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The new phone, which costs just over $1,000, has a wide display and does not include Google's Android software.

The Israeli military expanded its ground offensive in Gaza, and killed at least 80 Palestinians in a new wave of strikes Thursday. Hamas fired its first rockets since Israel broke a recent ceasefire.

(Image credit: Bashar Taleb)

• A German news site has published detailed information about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE series
• Two new midrange tablets are said to be slated for release by mid-April
• Samsung has yet to confirm this release window or any of the rumored specs

Samsung has had a busy few months, with the launch of the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra flagship phones, as well as the behemoth Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra late last year.

However, it seems like there’s no slowdown in sight for the Korean tech giant, with a major rumor suggesting the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE is on the way by mid-April - and by the looks of its specs sheet, it could prove to be a strong rival to Apple’s iPad Air.

The information comes courtesy of German tech news site WinFuture (via GSMArena), and details the specs, European pricing, and color options for both the base Galaxy Tab S10 FE and larger Galaxy Tab S10 FE Plus.

According to the WinFuture, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE sports a 10.9-inch display with a 2304 x 1440 resolution, Exynos 1580 chipset, RAM configurable to 8GB or 12GB, and 128GB and 256GB storage options. The Galaxy Tab S10 FE also supposedly sports an 8,000mAh battery.

A render supposedly showing the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE (Image credit: WinFuture)

As for the larger sibling, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE Plus sports a 13.1-inch display with a 2880 x 1800 resolution, the same Exynos 1580 chipset, and the same 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage. It also sports a 10,00mAh battery.

The pair are seemingly the same tablet other than their display size and resolution and battery size.

A render supposedly showing the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE Plus (Image credit: WinFuture)

Both tablets support the S-Pen stylus, but we aren’t sure if they ship with one yet. Both support 45W wired charging and are likely to run a version of One UI 7, based on the pattern of recent Samsung releases. Both sport a 13MP rear camera and 12MP selfie camera and have one USB-C port.

Additionally, renders shared by WinFuture show both tablets as coming in a light-blue color, as well as a black and white option.

The WinFuture report also includes European pricing for the tablets, which we can convert to get estimates for pricing elsewhere.

According to these rumors, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE costs €579 for the model with 128GB of storage, and €679 for the model with 256GB of storage. That’s roughly $630 / £490 / AU$1,000 for 128GB, and $740 / £570 / AU$1,200 for 256GB.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE Plus supposedly costs €749 for the model with 128GB of storage and €849 for 256GB, which is approximately $810 / £630 / AU$1,300 and $920 / £710 / AU$1,470 respectively.

If these prices turn out to be accurate, then the Galaxy Tab FE series could offer users a cheaper alternative to the iPad Air, which comes in similar 11-inch and 13-inch models. The Exynos 1580 chipset is, admittedly, nowhere near as powerful as the iPad Air’s M3 chipset, but it’s still likely to be a compelling choice for budget-conscious buyers who want a premium-feeling device.

Keeping in mind that all of the above is based in rumors, what do you think of the rumored Galaxy Tab S10 FE? Would you ever choose one over an iPad Air? Let us know in the comments below.

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• WhatsApp patches vulnerability used to deploy Graphite
• Graphite is a commercial spyware built by Israeli devs Paragon
• Around 90 people were targeted, WhatsApp said

WhatsApp says it has fixed a zero-day vulnerability which was apparently used by nation-states to spy on journalists, dissidents, political opponents, and others.

After being tipped off by security researchers from Citizen Lab, WhatsApp addressed a bug which allowed threat actors to deploy Graphite, a sophisticated spyware tool developed by the Israeli company Paragon Solutions.

Graphite was deployed in a “zero-click” attack, meaning no interaction from the victim was required.

Protecting your Android phone

"WhatsApp has disrupted a spyware campaign by Paragon that targeted a number of users including journalists and members of civil society. We’ve reached out directly to people who we believe were affected," a WhatsApp spokesperson told BleepingComputer.

"This is the latest example of why spyware companies must be held accountable for their unlawful actions. WhatsApp will continue to protect people’s ability to communicate privately."

A CVE was not assigned to the vulnerability.

WhatsApp further said it notified some 90 people, located in more than two dozen countries, including Italian journalists and activists.

In theory, the attack was very simple. After obtaining their target’s phone numbers, the threat actors would add them to a WhatsApp group, before sending a weaponized PDF. Since the device automatically processes PDF files, the endpoint gets compromised without any action from the user. The next step is to escape the Android sandbox and install the spyware, which grants the attackers access to the device’s messaging applications.

Citizen Lab was analyzing Graphite’s infrastructure and found “potential links to multiple government customers,” including Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Israel, and Singapore.

Governments in Europe and the United States have been quite vocal in their opposition to commercial spyware. In February 2022, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) recommended banning the use of Pegasus spyware within the EU, citing concerns over fundamental rights and freedoms. Pegasus’ developer team, NGO Group, was blacklisted in the United States on November 3, 2021.

