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• A browser UX feature that helps users determine which links they visited in the past can be abused
• Over the years, there were multiple attempts to fix it
• Google claims the next version of Chrome finally addresses it

Google is finally fixing a vulnerability in its Chrome browser that’s been present since its very inception, and that could be used to spy on people’s web surfing habits.

In a blog post, Google’s Kyra Seevers explained that when a person clicks on a link displayed in a web page, it turns from blue to purple. The idea behind this design was to improve the user experience and help people navigate the web easier.

This change of state is handled by CSS, but malicious actors found different ways to abuse this UX feature to spy on people’s browsing habits. For example, a malicious website could include thousands of links to popular websites, but style them in a way that the visitors don’t actually see them. The site then uses JavaScript or CSS to check which of those links should appear purple, effectively learning which sites the victim already visited.

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Chrome 136 to the rescue

Apparently, the problem is not limited to Chrome but instead is present on most browsers these days. In fact, the problem predates Chrome, which was first introduced in 2008.

“These attacks can reveal which links a user has visited and leak details about their web browsing activity,” Seevers explained.

“This security problem has plagued the web for over 20 years, and browsers have deployed various stop-gaps to mitigate these history detection attacks. While the attacks are slowed down by these mitigations, they are not eliminated.”

However, the next version of the browser, Chrome 136, is supposed to “render these attacks obsolete.” This is accomplished by partitioning :visited link history, Seevers further stated.

Chrome 136 is scheduled for release in late April 2025.

Via The Register

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• The Nintendo Switch 2 eShop won't have any background music
• Music will be absent because Nintendo wanted to prioritize gameplay videos featured on the store
• Switch 2 producer Kouichi Kawamoto said his main focus was performance and making a "smoother experience" for users

Just like on the Nintendo Switch, the Switch 2 eShop won't feature any background music while you browse releases.

In a new interview with Polygon following the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, console producer Kouichi Kawamoto confirmed that the new eShop won't have any theme songs, unlike the Wii and Wii U, but there's a practical reason why.

"Unlike back then, the eShop now has lots of videos that are showcasing the games," Kawamoto said. "We didn’t want to intrude on that, so we don’t have music there."

While there won't be any catchy music to get stuck in your head, Kawamoto explained that his main focus for improving the Switch 2 eShop was performance and making it a smoother experience for users.

"I wanted to make sure that it was a smooth experience. That the scrolling of the list doesn’t stall, that it’s very smooth, pages load fast," he said.

The Nintendo Switch 2 releases worldwide on June 5, 2025, for $449.99 / £395.99 or $499.99 / £429.99 for a Mario Kart World bundle.

Pre-orders are scheduled to open on April 8 in the UK, but Nintendo has delayed Switch 2 pre-orders in the US from its original April 9 date "in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions".

Nintendo will update the pre-order timing at a later date but confirmed that the console will still launch on June 5.

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• Firaxis Games is "extremely happy" with the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware
• Sid Meier's Civilization 7 will be released on the Switch 2 with executive producer Dennis Shirk comparing the console to a "mid-tier PC"
• One Hogwarts Legacy developer said "we felt like we could make a higher quality product" with the Switch 2

Some third-party developers are already praising the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware, with Firaxis Games confirming that Sid Meier's Civilization 7 will run quite well on the console.

That's according to Game File, who spoke to several developers at a hands-on press event following the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, namely Firaxis executive producer Dennis Shirk, who said that the studio is "extremely happy" with the handheld's power.

"We were able to make this look like a mid-tier PC, because it's got enough power," Shirk said. "We are extremely happy, and it's been easy. Their software development kit is great, the customer support, their developer support, developer relations is great."

The lead also said that Nintendo wanted Civilization 7 on the Switch 2 because the game is "a great showcase" for the console's brand new mouse function and "pairs up so well with our existing PC audience because we have crossplay."

Civilization 7 is currently available on the original Switch, but with the Switch 2's new features, the game will be much improved, and the same can be said for Hogwarts Legacy, according to Avalanche senior producer Jimmie Nelson.

"We originally started with our Switch version," Nelson told GameFile. "We got very good results really quickly, but we felt like we could make a higher quality product if we brought in a lot of the high-resolution assets and raised the resolution, textures, lighting, and world streaming."

The Nintendo Switch 2 launches June 5, 2025, for $449.99 / £395.99 or $499.99 / £429.99 for a Mario Kart World bundle.

Pre-orders are scheduled to open on April 8 in the UK. Nintendo has announced that it has delayed Switch 2 pre-orders in the US from its original April 9 date as it assesses the impact of tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration.

Nintendo confirmed it will share the new pre-order date soon and that the console's launch date is unchanged.

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Fans think a social media post from Square Enix might signal a remake announcement of one of the franchise's beloved games.

• AT-LP60XBT is AT's best-selling turntable – now in limited-edition gold
• The 'limited units' are only available in the US, at bricks-and-mortar stores
• It costs $199 – head to your local record store to see the AT-LP60XBT-GD

Just look at this turntable. And for $199, I really (really) want it. Is it actual gold (gold)? Almost certainly not. But you've got the power to know, you're indestructible, and always believing…

Upon receiving a press release with the headline 'Audio-Technica Celebrates Record Store Day with GOLD AT-LP60XBT,' I expected a product with an extravagant four-figure price tag at least – I'd even cued up one of our 'Money no object' badges to adorn the image. But no, not a bit of it.

What's happened is that ahead of Record Store Day (which falls this Saturday, April 12), Audio-Technica has released of a gold-finish version of its top best-selling turntable, the AT-LP60XBT. And for some reason, the deck is priced just $199, i.e., practically the same asking fee as the non-gold variants.

A quick bit on the deck? Of course. It was originally released in February 2019 (so a relative babe in arms, as turntables go) and as well as being a fully automatic belt-driven vinyl spinner, it offers Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX transmission – so you can send the analog music spinning on your platter to your wireless headphones or Bluetooth speakers. Simply put 'em into pairing mode and press the button on the corner of the Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT's plinth. Neat, no?

