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OneOdio OpenRock S2: Two minute review

I’ve tested so many of the best open earbuds recently that they’ve almost started to blur into one, but I’ve never forgotten two of the first open-ears I tested for how unique they were. One of these was the OneOdio OpenRock S – and it has finally seen a successor in the OneOdio OpenRock S2. But the thing is, it’s quite a different proposition.

The OpenRock Pro and OpenRock S were pretty big and bulky open-ears compared to what we’re seeing in 2025 but they were perfect for outdoor adventures or running thanks to their absolutely huge battery life, rugged design and solid, robust, inflexible design.

For better or worse the OpenRock S2 aren’t like the first-gen model but keep closer to current market trends in terms of design and feature set. I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but these new buds could be more appealing to a wider audience so I can understand the change.

These are slightly more affordable alternatives to most of the other major open earbuds we’ve seen this year, the majority of which sit just north of the $100 / £100 / AU$200 price line. I’d recommend them to people who want decent open-ears but don’t need the very best audio, fully-rounded feature set or long-lasting batteries.

The S2 are lightweight buds with a more flexible design and much smaller carry case, so won’t take up so much space in your bag or on your head than the last-gen model. I did find that this design presented a few issues with fit though, as the buds would sometimes move position on my head or get stuck on my ear’s antitragus, and I found myself missing the older buds’ design.

Another downgrade is a battery life in that it's roughly half that of the predecessors, but other areas compensate: OpenRock finally has a phone app for its earbuds, which wasn’t the case upon the release of the previous-gen buds.

The sound profile is warm with a clear focus on bass, with tech from the company emphasizing bass not to give it extra oomph, but to ensure you can even hear it in this form factor (which often loses it). They’re good options if you’re looking for something to work out with.

If you were put off by the original OpenRock’s rugged, chunky look and huge carry case, thinking it a bit too much of a fringe option for you, you’ll definitely think the S2 an interesting new pair of earbuds. But if those traits were the entire selling point of the originals for you (as they were for me), the S2 just don’t have that uniqueness.

OneOdio OpenRock S2 review: Specifications

Component

Value

Water resistant

IPX5

Battery life

8 hours (earbuds), 32 hours (total)

Bluetooth type

Bluetooth 6.0

Weight

7g / Charging case: 58g

Driver

12mm

OneOdio OpenRock S2 review: Price and availability

(Image credit: Future)

• Released in June 2025
• Costs $98.99 / £79.99 / AU$154

The OneOdio OpenRock S2 went on sale in June 2025, officially marking the second generation of OpenRock’s sports-specific open-ear headphones.

You can pick up the buds for $98.99 / £79.99 / AU$154 , so they’re cheaper than their predecessors, which released in October 2023 for $99 / £89 (roughly AU$150) although price cuts have seen the OpenRock S go for half that.

That also puts the OpenRock S2 as some of the most affordable open earbuds to come out this year, a good option for cost-cutters. You can find some competitors below, but let me speak plain: the options worth buying are all about $130 / £100 / AU$200.

OneOdio OpenRock S2 review: Design

(Image credit: Future)

• Small and lightweight case
• Lightweight buds, slightly wobbly design
• Hard-to-press physical buttons

Having tested previous OpenRocks, I was expecting a similarly huge carry case (relatively – earbuds cases can be like boxes of dental floss now) for the S2, but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a much smaller pebble-shaped holder which weighs just 58g and easily fits in a hand.

While it’s made from a fairly brittle plastic that doesn’t feel like it’d survive much of a battering (I didn't try any drop tests), the speckled pattern on it makes it more distinctive-looking than the vast number of its rivals I've used.

The earbuds themselves are also smaller and more svelte than previous offerings from the company. They weigh just 7g each and are made up of a small bud, a thin rubbery sports loop and a larger counterweight/battery pack that sits behind your ear.

Evidence of how easily-bendable the hook is. (Image credit: Future)

As stated, I’ve tested loads of open-ears and these have got to be some of the most comfortable, thanks to how small and lightweight they are. Often I’d completely forget I was even wearing them.

Despite being comfortable, the fit isn’t reliable, likely due to just how thin, flexible and wobbly the sports loop is. When running, working out or sometimes even walking, the driver housing near my ear would wobble or change position a little, which can have a big knock-on effect on audio quality.

Another thing to criticize on the design front is the touch controls. On-ear controls, be they touch capacitive sensors or physical clicking buttons, are a hard thing for companies to get right, but the S2 is possibly the worst example yet on an open earbuds design.

