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Here at TechRadar, we have our own ranking of the best tablets around. So when I discovered it was possible to view a list of Amazon's best-selling tablets, I was intrigued to see if it bore any relation to the tablets we regarded most highly.

There are some obvious points of deviation. We tend to focus on tablets for adults, and there are a number of kid-focused models in Amazon's ranking. Similarly, whereas Amazon bundles ereaders in with tablets, we have them in a separate best ereader ranking.

It also makes sense that Amazon's own models sell especially well on the platform, given that they tend to get the best discounts. I'm not surprised to see the Kindle Paperwhite taking the #2 spot, for instance, when we put two Kobo models above it in our list.

Although the iPad (A16) 11-inch — Amazon's #1 bestseller — isn't our favorite tablet, we still scored it very highly in our review. We were less enamored with Amazon's #3 slate, the Fire HD 10 (2023), awarding it three stars and declaring it "only smoldering". It is, however, relatively cheap, which helps explain its popularity here.

Scroll down for a list of Amazon's best-selling tablets (as of 22 September, in the US), in order. Hit the View details button to see what we thought of them in our real-world testing — and learn which ones are worth buying.

Top tablets

Apple iPad (A16) 11-inch

Read our full review

Pros

• A16 chip is very capable
• Now starts with 128GB of storage
• iPadOS 18 runs smoothly here

Cons

• No major changes over the previous generation

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 12th Gen 2024

Read our full review

Pros

• 7-inch display is great
• Fastest Paperwhite yet
• Excellent battery life

Cons

• Expensive for a mid-range ereader
• Ads on lock screen in some markets (unless you pay extra)

Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023)

Read our full review

Pros

• Cheaper than many rivals
• Incredibly hardy
• Handy Alexa command center

Cons

• Tiny changes from 2021 model
• Stuck to Amazon ecosystem
• Lots of unremovable apps

Apple iPad 10.2 (2021) (renewed)

Read our full review (non-renewed version)

Pros

• Excellent value
• Upgraded selfie camera for video calls
• True Tone display

Cons

• No Face ID
• Doesn’t support newer accessories
• Lacks recalibrating speakers

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (2024)

Read our full review

Pros

• Snappier interface means faster menus and smoother zooming
• The best e-reader if you buy books from Amazon

Cons

• Design feels out-of-date and cheap, lacks buttons
• Once you see the Kindle Colorsoft, it’s hard to go black and white

Samsung Galaxy Tab A11 Plus

Apple iPad Air M4 11

Read our review of the 13-inch version

Pros

• M3 chip provides plenty of power
• Vibrant screen
• Strong battery life and audio

Cons

• Still no ProMotion display
• No major changes to design

Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition

Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Pro tablet

Amazon Fire HD 8 Tablet

Apple 9.7in iPad (early 2018) (renewed)

Read our full review (non refurbished model)

Pros

• More affordable
• Good screen quality
• Powerful for the price

Cons

• Apple Pencil costs extra
• Design unchanged

Apple iPad Air 13-inch (M4)

Read our full review

Pros

• M4 chip delivers excellent performance
• Vibrant, sharp screen
• Great cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity

Cons

• No major design changes
• No ProMotion display

Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids (2024)

Read our hands-on review

Pros

• Cheap HD screen
• Rugged build
• Fantastic warranty

Cons

• Amazon app store is somewhat limited

Apple iPad Mini (A17 Pro)

Read our full review

Pros

• Perfectly portable
• Excellent build
• Lovely screen
• A great Pencil Pro companion

Cons

• Pricey for the size
• Aging design
• FaceTime camera still on the short side of the screen

NOVOJOY 10-inch Android Tablet

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE (Wi-Fi)

Read our full review

Pros

• Slight yet sturdy water-resistant build
• Bold, vibrant display
• Innovative productivity tools
• Lengthy 20-hour battery life

Cons

• Screen not the brightest
• Middling gaming performance
• Somewhat creepy Face Effects

• A Vladimir Putin press call showed the Russian president casting an online vote for the country’s parliamentary elections
• The short clip has revealed that not only is Putin using a US-built Dell PC, it is running Windows 10 – and the license has not been activated
• Putin’s example of voting online is intended to encourage voters to take part, but has instead raised eyebrows and launched memes

Parliamentary elections in Russia took place on Friday, September 18 2026, with online voting for positions in the State Duma open to the public for the first time. To demonstrate the ease of online voting, a press call highlighted Russian President Vladimir Putin casting his vote – but this hasn’t gone quite as planned.

