TechRadar News

• PS5 Pro pre-orders are “slightly stronger” than the PS4 Pro
• The console’s high price tag seems not to have impacted sales
• PS5 is still on track to sell 18 million units by the end of the fiscal year

Sony Group President Hiroki Totoki has discussed the PlayStation 5 Pro at a recent conference after the company’s latest earnings release.

According to a new report by Nikkei Asia, Totoki described the PS5 Pro as “a high-end product targeted at core customers” which didn't have “a large sales plan to begin with.” He went on to say that he believes it is “performing slightly stronger than the pre-orders of the PS4 Pro during the same period”.

He then concludes that the console’s relatively high price tag is not “adversely affecting the product's sales plan."

The PS5 Pro released earlier this month and is now readily available to buy. It costs $699.99 / £699.99, a price that raised some eyebrows when it was initially revealed and led some to speculate that it could impact sales.

Unlike the original PS5, a disc drive and vertical stand is also not included with the PS5 Pro out of the box. These need to be purchased separately, which further increases the total investment for players who need them.

Totoki also commented on the sales of the PS5 as a whole, a figure that includes the PS5 Pro, and stated that it is on track to meet its sales target of 18 million units by the end of the fiscal year.

According to Totoki, this has so far been achieved “without implementing a permanent price drop as we did for the PS4,” which would suggest that there aren’t any plans for a major PS5 price cut to drive up sales in the near future.

Elsewhere, the developer of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 stated that the PS5 Pro version of the game was the “quintessential version”. Sony has also patented a PlayStation controller with a dedicated rewind button - which might hint at a new feature for an upcoming console or future PS5 controller.

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• Final Fantasy 14's character portrait system is getting a welcome update
• It resolves an issue that reverts portraits to default upon making changes
• A pop-up will now let players instantly update their portraits for duties

Final Fantasy 14's much-loved - but clearly somewhat unfinished - character portrait system is getting a much-needed update in the MMORPG's next patch.

Patch 7.1, Crossroads, is the first major patch for the Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail expansion. It's launching on November 12 and bringing with it a bunch of new content to get stuck into, including new main scenario quests, a new 24-man raid based on Final Fantasy 11 and no shortage of quality-of-life additions.

One such quality-of-life change, located deep within the 7.1 patch notes, finally addresses a long-standing issue with the character portrait system first introduced in early 2023. The patch notes read:

"If the gear shown in a saved instant portrait differs from what you have equipped after updating or swapping gear sets, you can update your instant portrait via the displayed window. Adjust this setting by checking or unchecking the 'Use as Instant Portrait' option in the Edit Portrait window."

For context, Final Fantasy 14 allows players to craft bespoke portraits for their characters which show up for all players to see at the beginning of a light party, full party or alliance duty. Everything from pose and expression to background, flair and camera angle can be adjusted.

It's a lovely feature, but until now, if the player changes their character's armor in any way, the portrait reverts to a default state while in these duties. It's often begrudgingly referred to as the 'DMV portrait' by Final Fantasy 14 players, as it reverts the portrait to a default blue background with their character directly facing the camera with an expressionless face.

As of patch 7.1, a pop-up will let players instantly update their portraits after making armor or gear set changes, which saves you from having to delve into the feature's quite convoluted menu system. Sure it's more of a band aid fix than the overhaul it arguably needs, but it's an extremely welcome change that should have less players despairing over default portraits.

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• Raw support is coming to more Android apps
• Google is updating a developer library to make the change
• The raw format offers more user control and flexibility

Google is making moves to expand the number of third-party camera apps able to support the raw format on Android – something which will give serious mobile photographers more flexibility when it comes to the tools they use.

The necessary updates for supporting raw – specifically to the Jetpack CameraX library in Android – were spotted by the team at Android Authority, and are currently in testing. Before too long, they should roll out to Android proper.

Third-party apps that want access to the camera on Android have two options for getting it: the Android Camera2 API and the Jetpack CameraX library. The Android Camera2 API is the one aimed at fully-fledged camera apps, and already has raw support built in.

The Jetpack CameraX library is aimed at apps that are less focused on photography – such as social media or journaling apps, for example. Once this developer tool has been updated with raw support, the format will be available to many more apps.

What are raw photos anyway?

A RAW setting is available in the default Android Camera app (Image credit: Future)

In simple terms, the raw format just dumps everything captured from the camera lenses as-is, without any tweaking or compressing. For most users, it's far too much data – but for photo pros who want to spend more time editing and refining images, it's perfect.

You might not realize it, but every standard picture you take on your phone has some automatic tuning applied to the brightness, color, and contrast, to make it more aesthetically appealing. It'll also be compressed to a certain extent.

When you shoot in raw, that goes away. Photos may look unnaturally dull or lack detail in their original form, but there's much more flexibility in terms of making enhancements later on, so you can get a picture looking exactly the way you want.

One of the big downsides of raw photos is they take up a lot more room on a device, which is something to bear in mind. As with other aspects of the finished photo, the type and level of compression used is down to you.

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• A user in the Philippines has spotted a Google Gemini app on the App Store
• The app gives iPhone users access to Gemini Live
• No timeframe on when or if the app will roll out worldwide

You could be using Gemini Live on your iPhone very soon after a standalone Google Gemini app has appeared on the App Store.

U/lostshenanigans, based in the Philippines, found the app and shared the link via Reddit. Unfortunately, the app isn't live in the UK, US, or Australia yet, but this could be a sign that the Gemini app is about to roll out worldwide.

The Gemini app gives iPhone users access to Gemini Live, the paid AI voice bot that was previously exclusive to the best Android smartphones. Gemini Live lets you talk with Gemini rather than typing and uses Google's AI model to produce eerily realistic conversations.

From the screenshots shared in the Reddit thread, it looks like the Gemini Live works as a Live Activity, allowing you to chat with Gemini from your Lock Screen. This would be a huge coup for iPhone users who haven't been able to use Gemini outside of the Google app, giving an alternate option to Siri.

We're yet to hear of any reports of other users accessing the Gemini app, so either Google is currently testing this new addition to its app family or U/lostshenanigans is fooling us all (I'm leaning towards the former).

As soon as we have more updates on a standalone Gemini app for iPhone we'll be sure to give it a download. After all, Gemini Live is one of the best examples of AI we've tried so far - it's just a shame it's exclusive to Android (for now).

Gemini Live on iPhone

(Image credit: Future, Lance Ulanoff)

I've been waiting for Gemini Live to come to iPhone for a while, so this news of a potential standalone Gemini app with Live functionality is incredibly exciting. I've used Gemini Live briefly on Android but as an iPhone user I've been wanting to test it on a daily basis and I might not have long to wait to finally be able to do that.

Gemini Live's natural voice is seriously impressive and as a fan of ChatGPT's Advanced Voice mode but without a Plus membership, Live could be the voice assistant I've been waiting for - at least until Siri gets its Apple Intelligence overhaul next year.

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• iPhones in the possession of police have been mysteriously rebooting
• A report has confirmed that it’s a security feature in iOS 18.1
• It's to protect your data from thieves, hackers, and others

If your iPhone gets lost or stolen, or otherwise ends up in the wrong hands, the last thing you want is for someone to access all your private data, which might include photos, bank details, account passwords and other sensitive information – and a new feature in iOS 18.1 appears to be designed to keep your data safe.

If your iPhone has gone unused for around 96 hours (or four days) since it was last unlocked, it will automatically reboot, providing it's running iOS 18.1 or later.

What’s the purpose of this? Well, when an iPhone is rebooted, it moves from what’s called After First Unlock (AFU) mode to a Before First Unlock (BFU) status. An iPhone running in BFU mode is more secure than one in AFU, making it much harder to crack or break into. The idea seems to be that this will thwart thieves who have your device and are waiting until they're able to get an unlocking device that will enable them to access your private data.