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JLab JBuds Open Sport: one-minute review

The JLab JBuds Open Sport are affordable wireless earbuds that, as the name implies, offer an open-ears design. What this means in practice is that unlike in-ear buds, they don’t have tips that block your ear canal, instead leaving your ears free to hear the world around you. That makes them a great option if you prefer to be able to hear oncoming cars on your daily run, or if you hate having to stop your music simply to hear what someone’s saying.

For such affordable buds, the JLab JBuds Open Sport offer genuinely decent features. Not only does their app offer a couple of sound profiles to amp up treble and bass, but it also includes a 10-band EQ, something that even more premium products don’t offer. While not necessarily essential, hearing protection features and ambient sound generators for relaxation are definitely nice to have.

According to JLab, these buds should last you a full nine hours off a single charge, with the case bringing this up to a combined 26 hours. Wanting to put this to the test, I drained the buds from 100% to 0% by streaming music continuously until they died – I found JLab’s prediction was pretty much bang on. So the Open Sport should easily see you through a full-day's use before needing to be put back in the case.

The JLab JBuds Open Sport aren’t a huge departure from the template adopted by many of the best open-ear headphones – they’re made of smooth matt plastic with a flexible hook that holds them in place in front of your ear canal. But they certainly do the trick: they’re secure, even if they wobble a little during vigorous exercise, and their open-ear design meant I could hear oncoming traffic even when running along busy roads. In addition, their IP55 water-resistance means you don’t need to worry about a bit of sweat or the occasional shower.

Unfortunately, their sound does display some compromises. The Open Sport’s soundstage was genuinely impressive; listening to Grown by Kiasmos, the track’s shimmery trebly synths swayed noticeably from left to right, while the strings had a decent width. But I found their balance across the frequency range a bit uneven: treble occasionally gets a little brittle, while mids didn’t really have enough room to breathe, forcing some elements to compete for your attention. It isn't bad per se, but you are sacrificing some fidelity on the altar of situational awareness, so it’s worth being aware of this.

Ultimately, opting for cheap open-ear buds such as the JLab JBuds Open Sport will involve some tradeoffs. To get a pair of earbuds that not only leave your ears open but that also come in at a budget price, you’ll likely have to drop your expectations when it comes to sound. If you do, you’ll find these buds do a perfectly adequate job. But if you’d rather not scrimp on audio quality, paying more for a pair of open-ear buds such as the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds or opting for a closed-ear pair from the best wireless earbuds might suit you better instead.

(Image credit: Future) JLab JBuds Open Sport review: specs

(Image credit: Future) JLab JBuds Open Sport review: features

• Decent EQ settings and listening modes
• Good, if average, battery life
• Not a huge fan of the controls

Getting started with the JLab JBuds Open Sport is straightforward, even if the process is a little idiosyncratic. Triggering pairing mode is as simple as removing the buds from their case: their lights will immediately begin flashing, allowing you to connect them with your prime device. However, utilizing their multi-device connectivity is more unorthodox – to retrigger pairing mode, you’ll need to switch off Bluetooth on your prime device and then once the JBuds are paired with your second device, you can you reactivate the first. It’s an odd dance to have to sashay your way through, but it works and connectivity seems stable.

Once you’re set up, most of the features you’ll access will be through the JLab app, which offers a decent selection of settings, even if it isn't quite as comprehensive as you’d expect from a more premium pair of earbuds.

First off, the app offers access to the JBuds’ EQ settings. This comprises two preset profiles: Balance, which lightly boosts the bass and treble; and the more aggressively sculpted JLab signature, which ducks frequencies around 500Hz – 2,000Hz to significantly boost bass. You also get a single custom profile – while that doesn’t sound like much, it’s a full 10-band EQ, something even some pricier buds don’t offer. There’s also a couple of dedicated listening modes bundled in – Music mode and Movie mode – that further tweak the sound to suit your source.

There’s some more unusual features bundled in the app as well. Safe Hearing mode allows you to set limits on playback volume according to the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 85dB (for a max listening time of eight hours) or 95dB (max listening time of one hour). As someone who has already ruined his hearing attending many clubs and gigs, I appreciate the thought here. The app also offers an Ambient Sounds mode, where you can choose to play anything from bird song to fan noise. Admittedly, this isn't anything you can’t find on most streaming services these days, but I welcome not having to do all the legwork in finding decent quality soundscapes.

Each of the Open Sport buds has only a single-touch capacitive button on it, meaning that control is through tapping out those morse code rhythms to play / pause music, increase and decrease volume, skip tracks or adjust EQ. I’ve been upfront about this before: I'm not the biggest fan of these kinds of control systems, as I think it’s too easy to mis-tap and I hate skipping tracks when I just wanted to crank up the volume. However, the Open Sport soothe my ire somewhat by allowing you to customise which functions are programmed to a single-, double- and triple-tap or a long press, making it marginally easier to set them up in a way that suits me.

JLab estimates the JBuds Open Sport’s battery life to be nine hours in the buds and over 26 hours in total with the case. My battery tests seemed to bear this out – playing music continuously until the battery dropped from 100% to 0% took nine hours and four minutes, which is pretty spot on. It's notable that the right earbud actually died sooner, at around eight and a half hours, leaving lefty to struggle on alone; but I imagine this is more down to quirks related to the battery’s first few cycles rather than a persistent issue.