While the president appeared to have difficulty reading the display, the real challenge seems to be that the Russian leader is using a version of Windows 10 that has not been activated. Furthermore, the PC is a Dell, rather than a Russian-built system.

The Putin publicity stunt has already launched memes, but the it also raises questions about his ability to use a computer, not to mention the suitability of the hardware for voting.

“You can’t go wrong”

With 73-year-old President Putin lined up for the cameras with the Dell PC set up on his desk, he goes through the motions of “voting online,” presumably to demonstrate how easy it is. (In person and mail voting options were also available.)

The press call has all the authenticity of an unlicensed copy of Windows 10. Ironically, this is exactly what is in use, as you can see toward the end of the video.

Watch to the end:

Although an initial reaction might be “Russian state IT is pretty weak,” it seems more likely that the state-controlled hardware overseeing infrastructure, networks, and military systems is far more up-to-date. What is more likely is that that PC was pulled out of a back room and an old copy of Windows quickly installed simply to provide President Putin with his short encouragement to vote.

Dell vs. Aquarius

The use of a Dell PC is curious, however. While Russia and the US have cordial relations, it seems strange for the Russian president to use a foreign PC. Sanctions aside, Russia has a policy of forcing the use of home-grown brands (such as Aquarius) over those from overseas.

After voting, the five-times elected Russian leader uttered the memorable line “you can’t go wrong,” in his native language, perhaps highlighting the futility of voting for any candidates not in his favoured party, United Russia.

While it is difficult to assess the legitimacy of the elections in Russia itself, the governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom have challenged the elections in occupied Ukraine territories. The nations have described the them as “sham elections” that violate “Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence, and the UN Charter.”

The Tread Flex, one of three new models, is also the company’s least expensive treadmill at $2,200.

The two games once shared a rivalry as Xbox’s biggest FPS titles.

• A M4 Mac Mini has been rebuilt into a battery-powered handheld computer
• The custom handheld keeps Apple’s desktop motherboard and original cooling system intact
• A removable Mac module sits inside the custom 3D-printed handheld enclosure

Apple's M4 Mac Mini has been transformed into a handheld Mac with a 7-inch 120Hz touchscreen, physical controls, keyboard, and battery.

Shing Solutions stripped the desktop computer down to its motherboard and cooling system before rebuilding it inside a custom 3D-printed enclosure.

The resulting device, dubbed Mac Nano, keeps the full macOS functionality while replacing the desk-bound form factor with something designed for use in two hands.

The Mac Mini becomes a removable computing core

The project retains Apple's original heatsink and blower fan instead of replacing them with smaller cooling hardware to save internal space.

That decision allows the M4 processor to retain its factory thermal arrangement while the motherboard moves into a completely different enclosure.

Inside the new chassis, the computer module sits on rails, allowing it to slide out without disturbing the screen, keyboard, or controllers.

The arrangement means the central hardware can theoretically be removed for servicing or replaced while the surrounding handheld computer remains assembled.

A 7-inch touchscreen provides the main display, with its 120Hz refresh rate giving the portable machine a smoother interface and gaming experience.

It is also equipped with a compact QWERTY keyboard sitting beneath the display, with an integrated touchpad providing cursor control.

The keyboard originally worked wirelessly, but its battery was removed, and the keyboard was rewired to draw power directly through USB.

This modification reduces the number of rechargeable components while allowing the keyboard to receive power directly from the handheld computer.

The internal layout therefore combines Apple's desktop motherboard with controls and display hardware that were never designed specifically for this computer.

Nintendo controls and batteries complete the handheld device

The Mac Nano also includes physical gaming controls, using circuit boards taken from Nintendo Joy-Con charging grips and mounted inside both sides of the enclosure.

Those controls are wired directly into the Mac instead of using Bluetooth, but macOS does not natively support wired Joy Con controllers.