Apple indeed added a feature called "inactivity reboot" in iOS 18.1. This is implemented in keybagd and the AppleSEPKeyStore kernel extension. It seems to have nothing to do with phone/wireless network state. Keystore is used when unlocking the device.https://t.co/ONZuU9zVt2 https://t.co/4ORUqR6P6N pic.twitter.com/O3jijuqpN0November 8, 2024

Over the past week, this new feature has caused a lot of consternation among law enforcement officials. It was first cited in a case where a police forensic lab noted that a batch of iPhones that were awaiting forensic examination had all rebooted at around the same time, leading to speculation that Apple had implemented an unannounced security feature in iOS 18. While some initially thought that this could be an iPhone 16 bug that’s been known to cause devices to restart, fresh research suggests that’s not the case.

According to experts who spoke to 404 Media, iOS 18.1 contains a new feature called “inactivity reboot” that restarts a device after around four days of dormancy. This was confirmed by Magnet Forensics’ Christopher Vance, who wrote in a law enforcement group chat that iOS 18.1 contains an inactivity timer, and that when this timer runs out, “the device reboots, moving from an AFU state to a BFU state.”

Apple has a long history of pushing back against efforts by law enforcement to compromise the security of its devices, arguing that enabling a backdoor for police and other agencies would weaken the security of millions of innocent people’s devices, making it much easier for hackers to break into these products. After all, a backdoor for the police can be accessed by anyone with the right tools.

In this case it seems more likely that Apple’s motivation is to protect its users’ data from thieves and more common mishaps. After all, it’s probably more likely that you’ll have a phone stolen than have it forensically examined by the police. Either way, Apple’s new feature should protect you in both cases.

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

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

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #519) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• CRUNCH
• SUBSTANCE
• DEMI
• BIG
• THRUST
• SPORTS
• MARS
• MEAT
• EARLY
• CORE
• DOVE
• LADY
• SUE
• PUSH-UP
• PAYDAY
• WIRELESS

NYT Connections today (game #519) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Candy favorites
• Green: Central point
• Blue: Gives you support (possibly!)
• Purple: Blank [avian]

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #519) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: CHOCOLATE BARS
• GREEN: GIST
• BLUE: KINDS OF BRAS
• PURPLE: ___ BIRD

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

NYT Connections today (game #519) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #519, are…

• YELLOW: CHOCOLATE BARS CRUNCH, DOVE, MARS, PAYDAY
• GREEN: GIST CORE, MEAT, SUBSTANCE, THRUST
• BLUE: KINDS OF BRAS DEMI, PUSH-UP, SPORTS, WIRELESS
• PURPLE: ___ BIRD BIG, EARLY, LADY, SUE

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 3 mistakes

Phew, this was a tough one! I needed all three extra guesses to solve it, and there was a large amount of guesswork involved in my answers too. I could easily have lost my streak here.

The problem was that all four groups were really tough; there appears to be no difficulty curve to it at all. Maybe yellow, supposedly the easiest of the four, is simple for some people – but not for me. I'm based in the UK, where PAYDAY, CRUNCH and DOVE are not famous CHOCOLATE BARS. Fortunately, I knew that PAYDAY and DOVE were US brands, and CRUNCH was an obvious one to go along with those two and MARS.

I also solved blue, KINDS OF BRAS, thanks to a shot-in-the-dark guess; I'm no expert (obviously), but had heard of PUSH-UP, WIRELESS and SPORTS – but not DEMI. But the latter sounded like it might fit, so in the absence of other ideas I went with it and got it right.

Purple was a monster. Eventually, I realized that LADY and BIG could both preceed BIRD, then spotted EARLY too. But I didn't have a fourth. Eventually, I guessed SUE simply because it seemed more likely than the other words I had left, MEAT, THRUST, CORE and SUBSTANCE. Apparently SUE BIRD is/was a US basketball player…

So, a very US-focused game today, and not particularly satisfying for me. But I got there in the end thanks to a lot of luck.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, 10 November, game #518)

• YELLOW: BARREL-SHAPED CONTAINER CASK, CYLINDER, DRUM, TANK
• GREEN: GUIDE PILOT, SHEPHERD, STEER, USHER
• BLUE: N.F.L. TEAM MEMBER COWBOY, JET, RAM, RAVEN
• PURPLE: THINGS THAT SWING GOLFER, PENDULUM, SALOON DOORS, SWING

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

Like almost every other industry, artificial intelligence stands poised to transform the way the built environment operates. But while generative AI tools like ChatGPT are a reasonably novel addition, other forms of the technology have been making major impacts in the construction sector for some time.

AI tools are already helping industry professionals with many use cases across the lifecycle of a project or asset – improving design, planning, safety, quality, sustainability, and productivity as a whole. The tech can handle the more monotonous tasks, allowing us to be more productive and creative with how we work.

Autodesk’s recent State of Design & Make Report found that AI is shaping business transformation across industries as trust in the technology grows, with almost two-thirds (61%) of construction leaders surveyed saying they are approaching or have achieved their goal of incorporating AI into their operations. Businesses are already using it to increase productivity and automate work, and leaders predict that generative AI will help people make critical design decisions about physical products, buildings, and digital assets in the next few years.  

AI is a key driver of digital transformation across AECO and in parallel, enables digital acceleration for companies to continually evolve and adapt to achieve their desired business outcomes.

I’m particularly excited about the way AI can level the playing field. It has the potential to bring construction’s tech capabilities up to speed with other, more digitally native industries, and also gives smaller firms access to the same game-changing tools as their heavyweight counterparts. A world where companies of all sizes can get the benefit of AI means more competition, more innovation and ultimately better outputs.

Augmenting a stretched workforce

Construction firms are faced with an aging workforce, attrition, and a well-publicized skills gap. According to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the industry recruited 200,000 new workers in the UK last year, but still experienced a net talent loss, with 210,000 leaving. The speed of digitalization is only widening this skills gap, with organizations vying for a limited pool of the best tech talent.

It’s no surprise then that 36% of industry leaders we surveyed in our report said supplementing a skills gap was a key use case for AI within their business. As workforces get leaner, businesses see AI’s potential to help manage workloads on smaller teams, free up employees for more meaningful and creative work, and plug talent shortfalls. While it doesn’t solve the core problem, AI will enable the brilliant people in our industry to achieve even more by augmenting and supporting their talents, and expertise.

When it comes to the successful implementation of AI in construction, having a skilled and knowledgeable workforce is key, so construction professionals will need to be trained on the tech, data analysis, and a multitude of systems to effectively use it on their projects. This requires a commitment to ongoing education and upskilling within the industry. The closer people are to understanding the benefits and risks of AI, the less inclined they’ll be to think that it will replace what they do, rather seeing its potential to augment and enhance our work.

A foundation of data excellence

Before adopting more complex technologies like AI, construction firms need the foundation of a solid digital and data strategy in order to produce truly actionable insights. Autodesk’s recent report with Deloitte, surveying construction leaders in 12 different countries, showed that those considered ‘data leaders’ were seven times more likely to deploy AI and machine learning solutions. The good news is that the UK has the highest share of data leaders (18%) of the five European countries analyzed, indicating the importance of data across UK construction.

But while the benefits of data leadership are clear, several challenges are hindering the widespread adoption of data-driven practices in construction. One significant barrier is data fragmentation. According to the Deloitte report, 43% of UK construction leaders reported that their organizations were storing data on too many different platforms, leading to difficulties in integrating and analyzing information. Using tools like a Common Data Environment (CDE) significantly helps businesses by providing a centralized, integrated and standardized platform for data management. This ensures project data is clean, well-organized and readily available for AI deployment.

Making AI work for the construction industry

The potential for AI to address some of construction’s most pressing challenges is enormous. We need to embrace AI and what it can offer to augment and enhance our working lives, while ensuring we don’t become overly reliant on it, which could lead to a drop in standards or quality of workmanship. This is why regulation and companies implementing guidance is crucial.