The button is on the bottom of the counterweight, so if you want to pause your music, you have to press upwards — which shoves the thing straight out of your ear. Now that’ll stop your music! The solution is to hold the bud in place with your other fingers or hand to keep it in place, but this is a much more convoluted process than, say, picking up your phone and pressing ‘pause’.

• Design score: 3.5/5

OneOdio OpenRock S2 review: Features

(Image credit: Future)

• 8-hour battery, 32 hours from case
• New app with extra features
• Reliable connection via Bluetooth 6.0

OpenRock has seriously cut the S2’s battery life from its predecessor, which is a big shame. You’re now looking at a lasting power of 8 hours per bud, or 32 hours when you factor in the case, which is about average for open-ears but far short of the 19/60-hour life of the OpenRock S. It’s a shame to see a downgrade like this from one of the S’ best selling points.

As with most open earbuds, there’s no noise cancellation here; in fact, the form factor makes it easy to hear surrounding sounds. In truth, the buds’ relatively low max volume means that often, you might not even hear your music over the surrounding din in built-up cities, say.

The OpenRock S2 work alongside the OpenRock phone app which brings a few extra features. The most important one of these is the equalizer, which has three presets (Rock Mode, Relax Mode and Boom Mode, a graphic of the equalizer curve being the only way you’ll know what any of them do) and a seven-band custom mode.

(Image credit: Future)

This was a little infuriating to use as every time you change profile, music quickly flickers off and back on, so repeatedly tweaking the sound creates a strobe-like effect.

The app offers a few premium features like Spatial Sound, a way to adjust the left-right balance of music, a Hi-Res Mode and Multi-Point Connection. Some expected features appear like the ability to customize touch controls and there are two rarer ones: the ability to set an alarm to let you know you’ve been listening for a set amount of time, and a maximum volume limiter (ironic, given what I said about the volume).

Throughout testing, I found the OpenRock S2 quick and easy to connect to my phone, and reliable at maintaining a connection.

• Features score: 4/5

OneOdio OpenRock S2 review: Sound performance

(Image credit: Future)

• 14.2mm driver
• Bass tech returns for warm sound profile
• Low max volume, can be hard to hear

Each bud of the OpenRock S2 has a 12mm driver. It supports LDAC, AAC and SBC codecs, the former once you enable it via the app. The buds sound decent for their cost, though they’re not the best open-ears for audiophiles.

A selling point of OpenRock’s first-gen open-ears is back here: TubeBass, which boosts low-end sounds to fix a common complaint of the form factor, that thumping rhythms can be lost in the gap between earbud and ear canal.

(Image credit: Future)

TubeBass works well in ensuring the S2 is one of the better open-ears for bass fans, ensuring that you hear the bump of a bass guitar, synth or double bass in your chosen song. It makes the buds useful for people who listen to lots of workout songs, though obviously they don’t compare to any over-ear or in-ears which will deliver far more bass.

The bass isn’t overwhelming though, so it doesn’t drown out the treble in sounds. The overall sound profile of the buds is undeniably warm though, so guitars are crunchy and brass can be punchy but vocal lines lack some sparkle and sharpness through the upper mids and trebles. Mids can also be lost in songs, even rockier ones that enjoy extra ‘oomph’ from their rhythm guitars.

The soundstage is fairly limited, combining instruments into a bit of a thick lump at times, but this isn’t as damning as it sounds because the kind of nuance that a detailed soundstage can offer can also be quickly lost in open-ears when surrounding sounds get in the way.

• Sound performance score: 3.5/5

OneOdio OpenRock S2 review: Value

(Image credit: Future)

OpenRock’s decision to price these as more affordable than most other open-ears from major brands was a smart one. It makes them tempting as an alternative to top options from brands like Nothing, Huawei and Honor, for people who want to save money.

The S2 isn’t so fantastic value for money that it’s an instant must-buy, but they still provide lots of bang for your buck. That’d be doubly true if a discount ever comes to them to reduce the price a little further, especially for US buyers.

• Value score: 4/5

OneOdio OpenRock S2 review: scorecard

Category

Comment

Score

Value

It's an affordable option that doesn't have the feature set of rivals (or predecessors) but isn't that much of a downgrade.

4/5

Design

Much more lightweight and svelte than before, perhaps too much so.

3.5/5

Features

Most of the features you need are present, even if some have seen a downgrade from past models.

4/5

Sound

A warm sound profile that'll appeal to people working out, though it has its limitations.

3.5/5

OneOdio OpenRock S2: Should you buy them?

(Image credit: Future)Buy them if...

You want something lightweight
Both the buds and the case of the OpenRock S2 are easy to wear or carry due to their light nature.