To make the controls usable, the project relies on Steam, whose controller mapping system can translate their input for compatible games.

Connecting the keyboard, controllers, touchscreen, and other peripherals also created a USB bottleneck inside the compact enclosure.

Shing Solutions addressed that problem by combining two miniature USB splitter boards into a custom three-port hub.

The Mac Nano is powered by rechargeable cells connected to a custom power delivery system, allowing it to run without staying plugged into an outlet.

The enclosure also incorporates handles, giving the device a grip that accommodates all its components.

Unlike a conventional Mac Mini, the Mac Nano therefore combines desktop Apple silicon with the components needed for genuinely untethered operation.

Via Yanko Design

When in doubt, add “super.” What could possibly go wrong?

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, September 22 (game #1199).

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 Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

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 #1200) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• PAINT
• CAPTCHA
• BITCOIN
• WALLET
• SPAM
• PHONE
• RECORD LABEL
• AGE
• VERIFICATION
• SURINAME
• PAYWALL
• CONDENSED MILK
• RUB-A-DUB
• KEYS
• SHAVING CREAM
• COOKIE CONSENT
• SUNGLASSES

NYT Connections today (game #1200) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Don’t forget these…
• GREEN: Online obstacles
• BLUE: All packaged in tins
• PURPLE: Final descriptions

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 #1200) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: THINGS YOU GRAB BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE
• GREEN: WEBSITE HURDLES
• BLUE: THINGS THAT COME IN CANS
• PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM"

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

NYT Connections today (game #1200) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1200, are…

• YELLOW: THINGS YOU GRAB BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE: KEYS, PHONE, SUNGLASSES, WALLET
• GREEN: WEBSITE HURDLES: AGE VERIFICATION, CAPTCHA, COOKIE CONSENT, PAYWALL
• BLUE: THINGS THAT COME IN CANS: CONDENSED MILK, PAINT, SHAVING CREAM, SPAM
• PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM": BITCOIN, RECORD LABEL, RUB-A-DUB, SURINAME

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

Another yellow last! I think it was SUNGLASSES that threw me there — if it had said “bus pass” then I’d be there, but sunglasses are something I wear twice a year at most. Then again, maybe this is a sign that I really should be not forgetting to grab them whenever I leave the house!

Regardless of the order in which I solved today’s groups, luck was definitely on my side as I sailed through without making any mistakes while at the same time never being 100% certain in my connections.

I was also unsure of what the groups could be. I thought WEBSITE HURDLES was about security, THINGS THAT COME IN CANS was stuff that’s mixed, and ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR "TERM" something about circles.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, September 22, 2026, game #1199)

• YELLOW: DEMONSTRATIVES: THAT, THESE, THIS, THOSE
• GREEN: EMBELLISHMENT: ACCENT, DETAIL, FLOURISH, TOUCH
• BLUE: OPTIONS ON A MULTIPLE CHOICE SURVEY: AGREE, DISAGREE, NEUTRAL, OTHER
• PURPLE: BEVERAGES WITH ACUTE ACCENTS REMOVED: CAFE, PATRON, ROSE, THE

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.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, September 22 (game #933).

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 NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

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 #934) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Practically paleolithic

NYT Strands today (game #934) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• THONG
• SOLD
• PRIMAL
• SWORN
• CRATE
• CHART

NYT Strands today (game #934) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 12 letters

NYT Strands today (game #934) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: left, 1st row

• Last side: right, 5th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #934) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #934, are…

• BYGONE
• ARCHAIC
• ANCIENT
• PRIMEVAL
• TIMEWORN
• SPANGRAM: THATSOLDNEWS

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

Today’s theme was a mystery. “Practically paleolithic”? What could that mean? A practical person who follows a paleo diet? A very well-organized dinosaur? Or was this more Bill and Ted-style slacker slang that had passed me by?

As it turned out it was about things that were old, tired and out of date, something that I only discovered after getting a hint of BYGONE following an exhausting search to make sense of it all.

From here I spotted the spangram THATSOLDNEWS and began my toil around the board to get the other words.