Back to the GD-suffixed version (the model we'll both be after is the AT-LP60XBT-GD – I know, we must write it down) and Audio-Technica warns me it is available in "limited units" at independent brick and mortar stores across the US only.

Audio-Technica encourages customers to head to their local record store this week to check out the AT-LP60XBT-GD and support local – and I do too, provided I've managed to bag mine in good time…

Oh but I'm proud of you, but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make you feel small. Luck has left you standing so tall… (you bought) Gold!

Sorry, I remember Spandau Ballet. And you know what else I remember? When radio ads and TV commercials used to carefully annunciate the correct interstate exit for a store on big event days, as well as the sales prices – because you couldn't find that information online, much less acquire any items without physically going there.

And that's kind of what Record Store Day is about, isn't it? Heading out to a local store, to try to buy something you certainly can't get otherwise. And all of that aside, this is a best-selling deck (that I've used and loved), now in a gloriously 1970s finish, for entry-level money.

Want to browse the limited-edition Record Store Day LPs and CDs for 2025? See our RSD hub for a full list and our pick of the albums you should be buying – but if you're looking for more record players or accessories, Pro-Ject's released a new fully automatic turntable and also a vinyl flattener to add to your cart on the big day.

Whatever you pick up on Record Store Day 2025, enjoy it, and enjoy the music.

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If you can’t get Hulu to load either a classic rewatch of Only Murders In The Building, another on-demand classic, or even Live TV, you’re not alone. Further, if you can’t even see into Hulu – like myself on an iPad and my colleagues on other devices – read on for the latest updates.

It appears that Hulu is in the midst of a pretty sizable outage with reports on Downdetector spiking to over 12,300 as of 10:03AM EST. I’m also beginning to see reports of frustrated users who simply want to stream on social platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Threads.

Interestingly enough, Disney+ appears to still be working just fine in the United States – well, more specifically in New York on an iPhone or iPad – and I can even still access Hulu content. Still, the fact that a device that’s already logged into Hulu can’t load content, and I can’t even sign into the platform on another device, spells problems.

Stick with us as we live blog this Hulu outage and see just how long one of the best streaming services around has problems for.

A big Hulu outage

As of 10:40 AM ET, Down Detector has spiked to over 13,000 reported outages for Hulu, with comments spelling issues watching content – either on-demand or through Live TV – and I can't get it working on an iPhone or an iPad.

Stick with us as we see how long Hulu is having problems for!

(Image credit: Future) Hulu confirms there's an issue

While Hulu doesn't seem to have a status page, the streaming service confirms an issue and tells frustrated streamers its help is on the way. Via the @HuluSupport handle on X (formerly Twitter), it's confirmed there's an issue with a few users who have tweeted asking what's going on.

@HuluSupport writes to one user, "We hear you! Our developers are on the case and working to resolve this as we speak. We appreciate your patience!"

We hear you! Our developers are on the case and working to resolve this as we speak. We appreciate your patience!April 8, 2025

And in another, it offers more reassurance but stops sorts of saying what exactly is causing the issues. It seems that many users are reporting are reporting getting automatically logged out and unable to sign back-in or are seeing basic webpages with a 503 error.

We're sorry to hear you're also experiencing this! Our team is working to resolve this behavior ASAP. We really appreciate your patience while we work on a fix!April 8, 2025

Here's the official statement that @HuluSupport has posted to X (formerly Twitter):

Having issues logging in? If so – we’re on it! Our team has identified the issue, and we hope to have things back up and running soon.April 8, 2025

This confirms an issue with logging in, but the TechRadar team, as well as other users who have posted on social media, are also having issues when already logged in or are being forced to log in after being signed out.

Well, this might be a quick one

It seems like Hulu might be making a fast recovery, which is a good thing! I am now able to sign back in on my iPad and access live TV and on-demand content from the streaming service.

My colleague Lance Ulanoff, who previously couldn't even enter an email address to log into Hulu, has at least gotten past that step.

On my iPhone, however, I am still receiving an "Error playing video" message with an "Error Code," the "Local Time of Error," and a "Unique Error ID."

Even so, @HuluSupport is still responding to users, saying the streaming service's team is working on a fix for login issues and the platform's general instability right now.

Apologies, Diana! We've got all hands on deck working to resolve this. Getting you back to your shows is our top priority. Thanks for bearing with us!April 8, 2025

Hulu says the 'login is resolved'

Now, via a post on X (formerly Twitter), @HuluSupport says that the issues have been resolved, writing:

"Thank you for your patience. The login issue from earlier has been resolved. If you’re still running into any trouble on your end, please restart and try again."

This means that if you're still encountering issues on the web, via a mobile app – iOS or Android –, a smart TV, or even a streaming box, restarting might be the road to streaming once again.

I'm still seeing the error on my iPhone, so I'm trying a restart right now.

Reports on DownDetector are starting to drop as well. As of 10:52 AM ET, they are sitting around 1,100.

Thank you for your patience. The login issue from earlier has been resolved. If you’re still running into any trouble on your end, please restart and try again.April 8, 2025

Considering this was a small outage, we have to hand it to the team at Hulu for quickly resolving it. Additionally, unlike some other recent outages, the @HuluSupport account was also responsive to frustrated users.

In case you're wondering, the restart and log back-in method did indeed work on my iPhone, so if you're still having issues using Hulu, that would be our recommendation.

• A UK court has confirmed a legal challenge against the British Government
• Apple is taking action over an encryption backdoor request
• The tech giant's end-to-end encryption has been removed in the UK

In the latest development of the ongoing privacy dispute between Apple and the UK Government, a British court has officially confirmed the company has launched a legal challenge.

Campaigners have been pushing for transparency in the legal challenge, and the Investigatory Powers Tribunal rejected the attempt by the government to keep the “bare details” of the case secret, the Financial Times reports.

