
• VA plans to use Federal EHR in even more sites

Oracle’s Federal electronic health records (EHR) software recently suffered a nationwide outage, causing Veterans Affairs hospitals to revert to contingency procedures in order to continue treating patients as normal.

The outage started at 08:37 ET on March 4, causing software freezes and access issues, but the teams involved worked quickly on a remedy with systems finally being restored at 14:05 ET, with Oracle restarting the system.

A spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) confirmed to CNBC: “Affected VA medical facilities followed standard contingency procedures during the outage to ensure continuity of care for Veterans.”

Oracle outage affects Veterans Affairs hospitals

The agency confirmed “all users” were affected, including Department of Defense, the US Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as six VA medical facilities in Spokane, Washington; Walla Walla, Washington; Columbus, Ohio; Roseburg, Oregon; White City, Oregon; and North Chicago, Illinois.

The VA spokesperson added: “Affected VA medical facilities followed standard contingency procedures during the outage to ensure continuity of care for Veterans. Oracle Health is conducting a full root cause analysis to determine what triggered this outage.”

TechRadar Pro has asked Oracle for more context on the issue, but we have not received a response.

Looking ahead, the VA appears committed to Oracle’s EHR. The agency said just days after the outage it, “will complete deployment of the Federal Electronic Health Record system at nine additional medical facilities” in 2026, adding to its previous December announcement revealing a further four Michigan-based facilities with go-live dates in 2026.

VA Secretary Doug Collins commented: “America’s Veterans deserve a medical records system that’s integrated across all VA and DOD components, and that is exactly what we will deliver.”

Collins added the VA “can and will” move faster, but it’s committed to listening to doctors, nurses and partners to get it right from the get-go.

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• Apple is working on a smart home hub powered by Siri
• Now, the hub could be delayed for the foreseeable future
• That’s because it relies on Siri features that Apple recently postponed

Apple was reportedly looking to expand further into the smart home space in 2025 with a home hub device that would combine a speaker with a display, potentially making it one of the best smart speakers around. Unfortunately, there’s been some bad news for those looking forward to it, as Apple has reportedly delayed the device for the foreseeable future.

The news comes via Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter. There, Gurman explains that Apple “had hoped to announce this product in March.” Yet with more than a third of the month already gone, that’s now looking highly unlikely – and it seems to delays could drag on due to Apple's problems with rolling out its AI-infused Siri.

Apple’s home hub will apparently rely heavily on some of the upgraded Siri capabilities that Apple teased last June at its WWDC 2024 conference. Those features include understanding your personal context and performing in-app tasks.

Yet news emerged last week that Apple would be postponing those features. In a statement to Apple blog Daring Fireball, Apple explained that “It’s going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year.”

According to Gurman, Apple feels that the smart home hub is unviable without those missing features. That means we’ll have to wait for the upgraded Siri experience later in the year before the hub makes an appearance.

Apple vs Amazon

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

And it could get worse. In a report released last week, Gurman stated that some senior Apple execs are so concerned about the state of Siri’s promised features that the entire system might have to be scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up. If that happens, the features might not arrive until 2026.

That could potentially mean Apple losing significant ground against rivals like Amazon. The company recently announced the Alexa+ smart home assistant, which infuses Amazon’s home devices with artificial intelligence (AI) powers. That’s exactly the area Apple’s smart home hub is targeting, and Apple won’t want to lose too much of the initiative here.

That said, it sounds like the hardware of Apple’s home hub is closer to a finished state than its software. Gurman reported in his Power On newsletter that select Apple employees have been taking the hubs home for in-situ testing and evaluation. That suggests that the device itself isn’t too far from being ready, even if its Siri software is a long way off.

As for when we’ll see this product hit store shelves, that’s anyone’s guess. If Apple can perform a miracle and fix up Siri in the coming months, we might not have to wait too long. But judging by Gurman’s reporting, we may have a lengthy delay on our hands.

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Death Stranding 2: On the Beach has a new 10-minute long trailer that shows off even more of its world, premise, and characters - while locking in a more concrete release date.

The trailer was initially shown off at a SXSW panel for Death Stranding 2, hosted by game director Hideo Kojima, actors Norman Reedus and Troy Baker, as well as musician Woodkid who provided music for the trailer itself. While the trailer concludes by confirming the game's June 26, 2025 release date, plenty more was shown beforehand.