Incidentally, I know that it’s impossible to include apostrophes in word search games but I hate seeing THATS without one.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, September 22, game #933)

• SWITCH
• CHANGEOVER
• TRANSITION
• PROGRESSION
• SPANGRAM: FALLEQUINOX

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which 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.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Tuesday, September 22 (game #1702).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 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 NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

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 #1703) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* 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 #1703) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

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

Quordle today (game #1703) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

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

Quordle today (game #1703) — 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 0.

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 #1703) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• S

• B

• J

• G

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

Quordle today (game #1703) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1703, are…

• SHEET
• BLAND
• JOIST
• GUAVA

I suffered from temporary insanity playing today’s game, in thinking that we needed not one but two rare letters.

Such was the shock of seeing a letter J that I risked a word beginning with Q — and when that was wrong, I remembered that common Quordle game word of GUAVA. It’s been a while since we’ve seen it, but thankfully it was still in my memory bank.

Daily Sequence today (game #1703) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1703, are…

• DRIFT
• TRIAL
• MOSSY
• PAUSE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1702, Tuesday, 22 September: COMFY, LOBBY, DRESS, PANEL
• Quordle #1701, Monday, 21 September: WAXEN, HIPPO, PETAL, LEASH
• Quordle #1700, Sunday, 20 September: DERBY, LIMBO, GAWKY, REIGN
• Quordle #1699, Saturday, 19 September: SCOPE, HEIST, PULSE, CHAMP
• Quordle #1698, Friday, 18 September: MUCUS, MIRTH, APPLE, TILDE
• Quordle #1697, Thursday, 17 September: CRIER, CHIRP, NEIGH, FREER
• Quordle #1696, Wednesday, 16 September: SPEAR, PRICE, BLUNT, FISHY
• Quordle #1695, Tuesday, 15 September: SHUSH, LITHE, DELTA, BUGLE
• Quordle #1694, Monday, 14 September: ZEBRA, LEGAL, RATIO, TROLL
• Quordle #1693, Sunday, 13 September: LUCID, SPRAY, MANGE, EMAIL
• Quordle #1692, Saturday, 12 September: SUPER, BRUSH, RESET, SOWER
• Quordle #1691, Friday, 11 September: PLUSH, PAINT, RIVAL, AFOUL
• Quordle #1690, Thursday, 10 September: AGENT, EXILE, TITAN, PUREE
• Quordle #1689, Wednesday, 9 September: HAPPY, GONER, SMACK, MOTIF
• Quordle #1688, Tuesday, 8 September: FLUNG, DIARY, HALVE, BERTH
• Quordle #1687, Monday, 7 September: VISIT, CLANK, FEVER, OCEAN
• Quordle #1686, Sunday, 6 September: PILOT, HONOR, BOWEL, TAUNT
• Quordle #1685, Saturday, 5 September: GNASH, GEEKY, WHELP, PUTTY
• Quordle #1684, Friday, 4 September: QUICK, BEEFY, TRUCK, SNAIL
• Quordle #1683, Thursday, 3 September: SIGMA, ESSAY, MERRY, LLAMA

Do you find the Apple Watch too bulky and distracting? A screen-free solution may be coming.

According to Bloomberg, Apple’s first smart display has been in testing, and may be ready for its debut this fall.

• Reports claim Apple is weighing an as-yet-unapproved enterprise AI server with two or four M8 Ultra chips, targeting 2029
• Apple is considering using Nvidia's NVLink Fusion to link the chips, with Thunderbolt-based Mac clustering falling short of data center bandwidth requirements
• The move comes as demand continues to be a key driver for Apple's higher-end Macs, with AI firms buying Mac minis and Mac Studios in bulk, even as Apple has turned enterprise buyers away

Apple has been working on plans for an enterprise AI server built on its own silicon with an interesting twist: it is seeking Nvidia's help on the networking front to make it work.

A report by The Information claims Apple is considering two configurations: one with two of its future M8 Ultra chips and a larger one with four, aimed at businesses that want to run AI inference on their own hardware rather than in a public cloud.

The timeline, however, is long and loose, with a potential launch in 2029, though the same report cautions that the project could be canceled before then, with neither the server nor any Nvidia arrangement finalized at the time of writing.

