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The Women's National Football Conference kicks off its sixth season this weekend. The Jersey Shore Wave is one of the new teams joining the league this year.

(Image credit: Ben Pawson)

This week Apple announced the date for WWDC 2025, Marvel teased its massive Avengers: Doomsday cast, and Nintendo held what's set to be its last Switch direct before the Nintendo Switch 2 releases.

To catch up on all that and all our picks for the week's 7 biggest tech stories scroll through this page so you'll be ready for next week's big announcements.

Once you're done, read our picks for 7 new movies and TV shows to watch this weekend (March 28).

7. Apple set a date for WWDC 2025

(Image credit: Apple/Future)

It's been an interesting few weeks for Apple with several new products and an official delay to the AI-infused Siri, but this week, we got the office dates for the 2025 World Wide Developers Conference.

More commonly referred to as WWDC 25, Apple's weeklong conference at which it normally debuts its next-generation platforms and software will kick off on June 9, 2025. As we've come to expect, Apple will host a 'Special Event' on day one, which will be the week's main keynote.

It's safe to expect Apple's CEO Tim Cook, many other executives, and product leads to showcase all the new features and operating systems. We're expecting iOS 19, iPadOS 19, the next version of macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and the software that powers AirPods and HomePod.

• Read more: Apple just announced WWDC 2025 starts on June 9

6. Avengers assembled for Doomsday

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

After teasing a big announcement, Marvel has revealed the entire, 27-strong cast for Avengers: Doomsday, and it’s full of heroes including familiar MCU Avengers like Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Letitia Wright as Black Panther, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, and Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, as well as some soon to be heroes like the Fantastic Four’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Thing), Pedro Pascal (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Invisible Woman) Joseph Quinn (Human Torch). Oh, and Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.

There were also a few surprises, like Tom Hiddleston returning as Loki, Lewis Pullman as Sentry, and Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor – the latter of whom were set up as antagonists the last time we saw them in the Thunderbolts* trailer and Wakanda Forever, respectively.

And then some big shocks like Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Kelsey Grammer, Channing Tatum, Alan Cumming, and Rebecca Romijn – all of whom will reprise their roles as Mutants from the X-Men universe. Their inclusion and some lighting have led many to speculate the movie might adapt to the Avengers vs X-Men storyline.

There were plenty of absent Avengers – including these 17 we most want to see – but Marvel has said, “There’s always room for more,” in response to a post on RDJ’s Instagram suggesting the film might be even more packed than it already is.

• Read more: Marvel has revealed the full, 27-strong cast for Avengers: Doomsday

5. We tested the Canon PowerShot V1

(Image credit: Tim Coleman)

Canon confirmed the global availability of its PowerShot V1 vlogging compact camera, which was announced last month for Japan only, alongside unveiling the new EOS R50 V, and we had already had our hands on the V1 ahead of the announcement.

We reckon the PowerShot V1 outshines the few rivals it has for video: the Sony ZV-1 II, the DJI Osmo Pocket 3, and Canon's own PowerShot G7X Mark III, chiefly because it packs a larger 1.4-inch sensor, reliable autofocus, decent optical stabilization, together with a suite of video features that include a built-in ND filter and cooling vents for unlimited 4K record times.

However, the V1 isn't perfect, and we've identified a few drawbacks during hands-on time. All being said, our first impressions are very favorable, and this is one of the best vlogging cameras for beginners. You can learn more in our hands-on review.

• Read more: Our Canon PowerShot V1 review

4. Netflix added HDR10+ support

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

This week Netflix announced that it's adding support for the HDR10+ advanced HDR format which is supported by TVs from the likes of Samsung, Panasonic, Hisense and TCL.

You’ll need a Netflix Premium account to access HDR10+. Netflix said that initially, it will be available on 50% of "eligible viewing hours," but it plans to have HDR10+ support on every HDR movie and show by the end of the year.

This is great news for owners of the best Samsung TVs and best Samsung phones, because these don't support Dolby Vision HDR – the only premium TV brand that doesn't.

HDR10+ and Dolby Vision are superior to regular HDR (officially called HDR10) because they can support a wider dynamic range to make the most of today's brighter and bolder TVs, but they can also embed scene-by-scene tone mapping – meaning that instead of your TV having to work how best to get all the detail out of a super-dark or super-bright scene, this information is included in the video stream.

Basically your supported Netflix content should look a heck of a lot better now on Samsung screens.