Early in 2025, Apple removed its option for end-to-end encryption, Advanced Data Protection, following a request by the British Government for Apple to build a “backdoor” into the encryption for law enforcement agencies.

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Ongoing litigation

The court confirmed it, “did not accept the revelation of the bare details of the case would be damaging to the public interest or prejudicial to national security”, having heard submissions from privacy campaigners, media organizations, and even US senators.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has reaffirmed its promise to “never build a backdoor”.

The firm has previously denied requests from the FBI for a similar law enforcement master key - although the current Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, called the UK's request a ‘clear and egregious violation of American’s privacy and civil liberties’, since the backdoor could theoretically be used against citizens outside of the UK.

The tech giant and privacy campaigners argue that once a backdoor is built, threat actors could potentially steal access to private data, and governments could abuse their powers with enhanced surveillance.

Our readers overwhelmingly disagree with proposals to build a master key for law enforcement, with 67% of surveyed respondents saying that their data is private, and that they wouldn’t want their Government to have access.

For now, British Apple users won’t have access to Advanced Data Protection - so users should consider another type of cloud storage solution if they want to enjoy end-to-end encryption.

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• Meta reveals it found a vulnerability in WhatsApp for Windows
• It affects all older versions and allows hackers to trick people into running .exe files
• The flaw lets criminals display .exe files as harmless photos in the chat

Meta has fixed a vulnerability in its WhatsApp client for Windows which allowed threat actors to spoof executable files as images.

In a security advisory published on Facebook, the company said it addressed a spoofing issue in WhatsApp for Windows, prior to version 2.2450.6.

The bug “displayed attachments according to their MIME type but selected the file opening handler based on the attachment’s filename extension,” Meta explained.

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No abuse in the wild

“A maliciously crafted mismatch could have caused the recipient to inadvertently execute arbitrary code rather than view the attachment when manually opening the attachment inside WhatsApp.”

According to CyberInsider, this mismatch is a “classic method” for social engineering-based exploitation, since it allows threat actors to send files that appear harmless, but are in fact malicious. “If a victim double-clicks the attachment within WhatsApp, the underlying executable could run, compromising the user's system,” the publication wrote.

All older versions of the software were vulnerable, Meta further explained, recommending that users apply the patch immediately.

At the same time, the Cybernews team says that there is currently no evidence that the vulnerability is being exploited in the wild. However, as usual with these things, as soon as news of a vulnerability breaks, cybercriminals start hunting for vulnerable endpoints.

Most cyberattacks these days start with social engineering. A phishing message, paired with a malicious attachment can be sent either via email, or through an instant messaging platform such as WhatsApp. It can trick the victim into making a rash decision, running the attachment without thinking through it first.

Email addresses get leaked a lot more often than phone numbers, which makes WhatsApp-borne attacks a little less likely. However, many organizations harvest this information as well, and then store it in misconfigured, non-password-protected databases, which often get picked up by malicious actors and sold on the dark web.

Adam Pilton, Senior Cybersecurity Consultant at CyberSmart, noted this is a dangerous vulnerability since many people are parts of different WhatsApp groups where images get shared all the time. This presents a great opportunity for criminals, and major risk for the users:

"It's really important to stress that this WhatsApp vulnerability impacts Windows desktop users. Most people will be part of a WhatsApp group where it is common for images to be shared and this is where this vulnerability becomes dangerous, because if a cyber criminal was able to share this image either in your group or with someone you trust who then goes on to share it in your group, anybody in that group could unknowingly execute the malicious code associated with the shared image," he said.

"It is good to see however that the solution is at hand and simple to achieve and that is to apply an update to WhatsApp."

Via Cybernews

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The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a powerful driver of transformation, and according to leading analyst firm Gartner, the IoT market is set to reach 991 billion USD by 2028 due to growing investment in IoT infrastructure and more AI-native IoT applications across a variety of industries.

IoT is built around the concept of connectivity, linking devices to create a data-driven ecosystem. True IoT doesn’t just rely on new smart devices; it makes existing and older infrastructure intelligent, unlocking its potential in industries where upgrading to new systems isn't feasible, often due to cost or complexity.

This approach allows businesses to benefit from the value of IoT without overhauling their operations, enabling old and new technologies to work together seamlessly. As businesses evolve, grow, and invest in new systems, IoT solutions can change with them to continually drive efficiency, scalability, and sustainability in the areas that matter the most.

A new era of efficiency

IoT is transforming businesses across all industries, including manufacturing, food retail, energy and financial services. The technology enables real-time data collection through a vast network of connected devices, which provides unprecedented visibility and control over machines and systems, enabling organizations to benefit from automated, data-driven decisions about their operations and assets. Imperatively, true IoT solutions embed high degrees of automation into decisions and actions to bring forward a new era of enhanced efficiency.

For example, IoT-driven predictive maintenance improves operational efficiency and reduces downtime in manufacturing, which is a key benefit of smart factories. By continuously monitoring equipment health and performance, IoT solutions can anticipate failures before they occur and drive automated interventions to schedule maintenance and avoid costly interruptions or machine downtime.

IoT solutions can also offer similar benefits to financial services companies, which provide around 48,000 cash machines in the UK. IoT can conduct cash monitoring in real time and automatically alert the owner if thresholds are breached before customers are impacted. It can also create alerts about machine faults and ensure engineers are informed about the issue before they are dispatched. This goes far beyond the manual reporting process that is rife with inefficiencies and delays.

Making better choices across the supply chain

One of the most immediate and tangible benefits businesses can see from IoT adoption is cost reduction. By processing vast amounts of data in real time, IoT solutions deliver actionable insights driven by predictive analytics and take automatic, corrective actions that allow companies to streamline operations and cut expenses.