A market that Apple previously walked away from

If it ships, the machine would be Apple's first purpose-built server since the Xserve, which Apple announced it would discontinue in November 2010 and stopped selling at the end of January 2011.

Steve Jobs's explanation, in an email to a reader of French site MacGeneration, reported by MacRumors at the time, was blunt: "Hardly anyone was buying them." Gartner's data backed up that claim with an estimated 10,000 units being sold per quarter, a relatively low number for the tech giant whose numbers normally ran in the hundreds of thousands or millions for most of its other products.

Apple's suggested replacements to users were server configurations of the Mac mini and Mac Pro, desktops running server software rather than rack hardware. If the 2029 launch materializes, it would mean Apple's reversal would see it enter the server market 18 years after the Xserve stopped being sold.

This time, however, feels different: The Information has reported that OpenAI bought tens of thousands of Mac minis and Mac Studios to train AI agents through reinforcement learning, and that Anthropic has rented Mac minis through Amazon Web Services, as per Ars Technica.

Getting caught off guard by AI-centric demand

Apple reportedly was caught off guard by the AI-driven rush for its hardware, with no enterprise AI strategy, no business engineering team in place, and no specific developer relations staff to manage those orders. As a result, it also turned away businesses asking to buy access to its Private Cloud Compute infrastructure.

The project reportedly had a powerful sponsor: Apple's now-CEO John Ternus, when he ran Apple's hardware engineering team. However, shortages plagued it, leading many users to opt for Nvidia's DGX Spark and AMD's Ryzen AI Halo as viable alternatives.

The focus, however, remains on Apple's ability to interconnect a large number of chips or dies together: its current flagship, the M5 Ultra that ships in the new Mac Studio on September 22 2026, is Apple's first quad-die design, stitched together inside one package by the company's UltraFusion bridge, with up to 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s of bandwidth, which users often stack for on-device AI needs.

A data center-esque, server-grade offering, however, would require considerably more power under the hood to meet its AI needs, which would also depend on how fast the interconnect between chips is; Apple's current limitation is Thunderbolt 5 speeds, which offer up to 10GB/s (or 80Gb/s) bidirectionally.

For context, Nvidia says the sixth-generation NVLink, available through NVLink Fusion, connects up to 72 accelerators at 3.6TB/s each. Comparing total two-way bandwidth, that is roughly 240 times a single Thunderbolt 5 connection's one-way capability of up to 15GB/s (or 120Gb/s).

Apple's own marketing hints at what that gap costs: It says four clustered Mac Studios deliver up to three times the inference performance of one, suggesting it already makes scaling tradeoffs of nearly 25% when linking devices.

This could explain why Nvidia is in the conversation at all: proven tech that could help Apple scale its AI server ambitions without the performance overhead it currently already has, at a time when its silicon would be even more powerful, might just be a no-brainer for the Cupertino-based giant.

• Creative Assembly says Alien: Isolation 2's protagonist will offer "a new perspective to the franchise"
• Blake is a Weyland-Yutani employee, with principal environment artist Archie Whitehead saying the Japanese side hasn't been explored a lot
• Principal UI artist Laura Mouther says Blake isn't like any other Alien protagonist and "is such an interesting character to explore"

Alien: Isolation 2 will offer a totally new perspective on the Alien franchise by telling a story from the viewpoint of Yutani employee Blake, and Creative Assembly believes players will love her.

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, principal environment artist Archie Whitehead and principal UI artist Laura Mouther discussed what they're most excited for players to experience in the upcoming sequel, highlighting the game's protagonist, Blake.

Blake works for Weyland-Yutani Corporation, a mega-conglomerate and the major human-led antagonist throughout the sci-fi series, but is employed specifically on the Yutani side of the company.

It's a viewpoint that hasn't been showcased during the horror franchise before, and something the developers were eager to explore in depth.

"Weyland-Yutani is an English-Japanese-speaking company, and it's something that the Japanese side, I feel like, doesn't really get explored that much," Whitehead said. "It's something we're trying to explore more here because Kurosaki, it's the name of the station [the game's setting] so I'm very interested for players to discover: 'How does that influence the world and the people living in it?'"

Mouther added that Blake is "awesome" and "brings such a new perspective to the franchise in total," and her being an employee of this mega-corp will be a much different experience from the first game, where the character where average people.