You're on a budget
One of the most affordable options around right now, the OpenRock S2 will appeal to people looking to save.

You like your bassy, fiery sound
The OpenRock S2 won't offer you sonic perfection but instead a sound profile that lists to the warm, bassy and fuzzy.

Don't buy them if...

You'll listen in busy areas
The low max volume of the OpenRock S2 makes them unsuitable for use in busy and noisy areas, where they'll compete with other surrounding sounds.

You need rugged earbuds
The unique appeal of past OpenRock buds is lost here with a shorter battery life, looser design and less-protected carry case.

Also consider

Component

OpenRock S2

Earfun OpenJump

JLab Epic Open Sport

OpenRock S

Water resistant

IPX5

IPX7

IP55

IPX5

Battery life

8 hours (earbuds) 32 hours (total)

11 hours (earbuds) 42 hours (total)

7 hours (earbuds), 30 hours (total)

19 hours (earbuds), 60 hours (total)

Bluetooth type

Bluetooth 6.0

Bluetooth 5.3

Bluetooth 5.4

Bluetooth 5.3

Weight

7g / Charging case: 58g

8g / Charging case: 67g

16.8g / Charging case: 49.6g

12g / Charging case: 132g

Driver

12mm

14.2mm

14mm

16.2mm

Earfun OpenJump
One of the other affordable open earbuds you might want to consider comes from Earfun, and they're cheaper in the US but pricier in most other places. These buds don't sound as good but their equalizer has plenty more customization and they last longer.
Read our full Earfun OpenJump review

JLab Epic Open Sport
These contemporary open-ears sound a little better than the OpenRock, however their features don't quite match especially in the battery life.
Read our full JLab Epic Open Sport review

How I tested

The OpenRock S2 underwent roughly two weeks of testing in order to write this review, and as the introduction implies they're just the latest in a long chain of open-ears I've been testing.

During the review period the buds were connected to an Android smartphone and I generally used them for music on Spotify but also occasionally for calls, games, TV show streaming and listening to voice notes. This took place on runs, at the gym, on walks around my neighborhood and at home.

I've been reviewing gadgets for TechRadar since early 2019 and have used a huge range of tech. This includes other open-ear buds as well as past earbuds from OpenRock and other headphones from parent company OneOdio.

Read more about how we test

• First reviewed: July 2025

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to continue with mass firings. And, Trump has threatened Russia with tariffs over its war with Ukraine.

(Image credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

• New Microsoft Research paper identifies areas where AI is already being used the most
• It also shows areas that AI has very little influence on currently
• The research could show potential for AI job augmentation, not just replacement

I don’t know about you, but I have this kind of nagging fear that AI is coming for me one of these days. If not imminently, then in the very near future. One thing that might allay that fear is knowing exactly where AI’s axe is going to fall in the labor market, so that I can make sure I’m always just out of its reach.

The problem is that right now we have a lot of people making bold assumptions about what sorts of jobs AI will take away, but as we all know, no plan survives contact with the enemy, so it might be better to approach the problem from another direction.

A new report from Microsoft Research has analyzed 200,000 real conversations between people and Copilot to understand how AI is being used by people in the workplace right now. This way, we can determine which roles are likely to be the most impacted as companies adopt generative AI in the future.

The most at risk

It should come as no surprise that the jobs the report identified as the most common work activities people seek AI assistance for all involve gathering information and writing, and that the most common activities that AI is performing are providing information and assistance, writing, teaching, and advising.

It turns out that interpreters and translators are top of the list when it comes to compatibility with AI, with a stunning 98% of their activities overlapping with frequent Copilot tasks that have fairly high completion rates.

So, if you're thinking of changing careers to become a translator, it might be worth considering your options. Also at the top of the list are historians, writers and authors, and journalists. It should be no surprise to also see proofreaders, editors, and PR specialists high up on the list, too.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)The most resistant to AI

It’s physical trades involving working with people that are the most resistant to the influence of AI. The report puts nursing assistants, massage therapists, and machinery operators, including truck and tractor drivers, as the most AI-resistant occupations. Manual laborers like roofers, dishwashers, maids, and housekeeping cleaners were also near the top of the list.

The news will be good for some jobs, but terrible for others. Of course, nothing is guaranteed, and if you’re working in one of the most compatible areas for AI (I know I am!), then don’t panic right now because the research could be simply indicating that your area is one that is ripe for augmentation by AI, rather than replacement.

I think there will always be a need for skilled humans in some capacity, even in areas that will be heavily dominated by AI. That said, understanding AI’s impact on jobs is probably going to put you in a better position than if you have no clue about its threats.