A key advantage of IoT is its ability to function as a seamless digital layer, enabling any business to enhance operations without the need to replace existing machinery or invest in costly new infrastructure. This digital layer can be integrated across a business’ supply chain to bring disparate systems and siloed organizations into one standardized platform without requiring infrastructure to be upgraded or standardized.

With the data collated and analyzed, data sets can be viewed and contextualized holistically to provide a complete oversight of supply chain operations and a product’s journey. By instantly improving knowledge, communication, and efficiency, supply chain ecosystems can tackle challenges like labor shortages or trading uncertainties more effectively, as well as make better choices to improve productivity and reduce unnecessary costs.

Boosting sustainability in real time

Beyond operational efficiency and cost savings, IoT can play a vital role in advancing sustainability initiatives as businesses can optimize resource use, minimize waste, and reduce their environmental footprint. For example, in industrial buildings and large estates, IoT-enabled systems can track and manage energy usage to reduce emissions. This, along with other applications, can support broader goals of increased energy efficiency, enabling companies to meet their environmental aims and objectives without sacrificing profitability.

Looking at food retail, IoT can autonomously and continuously monitor, manage, analyze and contextualize data collected from refrigerators and the products within them. It can adjust refrigeration settings based on specific produce, making informed and precise decisions about temperature control for each item in every unit. By integrating real-time machine health and performance data with merchandising systems, IoT software ensures that fridges and freezers maintain optimal temperatures for each product.

This IoT-driven continuous, real-time monitoring and optimization of equipment and processes prevents spoilage from temperature fluctuations, extends the freshness and quality of perishable items, and reduces waste. It also significantly increases energy efficiency, lowers operational costs, and enhances overall performance across operations.

Empowering a smarter future

IoT is a powerful force with a plethora of applications, seamlessly assisting businesses by collecting, managing, and acting on real-time data from networks of interconnected devices and machines. As organizations across industries, ranging from food retail to financial services, increasingly integrate IoT, the potential for further innovation and enhanced benefits continues to grow. This is promising for a future with smarter, more responsive, more sustainable, and more efficient operations.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

AI’s potential has been embraced by businesses far and wide, and there are no signs of this slowing down. McKinsey research shows that 92% of companies plan to increase their AI investments in the next three years. While AI delivers huge societal benefits, such as predicting the beginning of a tsunami or improving the treatment of underlying illnesses, it is also responsible for the massive acceleration in energy consumption.

Data centers are already grappling with increasing energy use, and AI’s growth and demand are only fueling this. What’s more, Europe’s data center energy consumption is set to surge from 62 terawatt hours (TWh) to over 150TWh by 2030, largely due to AI advancements.

Despite this, many organizations are failing to track their environmental footprint when it comes to AI. This is where data centers can play a crucial role. By leveraging digital twins, facilities can connect AI ambitions with sustainability effectively. Digital twins, virtual replicas of the data center, can optimize power management and improve energy reporting and cooling systems, all of which reduce carbon emissions and meet AI’s GPU-intensive demands.

AI: a force to be reckoned with

AI uses immense power within data centers, but it can also be used to bring down energy consumption and mitigate its impact. When paired with AI, digital twins offer an innovative approach to sustainability, allowing operators to refine data center operations without disrupting daily functions.

A digital twin allows data center operators to simulate different scenarios, test solutions, and refine processes before physically implementing the changes. With AI integration, digital twins can offer predictive analytics, automation, and data-driven insights by mirroring almost every product and service within the facility.

Digital twins use AI to gather intelligent insights and signpost gaps where facilities can improve. They also highlight how operators can optimize cooling systems and refine energy reporting, which is essential to smooth operations.

Smarter cooling and less waste

One of the most impactful ways digital twins can enhance sustainability is by eliminating overprovisioning. While overprovisioning ensures that systems can continue to work as usual, it also results in considerable energy waste. According to our data, enterprise data centers can experience stranded capacity losses exceeding 40% due to overprovisioning during the design phase.

Implementing digital twins allows operators to gain a comprehensive understanding of resource utilization, allowing them to refine capacity and plan with greater accuracy. As a direct result, facilities can allocate resources more efficiently, ultimately reducing unnecessary energy consumption and fostering a more sustainable operational model.

Another key area for reducing energy consumption is optimizing how data centers manage cooling. Cooling accounts for nearly 40% of the total energy consumed by data centers. Thanks to digital twins’ powerful capabilities, operators can implement strategies to right-size cooling usage with confidence and plan effective transitions to improved cooling methods, such as liquid cooling.

High-density server racks, intensive workloads, and rising power densities are pushing the limits of air cooling, efficiently handling heat loads of up to approximately 20kW per rack. However, beyond 20-25kW, a hybrid approach combining direct liquid cooling and precision air cooling becomes more effective. It is also an increasingly viable alternative to traditional air-cooling methods.

Thanks to digital twins, operators can assess different liquid cooling strategies before implementation, helping them identify the most efficient cooling configurations without making costly physical modifications. By simulating various cooling methods, operators can determine the best way to integrate liquid cooling into existing air-cooled systems, ensuring they meet both their facility’s specific needs and new compliance regulations.

Improving carbon reporting and regulatory compliance

Another benefit of digital twins is enhanced energy reporting. The EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive requires data centers to monitor energy performance and their water footprints, so precise carbon emissions tracking is more critical than ever. Tracking energy and detailed reporting helps facility leaders identify stranded capacity, which is unused or underutilized power, cooling, or space that contributes to inefficiencies.

By automating emissions monitoring, digital twins provide real-time insights into energy usage, inefficiencies, and areas that require improvement. Using data-driven insights, operators can make informed decisions that improve efficiency while reducing environmental impact.

The ultimate shift to renewable energy

Beyond improvements in cooling, energy regulations, and overprovisioning, digital twins will eventually help data centers accelerate their adoption of renewable energy. Companies across the globe are increasingly turning to clean energy solutions to alleviate strain on the national grid and reduce environmental impact. However, particularly for data centers, integrating renewable energy requires strategic planning to ensure it’s correctly implemented.