"If you think back to the first game or even the first movie, it's truckers in space, right? It's average people doing average things," Mouther said. "They're not powerful. They're expendable. No one cares for them. They have to care for themselves.

"But now we have Blake, who is a very Weyland-Yutani employee, and that means that she has some power, right? But when you hear in the trailer that the Japanese voice is telling her, 'You made a mistake. This is your last chance.' She was sent to Kurosaki against her will, and she wants to do well. She wants to be there to redeem herself."

Talking more about the story, Mouther explained how characters in the prologue will talk to Blake with respect and "you can get a sense of her standing," but all Blake is focusing on is trying to redeem herself. That's why when she heads to the crash site and accidentally unleashes the Xenomorph onto the colony, she's made yet another mistake, which the developers said will make Blake an interesting character to play.

"That dichotomy, she is such an interesting character to explore," Mouther added. "And I think the players will really get to know her and love her in the journey; they will make out their own journey [as well]. We tell a larger story, obviously, but similar to the first game, every player will have their own way of telling the 'in-betweens' between that [main] story, and will be so interesting to see."

Alien: Isolation 2 doesn't have a release date yet but will launch on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

The Black Mississippi teen's family questions whether his race contributed to his July 4th death on an island off the Mississippi coast.

(Image credit: John Amis/AP Photo)

The allegations claim Braden Peters, also known as Clavicular, had non-consensual sex with the 17-year-old female victim after plying her with alcohol. Peters' representative denies the charges.

(Image credit: Christian Vierig)

Days after President Trump barred reporters from three major news outlets from the White House, the administration has launched a 24/7 YouTube channel promising to put its "biggest moments all in one place."

(Image credit: Alex Wong)

• Seller claims to be offering Mistral AI's full source code and says the company was breached again after May 2026 attack
• Mistral says an investigation found no evidence of new unauthorized access but has not stated whether the listed code is genuine
• No customer data has surfaced in analyzed samples, and nobody has shown files created after the May incident

A seller on a cybercrime forum says French giant Mistral AI has been hacked again and is offering what they call the company's full source code for sale.

The September 16 2026 post by an account using the handle "mrwho" consists of a listing titled "Selling mistral.ai Source Code" on an English-language cybercrime forum, according to The CyberSec Guru, pricing the material in Monero only before it attempted to steer potential buyers to Session or Telegram.

Mistral AI's own team has refuted this, stating it has "found no evidence to support this claim."

Not Mistral's first hacking-centric PR problem

Mistral's earlier hacking incident is undisputed - in May 2026, the Mini Shai-Hulud supply chain campaign, attributed to the TeamPCP group, spread from compromised TanStack packages to hundreds of npm and PyPI projects.

Mistral's own security advisory MAI-2026-002 says an automated worm led to compromised versions of its SDKs being published for a few hours on May 11 and 12, and that an affected developer device was involved. Microsoft Threat Intelligence found that a poisoned Mistral AI Python package fetched a second-stage credential stealer that allowed the attack to exploit users.

Mistral went further in statements to reporters than in its advisory. It told BleepingComputer that attackers had compromised a codebase management system and "contaminated some of our SDK packages for a brief period," while insisting that hosted services, managed user data, and research and testing environments were untouched. It also told HackRead that only certain non-core repositories were accessed.

TeamPCP, meanwhile, advertised roughly 450 repositories, about 5GB in total, for $25,000, and threatened to dump them for free if no buyer appeared within a week. One can therefore contend that this could be the same dump being remarketed by a different account, and the seller's profile is already suspect.

The CyberSec Guru noted that the account joined in September 2026 and had four posts and a reputation score of 30, despite displaying a top-tier "GOD User" rank. That profile could fit a scam in the making, but as the outlet pointed out, it could also fit a broker fronting for someone else or a freshly minted alias.

HackRead published 24 sample repository names from TeamPCP's May post. FrenchBreaches, which examined the 339-file tree mrwho shared in September, lists several of the same names. At least four of these appear in both: mistral-inference-private, mistral-inference-internal, mistral-finetune-internal, and mistral-common-internal.