• Read more: Netflix adds HDR10+ support – great news for Samsung TV owners, but don't expect LG and Sony to do the same any time soon

3. OpenAI unveiled image generation for 4o

(Image credit: Generated by ChatGPT)

This week OpenAI unlocked image generation in ChatGPT, which promises more convenience (because it’s baked into the app rather than being its own thing) and better results than the other AI image generators out there,

In demos, the Open AI team showed off text that is actually legible and not a weird jumble of scribbles, which makes the tool ideal for creating infographics and it can generate an image from a photo you provide as context, not just from a written prompt.

However, it's already getting into trouble as people ask the AI to convert their pictures into the distinct aesthetics of South Park, SpongeBob, and Studio Ghibli movies.

The results are undeniably impressive, but not only does it continue to raise concerns about AI taking artists' livelihoods, but it’s also making many of us ask the question of how ChatGPT knows what the ‘Studio Ghibli’ and these other properties’ styles look like, as that would suggest it has been trained on copyrighted material.

Perhaps in response to these criticisms, we’ve found it’s now much harder to make ChatGPT copy an artist's style directly – it now refuses and creates more generic-looking works instead.

• Read more: I refuse to jump on ChatGPT’s Studio Ghibli image generator bandwagon

2. Nintendo held the Switch’s last direct

(Image credit: Nintendo / Future)

With the Nintendo Switch 2 debuting in just a couple of days at its own dedicated Direct on April 2, Nintendo gave its predecessor one final hurrah with the handheld’s last Direct presentation. It was full of game announcements and updates on titles we already know about.

Pokémon Legends Z-A made an appearance, where we learnt about the new Z-A Royale battle mode, a twist on the classic Gym Challenge. We also got to check out gameplay from the upcoming Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which saw Samus exploring a jungle planet. Finally, there was the surprise reveal of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, which, for many of us, was the star of the show.

There’s also the Nintendo Today mobile app which has already alerted people to the premiere date for The Legend of Zelda live action movie, and the new Virtual Game Cards which will allow you to share your digital games between consoles like a real cartridge.

• Read more: All Nintendo Switch games announced at the March 2025 show and our reactions as it happened

1. Google finally gave is a Pixel 9a release date

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The Google Pixel 9a was announced in mid-March, but almost immediately, Google delayed the phone’s sale and only gave us a vague “April” release date. No specific official reason for the delay was given except that it was a “component quality issue,” but one leaker blamed heating problems around the camera module – though, take what they had to say with a pinch of salt.

Regardless of the reason, the Pixel 9a now has a release date. It will arrive in the US, UK, and Canada first on April 10th, followed by Europe on April 14th and Australia and Asia on April 16th.

When it does land the new Pixel 9a will cost $499 / £499 / AU$849 for 8GB of RAM with 128GB of storage, and comes in four colors: Obsidian black, Porcelain white, Peony pink, and Iris lavender.

• Read more: Google Pixel 9a delay ends – here's when you'll be able to buy one

The death toll from a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar jumped to more than 1,000 on Saturday as more bodies were pulled from the rubble of the scores of buildings that collapsed.

(Image credit: Aung Shine Oo)

The protests are scheduled to take place at Tesla facilities across the U.S. and in Europe on Saturday, as part of a grassroots campaign against Tesla CEO Elon Musk's work in the Trump administration.

(Image credit: Richard Vogel)

Trump senior adviser Kari Lake is regrouping after U.S. judges blocked her from taking further actions against the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

(Image credit: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

A top vaccine advisor at the FDA was forced to resign on Friday. In his resignation letter, Dr. Peter Marks, wrote "truth and transparency are not desired," by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

(Image credit: GREG NASH/POOL)

A lot of useful information is only as helpful as its organization. The same goes for my own brain, of course. Getting that information in different formats can help with learning it, and Google’s NotebookLM has been fun to experiment with for that purpose, particularly the customized podcasts with AI hosts.

The latest addition is the new Mind Maps feature. A mind map is an old technique for organizing your thinking using visual webs of information that connect ideas together. Imagine a branching tree where each limb is a concept and every twig is a supporting idea. They’re great for people who think visually.

The NotebookLM version is essentially that, but it is put together by an AI model. I decided to test this thing with two real-life situations: planning a garden and trying to become a whiz at DIY home repairs.

Mind Garden

(Image credit: NotebookLM screenshots)

The garden was first. I uploaded a pile of articles I’d been hoarding – stuff about companion planting, raised beds, native perennials, composting, and that one blog post where someone swears by pouring beer on their tomatoes. NotebookLM chewed through all of it and spit out a Mind Map upon request.