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Congratulations, fellow Stranger Things fan! You’re on the home stretch of the three year wait between Stranger Things season 4 and Stranger Things season 5. The final episodes will be split into three releases – volume 1 on November 26, volume 2 on December 25 and the season 5 finale on December 31 – so there’s still a small wait to go, but rumour has it we’re getting the first full season 5 trailer at some point this week.

Today (July 15) marks the first time we ever saw one of the best Netflix shows of all time on screen, with the series debuting nine years ago in 2016. If you can’t remember what happened when we last visited Hawkins (and that’s understandable), our group of best friends attempted to defeat Vecna, causing Max's apparent death as well as the opening of a massive rift between the town and the Upside Down. No big deal, I’m sure.

But as Netflix finally tries to get its fanbase excited about the drawn-out end, a painful question has to be asked. Why should anybody care about Stranger Things season 5 when we’ve been left in the lurch for so long? I’m wondering if it would have been less of a hassle to have been eaten by Vecna when we first met him, and that’s a problem.

Stranger Things season 5 and its trailer are coming, but do we even care?

Let’s put it into context. Since Stranger Things season 4 aired, we’ve had four seasons of The Bear, five seasons of Slow Horses (if you count new episodes we’re going to get in September) and two seasons of Severance… and look how long that took to return. In the Stranger Things world alone, we’ve had the arrival of non-canon West End play The First Shadow, plus the announcement of two spinoffs: animated series Stranger Things: Tales from '85 and live-action show The Boroughs. Everyone and their nan has seemingly complained about not getting season 5 in the meantime, and they’ve got good reason to be annoyed.

Back in the good old days of the mid-2000s, we were regularly whipping through 22-episode seasons of TV like there was no tomorrow. Desperate Housewives and Lost were great examples of this, each requiring a high level of input and resource in their own way. Fast forward two decades, and the consolation prize of feeling lucky to get eight new episodes in three years doesn’t feel like something worth investing in.

Sure, these upcoming episodes are basically feature length movies and the technical craft needed to achieve them is immense, but this is Hollywood, for goodness sake! Every resource we allegedly have at our disposal is supposed to be at the top of its game, able to give us everything we have and haven’t yet dreamed up. From a marketing perspective, Netflix might have thought dragging out the jewel in the crown of its streaming back catalog would make fans hungrier for the end product, but there’s only so far you can stretch the theory in practice.

Of course, I’ll be streaming Stranger Things season 5 like the rest of us, but it will be a reluctant watch. The endless wait over the last few years has definitely made me think twice about investing in shows on one of the best streaming services around, and that’s before we even touch on the frequent cancellations (another story for another day).

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• VRI will complement NCSC's current vulnerability research efforts
• It will be tasked with communicating NCSC's needs with external experts
• The goal is to understand the flaws, patches, and research methodology

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has announced the forming of The Vulnerability Research Initiative (VRI), a new program which will see it partner with third-party cybersecurity experts for vulnerability research in commodity and specialized tech.

The NCSC said it currently operates a team of internal researchers who are experts in common technologies, and who conduct vulnerability research (VR) on a range of technologies and products, from traditional commodity tech, to specialized solutions only used in a few places.

However, the team is unable to keep up with the speed at which the technology industry is changing. New tech is popping up every day, and old tech is evolving beyond recognition, “and thus VR is getting harder”.

Understanding the vulnerabilities

“This means the NCSC demand for VR continues to grow,” NCSC explained.

To tackle the challenge, it decided to create VRI, and bring in third-party help. The program’s goal is to help NCSC’s researchers understand the vulnerabilities present in today’s technologies, the necessary mitigations, how experts conduct their research, and which tools they use in the process.

“This successful way of working increases NCSC’s capacity to do VR and shares VR expertise across the UK’s VR ecosystem,” the press release further reads.

The VRI core team will include technical experts, relationship managers, and project managers, with the core team being responsible for communicating the VR team's requirements to VRI industry partners and for overseeing the progress and outcomes of the research.

In the (near) future, NCSC will bring in more experts to tackle AI-powered, or otherwise AI-related vulnerabilities. Those who are interested in participating in VRI should reach out to the agency via email at vri@ncsc.gov.uk. The address should not be used for sharing vulnerability reports.

Via BleepingComputer

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• Nintendo is asking Japanese players for their thoughts on Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Cards
• It follows reports of low sales for third-party Nintendo Switch 2 software
• It hopefully signals a shift towards more traditional physical releases

Nintendo is asking Japanese players for their thoughts on the controversial Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Cards.