This makes it hard to tell whether the purported 'hack' is just a rehash of an existing dump from Mistral's previous breach or a second successful hacking attempt. There is a straightforward test, however: If the September archives contain commits, files, or credentials dated after May 12, or secrets that were still valid after Mistral's cleanup, the seller's claim of a second breach gains real weight. If everything predates the May incident, this is a resale, which is embarrassing for Mistral but not a new security failure.

Of course, locating the archives or examining them would involve paying the ransom in crypto, as required by what could potentially be a scam in the making- a tremendous leap of faith for an account that was created earlier this month, making this essentially a lottery ticket at best for any security researcher attempting to take a closer look.

• Key LCD panel makers are upping prices this month, which is a crunch manufacturing period ahead of Black Friday and end-of-year sales
• There are only three TV LCD panel manufacturers, and all have decided to protect profits with price rises, reportedly
• Samsung's is also said to be cutting QLED TV production by up to 80%

If you're planning to pick up a super-cheap big-screen LCD TV for Black Friday this year, you may need to temper your expectations.

Key LCD panel makers have reportedly told manufacturers including Samsung, Sony and LG that they're putting their panel prices up just in time for production ready for the busiest sales period of the year.

Samsung Display doesn't make LCD panels any more, and LG Display has also stopped making them. That means the big TV brands are reliant on a handful of Chinese panel producers who now dominate the market: BOE, TCL CSOT, and HKC.

Those producers aren't running at full capacity, but rather than increase supply and potentially lower prices, they're restricting production to "contain oversupply and defend prices", according to The Elec.

TCL CSO and HKC will raise the price of some products this month, September 2026, with BOE upping prices in the fourth financial quarter. As The Elec notes, "concerns that China’s dominance of the LCD supply chain would translate into greater control over panel prices are becoming a reality."

The price hikes leave the big-name TV manufacturers in a bad place, because they will have locked in their LCD panel orders for Black Friday and the holidays already, and it'll be difficult for them to change their production plans.

That means price hikes on the panels used in affordable sets, which already have razor-thin profit margins, could have an effect on how exciting the TV deals on LCD models this year — and with giant-screen LCD TVs being the super-popular pick right now, it could make a real difference.

Samsung has dropped QLED from its new 2026 mini-LED line-up — this image compares the QLED-less budget M80H on the left with the Neo QLED QN80H on the right. The Batman provides a great test for how they handle contrast. (Image credit: Warner Bros / Future )Does the Q in Samsung QLED stand for "quitting"?

In another blow for price-conscious LCD buyers, Samsung is reportedly scaling down production of its QLED TVs dramatically, by up to 80% this year, while considering dropping QLED altogether by 2028.

QLED takes LCD panels and applies a layer of quantum dots to deliver better colors, and launched as a more affordable and very bright rival to OLED. However, as the best OLED TVs continue to get better and have a big grip on the premium end of the market, QLED has become a tech you see a lot on budget models.

According to ETNews (via FlatpanelsHD), Samsung is slashing QLED production from 10 million units to 2-3 million units this year and shifting its focus to mini-LED-branded and Micro RGB LED TVs.

The high-end Neo QLED lineup is being slashed too: "Samsung Electronics' QD TV shipment plan this year has been significantly reduced to less than 30%. Neo QLED will also produce only half of this year next year and gradually stop manufacturing."

In 2026, Samsung launched a new line of budget "Mini-LED" TVs that don't include QLED tech, including the Samsung M80H, which we tested alongside one of Samsung Neo QLED QN80H, and found to be a clear step down in image quality.

At the other end of the scale, we reviewed the flagship Samsung R95H Micro RGB TV, which also doesn't use QLED tech, and found it to be "a brilliant evolution" of LCD technology.

Quantum dots aren't dead, though: according to FlatpanelsHD, Samsung is continuing to invest in QD-OLED and in future technologies such as QD-EL, aka NanoLED, which is basically the quantum dot equivalent of OLED.

But we have to assume that if Samsung is already wavering over the viability of its QLED screens, a price rise in the panels it buys will probably just be another nail in the coffin.

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It’s no secret that, in the flagship phone conversation, Motorola has lost some of its standing in the face of the best iPhones and best Samsung phones — but the Lenovo-owned company is clearly determined to return to the big leagues.