• Features score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Future) JLab JBuds Open Sport review: sound quality

• Provide great situational awareness
• Wide-open soundstage
• Relatively humdrum sound

Let’s start with the obvious. The JLab JBuds Open Sport don’t offer any sound isolation by design – their key feature is their ability to leave your ears clear of obstructions and let outside sounds in. So if you’re going to be using them in an office environment, you better be relaxed about hearing every tap of your co-workers' keyboards or their Severance fan theories. On the flip side, when I used the Open Sport while out on a run, the buds allowed me to hear the noise of oncoming cars and the hollered instructions of maintenance workers on the roadside. However, this awareness does come at a cost: the Open Sport can’t really compete with the volume of traffic, so running alongside roads I often found that tunes were drowned out by the thunder of vehicles.

A less predictable benefit of the JBuds open design is their soundstage. Playing Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes by Paul Simon, I was immediately struck by how open the buds’ stereo field is – in particular, Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s choral style vocals bounce from left to right with impressive accuracy.

However, where things start to come undone is the expression of individual instruments. During St. Thomas by Sonny Rollins, I found that the bass, piano and sax were constantly competing with each other for prominence. While they sounded clear enough during solos, when all three were playing at once, they all somehow amounted to less than the sum of their parts.

It’s only really by probing the sonic balance further that I came to understand what was going on. Listening to Nothing Left To Lose by Everything But the Girl, there’s definite crispness to that saw-edged bass, but unfortunately, the sub that gives it that cocoa-on-a-cold-day resonance was lacking. Conversely, treble is occasionally bright, and I mean that to a fault: Young Blood by The Naked and Famous actively hurt my ears, with the bouncy, distorted melody off its synth quickly grating and making for an unpleasant listening experience.

You’d think that anything that doesn’t sit toward one of these two extremes would fare better; but, if anything, the opposite is true. While I Want You by Moloko at least displayed enough bass and treble to give it some presence, the mids felt severely neglected. Elements such as the strings, rapid guitar strokes and vocals felt cluttered in a way that I'm not used to: like an hourglass, the Open Sport’s sound is pinched tightly in the middle, meaning every instrument is forced to compete for attention, harming overall cohesion.

Fortunately, the Open Sport’s EQ modes can mitigate some of the worst of this, but we're talking more about damage control rather than adding real polish. Listening to Otomo by Bonobo on the buds’ flat profile left me pretty disappointed – it came across as rather tinny, while the spectral profile of the tribal chorus was so strident it almost scintillates in an unpleasant manner. Enabling JLab Signature performed a quick nip-tuck to suture up some of the flabbiest areas of this sound, ducking the problem frequencies around 1kHz to 2kHz and boosting the bass to compensate. This is definitely a blunt tool, but it does the trick of compensating for some of the inevitable aural shortcomings of open-ear buds.

Given you’re likely to use these buds when out and about, you may well be wondering how their microphones fare in noisy settings. Well, when recording a voice note while streaming the sound of a Delhi traffic jam in the background, I was impressed with how well the mics filtered out the background noise – although they did lose some of the treble of my voice, making the final result a bit muddier than I’d expect. Conversely, when making some trial phone calls not far from a busy road, my long-suffering girlfriend reported my voice came across perfectly clear.

• Sound quality: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future) JLab JBuds Open Sport review: design

• Comfortable to wear
• Decent dust- and water-resistance
• Secure, but not always stable, fit

When it comes to looks, the JLab JBuds Open Sport are fairly conservative. Compared to the more outré designs adopted by some open-ear buds, these aren’t that distinguishable from many of the best workout headphones – you’re not getting the square-bracket shape of the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, or earring-aping form factor of the Huawei FreeClip. Instead, they offer a traditional hooked design with a rectangular driver unit that’s positioned just in front of your ear canal. It’s practical yet entirely unexciting, like a pair of sweatpants for your ears.

If I’m being honest, I’m pretty hook agnostic when it comes to workout earbuds – I’ve never found that I struggle to keep in-ear buds wedged in place. But with buds that don’t enter your ear, some kind of hook or band is essential. And even though the Open Sport aren’t really my thing, I found the hooked design here to be pretty comfortable, allowing me to wear them for multiple hours without discomfort.

Ironically, though, given hooks are supposed to keep your earbuds secure, I did find they sometimes felt less stable than I was used to. Using them on runs, they wobbled more than I was prepared for – I couldn’t stop myself from periodically repositioning them just to make sure they were still on right. However, I don’t think they’d actually come loose and without being anchored in your ear, I guess it’s natural that open ear buds are going to shift around a little as you move.

On the plus side, they should be hardy enough to survive most workouts. Not only does their construction seem solid – the matt black plastic they’re constructed of is hard enough to resist marks and scratches yet the earhooks are flexible enough to make them easy to slip on – but their IP55 rating should see off dust, sweat and even a bit of rain. Of course, we don’t just take brands at their word at TechRadar, so I put these claims to the test, liberally flicking them with water from our testing tank until they’d had a thorough sprinkling. They shrugged off this spritzing like champs and, once dry, there was no impact on their performance or sound. So, while they won’t survive you dropping them in a puddle, neither perspiration nor precipitation should cause them too many problems.