The impact of AI on the workforce is a topic of both excitement and anxiety. The risky and costly nature of most construction processes means that even the smallest of errors can have huge implications. As a result, there is often little appetite to move away from the traditionally known, tried, and tested ways of doing things, even when these innovative technologies have the potential to deliver substantial rewards.

By having a solid foundation of data leadership and management, and taking an approach to AI that puts our amazing people at the heart of it, AI can be a launchpad for the construction industry to reach new heights.

We've listed the best architecture software.

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

Full spoilers follow for The Penguin, including its final episode.

After eight weeks of award-worthy performances and an intensely captivating story, The Penguin has ended on Max/HBO (US), Sky/Now TV (UK), and Binge (Australia). And, my oh my, did it end in typically incendiary fashion for a limited series I called an "epic Batman spin-off... that deserves to sit alongside The Sopranos in HBO's crime drama pantheon".

As the dust settles on Oz Cobb and Sofia Falcone's explosive turf war, it's time to sift through the rubble and determine what actually happened. Who is Gotham City's new crime kingpin? Did anyone perish during the series' final episode? And did the Caped Crusader make a last-minute cameo? I'll answer all of these questions and more below so, if you've not seen episode 8, titled 'Great or Little Thing', watch it first as major spoilers immediately follow.

The Penguin ending explained: who won, Oz Cobb or Sofia Falcone?

Sorry Sofia, there can only be one crime kingpin in Gotham City (Image credit: Macall Polay/HBO)

As if it was ever in doubt, Oz triumphed over Sofia in the battle to control Gotham's criminal underworld. Hey, one of the best Max shows is called The Penguin, so it would've been a curious move if it ended with Oz's defeat at the hands of his rival.

Although it looks like Sofia has beaten Oz – he's captured and taken to Gotham City's airport to meet with Sofia for one final time – it's all a ploy on Oz's part. Indeed, aside from Yakuza leader Feng Zhao, the goons who take Oz hostage are actually working for him.

Just as they're about to hand him over, Link, Feng Zhao's son and second-in-command, betrays his father and shoots him in the head. The rest of Oz's gang, Vic included, kill Sofia's henchmen and seize her instead. In other locations spread throughout Gotham, the lieutenants of the city's other criminal syndicates similarly kill their bosses – Oz and Victor promising they'd be the new heirs to Gotham's criminal empire if they swear allegiance to him as its new crime kingpin.

What is interesting about the series' ending, though, is Oz doesn't kill Sofia, which is something of a rarity for the eponymous sociopath. In a scene reminiscent of his previous role as Sofia's chaffeur, Oz drives Sofia to an undisclosed location on Gotham's outskirts. After exiting the car, he holds her at gunpoint as they engage in what seems to be one final, barb-filled tête-à-tête before Oz prepares to gun her down.

However, as Sofia closes her eyes and prepares for the end, her face is suddenly lit up by a bright light. Slowly opening her eyes, she spots a police helicopter, complete with searchlight, circling overhead and, turning round, realizes Oz is gone. Numerous cop cars loom into view and, moments later, she's arrested by Gotham police chief Mackenzie Bock and his fellow law enforcers.

The Penguin ending explained: wait, so Sofia isn't dead?

It's back to Arkham Asylum for Ms Falco- I mean, Ms Gigante (Image credit: Macall Polay/HBO)

Nope. Instead, she's re-admitted to Arkham Asylum.

In the show's flashback-heavy fourth episode, titled 'Cent'Anni', Sofia was sent to Gotham's high-security prison for the criminally insane by her father – and Gotham's former crime lord – Carmine Falcone. Remember, she learned too much about his murdering of numerous women, including his own wife and Sofia's mom. In order to cover his tracks, he pinned the deaths on his own daughter who, despite constantly protesting her innocence, subsequently spent 10 years in Arkham Asylum.

Escaping with the help of her brother Alberto and therapist Doctor Julian Rush prior to the events of The Penguin, Sofia thought she'd finally seen the back of Arkham Asylum. Turns out she was wrong, eh?

The Penguin ending explained: alright, so who did die?

Rest in peace, Victor (Image credit: Macall Polay/HBO)

Feng Zhao and many of Sofia's subordinates notwithstanding, the most noteworthy death is –soul-crushingly, might I add – Victor Aguilar.

Oz's main lackey since The Penguin episode 1, fans were always concerned about Victor's welfare. Indeed, numerous viewers expressed concern for The Penguin's most lovable character just two episodes into its eight chapter run. But, as Victor took on more responsibilities for Oz, coupled with how close the pair became throughout the Batman spin-off series, audience confidence grew that Victor might actually make it out alive.

Devastatingly, that wasn't the case. As Oz and Victor celebrate a job well done by taking control of Gotham's criminal underbelly, and mourn what happened to Oz' mom Francis (more on her shortly), the tone of the scene shifts as Oz tells Victor he can't leave any loose ends with what's transpired over the last eight episodes. Grabbing Victor in a headlock, Oz murders Victor by suffocating him to death. To make things even worse from a viewing experience perspective, Oz leaves Victor's dead body lying on the floor before throwing his I.D. card into Gotham's river so no one can easily determine his identity.

Oz's mom isn't dead, but she may as well be (Image credit: Macall Polay/HBO)

As for Francis, she doesn't join Victor on the dead character pile, but she might as well have. After suffering a serious stroke during the first half of 'Great or Little Thing', Francis is left in an assisted vegetative state.

Unwilling to let his mom die, Oz breaks the promise he made to Francis in episode 5 – a chapter where he agreed to help her to end her life if her Lewy Body Dementia illness severely diminished her quality of life. Discharging her from hospital, Oz takes a permanently bed-bound Francis to his new penthouse suite in the dilapidated La Couronne hotel he now owns. There, he positions his incapacitated mom in front of a window looking out onto the Gotham City skyline. At least Oz successfully kept one pledge to always look after her and give her a good life...

The Penguin ending explained: does Batman make a cameo?

Bruce Wayne or his vigilante alter-ego don't make a surprise appearance in The Penguin (Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Nope. Neither Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne or his masked vigilante alter-ego make an appearance in The Penguin's finale.

That's to be expected, really. Ever since The Penguin's first episode debuted on some of the world's best streaming services, showrunner Lauren LeFranc and executive producer Matt Reeves, the latter of whom is the creative overlord of 'The Batman Epic Crime Saga', which The Penguin is a part of, have consistently said that the Dark Knight wouldn't show up. True to form, the duo weren't pulling our collective leg in a bid to misdirect us.

That said, The Penguin doesn't end without referencing the so-called Big Bad Bat. As Oz and Eve dance the night away in his penthouse, the Bat-Signal can be seen in the distance, with an unknown individual turning it on to catch Batman's attention. The smart money says Jeffrey Wright's Commissioner Jim Gordon is responsible for illuminating Gotham's skyline with the iconic symbol – he's got previous form for doing so, after all. Does The Penguin's final chapter, then, lead directly into The Batman Part II, aka the next project in development for 'The Batman Epic Crime Saga'? Potentially, but I'll delve into that in more detail later.

The Penguin ending explained: are there any other Batman-adjacent character appearances?

Julian Rush shows up in The Penguin's finale, but do any Batman-adjacent characters also show up? (Image credit: Macall Polay/HBO)

They do! After Oz's courtroom chat with crooked senator Sebastien, the show's titular character heads for the exit. As he does so, he spots Bella Real, Gotham's newly installed major who played a minor role in The Batman, heading into her office with her secretary and security team.

As mentioned earlier, Mackenzie Bock is also part of proceedings, with Gotham's police chief making his second appearance in 'Great and Little Thing' following his cameo in episode 5, aka 'Homecoming'.