There were branches for planning, locations, and even the benefits of gardening, among others. Each branch had a long list of 'twigs' covering all kinds of subtopics, as you can see above. Each was clickable, causing the conversation part of NotebookLm to expound upon that topic. It was extremely helpful in keeping all those elements organized.

DIY

(Image credit: NotebookLM)

The same goes for the DIY project. My house has this charming quality where things just break for no reason. I’d already tried to fix a leaky toilet once, which ended with me flooding the bathroom and watching a YouTube tutorial through a veil of defeat.

This time, I came prepared. I uploaded manuals, how-to articles, and a few trusted repair blogs. Mind Maps whipped up categories like planning, building codes, and the essential DIY projects list within seconds. I chose flooring installation from that set of twigs, and you can see hardwood floors, moisture barriers, and an expansion gap.

There was something strangely calming about seeing the steps laid out so clearly. I clicked on “door hanging” and got an overview of the different types of doors and how to set them up from the AI. I felt like I'd had a conversation with someone who actually knows what they’re doing.

Different Thinking

NotebookLM already did a good job summarizing stuff, but the Mind Maps added a layer of clarity that made it feel almost tactile. I could see how ideas were connected and how it would help me learn faster.

That’s not to say it’s perfect. Sometimes, the Mind Maps get a little too enthusiastic and start branching off into tangents that don’t really help. One map tried to connect “composting” with “composing” music for gardening for some reason. And with very niche topics, the AI can still miss the mark by offering generic advice when what you need is something specific, like how to fix a loose tile without taking apart half your kitchen.

I’d also love more manual control. Right now, you can navigate and explore the maps, but you can’t really tweak them much. Sometimes, I want to drag a node, rename it, or cut a whole branch that’s not useful. Still, these are nitpicks. The core experience is solid, though.

The truth is, I didn’t expect to love Mind Maps. I thought they’d be a neat visual gimmick, something I’d play with once and then forget about. But I think I'll be using them more, especially for any ambitious plans I have for improving my home and garden. In a world full of tabs, a map is nice to have.

You might also like

• I used NoteBookLM to help with productivity - here’s 5 top tips to get the most from Google’s AI audio tool
• Google will turn those long documents into your next favorite podcast
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Here are the answers for the New York Times Mini Crossword for March 29.

What’s cooler than earbuds that look like they belong in a galaxy far, far away? Obviously, earbuds that also embody the tones of Star Wars, from a lightsaber igniting to a droid’s iconic wail.

Now, in the lead-up to Star Wars Celebration, which kicks off on April 18, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan, Star Wars has collaborated with Audio-Technica for four custom earbuds, and TechRadar has your exclusive first-look hands-on experience with all four.

This collaboration comes to life as four limited edition, customized pairs of the ATH-CKS50TW2. You can show your allegiance to the dark side or that of the rebels with Darth Vader, R2-D2, Grogu, and The Mandalorian models. And these versions won’t just look the part with the Darth Vader earbuds getting a glossy black finish that looks like the iconic helmet or the R2-D2 one getting a blue and white paint job, but these boast custom sound effects, too.

TechRadar can also reveal that the box contains a custom, glossy sticker matching the earbuds and featuring the iconic character. The box itself is limited and special. You won’t have to worry about calling in a bounty to afford these limited-edition buds – if you can get your hands on a pair, Star Wars editions of the ATH-CKS50TW2 cost $179.99, which is only $30 more than the standard.

These earbuds will launch exclusively in person at Star Wars Celebration, so if you’re lucky enough to be in Tokyo, Japan, you’ll get them first. But they will also be available in limited quantities – no word on the exact number – from Audio-Technica directly, beginning on April 21, 2025. Those will start shipping on none other than Star Wars Day – May 4th.

But we have the earbuds you’re looking for and have unboxed all four – R2-D2, Darth Vader, The Mandalorian, and Grogu included. Keep scrolling for a photo guide, as well as the special details we’ve discovered by going hands- and ears-on. And if you’re already familiar with the ATH-CKS50TW2, these boast the same feature set.

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The custom nature of the four buds is an iconic paint job for each, starting with the case. These still have a mostly plastic build for the hull, but embossed on the top lid is an iconic phrase associated with the character.

• Darth Vader: “It is your destiny.”
• The Mandalorian: “This is the way.”
• R2-D2: “The droid you’re looking for.”
• Grogu: “Wherever I go, he goes.”