Digital twins’ intelligence, however, provides a virtual testing ground for operators to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating renewable energy sources such as wind turbines, solar panels, smart grids, and hydropower. By simulating different scenarios, operators can determine the most effective configurations before investing in new infrastructure.

For instance, they can assess how renewables interact with cooling strategies and resource allocation, ensuring maximum efficiency while minimizing disruption. Essentially, digital twins allow data centers the freedom to test critical tools that will accelerate their sustainability, and their capabilities point to a truly green future.

Data center infrastructure needs a spring clean

Data centers stand at a crossroads, balancing AI’s growing energy demands while meeting increasingly stringent sustainability standards. The adoption of digital twins presents a transformative opportunity to optimize existing resources, enhance efficiency, and integrate renewable energy solutions.

Rather than expanding capacity solely to accommodate AI’s growth, facility leaders must prioritize sustainability and refine their current infrastructure. Digital twins provide a roadmap for reducing emissions, improving energy efficiency, and ensuring that AI reaches its full potential in a way that aligns with environmental goals. Embracing this technology is not just an option; it’s a necessity for a sustainable future.

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• GitHub gets new Agent Mode and Model Context Protocol
• Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Gemini 2.0 Flash and GPT-4o are generally available
• To use more than your allocation, you’ll need a $39/month subscription plan

GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke has announced a series of major AI upgrades for the popular developer platform to allow programmers to make the most of the productivity-boosting technology.

In his post, Dohmke revealed the new GitHub Copilot Pro+ plan, set to be priced at $39 per month and with access to up to 1,500 premium requests monthly.

More broadly, the CEO confirmed the general availability of models from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI, such as Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Gemini 2.0 Flash and GPT-4o, giving developers even more options and control.

GitHub gets the latest AI advancements

Dohmke announced the availability of Agent Mode for all Visual Studio Code users, which allows Copilot to take action across files and tools based on the goals a user sets out. It can suggest terminal commands, handle errors with self-healing, and even complete complex coding tasks with a higher degree of autonomy.

Model Context Protocol (MCP), now in public preview, adds tool-context awareness to agent mode by enabling integration with local and remote tools.

To take advantage of the new tools, GitHub has launched premium model requests in addition to the unlimited requests for agent mode, context-driven chat, and code completions in all paid plans for our base model (currently GPT-4o).

Dohmke detailed: “Customers with Copilot Pro will receive 300 monthly premium requests, beginning on May 5, 2025. Customers with Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise will receive 300 and 1000 monthly premium requests respectively, starting between May 12 and May 19, 2025. Until then, use of these premium models is unlimited.”

Finally, GitHub’s leader wished the platform’s parent company, Microsoft, a happy 50th birthday: “Together, GitHub and Microsoft fully intend on enabling a world with 1 billion developers,” he added.

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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, April 8 (game #1170).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 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 #1171) - 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 #1171) - 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 #1171) - 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 #1171) - 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 #1171) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• L

• L

• K

• M

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

Quordle today (game #1171) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1171, are…

• LITHE
• LEFTY
• KNOLL
• MULCH

I guessed my first three words pretty quickly today, before coming to a grinding halt trying to get the final word.

An O and an L was not offering up much in the way of clues, but even more puzzling was that among the handful of letters I had left, no two letters made sense together.

Exploring the possibility of a silent letter finally got me to KNOLL, but it took a good couple of minutes of head scratching.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1171) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1171, are…

• TIMID
• INFER
• SNORT
• ASIDE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1170, Tuesday 8 April: WIDTH, VISOR, MEDAL, BROOK
• Quordle #1169, Monday 7 April: BROTH, SHOUT, BRUTE, CABIN
• Quordle #1168, Sunday 6 April: AMBER, GAUZE, STORE, SLICK
• Quordle #1167, Saturday 5 April: GUSTY, VAULT, WHINE, BEGAT
• Quordle #1166, Friday 4 April: OAKEN, LOOPY, CURIO, BUTTE
• Quordle #1165, Thursday 3 April: ASCOT, JETTY, DRUNK, JOLLY
• Quordle #1164, Wednesday 2 April: INDEX, QUEEN, INCUR, STOLE
• Quordle #1163, Tuesday 1 April: HUMUS, BALMY, WORRY, ERECT
• Quordle #1162, Monday 31 March: RECUT, MOODY, WHERE, BRACE
• Quordle #1161, Sunday 30 March: CRIME, DRINK, CLOVE, TRUER
• Quordle #1160, Saturday 29 March: LATER, ODDLY, CUMIN, AGREE
• Quordle #1159, Friday 28 March: TERSE, MUSHY, PROVE, FROND
• Quordle #1158, Thursday 27 March: CRONE, APNEA, LIGHT, AWOKE
• Quordle #1157, Wednesday 26 March: LEFTY, NOOSE, NOISE, TRIAD
• Quordle #1156, Tuesday 25 March: SNEER, WATCH, FLORA, STAIN
• Quordle #1155, Monday 24 March: FLOUT, SMASH, RAZOR, SMALL
• Quordle #1154, Sunday 23 March: ALLEY, GAMUT, GEESE, RADII
• Quordle #1153, Saturday 22 March: PICKY, BRACE, BOOZE, SURLY
• Quordle #1152, Friday 21 March: DITTY, VALOR, TOWER, AMISS
• Quordle #1151, Thursday 20 March: RIPER, STILL, WAFER, NOTCH

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, April 8 (game #667).