Lastly, although she doesn't show up, Zoë Kravitz's Selina Kyle is referenced in episode 8. Following Sofia's re-incarceration in Arkham Asylum, Julian Rush brings Sofia a letter, penned by Selina, which reminds us (and informs Sofia) that they're half-sisters. Remember, Carmine Falcone was revealed to be Selina's dad in The Batman, so this revelation didn't come as a shock to me, nor should it have to you, either.

The Penguin ending explained: is there a mid-credits or post-credits scene?

"Whaddya mean my show doesn't have an end credits scene, Victor!?" (Image credit: Macall Polay/HBO)

No. Well, there wasn't one attached to my advanced press screener for episode 8. Unless a mid- or end-credits scene was added to the publicly released version, then, there isn't one to stick around for once the show's final credits sequence has rolled.

The Penguin ending explained: will there be a season 2?

Don't bet on a second season of The Penguin, everyone (Image credit: HBO)

Nobody knows but, at the time of writing, it's highly unlikely. Work will begin on The Batman Part II (I'm getting to it, don't worry) in early 2025, so that's the next project that Reeves and company will be focusing on. With rumors that other The Batman spin-offs are also in development (per The Direct and The Wrap), one of which may be a Joker series starring Barry Keoghan (according to industry insider Jeff Sneider, as reported by ScreenTime), there might not be room to squeeze a second season of The Penguin into the schedule.

None of this takes Colin Farrell's thoughts into the equation, either. The A-lister, who portrayed Oz Cobb in this show and The Batman, told GamesRadar that he doesn't know whether a sequel season will be greenlit. Even if one is, he admits he needs time to decompress from the role, adding: "Lauren said 'Look, if I could find a way that makes sense [to put on the prosthetics and suit again], would you talk about it?' And I said 'Absolutely.' And, maybe in a year I would. But when I finished I was like, 'I never want to put that f*****g suit and that f*****g head on again.'"

Still, with The Penguin's premiere pulling in over five million viewers on Max and HBO alone, the critical and commercial acclaim it's been met with, and calls for Farrell and Cristin Milioti, who plays Sofia, to earn multiple nominations ahead of next year's awards circuit, I'd be amazed if HBO and DC Studios executives aren't already clamoring for another installment. Keep an eye on TechRadar for more news when I have it.

The Penguin ending explained: how does the HBO show set up The Batman Part II?

The Batman Part II should pick up some of The Penguin's loose plot threads (Image credit: Warner Bros.)

The short answer is: I don't know. Nobody outside of Reeves, his co-writer Mattson Tomlin, or Reeves' fellow producer Dylan Clark know about The Batman Part II's story and how The Penguin's events will influence it. Indeed, speaking to Collider, Farrell revealed he had no idea about how the plot may unfold.

There are some storytelling aspects that we can infer about Pattinson's next big-screen outing, though. Based on events depicted in The Penguin episode 8, Oz might find himself hanging out with Gotham's political elite and various socialites in the forthcoming DC film. That was the main request he made to Sebastien if Oz helped the corrupt councillor to bring an end to the gang war that was infecting Gotham's streets. If Sebastien also cleaned up Crown Point and shut down production of Bliss, the new drug that – ironically - Oz helped to flood the streets with, he'd be adored by Gotham's populace, too, and give himself the best opportunity to ride to the top politically.

Will Selina Kyle ally herself with the Dark Knight again in The Batman Part II? (Image credit: Jonathan Olley/Warner Bros.)

Sebastien agrees to help Oz but, with Mayor Real preparing to form an anti-corruption task force, Oz would need to ensure none of this, Sebastien's newfound relationship with Oz included, can come back to bite them, which Oz concurs with.

If Oz begins to mingle with Gotham's rich folk, The Batman Part II could see him come face-to-face with Bruce Wayne. Of course, Oz doesn't know Wayne is Batman – Oz met the Caped Crusader, but not Wayne, in The Batman, so he won't know they're one and the same person – but it'll be fascinating to see Wayne interact with Oz and try not to give away the fact that he's Gotham's number one crimefighter.

Elsewhere, it'll be intriguing to see if Sofia makes an appearance, no matter how brief, in the sequel flick. Pattinson's Wayne and Zoë Kravitz's Selina Kyle grew close in The Batman and, while they went their separate ways during its final scene, there's always the potential for Kravitz to reprise her role. If she does, The Batman Part II could pick up the loose plot thread about Selina and Sofia being half-sisters. That would certainly add some extra spice to proceedings, especially if Sofia uses Selina to get an audience with Batman in a bid to seek some form of retribution against Oz.

There's been plenty more discussion about The Batman Part II, including who Reeves and Pattinson would like its main villain to be. Until production officially begins, though, your guess is as good as mine about how The Penguin sets up its plot and character roster. Hopefully, we'll learn more once principal photography gets underway.

You might also like

• Here's how to watch The Batman movies in order
• Alternatively, see if you agree with our ranking of the best Batman movies
• Or learn more about the Dark Knight's first adventure in James Gunn's DCU via our DCU Chapter One guide

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

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

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #519) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• LIGHT
• SCORE
• LAND
• SEA
• HOST
• BOW
• WIN
• YANG
• ANCHOR
• MASCULINE
• FLOCK
• DECK
• EXPANSIVE
• BRIDGE
• EARN
• CROWD

NYT Connections today (game #519) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• Yellow: Get
• Green: Lots of people
• Blue: STERN could be another
• Purple: Confucius would have got this one

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #519) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: ATTAIN
• BLUE: PARTS OF A SHIP
• GREEN: LARGE GROUP
• PURPLE: ASSOCIATED PRINCIPLES IN CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

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

NYT Connections today (game #519) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #519, are…

• YELLOW: ATTAIN EARN, LAND, SCORE, WIN
• GREEN: LARGE GROUP CROWD, FLOCK, HOST, SEA
• BLUE: PARTS OF A SHIP ANCHOR, BOW, BRIDGE, DECK
• PURPLE: ASSOCIATED PRINCIPLES IN CHINESE PHILOSOPHY EXPANSIVE, LIGHT, MASCULINE, YANG

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 mistake

Does it matter how you beat Connections, so long as you do? Probably not, but it is more satisfying when you get the answer right because you know what it is, rather than because you got lucky. That happened to me today with the purple group, ASSOCIATED PRINCIPLES IN CHINESE PHILOSOPHY, and it's just as well that it did.

I'd solved blue (PARTS OF A SHIP), which was remarkably easy for that color, and yellow (ATTAIN), but had already wasted one guess on what turned out to be the green group, LARGE GROUP. For some reason I'd placed DECK with CROWD, FLOCK and HOST, when the final answer was SEA, and hadn't yet realized what the connection was here beyond 'groups with lots of things', and was thinking that DECK was in there as in 'deck of cards'. Anyway, DECK was now out of the running due to it appearing in blue, so I should really have spotted the green connection and moved on.

Instead, once burned, I looked at the other words and decided that maybe they were part of some 'opposites' connection: YANG (and yin), MASCULINE (and feminine), LIGHT (and dark). I wasn't sure what EXPANSIVE was the opposite of (narrow, maybe?) but decided to include it anyway and it revealed the purple group. Great! Except obviously I'd got the connection sort of wrong. I guess they all count, though…

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, 10 November, game #518)

• YELLOW: BARREL-SHAPED CONTAINER CASK, CYLINDER, DRUM, TANK
• GREEN: GUIDE PILOT, SHEPHERD, STEER, USHER
• BLUE: N.F.L. TEAM MEMBER COWBOY, JET, RAM, RAVEN
• PURPLE: THINGS THAT SWING GOLFER, PENDULUM, SALOON DOORS, SWING

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

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

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

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1022) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

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

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

Quordle today (game #1022) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1022) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

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

Quordle today (game #1022) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1022) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• C

• R

• G

• G

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

Quordle today (game #1022) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1022, are…

• COPSE
• REGAL
• GRUNT
• GOODY

G is not a letter that features among my three set start words (STARE, DOILY and PUNCH), which makes days when Gs appear more difficult for me. Today was a prime example, with three of them spread across the four answers. On the plus side, two of them were at the start of solutions (GRUNT and GOODY), meaning that once I'd uncovered one I had a huge advantage in solving the other.