As first spotted by SwitchSoku and reported by VGC, surveys have been going out to Nintendo Switch 2 players in Japan.

The multiple-choice form asks whether you are aware of the existence of Game-Key Cards or currently own any. Next, it lists a number of the characteristics of Game-Key Cards and prompts you to select the ones you already know.

Finally, it asks whether you would choose the digital download version of a piece of software if a Game-Key Card was available.

If you're not aware, Game-Key Cards are a special type of Nintendo Switch 2 release. They are physical game cards that do no contain any substantial data. When inserted into a Nintendo Switch 2 system, they prompt a download of the game much like an eShop purchase.

You need to insert the Game-Key Card every time you want to access the title. The game takes up space on your system's internal storage, negating one of the big benefits of traditional game cards.

The only real benefit of a Game-Key Card is that it can be resold or swapped between multiple consoles freely, though in my eyes this isn't really worth the hassle.

The vast majority of Nintendo Switch 2 third-party releases have been Game-Key Cards, much to the disappointment of some players.

As sales of third-party software has reportedly been lower than expected, I suspect that this survey signals that Nintendo is re-evaluating its approach and hopefully will begin pushing developers towards traditional physical releases.

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A bipartisan bill in Congress would enable President Trump to slap "bone-crushing sanctions" on Russia, says Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

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• The tubular bike comes in two guises, with a top speed of 53mph
• Its frame houses a removable battery that looks like a giant AA
• Prices start at €5,999 (around £5,200/$7,000/AU$10,600)

The story of Sol Motors is a long and slightly turbulent one, as the slightly bizarre, Pocket Rocket electric two-wheeler has been teased for many years but struggled to fully achieve lift off.

Now, the German innovators are ready to release their pipe-shaped urban transport into the wild, with pre-orders being taken now and delivery to anywhere in the world typically taking around 6-8 weeks from point of purchase.

Designed to be small, lightweight and practical, the Pocket Rocket comes in two guises that cover the full spectrum of license requirements in Germany (these will differ across markets).

The standard model, for example, has a peak power output of 6.5kW and is limited to a top speed of 45kph (just under 30mph), which makes it legal to ride on most moped or scooter licenses in Europe.

For those wanting more punch, there’s an S model that develops 8.5kW of peak power and can hit 85kph (or around 53mph), which will generally require an additional license.

Both models weigh just 87kg and offer an electric range of between 42 and 67 miles, depending on the version.

When it comes time to charge, the large tubular battery pack that is housed within the frame’s crossbar can be removed and charged in the house, office or apartment, with Sol even offering a stylish charging station to neatly hang the battery from.

What’s more, customers can buy additional battery packs for rapid swaps, although this will see the final bill increase other the tune of €1,695 (around £1,470/$2,000/AU$3,000).

Similarly, if you go wild with the online configurator, which offers a number of frame, fender and logo colors, the price starts to tickle the €8,000 (around £7,000/$9,300AU$14,200) mark.

Funky, fun but not for everyone

(Image credit: Sol Motors)

The emerging EV landscape has encouraged a number of start-ups to produce all manner of weird and whacky designs, but the Sol Pocket Rocket is up there with some of the strangest.

Why anyone would want to ride atop a drainage tube is anyone’s guess and ergonomically, it doesn’t look like a great options for particularly tall or very short users, as there’s not much in the way of adjustability.

But like Infinite Machine, which produces highly futuristic electric scooters and pedelecs, Sol Motors is offering something a bit different for those wanting lightweight, easy-to-maintain urban transport that turns heads.

Will it be the next big thing? Probably not. But will it raise a few smiles on the streets? Most definitely.

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Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver service fell victim to a simultaneous BGP hijack and route leak event, causing massive internet outages and degradation worldwide. Pakistan caused the most famous BGP outage. The government tried to block access to YouTube within the country. Their misconfiguration caused a worldwide YouTube outage.

Most organizations are targets of attacks 7.5 times a year. And while most are resolved quickly, these are examples of public infrastructure failures that are beyond your control.

What other technology do you rely on every day that was invented in the 1980s? Not your smartphone. Not your car. Not your TV. And definitely not your work tools. Yet, every time you send an email, connect to a website, or deploy a cloud service, you’re relying on core internet protocols that predate the web itself.

The Fragile Foundation

The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) was designed in 1989, an era when the “internet” was barely a concept and security was an afterthought. Back then:

- Home users connected via dial-up modems.

- Businesses considered themselves cutting-edge if they had a T1 line.

- Network reliability was a hope, not an expectation.