• Design score: 3.5 / 5

JLab JBuds Open Sport review: value

• Affordable price
• Better sound will definitely cost you more

While I’ve made no bones about the fact the JLab JBuds Open Sport have some shortcomings, there's one factor that should probably recontextualize everything you’ve read above: their price. Premium open-ear buds massively outstrip their MRSP – for example, the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds go for a hefty $299 / £249.95 – and even mid-market brands such as Shokz can range from the $119.95 / £94 OpenFit Air to the $179.95 / £129 OpenFit 2. So at $49.99 / £79.99, these are firmly priced at the budget end of the market.

Viewed through this lens, some of the Open Sport’s weaknesses become more palatable. Making open-ear buds sound unimpeachable is a much bigger technical challenge compared to buds with either passive sound isolation or active noise cancelling – and, inevitably, you'll need to spend premium prices to get premium results. As such, if your biggest priorities are situational awareness and an affordable price, these buds are a wise investment. But if you value sound quality above all else, you may need to spend a fair bit more or go for a closed-ear design.

• Value score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future) Should I buy the JLab JBuds Open Sport? Buy them if…

You need to hear your surroundings
If you cycle along busy roads, need to stay aware at work or just like to be able to eavesdrop on strangers’ conversations, these buds won’t stifle your hearing, making it easier to be conscious of what’s going on around you.

You don’t want to spend too much
At $49.99 / £79.99, these are seriously affordable as open-ear buds go. There are even more bargain-priced buds out there, but they’re unlikely to have quite as decent features.

Don’t buy them if…

Sound quality is your top priority
The Open Sport buds sound okay, given their open-ear design. But you can get much better performance if you spend more or switch to some closed-ear buds of a similar price.

You want rock-solid fit
These earbuds definitely won’t fall off, but they’re not completely immune to wobbling during a vigorous workout either. If you hate feeling your buds trembling while you bounce about, an alternative with a neck band might suit you better.

JLab JBuds Open Sport review: also consider

Shokz OpenFit Air
The Shokz OpenFit Air cost a little more than the Open Sport but, in return, offer more reliable sound, with bass in particular getting a significant boost. They’re also nice and light, and are comfortable to wear once you’ve positioned them correctly. Unfortunately, their battery doesn’t last quite as long as the JLab: they’ll only give you seven hours playback before needing to be popped back in the case. Read our full Shokz OpenFit Air review.

Bose Ultra Open Earbuds
If you can stretch to spending a fair bit more, the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are the ones to choose. They sound fantastic – even when compared to closed-ear rivals – and even more impressively offer truly immersive spatial audio. They’re also comfortable to wear and intuitive to use. Really their only drawback is their high price, but you absolutely get what you pay for here. Read our full Bose Ultra Open Earbuds review.

How I tested the JLab JBuds Open Sport

• Tested them for two weeks
• Trialed them in a range of quiet and noisy settings
• Assessed their water resistance by spraying them with water

I tested the JLab JBuds Open Sport over a period of two weeks. I used them to listen to a wide array of music, not only listening to the TechRadar testing playlist multiple times, but also trialing them on some of my own go-to testing tracks. I also tested out their microphones by recording voice notes accompanied by background noise and making multiple calls outside in an urban environment.

I also tried them out in a range of settings, listening to them everywhere from a busy office environment to traveling alongside congested main roads. I made sure to test out their fit and comfort by using them during several runs, while I tested their water-resistance by lightly spraying them with water and monitoring whether this had any impact on their performance.

Having spent more than a decade writing about tech, I have a lot of experience when it comes to weighing up the efficacy of different gadgets. Additionally, as an audiophile and music producer, I have a lot of experience assessing the performance of speakers and headphones, while my regular workout regimen means I’ve used a lot of different earbuds for exercising over the years.

• First reviewed: March 2025
• Read more about how we test

• New details regarding the recently announced God of War 20th anniversary vinyl box set have been revealed
• It costs $300 / £250 to pre-order now
• Three limited edition double LP releases are also on the way

Laced Records has revealed new details regarding the recently announced God of War 20th anniversary vinyl box set.

It features a whopping 13 discs, with 150 remastered tracks from across the series. This includes the original soundtrack for God of War, God of War 2, and God of War 3 in addition to the 2018 reboot God of War and its sequels God of War Ragnarok and God of War Ragnarok Valhalla.

On top of this, there are a selection of songs from spinoffs God of War: Ascension, God of War: Chains of Olympus, and God of War: Ghost of Sparta. There are even some from the God of War Ragnarok: Lofi Beats to Journal to promotional album.

The box set features a dual rigid board outer slipcase, with a leather effect and gold foiling to give it a sleek black and gold look. Each set of discs comes with widespined outer sleeves, plus a printed inner sleeve with artwork from Santa Monica Studio.

Pre-orders are open now via the Laced Records website and cost $300 / £250. With that high price tag, this is definitely an item for the most dedicated collectors.