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 #668) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• DOG
• POP
• BALL
• SOCK
• SLUG
• FROG
• GLOVE
• TROT
• BAT
• HOUND
• GLOBE
• POUND
• ORB
• NEWT
• HOLE
• SPHERE

NYT Connections today (game #668) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Round stuff 
• GREEN: Hit
• BLUE: Featured in the Scottish play 
• PURPLE: Precede with an animal that sounds like “knocks”

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 #668) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: ROUND THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS 
• GREEN: PUNCH
• BLUE: ANIMALS IN THE WITCHES' BREW IN "MACBETH" 
• PURPLE: FOX___

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

NYT Connections today (game #668) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #668, are…

• YELLOW: ROUND THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS BALL, GLOBE, ORB, SPHERE
• GREEN: PUNCH POP, POUND, SLUG, SOCK
• BLUE: ANIMALS IN THE WITCHES' BREW IN "MACBETH" BAT, DOG, FROG, NEWT
• PURPLE: FOX___ GLOVE, HOLE, HOUND, TROT

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 mistakes

Thank goodness I got the purple group today, as there is no way I would have ever got ANIMALS IN THE WITCHES’ BREW IN “MACBETH” despite all four ingredients being typically witchy.

Before all that, though, I made two mistakes trying to get the easiest quartets – thinking BALL, BAT, GLOVE and SOCK belonged together as vital components of baseball.

In hindsight, this was a bit silly, so I switched lanes and got a “one away” including bat in the group that would become PUNCH.

My muddling through was completed by getting the four words for FOX___ without actually having a clue what the link was until the reveal. Roll on tomorrow.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, 8 April, game #667)

• YELLOW: PRICK JAB, PIERCE, POKE, STICK
• GREEN: RADIO LINGO COPY, NEGATIVE, OVER, ROGER
• BLUE: OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS DANIEL, JOB, JUDGES, NUMBERS
• PURPLE: WORDS PRONOUNCED "SH" WITHOUT AN "SH" SEAN, SIOBHAN, SUGAR, SURE

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, April 8 (game #401).

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… That's quite a (tasty) mouthful

NYT Strands today (game #402) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• SAILOR
• WILL
• FART
• FLOUR
• DOLLS
• CODA

NYT Strands today (game #402) - hint #3 - spangram letters How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 13 letters

NYT Strands today (game #402) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 3rd row

Last side: right, 1st row

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

NYT Strands today (game #402) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #402, are…

• WATERMELON
• ARUGULA
• AVOCADO
• CAULIFLOWER
• SPANGRAM: FOUR SYLLABLES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

A lovely, easygoing edition of Strands with a mighty long Spangram snake eating up a good chunk of the puzzle.

The hardest find for me was ARUGULA, which I know in the UK as rocket.

Arugula is, along with two other plants with four syllables – pomegranate and radicchio – something I never finish. I like all three but I can also very easily live without them. AVOCADO, on the other hand, I can’t live without.

All of this reminds me of the brilliant sketch in Portlandia (look it up on YouTube if you’ve not seen it) starring Steve Buscemi as the poor marketing man in charge of making celery go viral.

In a 2025 sequel to Buscemi’s ill-fated hook-up with the creepy bacon guy, I can imagine him doing anything to get celery into a Strands puzzle, only to be thwarted by a suddenly imposed four-syllable rule.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, 8 April, game #401)

• GRAVITY
• ARRIVAL
• DUNE
• ALIEN
• MEGALOPOLIS
• SPANGRAM: SCIENCE FICTION

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.

• All Google TV device remotes will have a 'Free TV' button
• This will take users straight to hub with 150 free channels
• Already featured on devices such as the Onn 4K Pro

All new, future Google TV devices will feature a 'Free TV' button on included remotes, Google has confirmed.

Google TV, which is featured on some of the best TVs and best streaming devices, has access to over 150 free channels that require no subscription or app installation, a collection that Google calls Freeplay. These can be found in the 'Live' tab on Google TV devices.

As reported by Android Authority, Google has confirmed that going forward from April 2025, any Google TV device with a remote will include a 'Free TV' button that will take users directly to this live tab.

This is the same as current shortcut buttons you may find on some remotes for some of the best streaming services such as Netflix, Disney Plus and Prime Video.

The button is actually already included on some Google TV devices such as the Onn 4K Pro, a Google TV streaming device exclusive to Walmart.

Google did confirm that markets where Freeplay isn't offered (anywhere outside the US), this shortcut can be mapped to equivalent live TV guides instead.

A welcome idea, but design is important

The Onn 4K Pro's remote, and its big ol' Free TV button (Image credit: Onn)

Free Ad-Supported TV (FAST) channels have become increasingly popular over the last few years, with services such as LG Channels, featured on the best LG TVs giving users access to a wide range of free movies and shows.

By adding the 'Free TV' button to Google TV remotes, Google is giving users an easy way to access these FAST channels, which can only be a good thing.

Crucially however this means TVs that use Google TV, such as Sony, Hisense (in the US), TCL and Philips (in the UK and Europe), will need to include these buttons on their remotes. Google didn't confirm "required size, color or placement" to Android Authority, but it seems like the rest of the remote can still be customized to "meet customer's needs". So thankfully, manufacturers don't have to follow in the Onn 4K Pro's particularly prominent example.

Regardless of design, this is a welcome addition to Google TV remote, because it will be an easy way for users to access free, live channels in a time where subscription service prices continue to climb. And the best things in life are free, right?

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• Firmware 2.0 for Nikon's Zf full-frame mirrorless is now available for download
• Adds a raft of free improvements including bird subject detection for autofocus
• We called Zf a "retro delight" in our September 2023 review

Nikon has unleashed its first major firmware update for the Nikon Zf full-frame mirrorless camera, adding new functions inherited from other models like the Nikon Z9 flagship and Nikon Z6 III.

The 2.0 firmware update ushers in four major features. The first is a new dedicated bird subject recognition mode for autofocus. Previously, users attempting to shoot birds would have to rely on the Zf’s Animal or Auto modes, and the new mode should vastly improve accuracy and speed of autofocus and tracking performance compared to these.

While we don’t think many dedicated wildlife photographers would have bought the retro-styled Zf with bird shooting prominent in their plans (it’s more suited to travel or street photography, perhaps) it’s definitely a handy feature to have in its locker.