My G travails aside, this is a standard Quordle. Only one repeated letter to worry about, a couple of less common words in COPSE and GOODY, and one word that has multiple solutions (GRUNT – which could also be BRUNT). Not too hard, not too easy, classic Quordle fare.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1022) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1022, are…

• SPLAT
• FLAIR
• PAYER
• PLANK

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1021, Sunday 10 November: GROIN, FAULT, FERRY, SUITE
• Quordle #1020, Saturday 9 November: FLUME, THERE, ATOLL, SANER
• Quordle #1019, Friday 8 November: DELAY, NAVAL, MOLAR, SWARM
• Quordle #1018, Thursday 7 November: REPAY, SYNOD, LOATH, PITHY
• Quordle #1017, Wednesday 6 November: SASSY, DRUID, THREW, SLOSH
• Quordle #1016, Tuesday 5 November: BEGET, AMUSE, STONY, LOUSY
• Quordle #1015, Monday 4 November: CHILL, TACKY, GRAPH, PLAZA
• Quordle #1014, Sunday 3 November: QUIRK, HEART, ELBOW, KNOWN
• Quordle #1013, Saturday 2 November: SWUNG, FLOOR, PARER, CRUST
• Quordle #1012, Friday 1 November: FIFTY, GULCH, RECUT, TWEET
• Quordle #1011, Thursday 31 October: TWINE, RIGID, BELCH, AMEND
• Quordle #1010, Wednesday 30 October: SLOOP, BRINE, BROOD, FLUID
• Quordle #1009, Tuesday 29 October: CLIFF, BURNT, SNAKY, POLYP
• Quordle #1008, Monday 28 October: MACAW, LIEGE, GOUGE, CARGO
• Quordle #1007, Sunday 27 October: STUNG, CLOUT, SOWER, BASIS
• Quordle #1006, Saturday 26 October: DUCHY, CANNY, BLOCK, SMART
• Quordle #1005, Friday 25 October: PRANK, EXIST, RUDDY, PICKY
• Quordle #1004, Thursday 24 October: DAIRY, RALLY, CURLY, LABEL
• Quordle #1003, Wednesday 23 October: DROSS, ANNEX, GRAVE, BROKE
• Quordle #1002, Tuesday 22 October: ADORE, SMITH, AFOOT, LUCID

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

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

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #253) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… To your health!

NYT Strands today (game #253) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• RUSE
• TRACT
• PLACE
• PLACED
• HARM
• CHARM

NYT Strands today (game #253) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Playing House

NYT Strands today (game #253) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: top, 4th column

Last: bottom, 4th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #253) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #253, are…

• NURSE
• DOCTOR
• SURGEON
• PHARMACIST
• DENTIST
• SPANGRAM: MEDICALCAREER

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 hint

I needed a hint to get started today, which is hardly unusual for Strands given that the theme clues can be on the cryptic side of things sometimes. Today's was 'To your health!', which to me suggested 'Things you say as you toast someone' or similar – such as CHEERS. But I couldn't find that or any others, so asked for my hint and got NURSE.

At that point the task became rather more obvious, and I was able to find DOCTOR, SURGEON and PHARMACIST without too many issues. It took me a while to get the spangram, admittedly, but with that in place I spotted the final answer, DENTIST, and moved on.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday, 10 November, game #252)

• JUMP
• CIVIL
• STRONG
• BUSINESS
• BIRTHDAY
• LEISURE
• SPANGRAM: WELLSUITED

What is NYT Strands?

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

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

• Banks and regulators have warned of the growing risk of quishing
• A type of phishing that uses fraudulent QR codes to steal information
• These malicious links aren’t easily recognized by users or email scanners

It’s not just suspicious links you need to watch out for in your email inbox: QR code phishing – or “quishing" – is becoming an increasingly common threat, with fraudulent codes designed to slip through security systems and fool you into surrendering your financial information.

A number of UK banks, together with the UK National Cyber Security Centre and US Federal Trade Commission, have recently warned of the dangers of these increasingly sophisticated quishing scams.

In a quishing attack, a QR code is usually sent as an attachment to an email. The email will appear to be from a legitimate source, such as a lender. When you scan the code, it will direct you to a malicious link. This will usually ask you to submit personal details, but it could also attempt to install malware or even capture an MFA token to bypass your login credentials.

What’s more, quishing attacks have now spread into the real world. Earlier this year, the RAC warned motorists of fraudulent QR codes being stuck to parking machines. When scanned, these would link users to a website that aims to steal the details and payment information of someone who believes they’re paying for parking.

These attacks have increased since the pandemic, when the use of QR codes ballooned. As a hands-free way to access everything from menus to medical forms, QR codes became a familiar and apparently trustworthy way to access information and services.

Gone quishing

Like a classic phishing scam, quishing aims to fool you into believing that you’ve been sent the link from a legitimate source. The email will usually appear to be from a bank or email provider, asking you to confirm your details to ‘secure’ your account. The scam will use a fake website that mimics the real thing to fool you into believing it’s legitimate.

Because the content of a QR code isn’t immediately visible from looking at the code alone, it’s difficult to check if one is legitimate. What’s more, these codes often slip past cyber security tools, which aren’t easily able to verify whether an attached code is genuine.

Scammers also find increasingly advanced ways to hide their scams from security tools. In addition to hijacking legitimate email accounts, some QR code scams use genuine personal information harvested from sites such as LinkedIn to personalize emails to appear relevant to an individual. Domain redirection is often used to bounce users through several URLs, which prevents email scanners from detecting the true malicious link behind the QR code.

A similar version of the scam, featured in a report from Perception Point, sends users to me-QR.com, a legitimate website for making QR codes. Once there, the service scans a second QR code, which leads to a malicious landing page hosted on SharePoint, Microsoft’s web-based collaboration platform.

We’ve written in depth about the evolution of phishing attacks and how to stay safe from quishing attacks. In May, McAfee – the security software company – ran a survey that found more than 20% of online scams in the UK probably involved QR codes. With lenders and regulators now raising concerns, quishing is definitely the next big thing in online scams.

You might also like

• QR Code phishing is advancing to a new level
• The evolution of phishing: vishing & quishing
• How to stay safe from cybercriminal "quishing" attacks

• New TechRadar Pro survey shows many people don't own a printer
• Despite this, HP has cornered a significant portion of the market
• Japanese brands are the most popular to own

The role of home printers might seem to be diminishing to many, as cloud storage, document sharing, and mobile devices, are quickly replacing the many tasks once reliant on physical prints.

However, for millions of people, printers remain an essential tool for everything from school projects to remote work and small business operations.

A recent survey conducted across our WhatsApp community revealed intriguing insights into printer ownership trends. With a sample size of 3,676 respondents across nine brands, the survey’s single question — “What printer do you have?” — yielded both expected and surprising results.

HP and Japanese brands lead the pack

HP emerged as the clear leader in this survey, with 38% of the total sample stating that they own a printer made by the company.

HP’s sheer market dominance is particularly interesting when compared to those who do not own a printer, which accounted for 21% of respondents. While HP has cornered a significant portion of the market, a growing number of people are either opting for alternatives to personal printing or simply choosing not to own a printer at all.

What’s perhaps even more intriguing is the dominance of Japanese brands within the top four. Brother, Canon, and Epson collectively account for 37% of the total, showing the significant influence that Japanese technology has in the global printing market.

Brother in particular commands 11% of the total share, with Canon at 14%, and Epson close behind at 12%. The remaining brands, Kyocera, Oki, Ricoh, Xerox, and Lexmark, collectively make up less than 5% of the responses. This indicates that these brands have their niches but have limited awareness or availability among respondents.