BGP’s original purpose was simple: keep the nascent internet stitched together. It provided large institutions with a means to announce which IP address blocks they controlled and to learn about others. The protocol allowed routers across autonomous systems (ASes) to share route announcements and dynamically discover paths to distant networks.

BGP was designed for resilience, not determinism. For openness, not security.

Speed, uptime, and security

Today, we demand speed, uptime, and security that BGP was never built to deliver. Multi-gigabit fiber reaches homes. Enterprises span multiple clouds across continents. Workloads like real-time video, financial transactions, and machine learning require low-latency, high-throughput data paths.

However, BGP still routes traffic based on trust and reachability, rather than performance or identity. It can’t enforce policies. It can’t prevent hijacks. And it certainly can’t guarantee who’s on the other end.

Despite multiple security incidents and efforts, such as RPKI and BGPsec, the internet still routes traffic based on a chain of trust that can be exploited by anyone with a few malicious route announcements. Most fixes require coordination that doesn’t exist and IT infrastructure upgrades that move at glacial speed.

The result? The modern internet rides on a protocol that thinks it’s still 1992.

Public by Default

Another artifact of that era is the Domain Name System (DNS). Created to make numeric IP addresses human-readable, DNS transformed how people accessed websites. Instead of memorizing strings of numbers, you could simply type in a name.

The problem? DNS is public by design.

Every query, every resolution, and every domain is visible and discoverable. Attackers can enumerate subdomains, discover shadow IT resources, and probe for vulnerabilities – all by posing as legitimate users.

We’ve seen this pattern before. Consider phone numbers. In the 1990s, receiving a call or piece of mail felt like an event. Now? Most calls are spam, and most email is junk. People don’t pick up unless they recognize the number. Our relationship with public identifiers has undergone a fundamental shift.

The same evolution is happening with network services. Public IP addresses and DNS names are easily scraped, scanned, and attacked. In an age of automation and AI-assisted hacking, exposing your infrastructure by default amounts to sending an invitation.

Yet we continue treating server addresses like phone numbers in a white pages directory – a model that no longer works for the threats we face.

Obsolete Assumptions

Both BGP and DNS reflect assumptions that simply don’t hold up anymore:

- Assumption: Networks are trusted.

-- Reality: Most attacks now originate from within or via compromised peers.

- Assumption: Routes are stable.

-- Reality: Internet routes change unpredictably due to performance tuning, outages, and misconfigurations.

- Assumption: Identities don’t matter.

-- Reality: Zero-trust architecture has become the standard for secure design.

- Assumption: Services are few and fixed.

-- Reality: Modern architectures dynamically spin up and down thousands of services.

The more we scale and automate, the more these assumptions crumble.

Time for a Rethink

The internet’s early architecture was undeniably brilliant for its time. But that time has passed.

Today’s needs are different. We need:

- Deterministic data paths that can be trusted end-to-end.

- Secure naming systems that are private by default.

- Policy-aware routing that aligns with business, performance, and compliance requirements.

- A model where services announce themselves securely to authorized peers, not to the entire internet.

These aren’t enhancements; they’re necessities.

The irony is striking: everything else in tech has evolved dramatically. Compute became elastic. Storage turned redundant and distributed. Deployment went fully automated. But networking? It’s still largely manual, primarily public, and built mainly on 40-year-old concepts.

This should be our wake-up call. We can’t keep patching internet security with duct tape and hoping for the best. It’s time to challenge the status quo and ask a hard question: are the foundational protocols we depend on every day actually fit for purpose anymore?

Security and privacy can’t remain afterthoughts we layer onto a crumbling foundation. They need to be built from the ground up. That means completely reimagining how the internet connects, routes, and identifies everything.

Think about it: what other critical system in your life still runs on ideas from the 1980s?

LINK!

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

• Windows 11 has a fresh preview build in the Canary channel
• It offers a new adaptive energy saver feature which is opt-in by nature
• Turning it on means Windows 11 will intelligently save battery life whenever the system isn't doing anything taxing

Microsoft is trying out a new feature to help give Windows 11 laptops better battery life, and it sounds like a promising idea.

It's called adaptive energy saver, and as Windows Central noticed, the functionality is now in testing in the Canary channel (the earliest of the four test channels that Microsoft uses).

Normally, energy saver only kicks in when the battery is running low (the exact level at which that happens depends on what the user specifies), but with the new intelligent mode of operation, energy saver will be able to operate at any time.

The idea is that if the system detects that there's not much going on – just basic tasks are running, perhaps just light web browsing, or you're writing an email – energy saver will activate in the background and save some battery.