Following the events of the original game, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach shows that its post-apocalyptic world is shifting towards automation, with deliveries that were once carried out by humans now being almost entirely handled by machines. We also see that chiralium and the terrifying BTs are very much still a problem.

Death Stranding 2's cast also features a mixture of new and returning characters. Norman Reedus and Lea Seydoux naturally return as Sam Bridges and Fragile respectively. They are joined by Troy Baker (Higgs), Elle Fanning (Tomorrow), Shioli Kutsuna (Rainy), Alastair Duncan (The President), Alissa Jung (Lucy), Luca Marinelli (Neil), and Debra Wilson (Doctor).

Film directors Nicolas Winding Refn, Fatih Akin and George Miller also lend their likenesses for Heartman, Dollman and Tarman respectively. They are voiced by Darren Jacobs, Jonathan Roumie and Marty Rhone.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Hideo Kojima game without some rather unsubtle nods to the Metal Gear series. In the trailer, we see Neil don a Solid Snake-esque bandanna, while Heartman takes control of what appears to be a mech/BT hybrid that bears more than a passing resemblance to Metal Gear REX. Metal Gear artist Yoji Shinkawa is also returning for this sequel.

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• Microsoft's next major home console might be more like a PC
• It's claimed that it will be "a PC in essence, but with a TV-friendly shell"
• This would make it quite similar to a Steam Machine

Microsoft's next major console might have more in common with Valve's unsuccessful line of Steam Machine systems than the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

That's according to Window Central Executive Edition Jez Corden, who spoke in a recent episode of The Xbox Two Podcast. He shot down recent rumors that some Call of Duty developers have access to dev kits for "the next Xbox," instead stating "there is no Xbox dev kit" and that such ideas were "just not accurate"

According to Corden, the "whole idea of the next Xbox" is that "it's going to be a PC in essence, but with a TV-friendly shell [...] that also has a specific set of specs in mind." He states that development would likely be similar to PC development, but with exact specs that allowed for more effective optimization.

This would be quite a departure from the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S and would instead put the next Xbox system more in line with Steam Machines, compact gaming PCs developed by Valve and various manufacturers that were designed for a more TV-focused experience.

This could potentially grant players far greater freedom over their Xbox, especially if the rumored systems are running on Windows. Playing games from other storefronts like Steam or the Epic Games Store would theoretically be possible, which would definitely line up with Xbox's current multi-platform push.

On the other hand, it might hamper much of the appeal of a dedicated console. The Steam Machine was largely unsuccessful, with most consumers sticking with easier-to-use consoles or gravitating towards higher-spec fully-fledged gaming PCs instead.

With the Nintendo Switch 2 on the horizon and, looking further ahead, the rumored PS6 also in the works, the next generation of consoles is shaping up to be very interesting indeed.

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• A serious bug has hit some older Chromecast devices
• 2nd-gen Chromecasts and Chromecast Audio dongles are affected
• Google says it's now working on a fix for the problem

A strange bug has hit 2nd-gen Chromecast and Chromecast Audio devices, preventing these devices from casting normally – and users are getting increasingly angry as they wait for a fix to roll out to affected gadgets.

As reported by 9to5Google and Android Authority, the bug surfaced over the last few days, throwing up a couple of error messages. All users are able to do is dismiss these messages and nothing else, meaning the devices are virtually unusable.

One error message reads: "Untrusted device: [name] couldn't be verified. This could be caused by outdated device firmware." The other one says: "We couldn't authenticate your Chromecast." There are links to Chromecast support, but there's nothing on those support pages to help with this specific issue.

Over on Reddit, there's plenty of venting going on – venting about Chromecasts being buggy in general, and Google being slow to respond to the issue. However, it does now appear that an official fix is on the way.

Wait it out Chromecast not working. from r/googlehome

Considering that newer 3rd-gen Chromecast and Chromecast Ultra models haven't been affected so far, there had been some speculation that Google was quietly retiring older devices without any warning for the people using them.

However, that doesn't seem to be the case. Some investigation into the issues on Reddit pointed the blame at a server-side problem (so out of the control of users), and specifically a security certificate that hadn't been properly renewed.

The good news is that an official Google account on Reddit has posted to say that Google is aware of the issue, and that engineers are working on a fix. In the meantime, the advice is to just wait it out, and not to factory reset devices – which is the logical first step to try when something like this happens.

If you have already done a full reset on your Chromecast, Google says it will give you recovery instructions in due course. In the meantime, we'll be keeping our eyes and ears open for the promised fix.

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