The number of people forgoing printer ownership might also reflect urban living conditions where access to printing services is readily available through libraries or office supply stores. In such environments, individuals may find it unnecessary to invest in personal printers.

Furthermore, high ongoing costs associated with ink cartridges and maintenance might deter potential buyers from investing in printers.

Another recent survey by TechRadar Pro reveals that while the shelf price of many printer cartridges is less than $20, in the long run, printer owners will have to spend between $5,000 to $10,000 per liter of ink.

You might also like

• HP wants you to rent printers like cars
• These are the best small business printers to keep your SMB going
• 73,000 days, that's how long Canon says its printer printouts will last without fading

• Fujitsu and AMD partner to develop energy-efficient HPC/AI platforms
• Partnership aims to broaden access to AI, support open-source
• Monaka chip features 288 cores, 2nm process, Armv9-A architecture

Fujitsu and AMD have announced a new strategic partnership focused on developing HPC and AI platforms.

This collaboration will combine Fujitsu’s ARM-based processor technology with AMD’s GPU expertise, aiming to build energy-efficient and open-source solutions addressing the growing demand for diverse, cost-effective computing architectures.

The partnership, formalized in a memorandum of understanding, covers joint efforts in technology development, commercialization, and ecosystem expansion, with a goal of creating powerful computing platforms by 2027.

Instinct accelerators

Central to this partnership is Fujitsu’s next-generation Arm-based processor, the Monaka chip, set for release in 2027.

As we first reported in July 2024, Monaka will feature Armv9-A architecture, a 2nm process for high performance and power efficiency, and a 288-core structure (144 cores per socket). Notably, Monaka moves away from high-bandwidth memory in favor of PCIe 6.0 (CXL3.0), enhancing scalability and connectivity. This processor is expected to build upon Fujitsu’s work with the A64FX chip, used in the Fugaku supercomputer, and could support the upcoming FugakuNEXT project planned for 2030.

AMD will support Monaka with its Instinct accelerators, providing customers with flexible options for handling massive AI workloads while optimizing data center costs. The collaboration will also make use of AMD’s ROCm software stack and Fujitsu’s proprietary software, developing an open source ecosystem to accelerate the development of AI and HPC applications.

This joint venture will also involve global marketing efforts and customer engagement, as well as a shared customer center to support the development and implementation of AI technologies.

“By combining AMD’s innovative GPU technology with Fujitsu’s low-power/high-performance processor Fujitsu-Monaka, we seek to create an environment in which more companies will be able to utilize AI while reducing the power consumed by data centers," noted Vivek Mahajan, CTO of Fujitsu.

You might also like

• Fujitsu is planning the most powerful CPU ever for its supercomputer
• AMD head outlines the challenges for data centers
• AMD launches a new single-slot GPU for data centers

• Another RCS upgrade has been spotted on iOS 18
• Android emoji reactions now show up properly on iPhones
• The change may have been made by Apple or Google

While messaging between Android phones and iPhones still isn't perfect, it's a lot better than it used to be – and users have now noticed that emoji reactions from Android devices are now showing up correctly in the iPhone Messages app.

As spotted by The Verge, Android Central, and others, if RCS (Rich Communication Services) is enabled on both Android and iOS, then emoji reactions sent from Android will now actually be stuck to the message they're responding to – rather than appearing on a separate line, which was rather confusing.

It's not clear what has changed on Apple's end or Google's end to make this happen, but the iOS 18.1 update seems to have something to do with it. Make sure you're running the latest iPhone software, and check RCS is enabled, and it should work.

The RCS option on the iPhone can be found in Settings: tap Apps, Messages, and then RCS Messaging. Your carrier needs to support RCS for the option to be visible though – you can check this from Settings by tapping General, About, then Carrier.

An improving situation

RCS is also supported in Google Messages on Android (Image credit: Google)

You may remember Apple announcing that it would support RCS messages back in November 2023, though we had to wait for the iOS 18 software to roll out in September before the functionality actually became available.

RCS is the successor to plain old SMS, adding modern features such as read receipts, group chats, and higher resolutions for photo and video sharing. It's used by default in the Google Messages app on Android.

While this doesn't solve the green bubble problem, and has a few security issues that need to be ironed out, it brings iPhone-and-Android chats closer to the level of iPhone-to-iPhone chats using Apple's own iMessage.

Of course, for a lot of users outside the US, WhatsApp is the primary messaging tool – it offers end-to-end encryption, a whole pile of messaging features, and works more or less the same on both Android and iOS.

You might also like

• Apple is adding 3 more useful upgrades with iOS 18.2
• RCS on iPhone has expanded its reach to more countries
• WhatsApp will soon help you spot misinformation

The internet is in a precarious place. It’s assaulted from all sides - not by technological problems, but by social ones. Misinformation is rife, marketing and advertising covers every facet of the web, and armies of politicized and automated bots roam the wilds of its social media landscapes, all of which are filtered down to you through carefully curated algorithmic posts designed to induce endorphin kicks and keep you on your platform of choice. Right now, everything is changing, and not necessarily for the better.

For many of us, looking back 10 or 20 years, the 'world wide web' looked radically different in that golden age. The social media platforms, the communities, the gaming landscape, the knowledge and accessibility, the shopping - all of it felt different, and it was different. This goes beyond rose-tinted glasses. The companies that joined into the foray were incredible, almost revolutionary. Spotify, Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and Uber: all remarkably impressive, market-upsetting ideas that broke the mold. They drew in masses of customers, users, and consumers with awesome features and affordable pricing.

Yet over time, those same features and costs have gotten predominantly worse for the average Joe, as the companies have scooped out the investment in the middle for the sake of greater margins. This usually occurs once they become publicly-traded entities; driven by shares, investors, and board members clamoring for greater profits rather than the ideals and concepts that founded them.

A digital world in decline

The same sadly goes for the scientific endeavors too. Educational tools and access to information are equally falling apart. So much of the information out there has now been muddied and diluted by TikTok Reels and YouTube Shorts in their thousands, spewing forth all manner of falsehoods from anyone who can pick up a phone and film a 60-second clip. Flat-earthers, fitness and diet influencers, climate-change deniers, moon-landing hoaxers, political “activists” on both sides of the spectrum, so-called journalists pandering to clickbait, you name it. It’s increasingly difficult to identify what’s real and what’s not, what’s true fact and what isn’t. It’s partly why Google changes its search ranking algorithms so often, as it continually tries to promote correct and accurate information over AI-regurgitated content and misinformation.

Millions of people filming themselves dancing probably isn't what the founding fathers of the internet had in mind. (Image credit: Nattakorn_Maneerat via Shutterstock )

We’re in a world of demagogues and social media personalities, where your reach and the number of views on your content dictate whether you’re taken seriously or not. Whether your facts and statements are taken as truth. We saw it during COVID, we saw it during the US elections, we saw it with the war in Ukraine, and the recent UK riots. It isn’t slowing down either, and the impact it has is arguably getting worse.

We even have services now that capitalize on that too. Ground news, collating all the media together to give you the full spectrum of political opinion on any one given event, fact-checkers covering masses of social media platforms, and Community Notes pointing out when folks with lots of clout spout utter nonsense. Hell, there are even entire divisions of scientists out there now making a living out of debunking the empirically-incorrect insanity spewed by other social media influencers. It’s absolutely wild.

Algorithmic Echo Chambers

The problem is systemic. It started in social media, with algorithms delivering 'curated' content rather than just showing you a historical timeline of those you follow. Your likes and dislikes, what you spend time watching, reading, listening to, it all became fuel for the fire. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter - all of them feed you content in that manner. If that’s right or left-wing politics, or 9/11 conspiracy theories, or cute black labradors, it didn’t matter: as long as you stay on the platform and consume more ads. In fact, it's become so prevalent that it’s hard to find a feed system on any social media platform today that doesn’t do that.