At the moment, the capability is just rolling out in testing, so not every Windows Insider in the Canary channel will see it to begin with.

It's also an opt-in feature, meaning that you'll have to turn it on in Settings (System > Power & battery) to get the benefit. In other words, by default, nothing will change with the way Windows 11 employs energy saver, unless you specifically turn on adaptive energy saver.

Analysis: a bright idea

(Image credit: Getty Images)

How does adaptive energy saver work? That isn't clear, and Microsoft doesn't provide much in the way of detail in its preview build blog post, save to say that the feature will do its magic "based on the power state of the device and the current system load".

I can only assume that it's going to rein in the CPU and GPU – two of the most power-hungry components inside a laptop (or desktop) – when they're not doing much, which, given how many of us use our laptops, is going to be quite often. So there's a fair chance that this energy-saving trick could actually conserve quite a lot of battery life. (Fingers crossed – and check here for more tips in that same vein, incidentally).

A key point is that the level of brightness set for the screen won't ever be changed by adaptive energy saver. While the display is the other major source of power drain in a laptop, messing with the brightness would likely only annoy users – I know I wouldn't want my screen suddenly growing dimmer for no apparent reason – so it's a sensible decision to put the display to one side here.

While it's obviously designed for laptops, when I first saw this feature I imagined that it could be useful in bringing an eco-friendly element to desktop PCs, too (saving on power bills). That isn't the case, though, and Microsoft makes it clear that this is a notebook-only innovation.

For the more paranoid who are worried about adaptive energy saver perhaps messing with performance when it shouldn't – perhaps due to bugs, for example – it's worth repeating that it will be an opt-in ability. If you don't like the sound of it, just don’t switch the adaptive mode on.

Also, we shouldn't forget that features in testing may not make the cut for final release in Windows 11 anyway – but I'm hoping this one does.

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In this season of Planet Money Summer School, our free economics course for your ears is tackling the biggest economic player of them all: the government.

• French and UK tech experts will collaborate on multiple projects
• One of them is to secure technology used in GPS systems
• GPS needs to be more resilient to blocking and jamming

British and French technology experts will soon be working together more closely to make GPS and other similar technologies more resistant to disruptions.

The news was announced by the UK Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT), which said experts from the two countries will work together on a number of different projects going forward.

This includes strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure to the signal-jamming seen in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

e-LORAN

“From our electricity infrastructure, to transport, to financial transactions, the tech we rely on for everyday life depends on reliable Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT), often provided via satellites,” the announcement reads.

“The conflict in Ukraine has shown how new technologies – in some cases, just small hand-held devices – can be used to disrupt PNT services, potentially causing major disruption to the vast areas of life and the economy reliant on them.”

One of these complementary technologies, highly resistant to jamming, is e-LORAN, a system that uses ground-based radio towers as a “backup” to GPS. DSIT describes it as being “much more challenging” to block, and as such can keep critical UK infrastructure technology running “even when GPS fails”.

The war in Ukraine seems to have exposed significant weaknesses of today’s GPS systems, which could end up in tragedy.

According to Ukrainska Pravda, The Telegraph’s researchers examined Flight Radar data for the first four months of 2024, which included 63 UK military aircraft completing 1,467 flights over Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

“During this time, the United Kingdom’s military aviation flew 504 transport and reconnaissance missions over Eastern Europe, with 142 of them encountering GPS jamming, and in 60 cases, such efforts occurred multiple times,” the publication explained.

At the same time, Business Insider reported Finnish soldiers were training with “basic navigation tools” - paper maps and compasses, due to the unreliability of GPS systems.

Via The Register

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If you weren’t a fan of police procedural Bosch or its subsequent spinoff Bosch: Legacy, there’s a good chance you’re ready to write off Prime Video’s latest installment, Ballard. Despite only being released on July 9, the new TV show has already got an astonishing 100% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes…and that’s excellent news for the franchise as a whole.

But it isn’t just the smashing review score that’s responsible for Ballard’s success. If you’ve not already spotted it on our everything new coming to Prime Video in July 2025 list, the series follows LAPD detective Renée Ballard (Maggie Q) as she oversees a cold case in a new department. As you might imagine, it’s all not as straightforward as that.

Don’t let Bosch: Legacy dissuade you from trying Ballard as it hasn’t set an amazing example for crime fans wanting to tune in. Sure, the critic’s score still stacks up (it also had 100% on Rotten Tomatoes), but Harry Bosch’s (Titus Welliver) retirement was more of the same, and that got tired and stale as the years passed. Even though we drove a cop car head-first into a snooze fest, don’t tarnish Ballard with the same brush.