In addition to this, three limited edition double LP releases are also on the way. They feature the God of War, God of War 2, and God of War 3 soundtracks respectively, and come in at $42 / £36 each so could be a fantastic alternative if you don't want to drop $300 / £250 on the whole package.

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The EU is demanding more interoperability between iPhones and third-party devices, and more openness from Google. The tech giants aren't happy.

In Nashville, internet providers deliver blazing-fast speeds of up to 8,000 Mbps. But which one is the ideal choice for your unique needs? We've got the answers.

• Boston Dynamic's Atlas robot can do cartwheels now
• The robots' more fluid, dynamic moves are possible thanks to Boston Dynamic's robotics expertise and Nvidia's models
• Atlas looks a lot more like C-3PO now and moves a lot more like a human

I get it, Blue, the adorable robot collaboration between Nvidia, Google, and Disney, captivated hearts, but I've seen something better and more practical from Boston Dynamics that's based on many of the same Nvidia foundational models. Further, it's a better indicator of the next big step – or cartwheel – in humanoid robotics.

Boston Dynamics was an early adopter of Nvidia's Project GROOT, and now it has deepened the partnership by tapping into multiple Nvidia platforms, including the Jetson Thor computing platform and Isaac Lab, which uses Nvidia's Isaac Sim and Omiversion technologies to help drive its stunning, all-electric Atlas humanoid robot.

Jetson Thor is paired with Atlas's body and manipulation controllers to tap into multimodal AIs, and the Isaac Lab framework is used to help the robot learn in virtual environments.

All of this helps with motion and adapting to unforeseen or at least unexpected environments, which can also improve the safety of a humanoid robot that might one day work alongside you.

It would be hard to conceptualize the benefits of all that deep technology if it weren't for this video.

In the latest Atlas demonstration, the 6-foot tall, 330-pound all-electric humanoid robot crawls, runs, rolls, performs a can opener move (ask your break-dancing parents), and cartwheels.

The series of moves was so shocking that I had to ask if the video had been sped up to make everything look smoother. Representatives for Boston Dynamics confirmed the video is running at normal speed.

As I watched the video and imagined all the virtual training necessary to pull off the live moves, it occurred to me that we've reached a tipping point.

Step aside, C-3

Sure, the hydraulic Atlas could do parkour and backflips, but it didn't look much like us. The electric Atlas is a different story. Its physiology is decidedly human. The head lacks a true face, but it's clearly a head, and the body proportions are all normal if a bit beefed up to body-builder size. Remember, it's 330 pounds.

In other words, Atlas is finally looking a lot more like C-3PO. Now, there are a lot of new humanoid robots from Tesla (Optimus), Figure AI (Figure 01), x1 (Neo Gama), and Unitree (Unitree G1).

With the exception of G1, these robots are mobile disappointments. None of them move in truly fluid and convincing ways. Their steps are halting, their motions stutter, and sometimes there are significant pauses between actions that humans usually strand together like many shiny pearls.

Most, in fact, move like C-3PO. To be fair, that Star Wars protocol droid was Actor Anthony Daniels in a stiff plastic suit, gamely trying not to succumb to the African desert heat. Even so, the robot became an icon and the template for our nearly five decades of humanoid robot dreams. Perhaps that's why people are so excited about all those other robots, even if they shouldn't be.

That's guy in a costume

Atlas is different, and I think it's the combination of Boston Dynamic's decades in robotics engineering (the company's robots were competing in robotics challenges years before most of these other companies entered the space) and Nvidia's powerful silicon and foundational models that are making the difference.

It's not enough to build a robot that can move and perform basic tasks. Most of the other robot competitors know this and have partnered with Google and OpenAI to gain access to their AI multi-modal models, but I think they're playing catchup.

If humanoid robotic development were a horse race, I'd put my money on Boston Dynamics and Nvidia. Together, they'll likely bring us a legion of factory and, eventually, home robots that all do literal cartwheels around us and make us wonder what we saw in C-3PO in the first place.

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• Housemarque's CEO basically said Saro wouldn't be happening without Sony's acquisition
• Saros likely has a big budget behind it, meaning it could look and play wonderfully
• That's positive news for a PS5-exclusive game and Saros could be one to watch closely

If the past couple of years have been anything to go by, game studios being purchased by big publishers hasn’t been a walk in the park for them, with closures and canceled games. But Returnal developer Housemarque is telling a different story.

In an interview with Finnish publication Helsingin Sanomat, as flagged by VGC, the developer’s CEO Ilari Kuittinen basically indicated that Housemarque’s next game Saros wouldn’t have gotten off the ground had it not been for PlayStation Studios acquiring the company.

While we don't know how much is being put into the development of Saros - an action-adventure game based on the lost off-world colony on the planet Carcosa while under an ominous eclipse - Kuittinen suggested it could be compared to the Remedy’s Alan Wake 2, which had an “an estimated development and marketing budget of around €70 million”.

Kuittinen noted that as an independent “you couldn’t have made such investments”, discussing the challenges for a small developer in wondering how long the company would survive in the gaming world.