The problem with this is that it has effectively stifled creative debate. No longer are your opinions challenged or questioned, no longer do you have meaningful conversation and discussion, but instead you're fed more and more of the same content. That in turn reinforces and influences your beliefs as a consequence, as you sit in an echo chamber of like-minded people repeating the same things. It’s not difficult to see how this actively leads to an increase in extremist beliefs and views.

How can your opinion change or evolve if there’s no one there to challenge it? It’s part of the reason why so many in the last few elections across the planet are almost in utter disbelief when their political candidate of choice doesn’t win. Because to them, all they see is a deluge of support online for their chosen party and nothing else.

Hope for the hopeless?

It’s a bloody mess: a relatively free market, held back only by the sparsest amount of regulation. 31 years—that’s how long it’s been since the World Wide Web made its first foray into the public arena. It’s hard to imagine what Sir Tim Berners Lee envisioned; it’d be like this far into the future. I doubt this is what he imagined (although Tim, if you’re reading this and are free for a chat: hit me up, I’m so up for that).

The man who started it all, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. No, you can't blame him for all the TikTok dances. (Image credit: Paul Clarke)

That said, there’s still hope. The amount of good that’s come out of the WWW since its conception, and even today, is still far greater than the net negatives (no pun intended). Even if in ten years it’s just filled with AI-generated articles and gradually degrading memes while Amazon charges you $90 a month for next-week delivery, as long as people are still using it to actively and openly communicate with one another, it’ll be a net positive.

We don’t hear about the number of scientific breakthroughs that have been accelerated by the internet, the discoveries, the health conditions cured, or the humanitarian aid organized; we don’t hear about any of that because that’s not what makes the news. It’s not interesting. That’s not included in the scientific journals or the papers. We don’t hear about the relationships formed or how integral it is to our modern society’s infrastructure as a whole.

How do you fix it, then? Well, it’s not so simple as slapping a band-aid on something. By its very definition, the World Wide Web is exactly that: global. To get some form of consensus on how to improve the current cesspool that it is requires collective effort. We’ve seen that happen before in the tech industry. There’s a reason JEDEC exists, and standards like USB and DDR are a thing; we need one for the internet, one with teeth on a much larger scale. One with smart minds behind it, looking at the monopolization of segments of the internet and pushing governments to act on it. Suggesting legislation. Looking at patterns and predicting what might occur. One that can react rapidly without necessarily being hindered by bureaucratic nonsense.

The USB Implementers Forum incorporates many major players in the tech industry, including Apple, Intel, and Microsoft. (Image credit: ShutterStock / kontrymphoto)

Then there’s education, and I’m not talking just about kids and young adults, but for all ages. In a similar manner to how we strive for complete adult literacy, we need to have a big push to make each nation-state computer literate as well, beyond talking about “how to turn on the PC” and “this is the internet," but how to identify fake posts, how to fact-check statements, how to find multiple sources, and the legality behind what you post and how you post online. So much of that is just not available, or not known to the public, of all ages.

Learning new critical skills as a global society is hard. But we did it for the threat of nuclear annihilation in the Cold War; we did it with the introduction of the seat belt in cars; we did it for reading; it needs to be done again, but for the digital age. Is it a challenge? Yes, but this isn’t the first time we’ve faced technological turmoil, nor will it be the last.

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• The upgraded Chromium manifest still allows malicious extensions
• Some security tools struggle to identify dangerous extensions

Browser extensions have long been a convenient tool for users, enhancing productivity and streamlining tasks. However, they have also become a prime target for malicious actors looking to exploit vulnerabilities, targeting both individual users and enterprises.

Despite efforts to enhance security, many of these extensions have found ways to exploit loopholes in Google’s latest extension framework, Manifest V3 (MV3).

Recent research by SquareX has revealed how these rogue extensions can still bypass key security measures, exposing millions of users to risks such as data theft, malware, and unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Browser extensions now pose greater threats

Google has always struggled with the issues of extensions in Chrome. In June 2023, the company had to manually remove 32 exploitable extensions that were installed 72 million times before they were taken down.

Google’s previous extension framework, Manifest Version 2 (MV2), was notoriously problematic. It often granted excessive permissions to extensions and allowed scripts to be injected without user awareness, making it easier for attackers to steal data, access sensitive information, and introduce malware.

In response, Google introduced Manifest V3, which aimed to tighten security by limiting permissions and requiring extensions to declare their scripts in advance. While MV3 was expected to resolve the vulnerabilities present in MV2, SquareX’s research shows that it falls short in critical areas.

Malicious extensions built on MV3 can still bypass security features and steal live video streams from collaboration platforms like Google Meet and Zoom Web without needing special permissions. They can also add unauthorized collaborators to private GitHub repositories, and even redirect users to phishing pages disguised as password managers.

Furthermore, these malicious extensions can access browsing history, cookies, bookmarks, and download history, in a similar way to their MV2 counterparts, by inserting a fake software update pop-up that tricks users into downloading the malware.

Once the malicious extension is installed, individuals and enterprises cannot detect the activities of these extensions, leaving them exposed. Security solutions like endpoint protection, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), and Secure Web Gateways (SWG) cannot dynamically assess browser extensions for potential risks.

To address these challenges, SquareX has developed several solutions aimed at improving browser extension security. Their approach includes fine-tuned policies that allow administrators to decide which extensions to block or permit based on factors such as extension permissions, update history, reviews, and user ratings.

This solution can block network requests made by extensions in real-time, based on policies, machine learning insights, and heuristic analysis. Additionally, SquareX is experimenting with dynamic analysis of Chrome extensions using a modified Chromium browser on its cloud server, providing deeper insights into the behavior of potentially harmful extensions.

“Browser extensions are a blind spot for EDR/XDR and SWGs have no way to infer their presence," noted Vivek Ramachandran, Founder & CEO of SquareX.

"This has made browser extensions a very effective and potent technique to silently be installed and monitor enterprise users, and attackers are leveraging them to monitor communication over web calls, act on the victim’s behalf to give permissions to external parties, steal cookies and other site data and so on.”

“Our research proves that without dynamic analysis and the ability for enterprises to apply stringent policies, it will not be possible to identify and block these attacks. Google MV3, though well intended, is still far away from enforcing security at both a design and implementation phase,” Ramachandran added.

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Photographers are spoiled for choice these days when it comes to third-party lenses, with Sigma, Tamron, Samyang and others making superb alternatives to costlier proprietary optics from the likes of Sony, Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm. However, there's another name rightly earning renown in 2024: Viltrox.

The Chinese manufacturer of photography and filmmaking gear has been releasing excellent quality lenses for a few years – including, most recently, autofocus lenses for popular lens mounts – for what is almost always at least half the price of proprietary equivalents, and for the most part with no obvious compromises.

I've been shooting with the Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 for Nikon Z-mount for over a year – it costs exactly half the price of Nikon's own 85mm f/1.8, and I can barely tell the difference between photos from the two lenses.

Viltrox's stock is only set to rise with the launch of its latest lens, the Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB. It's the first of Viltrox's premium 'LAB' series of autofocus lenses, and if the response online from reviewers is anything to go by, it's near perfection.

Currently it's only available in the Sony E-mount for Sony mirrorless cameras, including the full-frame Sony A7R V; but the 135mm F1.8 LAB looks incredible, and it's half the price of Sony's superb FE 135mm F1.8 GM – and at the time of writing it's on sale for $764.15 at Amazon the US – that's 24% off.

(Image credit: Viltrox)

• Buy the Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB – was $999 now $764.15 at Amazon (US)

As someone who's particularly keen on but priced out of this type of lens – the five-star rated Nikon Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena was one of my favorite Nikon lenses of 2024 but it costs $2,499.95 / £2,649 / AU$4,249 – Viltrox's new lens has certainly grabbed my attention – I'm assuming that like other Viltrox lenses it'll be made available for other systems in due course, including Nikon Z-mount. Furthermore, there could be more LAB lenses to come – leaked pictures of a 35mm F1.2 LAB for Sony were shared by Sony Alpha Rumors this week.