It’s also color-matched, so Darth Vader is a deep black, The Mandalorian is a lighter shade of silver, trying its best to look like Beskar, R2-D2 is white with blue accents, and Grogu is two separate shades of green. The design team here really took the time to pay homage to the characters.

The earbuds sit in the case and have the same build as the standard ATH-CKS50TW2, including the fact that they magnetically snap together. This is certainly a feature I’d like to see some other buds adopt.

With Grogu, it pairs green with a light brown for the main hull – the ear tips are green and several are included in the box, but there is also Aurebesh writing included on the outside. Printed on the earbuds, though – facing down from the ear – is another iconic phrase. In Grogu’s case, it’s “The Child” on the left earbud and “Little Bounty” on the right.

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

For the other half of the clan of two, The Mandalorian, the earbuds mostly use various shades of silver, with the largest color choice being a brushed one. It has some gloss to it, and the ear tips are dark grey. The message here is straight to the point – “Mandalorian” on the left and “Bounty Hunter” on the right.

R2-D2 is mostly white with some blue stripes on the side and blue ear tips, the printed message is equally to the point as Mando’ – “R2-D2” on the left and “Astromech Droid” on the right.

It seems the Dark Side is coming out on top for design, though. The Darth Vader buds look pretty impressive with a glossy black finish facing the world, and the Audio-Technica team here uses red accents sparingly. Most importantly, “The power of” lives on the left and “the Dark side” lives on the right – how cool. These just look fantastic.

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

While the companion app for Android or iOS is not yet updated to pair with these earbuds, there will be a skin matching the earbuds in the app. Now, somewhat cooler than the design are the special sounds, which might add Star Wars moments into your day.

One interesting choice, though, given that these are reskinnings of the ATH-CKS50TW2. There is no speaker in the case, so the custom sounds only play within the earbuds themselves and can be a bit hard to hear at first.

Audio-Technica has customized the chime for the earbuds when you take them out of the case or put them back in, along with other features like engaging noise cancellation or a passthrough mode.

With Darth Vader, you’ll hear the lightsaber ignite and that famous, ominous, deep breathing. Hitting the button on the Vader buds gives a pulse of the lightsaber. While I haven’t been able to get it working, a red alert alarm will sound for low battery – certainly upping the stakes.

For Grogu, you’ll hear what sounds like his pod opening or closing, but you’ll also hear some of the iconic coos that Baby Yoda is known for. That pod or door opening or closing sound is the same for The Mandalorian when you first take them out of the case, and hitting the button to engage a mode sounds like a credit being tossed on table – or maybe Beskar being clanked together.

My favorite goes to R2-D2, though. You’ll hear his iconic beeps when you first put these earbuds in and connect, but disconnecting gives us the iconic wail. It’s just delightful. Imagine when the app goes live and these fully launch, there will be some customization.

Ahead, you can see a full photo slideshow of all the up-close details of the Grogu, R2-D2, Darth Vader, and The Mandalorian ATH-CKS50TW2 earbuds. And if you’re lucky enough to be at Star Wars Celebration, you can get them in person, or if you’re in the US and feel like testing your luck, try to score them when they go up for preorder from Audio-Technica here.

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The President's executive order on "restoring truth and sanity to American history" calls on the Department of the Interior to ensure that any monuments, statues or memorials under its jurisdiction "do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times)."

(Image credit: Steve Helber)

March Madness might almost be over, but you can stay prepared for the rest of the year's sports with a TCL TV for as low as $1,048 right now.

Multiply your Switch's storage 30 times with 50% off this gaming-focused memory card, thanks to Amazon's Big Spring Sale.

The temporary injunction issued by Judge Berman Jackson seeks to preserve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a lawsuit filed by the agency's union proceeds.

(Image credit: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for MoveOn)

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that Trump can fire Democratic members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board after a lower court had them reinstated.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch)

Upgrade to a new high-quality monitor, laptop or tablet from Apple, Microsoft and more for as little as $320, thanks to these fantastic PC deals from Woot.

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Federal agents have been filmed wearing masks while making arrests in public. When is it legal for police and the public to conceal their faces in an age of digital facial recognition and doxxing?

(Image credit: Screenshot by NPR)

The Smithsonian Institution, a vast complex of research centers, museums and galleries, is the latest culture target of President Trump's executive orders.

(Image credit: Mladen Antonov)

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 391 for Saturday, March 29.

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