The second major upgrade is added support for Nikon’s Hi-Res Zoom video mode. Introduced with the Nikon Z9, this mode is available when shooting 1080p video, and allows users to zoom in by up to 2x on a subject digitally with no loss of resolution – because a full 1080p resolution section of the image sensor is still being used. It’s definitely an upgrade on standard, lossy digital zoom.

(Image credit: Future) A boost for manual focus users

Thirdly, there’s a treat for those who like using manual focus lenses with their Zf: an improvement of the focus magnification feature. Its maximum magnification has been increased to 400% from its previous 200% limit and users can now remove it from the display or viewfinder by half-pressing the shutter button, which will allow them to see the entire composition of their shot.

Those using manual shooting will now also be able to adjust ISO and exposure compensation using the command dials, and manually record the aperture setting when using a lens that won’t ordinarily communicate with the Zf.

Finally, there’s now support for Nikon Imaging Cloud, which means Zf users will now be able to automatically upload images directly from the camera to the company’s cloud storage via Wi-Fi. It’ll even work with third-party cloud services such as Lightroom or Google Drive, pushing uploads directly and automatically to your preferred platform. Additionally, Nikon Imaging Cloud can be used to keep firmware updated to the latest version and to access and download extra color profiles, including creator recipes.

The 2.0 firmware update all sounds like a potential game-changing set of features for users of the Zf, and it’s available to download for free right now from Nikon’s website. Have you tried it yet? If so, we’re eager to know your thoughts in the comments below.

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• Russia's Roskomnadzor issued 212 VPN blocking orders against Google Play between March and April 2025
• Out of these targeted VPNs, only 6 apps are unavailable on the country's app store
• In contrast, Apple was found to have killed at least 60 VPN apps in 2024 alone upon Roskomnadzor's request

Russia's censor body Roskomnadzor issued 212 VPN blocking orders against Google between March and April 2025. Among these, however, only 6 apps appeared to have been removed so far, bringing the total of unavailable VPN services on Russia's Google Play Store to 53.

Russian investigative journalist Maria Kolomychenko first discovered that Google received at least 47 VPN removal orders of some of the best VPN apps starting on March 12. After this revelation, researchers at GreatFire’s AppCensorship Project began to analyze the availability of 399 VPN apps, unveiling that Roskomnadzor actually targeted 212 VPN-like tools.

GreatFire's findings show an escalation in the Kremlin's war on VPNs. Unlike Apple, however, which killed at least 60 VPN apps upon Roskomnadzor's request in 2024 alone, Google appears to have resisted most Russian VPN blocking requests so far.

214 removal requests targeting 212 VPNs

Roskomnadzor's fight against VPN apps is certainly nothing new. Yet, as GreatFire’s Campaign and Advocacy Director, Benjamin Ismail, puts it: "The Russian government is waging an all-out war on VPNs and all other tools enabling Russian citizens to bypass censorship and surveillance."

Specifically, GreatFire recorded a total of 214 removal orders issued against Google between March 12 and April 1, 2025. Among these, 212 targeted virtual private network (VPN) and similar apps like VPN client and proxy tools.

Several of these requests were issued under a law enforced in March last year, which criminalizes the spread of information about ways to circumvent internet restrictions – VPNs included. Nonetheless, using a VPN isn't a crime in Russia.

As mentioned earlier, Google appears to have largely resisted Russia's censorship demands so far. GreatFire found, in fact, that only 6 of the VPNs targeted by the last wave of Roskomnadzor requests are currently unavailable in the Play Store. These include the popular service ExpressVPN.

A total of 53 VPN services were found to be unavailable on Russia's Google Play Store. These include the likes of NordVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access (PIA), and Astrill VPN.

Popular apps like Proton VPN, Mullvad, and Amnezia VPN remain accessible via the Google Play stores in the country at the time of writing.

As of September 16, 2024, GreatFire found a total of 98 VPN apps were unavailable from the Russia's App Store, showing Apple's higher compliance rate with removal requests. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Interestingly, though, researchers found some inconsistencies with Roskomnadzor’s own takedown requests, which in several cases targeted VPN apps that had already been removed.

ExpressVPN is an example of that, as it appears to have been unavailable on Russia's Google Play at least since sometime between March and September 2024.

Another challenge is to determine when an app got removed as well as the exact reason behind its unavailability. For instance, Avast VPN confirmed in a blog post the company's decision to cease its operation in Russia following the Ukraine war. More developers may have also been pressured by the government to leave the country's app stores.

Yet, according to Ismail, this doesn't mean censorship is absent.

He told TechRadar: "Self-censorship is still censorship: it’s just a more indirect, systemic form, rather than a formal takedown. And if, in the end, it was the developer’s sole decision to take down the app as part of a broader withdrawal from the Russian market, we regret such a choice."

AppCensorship is now calling for greater independent oversight and transparency from tech platforms.

You can check the full list of unavailable VPNs on Google Play here. If you're in Russia and struggling to download your desired VPN, we recommend changing your app store location or, on Android, finding alternative sideloading options.

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Fans of action horror series are having fun with The Bondsman, which is currently Prime Video's most popular show in the US at the time of writing.

It's the tale of a backwoods bounty hunter (Kevin Bacon) who unexpectedly finds himself dead – and then even more unexpectedly finds himself alive again. That means he's got a second chance at live and love, but the Devil himself has got other ideas.

If you like your shows with a bit of silliness amid the action, The Bondsman definitely delivers. And if you're looking for more quirky shows to stream on Prime Video, these three are well worth watching.

Ash vs Evil Dead

• RT rating: 99%
• Where to watch: Prime Video (US), Netflix (Australia)

Evil Dead 2 is one of my very favorite films, a gloriously gory, spooky and silly horror classic that’s delighted generations of film fans. The TV spin-off is true to the original movies, with Bruce Campbell reprising his role as the undead's worst enemy.