Is it time to take Viltrox seriously? And should the likes of Sigma and Samyang be worried?

Optically impressive, hampered by one practical hindrance

We're yet to complete our review of the Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB lens, but the general response to it online from those that have used it has been extremely positive. Regarding optical quality, Viltrox itself has published the lens's MTF charts – lab tests that indicate a lens's sharpness and contrast from the center of the frame to the edges – and they show that in this area it's a virtually flawless lens whatever aperture you use it at, even wide open at f/1.8.

Bokeh also appears impressive (see below) – and that's vital for a telephoto prime lens with a fast aperture like this, as it's ideal for portrait photography (though I also love the compression you get with this focal length for landscape photography). Autofocus performance is supposedly quiet and reliably quick too, so there's no real compromise there, although it looks like there is minor focus breathing, which might count this lens out for serious filmmakers.

(Image credit: Viltrox)

What filmmakers will like, however, is the aperture ring, which can be set to either smooth or clicked operation. There are no aperture or focus distance markings on the exterior of the lens, with this information instead found on the neat digital display. This display is also customizable, meaning you can import any image you like as a welcome screen through the Viltrox app – for me that's a fun party trick. The app connectivity also enables easy firmware updates.

The 135mm F1.8 is built to a very high standard, with a magnesium-alloy construction and advanced weather sealing. However, the gargantuan build of the lens could be a dealbreaker – it weighs in at 43.6oz / 1,235g, and for reference Sony's 135mm lens weighs much less, just 33.6oz / 950g. The extra weight of the Viltrox lens is unlikely to make too much of a difference if you're shooting with a chunkier camera like a Nikon Z8, while it appears to pair well with the Sony A7R V (see below), but it's a front-heavy mismatch with skinnier models like the Sony A7C R.

The Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 attached to a Sony A7R V (Image credit: Viltrox)

Weight aside, Viltrox has made many photographers – and likely rival brands – sit up and take note. Its LAB series could be the beginning of something special, and a range of lenses that cost-conscious photographers who also value quality will increasingly be drawn to.

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• Security pros are hefting multiple devices to work, increasing stress
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• All-in-one devices could help reduce strain and stress on employees

The modern office environment is heavily dependent on technology with an average professional juggling three devices daily, including laptops, tablets, headphones, and even multiple phones. While this tech plays an essential role in enhancing productivity, the sheer volume of gadgets is creating stress and anxiety for many.

At its recent HONOR Magic V3 launch event, the company released a study which reveals the growing mental load faced by professionals due to their reliance on multiple devices.

To mitigate these challenges, there is a need for a more streamlined and less burdensome way for professionals to stay connected and productive.

Tech overload keeps rising

Surveying 8,000 office workers across Europe the study reveals the apparent challenges of managing multiple devices, as the issue of tech overload extends beyond the mental strain.

Many professionals are also grappling with the physical burden of transporting multiple devices to and from the office, and as return-to-office mandates increase across the continent, professionals are spending more time commuting.

On average, workers carry three tech devices or accessories in their bags, collectively weighing an average of 4.1 kg - the equivalent of carrying an air fryer to work. The physical toll of transporting such a load is causing concern, with 12% of workers worried about the negative impact on their health.

For those who rely on tech for hybrid working, the load is even greater. 67% of respondents said they carry more tech to accommodate their flexible working schedules, adding to the strain both physically and mentally.

While one in three professionals recognized the importance of these devices in improving their work, they also reported feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of technology. One quarter (25%) of respondents admitted they struggle with the number of notifications they receive across their devices, with one in seven receiving more than 30 notifications a day.

Managing the constant influx of notifications from multiple devices can be mentally draining, adding to the burden of keeping track of an increasing number of gadgets, with 65% of those surveyed saying they often lose track of their devices, leading to frustration and stress.

A simple way out of this situation is the use of simpler technologies, possibly an all-in-one device that could streamline their daily tech needs. One in five respondents said they wished they could rely on a single device to perform all essential functions, reducing the need for a multitude of gadgets. Over half (52%) of respondents expressed a willingness to pay a premium for a device that could replace several others.

Many workers are starting to see foldable phones as a potential solution to this problem, with one in six saying that a foldable phone would make their lives easier. These devices offer the promise of combining the functionality of a smartphone and tablet in one, catering to professionals who want fewer, more versatile gadgets.

The study also revealed that 1 in 4 office workers would feel lost without their gadgets, with 15% going so far as to say that their life revolves around technology. For these individuals, getting rid of tech altogether is not an option, even if managing multiple devices is stressful.

“The research shows that professionals are weighed down - both literally and figuratively - by their devices," noted Tony Ran, President of HONOR EU.

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Ever since I moved from Android to iPhone at the end of 2021, I’ve struggled to find a way back. Logic tells me that the best Android phones have superior hardware to iPhones in general, having got to 120Hz displays sooner than Apple’s phones and offering bigger batteries and more cameras; looking at you, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

I also find iPhones to be terribly dull; brilliant but boring, especially with their incremental upgrades and seemingly slow approach to adopting generative AI.

Yet despite this, and how I often carry around an Android phone as a backup, my main phone has been an iPhone for several years. This is simply down to ease of compatibility with numerous software tools and platforms and the still unbeatable ecosystem Apple offers.

However, that could change if a specific Samsung Galaxy S25 rumor has any weight behind it. A benchmark supposedly pertaining to the rumored Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has indicated that it could come with the power to blow away the mighty iPhone 16 Pro Max; a device I’m using as my main smartphone right now.

Benchmarks tend to mean naff all to me, as I’m more interested in real-world performance. And in all my experience using a variety of phones, I’ve never found an Android handset that’s been slow. That being said, I do find the power of the recent Pro iPhones, specifically the iPhone 15 Pro Max and aforementioned 16 Pro Max, with their Pro variants of the Apple’s A-series chips, to be very fast.

With the former, you can actually run proper console games, like Death Standing and Assassin’s Creed Mirage, albeit with limited frame rates, but the power of the A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max brings more gaming grunt to bear, so much so we gave the iPhone 16 Pro Max the gaming phone award in the 2024 TechRadar Choice Awards. So, all that power does mean Apple’s latest flagship phone has my attention.

But if the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra could bring even more power to the smartphone arena, it could be the next phone to try and tempt me away from the house that Steve Jobs built.

Go, go power Samsung

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is powerful, but it's no iPhone (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

In the current smartphone climate, more power tends to translate to better scope for running artificial intelligence tools and features on-device. But I’ve yet to fully embrace this new wave of AI, so my interest is in mobile gaming.

Samsung’s Galaxy S-series has long offered good performance for mobile games, including some of the more demanding ones. But despite this, I feel Galaxy phones, and other flagship Android phones, haven’t had the scope to run proper console ports of Xbox or PlayStation games.

But if the Galaxy S25 Ultra can offer A18 Pro-beating power, that could change. Notably, I could see Samsung leaning on its previous partnerships with Microsoft to bring Xbox games that will run natively on next-generation Galaxy phones.

You might scoff at that and point me to Xbox Cloud Gaming as the means to play the best Xbox Series X games without needing powerful hardware. And while that’s true, and I’m a big advocate of cloud-powered gaming, the latency, reliability and lack of robust super-fast internet connections in the UK – especially in my pokey London apartment – make cloud gaming a reality that’s currently out of reach.

So, the idea of being able to run Xbox games on a phone without the need for an internet connection is an idea I still find very palatable. And one that could tear me away from an iPhone.

Of course, if you’ve been reading my phone thoughts over the past few years, I’ve long held out for a super-powerful Samsung Galaxy, especially when a partnership with AMD was touted, but my hopes were constantly dashed. Equally, I still hold out some hope that things could change, and come early 2025, Samsung may come out of the gate swinging at Apple and beyond, delivering a phone, or series of phones, that see me consign my iPhone to the role of secondary smartphone.

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