“We had the feeling that it was better to try to get into a big family than to stay independent for the next few years,” Kuittinen said. “We thought we had to do the deal now.”

A positive wind of change?

After the shutdown of Sony-owned developers Neon Koi and Firewalk Studios in 2024, and Microsoft’s shuttering of Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Games in the same year, it’s been a rocky road for developers that have been acquired by gaming giants.

So Kuittinen’s words are refreshingly positive. And given how Saros looks set to be a more ambitious title than Returnal, featuring actors like Rahul Kohli of Midnight Mass fame, and likely to be a game dripping in visual effects that really pushes the PS5 and potentially the PS5 Pro, it’s a good sign that the developer feels supported by its PlayStation overlord.

Equally, the recent news of Fable 4 being delayed until next year is, I’m hoping, a sign that Microsoft is also willing to provide the funds to developers to really polish their games and ensure they have the best chance to have a serious impact in a gaming world dominated by the likes of Fortnite and Call of Duty.

I’m crossing my fingers that this is all a positive indication that there’s still room for big-budget games that can explore interesting settings and mechanics without needing an existing franchise or basically GTA 6.

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• One of Apple's top health execs has left the company for Oura
• Ricky Bloomfield joins the smart ring company as its Chief Medical Officer
• Oura says it has ambitious goals for 2025 and an exciting next chapter ahead

One of Apple's top health execs has left the company to join Oura, maker of some of the best smart rings for health and fitness tracking, in what could be a seismic shift in the industry and a signpost to the future of health wearables.

Oura has just announced that Apple's Ricky Bloomfield, MD, will join the company as its chief medical officer.

The company says Dr. Bloomfield "will set the vision for Oura’s global healthcare programs and partnerships, shape its roadmap as it relates to adherence to ever-changing healthcare regulations, enable cross-functional collaboration across the organization to drive the direction of new hardware and software features to scale its healthcare ambitions and guide the company’s expansion in healthcare solutions."

Dr. Bloomfield was previously the Clinical and Health Informatics Lead for Apple Health, whose tenure in his role included the launch of Apple's Health Records for iPhone and iPad.

Oura chief commercial officer Dorothy Kilroy said the company was "thrilled" at Dr. Bloomfield's hiring, but what exactly does this say about the future of health and fitness technology?

Is the smart ring the future?

(Image credit: Future)

The best smartwatches have long been the industry's mainstay for health and fitness tracking, with sensors for monitoring heart rate, exercise, and even sleep.

But alternatives like the Oura Ring 4 offer a more discreet and unintrusive package that you're much less likely to notice. Smart rings don't get in the way of daily life as much as a smartwatch can, and they have other benefits, too.

Rather than relentless notifications and over-zealous encouragement telling you to stand up, smart rings quietly measure your health in the background, giving you actionable data and trends at a time that suits you.

That Dr. Bloomfield would leave the world's largest tech company, and by all accounts, a pioneering industry leader in health and fitness wearables, in favor of a smaller company focused on smart rings could speak volumes about the future of health tracking.

Apple was once rumored to be developing its own smart ring, but last we heard, the project had been shelved. Dr. Bloomfield's departure could be the final death knell for the Apple Ring, as we'd hoped, or it could signal that his ambition outweighs a decision Apple has already made to ditch the idea.

"We have ambitious goals this year, and his expertise will help us refine our vision and dismantle the challenges that exist when breaking into established industries like healthcare," Kilroy said, going on to say Dr Bloomfield's experience in data interoperability and standardization "will set the stage for Oura’s next chapter."

Is Oura hinting at future updates and new models that could work more closely with other smart tech, wearables, your healthcare providers, or even AI?

Only time will tell, but Dr. Bloomfied is a stunning addition to the company's roster that will have rivals like Samsung looking sideways.

While still an emerging technology, smart rings are a serious threat to the smartwatch status quo. This week, Circular announced that its new Ring 2 would feature both blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring, and it will be available as over-the-air updates in 2025 and 2026, respectively.

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• McDonald's has revealed a new meal and sauce to celebrate A Minecraft Movie
• The items will be available from April 1 in the US and March 26 in the UK
• Collectibles and in-game goodies will be up for grabs

Fast food giant McDonald's has revealed a new collaboration to celebrate the worryingly imminent arrival of A Minecraft Movie.

The new A Minecraft Movie Meal and A Minecraft Movie Happy Meal fittingly drops on April 1 in the US. The meal features your choice of a Big Mac or 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, plus medium fries and a drink.

If that wasn't enough, you also get one of six limited-edition collectibles ranging from the Big Mac Crystal (allegedly "mined from the sea of special sauce" - whatever that means) to a blocky purple Grimace Egg.

Here are the names of all of the collectibles up for grabs:

• Big Mac Crystal
• Birdie Wings
• Fry Helmet
• Grimace Egg
• Soda Potion
• Zombie Hamburglar

Each collectible comes with a special code to unlock a corresponding, exclusive skin in the Minecraft Marketplace. As for the A Minecraft Movie Happy Meal, it comes with one of twelve film-inspired toys and a scannable code that unlocks a digital game to play.