As the Sydney Morning Herald explained, "If you're a fan of the mixed-genre genre, this is a cracker, and aficionados of Sam Raimi​'s original films will love revisiting tropes, touchstones and Raimi's distinctive style. This also works perfectly well for newbies, though."

And the LA Times urged readers to "praise Bruce Campbell, the strong-chinned star". The show "splendidly, even triumphantly converts the comedy-horror movie franchise into a TV series."

Preacher

• RT rating: 92% (season 3)
• Where to watch: Prime Video (US)

I watched Preacher with my teen, and I think that makes me one of the world's worst parents: this live-action comic book caper is incredibly violent, deeply damaged and gratuitously horrible. And I mean all of that as a compliment.

It's a flawed show for sure, but it's wickedly funny and keeps turning a dial marked "too much?" ever higher; if you like the gross-out moments of The Boys, you'll love this.

As The Straits Times explains, "It is an eccentric blend of existentially charged science fiction, the supernatural, action, comedy and drama, and spiced up with some very graphic violence and grotesque special effects."

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

• RT rating: 100% (Season 2)
• Where to watch: Prime Video (US), Netflix (UK and AU)

From the mind of Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams, this quirky adventure "is a whirlwind of time traveling madness, beautiful friendships with a dash of a secret government conspiracy added in for good measure," says The Digital Fix.

"The series is Sherlock suffused with the DNA of Twin Peaks, Lost and Benny Hill," the Boston Herald raved. "This is a delightful, addictive show."

It's a very loose adaptation of the original novels, Den of Geek says, but it's "a freewheeling comedy-thriller, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is agreeably daft entertainment". And the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said "It's dark and funny and appalling and sad and silly, and very much its own thing."

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One $100 billion technology company is probably looking at the current chaos caused by President Trump’s tariffs with a serene, detached view. Huawei.

The firm was blocked from the US market in 2019, during the first term of the current President, and has had to adjust, losing out on its biggest market outside of mainland China.

The Executive Order prevented Huawei from working with US companies, both in B2C and in B2B, forcing major US networks to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on replacing networking kit from the Chinese company.

The EO was not removed by the next incumbent US president, Joe Biden, effectively making it permanent.

Fast forward to 2025, and Huawei is in good shape. Necessity is the mother of all inventions, the saying goes, and Huawei has had to adapt fast or risk becoming a footnote, having to literally fight for its survival.

It acted rapidly and decisively. In 2020, it sold its smartphone unit, Honor, to a Chinese consortium and has invested massively in research and development (R&D).

It is supremely ironic that its latest annual report, issued on the 31st of March 2025, just days before the current market turmoil, shows that Huawei revenues are almost back to their 2020 peak.

Yes, net profit fell 28%, but that was because the company is doubling down on R&D, a sector to which it dedicated more than 20% of its revenue, or almost $25 billion. Altogether, since 2014, it has spent more than $170 billion on R&D.

“What doesn’t kill you make you stronger”

As of December 2023, Huawei had more than 140,000 active patents and had filed more than 3,000 patents in the US in 2024, a 44% growth compared to the year before, a bigger number and a faster rate of growth than Apple, IBM, or Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

Huawei focused on developing its homegrown ecosystem, like Microsoft, Google, and Apple. Its Ascend compute platform and HarmonyOS operating systems are now used on hundreds of millions of devices in China and, most importantly, around the world.

It has succeeded where even the mighty Microsoft failed, singlehandedly creating and maintaining a third OS outside of the current US-centric duopoly of iOS and Android.

Its Kunpeng server CPU range and Ascend AI chips are gradually lessening the US's hegemony on computer hardware in mainland China.

And that’s notwithstanding the role HiSilicon, another of its subsidiaries, is playing in the push to develop RISC-V as an alternative to both x86 and Arm (a move that’s not without controversy).

Given the current speculations that US President Trump may impose additional tariffs on China, essentially making it even more difficult to do business with the world’s second biggest market, Chinese companies may contemplate eliminating the US market from their business plans.

Using Huawei’s experience as a playbook wouldn’t be a bad place to start for whoever wants to take that perilous path.

A common proverb in China is if you endure the bitterest of bitterness, only then will you become a person above others (thanks Google Gemini).

Sometimes, short-term pains, however harsh they are, is the only viable gateway to long-term gain.

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• Wicresoft has stopped handling Microsoft-related work
• Previously, it served as an important JV for Microsoft in China
• An estimated 2,000 workers have lost their jobs as a result

Wicresoft, Microsoft’s joint venture that allows the firm to sell products and services in China, is reportedly halting projects and laying off workers, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The decision was communicated via email to Wicresoft’s Shanghai-based workers, who were told that work related to Microsoft “will be terminated” owing to “geopolitical shifts and changes in the global business environment.”

It’s believed that around 2,000 workers will lose their jobs as a result of the changes in a big blow not just to workers but to Microsoft’s presence in the region.

Wicresoft is pulling out of certain Microsoft-related work

The SCMP said that Microsoft-related work comprises most of Wicresoft’s business, citing a worker affected by the change. The publication also noted that workers had been seen leaving the offices with their belongings.

Microsoft remains a major shareholder in the company, accounting for 22% of ownership. A Shanghai-listed firm and a state-owned venture capital firm both own 23% each of Wicresoft. The joint venture operates in around 20 cities across China, including Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, but globally, it employs around 10,000 workers.

Microsoft said rumors that it was shutting down operations in China were inaccurate (via Reuters), however Redmond did recently shut down its IoT and AI Insider Lab in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park. Moreover, the move reflects a broader trend of US-China tech decoupling, largely brought on by the escalating trade tensions and reciprocal tariffs.

Moreover, the scale down of operations raises questions on how Microsoft will service its Chinese customers going forward, with a fairly significant chunk of its footprint gone.

TechRadar Pro has asked Microsoft for more information, but the company did not immediately respond.

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