Just four months after launching the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra-rivaling Motorola Razr Fold, Motorola has now unveiled the Motorola Signature 27, supposedly “the most advanced smartphone Motorola has ever created.”

And we can believe it, because the Signature 27 is one of the first two phones (alongside the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max) to be announced with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, which Qualcomm just announced at Snapdragon Summit 2026. That’s the same chipset as we’re expecting to power the rumored Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra, which will likely be unveiled early next year.

The Signature 27 is a de facto successor to the original Motorola Signature, announced back in January, but it’s also the first Motorola flagship to adopt the company’s new numerical, year-based naming structure, reflecting Motorola’s desire to position the Signature 27 alongside the best Android phones of 2027.

The Motorola Signature 27 in Pantone Coal Smoke (Image credit: Motorola)

And that, too, makes sense. The original Signature boasts impressive specs across the board, but its chipset — the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 — is a step below the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which powers the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Oppo Find X9 Ultra, and other contemporaries.

In using the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, the Signature 27 won’t be at the same power disadvantage as its predecessor. We don’t know the rest of the phone’s specs just yet, but for reference, the original Signature uses a 6.8-inch quad-curved AMOLED display, a 5,200mAh silicon-carbon battery, and three 50MP rear cameras.

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A recent Signature 27 teaser did, however, reveal that the phone will come with at least a 200MP Sony sensor in a four-camera rear setup, which will inevitably see it competing with the best camera phones of next year.

We also know the Signature 27 will feature Bang & Olufsen-tuned audio, so it’ll presumably boast some impressive speaker credentials, and Motorola has confirmed the available color options, too: Pantone Capulet Olive and Pantone Coal Smoke. The latter features a woven texture, which Motorola says “reinforces strength, durability, and premium quality.”

The Motorola Signature 27 is expected to come to global markets later this year. Its price is unconfirmed, but given that the original Signature starts at £899.99 (roughly $1,210 / AU$1,800), it’s safe to expect a steeper figure for Motorola’s “most advanced smartphone ever.”

• The Game Bakers' creative director says he wants people to "remember our games forever"
• It means the team may take risky or polarizing decisions, but it's worth it to build a passionate audience
• It's paid off with games like Cairn, which has achieved excellent reviews and award recognition, and is about to release its first DLC

It’s a joke, obviously, but given the catalog of titles released by The Game Bakers so far, part of me believes creative director Emeric Thoa when he tells me that “there’s a chance our next game is an MMO match-3 about friendship.”

It’s a testament to the team’s creativity and versatility that I could see something like this sitting alongside the frenetic boss rush Furi, charming co-op RPG Haven, and the captivating climbing adventure Cairn.

“We always make games with the goal of creating a very memorable experience. All our efforts, our ideas, our choices are made so that people will remember our games forever,” explains Thoa.

(Image credit: The Game Bakers)

Cairn definitely stuck in the mind, as you took on a gruelling and demanding ascent up the enormous Mt. Kami with professional climber Aava. It may have mixed in some quiet moments of exploration and an engaging story, but it was almost exclusively about climbing a big mountain.

Thoa appreciates that, as with other The Game Bakers titles, taking this approach to follow and explore a single idea to its fullest in service of creating something impactful can be a big risk.

“This sometimes leads to polarizing design choices, but we’d rather be loved passionately by 10 people than be just appreciated by a hundred,” says Thoa.

(Image credit: The Game Bakers)

It’s paid off with the excellent reception to Cairn, including a four-star review from me. Thoa is also pleased that critics and players responded well to the game, with various high scores and award recognition.

“I should feel extremely happy and grateful, but the truth is that if the response had not been very positive, I would be broken right now. So, I feel not-so-broken, and that’s pretty good. I’m especially proud that people eventually appreciated the innovation and risk-taking in Cairn.”

So with that mindset in place, what is genuinely next for The Game Bakers? Well, there’s the first part of the On the Trail DLC for Cairn coming on October 29, which I went hands-on with at Gamescom. After that, Thoa doesn’t have too much to reveal: “It’s too soon to tell, and I’m not even sure myself.”

Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be fascinating.