The collab is also introducing a new sauce: the limited edition Nether Flame Sauce. This is described as a hot sauce, with crushed red pepper and cayenne in addition to hints of garlic and sweetness.

Things are a little more exciting over in the UK, where you'll be able to get your hands on the A Minecraft Movie Meal (complete with the collectibles and in-game items) plus limited edition Nether Flame Sauce from March 26.

Those in the region will also be able to try the Apple Cake McFlurry, which comes topped with cubes of shortcake and a sour apple sauce. The brand claims that it is "McDonald’s' most innovative flavor combination in a long time," but I'll be judging that for myself once it hits stores.

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• The iPhone 16e's 5G modem has outperformed the iPhone 16's in some tests
• Its lack of mmWave support might be the only thing holding it back
• This bodes well for future iPhones and future versions of this modem

One interesting aspect of the iPhone 16e is that it uses Apple’s C1 modem. This is Apple’s first in-house 5G modem, and so far the iPhone 16e is the only device you’ll find it in.

With this being a cheaper phone than the rest of the iPhone 16 series you might expect the C1 to trail the Qualcomm modem used in those, but in fact tests suggest the C1 might offer better performance in most situations.

Ookla (via 9to5Mac) has collected data from iPhone 16 and iPhone 16e users in the US, and found that the iPhone 16e offers 10th percentile download speeds of 27.35Mbps, compared to 16.66Mbps on the iPhone 16. Those are essentially the speeds that the users experiencing the lowest performance on either phone can expect.

(Image credit: Ookla)

For median download speeds the iPhone 16e also comes out on top, at 217.64Mbps compared to 210.55Mbps on the iPhone 16. However, at the top end the iPhone 16 takes the win, with 90th percentile download speeds of 756.13Mbps, compared to 560.4Mbps on the iPhone 16e.

Notably though those upper speeds could be skewed by the fact that the iPhone 16e doesn’t support faster mmWave 5G, while Ookla suspects future versions of the C1 modem will support this.

Just as good for uploads

(Image credit: Ookla)

The iPhone 16e and its C1 modem are similarly impressive when looking at median upload speeds, having the iPhone 16 comfortably beat across all three tested carriers (T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T).

This all is good news for Apple, since it suggests the company could switch to its in-house modem across all new iPhones without sacrificing speeds, and it’s all the more impressive as Apple claims the C1 is also more efficient than other iPhone modems, meaning it shouldn’t impact battery life as much.

It does put the iPhone 16e in the unusual position of actually having an advantage over Apple’s top models – other than its lack of mmWave support – but that’s one more reason to buy this phone, and looking ahead, it’s a promising sign for future iPhones, especially since the next generation of this modem might be even better.

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• Assassin's Creed Shadows could soon get PSSR support on PS5 Pro
• Technical architect Nicolas Lopez has teased the addition of PSSR and asked fans to "stay tuned"
• Lopez also said the team "went the extra mile" for the PS5 Pro to deliver meaningful performance and visual improvements

The PlayStation 5 Pro version of Assassin's Creed Shadows could soon see even more improvements with the addition of Playstation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR).

After a number of delays, the latest Assassin's Creed entry has finally launched and reviews are in, with many praising the game's overall performance and graphics, particularly on the PS5 Pro.

Digital Foundry also released a video comparing the game on PS5 and PS5 Pro and called it "one of the largest Pro upgrades we've seen so far", thanks to the system's Ray Traced Global Illumination (RTGI) tech.

The game looks stunning, but it seems that the game's visuals could get even better for PS5 Pro owners.

In response to the comparison video, technical architect Nicolas Lopez took to X / Twitter and said, "We went the extra mile for the PS5 Pro and wanted to deliver a meaningful improvement with the extra power."

One fan then asked Lopez if there was a reason the development team didn't implement PSSR on PS5 Pro, to which Lopez replied, "I'd stay tuned."

From this statement, it seems safe to assume that Sony's AI-upscaling technology will be added to Assassin's Creed Shadows in the future, although when exactly is unclear.

Ubisoft does have plans to release downloadable content (DLC) this year, namely Claws of Awaji, so it's possible PSSR could be added in an unannounced content update.

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• Smeg's color of the year is Jade Green – a soft shade of turquoise
• Three appliances are available in the color now, with more to follow
• It continues the trend for kitchen appliances in warm, natural tones

Kitchen brand Smeg has revealed its official color of 2025 – a soft shade of turquoise called Jade Green. Smeg is an Italian company (the name is an acronym for Smalterie Metallurgiche Emiliane Guastalla), and it says the hue is reminiscent of the country's idyllic waters. Think of gondolas drifting along Venice's Grand Canal, and you've got the right idea.

There are currently three appliances available in the color: the Retro-Style Two-Slice Toaster, the Retro-Style Seven-Cup Electric Kettle, and the Collezione Digital Kitchen Scale, which launched last year.

Smeg says it will be splashing Jade Green onto two more products within the next few months, and judging by the images the company has released, it looks like those may be the Smeg Soda Maker and the Portable Induction Hub.

(Image credit: Smeg) Color me impressed

Jade Green continues 2025's trend for kitchen appliances in warm, nature-inspired hues. It's a marked change from the clinical black, white, and stainless steel we've seen so much of over recent years.

Back in February, KitchenAid revealed that its color of the year is a soft shade of yellow called Butter, which looks good enough to eat.

That announcement followed the launch of the enormously popular (and surprisingly controversial) Evergreen Artisan Stand Mixer, which features a matte olive body and a natural walnut wood bowl for an arboreal look.

Some bakers were worried that the bowl, which needs to be hand-washed and oiled to stay in perfect condition, would be poorly suited to tasks like whisking eggs, though real-world baking tests provide it worked just as well as traditional stainless steel.

KitchenAid has also made all its automatic coffee machines available in a creamy shade called Porcelain White, and Breville has updated its best coffee makers with new colors too. The Brass Accents collection gives machines like the Barista Touch Impress a 2025 update in shades of navy blue, olive green, and off-white, with warm-toned metal detailing.

It's enough to make me want to redecorate my whole kitchen.

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• Beyond 6G networks may unlock AI with real-world adaptability and reasoning abilities
• Virginia Tech researchers believe AI-native networks are the key to AGI
• Wireless technology could help AI bridge the gap to human intelligence

Artificial intelligence has advanced rapidly, yet researchers at Virginia Tech believe that achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) depends on equipping AI tools with common sense, enabling it to think, imagine, and plan beyond its training data.

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the IEEE Journal explores how wireless technology could serve as a foundation for this next step in AI evolution.

The researchers propose that AI-native wireless systems beyond 6G could provide a framework for AI to learn from real-world interactions, mimicking human cognition using the most powerful computers to process vast amounts of data.

Next-generation AI could drive a wireless revolution

Virginia Tech researchers argue next-generation AI is the missing link in future wireless advancements, moving beyond the efficiency-focused AI of early 6G developments to systems that can actively reason and make decisions like humans.

Unlike current AI, which relies on pattern recognition and statistical analysis, this new approach would introduce AI capable of understanding physical principles, predicting events, and adapting to unforeseen circumstances.

However, achieving this remains a long-term goal that will require the best small business servers to ensure seamless data processing and integration.

“We’re looking at least 10 or 15 years down the line before we have a wireless network with artificial general intelligence [AGI] that can think, plan, and imagine,” said Walid Saad, a professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the university.

“We have a blueprint and concrete road map. The entire vision might not be immediately deployable, but pieces of it can be implemented now. We're trying to position this paper in a way to tell the community that there is a path to something really revolutionary — step by step we can work toward a living, thinking wireless network.”

By processing vast real-time data and interacting with digital twins, AI could develop intuition, enabling it to predict outcomes, make logical decisions, and bridge the gap between computational processing and human reasoning.

“Simply put, the current level of AI is good at extracting statistical relationships from data, but it’s very bad at reasoning and generalizing to novel, unexpected situations – things that most humans master perfectly.”

To make this vision a reality, the researchers argue that wireless networks must evolve from merely transmitting data to actively learning from it.

“The missing link is really the wireless network and its components like digital twins, because we can use a twin that exists as a basis for a world model thereby enabling human-level-like thinking and integrating these 'thought' processes in the wireless network now,” Saad said.

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• GoDaddy found a malicious campaign infecting 20,000 WordPress sites
• It is called DollyWay, and it is super persistent
• DollyWay redirects visitors to fake gambling and crypto sites

A long-running, super persistent malicious campaign that infected more than 20,000 WordPress websites worldwide has been uncovered by experts.

Security researchers from GoDaddy dubbed it “DollyWay World Domination”, which had the goal of redirecting vicims to fake dating, gambling, crypto, and sweepstakes sites, although in the past the campaign was also used to spread ransomware and banking trojans.

DollyWay has been active since at least 2016, GoDaddy says, adding today it generates 10 million impressions every month, raking in solid earnings for the operators. Over the years, it also improved evasion, reinfection, and monetization strategies.

A single threat actor

DollyWay is currently in its third iteration, while the previous ones were more focused on malware distribution and phishing.

To compromise WordPress websites, DollyWay’s operators looked for n-day vulnerabilities in plugins and themes for the platform. They also employed a Traffic Direction System (TD) to filter and redirect users based on their location, device, and referrer. To make sure attackers get paid per redirection, they used VexTrio and LosPollos networks.

When it comes to obfuscation, DollyWay was doing a number of things: It redirected users only after they clicked on something, in order to evade passive security scans. It also wasn’t redirecting any logged-in WordPress users, bots, and direct visitors who were coming without referrers. It was also quite persistent, GoDaddy said, since reinfection would occur with every page load.

At first, GoDaddy’s researchers were under the impression that they were analyzing multiple groups and different campaigns.

"While previously thought to be separate campaigns, our research reveals these attacks share common infrastructure, code patterns, and monetization methods - all appearing to be connected to a single, sophisticated threat actor,” the researchers concluded. “The operation was named after the following tell-tale string, which is found in some variations of the malware: define('DOLLY_WAY', 'World Domination')."

Via BleepingComputer

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