Don’t write off Prime Video’s Ballard just because Bosch: Legacy was awful

Frankly, there’s never been a better time to be a Bosh: Legacy hater than now. Ballard’s return to the small screen has made stimulating and fresh crime drama look so effortless, it’s difficult to see how the franchise avoided a new lease of life for so long. The fact we only briefly met Ballard herself during the finale of Bosch: Legacy doesn’t hurt (she’s a big part of Michael Connelly’s original book series), but the new show’s sprint towards success runs much deeper than that.

We start off strong with Maggie Q’s casting – the actress is arguably underappreciated in the action movie genre she’s cultivating as her own (Mission: Impossible III remains the best in my book, and she should have had a two-film arc at the very least). Her cold-case detective is sharp and commanding, relentless in the face of the city’s challenges. So far, so good.

Then there’s the storylines themselves. Ballard isn’t choosing to play it safe, extending the danger we’d normally see within the department into the personal lives of characters we’re growing attached to. Ballard beats up an intruder who enters her home, Samira Parker (Courtney Taylor) isn’t afraid to be a voice for the most vulnerable victims, and corrupt police conduct is exposed and tackled without hesitation.

Prime Video has also played it smart by including Bosch as a cameo role in the new series. Those that did appreciate the main series and Bosch: Legacy don’t have to do without him, but there’s more than enough breathing room for Ballard to become its own programme. There are no shadows to stand in here.

So what are you waiting for? Ballard is the new TV show you need to be streaming this week. If nothing else, you might be inspired to kick a door down (or two).

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• A new Gemini Space for Pixel feature has leaked
• It displays information like sports scores and birthdays
• The feature is similar to some parts of One UI 8

Changes are coming to the At a Glance widget that sits on the Pixel home screen, according to hidden code spotted in the latest preview version of Android – and it could evolve to be more like a couple of features in Samsung's One UI software.

The code spotting was done by Android Authority, and the team there was able to get something called Gemini Space up and running in Android Canary (the earliest beta version of Android you can get).

We haven't heard anything official about Gemini Space yet, but it looks to be based on At a Glance, and is able to show more information: Sports scores and birthday reminders, for example, as well as weather forecasts and details of calendar appointments. Some of this info can already be displayed on Android through persistent notifications.

All of these updates can be viewed on the lock screen as well as the home screen, and it seems as though users will also have the option to expand these cards into a Daily Hub that delivers relevant information throughout your day.

Sound familiar?

The At a Glance widget on Pixel phones (Image credit: Future)

Displaying contextually relevant information on the home screen and lock screen – including sports scores, timers, and fitness data – sounds a lot like what Samsung is doing with the Now Bar and Now Brief on One UI 7 and One UI 8.

It seems Google has looked at what Samsung is doing, and wants to follow suit. At the same time, you could also argue that Samsung's widgets were inspired by At a Glance on Pixels – and Live Activities on iOS.

We also know that a feature called Live Updates is coming to Android 16, which will put real-time information on the lock screen as well. Across the board we're seeing improvements to how relevant information gets surfaced for users – no matter which make and model of phone you're using.

It's not clear when the new Gemini Space might make its way to Pixel phones, but you can expect major updates to Android 16 as we go through the rest of the year, including a wider rollout of the Material 3 Expressive redesign.

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• Netflix is about to make a big announcement about Stranger Things season 5
• Fans think an official trailer will be released imminently
• Nobody can agree on when it'll drop online, though

Clutch your walkie talkies and bicycle handlebars tightly, everyone, because the first trailer for Stranger Things season 5 could be with us very, very soon.

Over the past few days, speculation over a potential trailer drop has grown significantly and fans are now convinced an official teaser will be released publicly in the next 24 to 48 hours. Indeed, fan fervor has been driven by two posts on a Stranger Things Instagram broadcast channel, which have raised suspicions that Netflix is preparing to make a major announcement about the hit series' final installment.

Last Friday (July 11), said broadcast channel spluttered back to life after a near 18-month quiet spell. The message, which you can view below, simply said "scanning for signal". Predictably, Stranger Things fans began theorizing about what this message could be alluding to, with many suggesting (via the Stranger Things sub-Reddit and other online forums/social media apps) that a trailer was inbound.

An official teaser for Stranger Things season 5 might be with us in the next day or two (Image credit: Instagram)

Three days later, another message was uploaded that read: "Signal detected: locking in at 7-1-6."

Unsurprisingly, fans jumped to the conclusion that Netflix was not only gearing up to release season 5's first trailer, but that it would arrive on Wednesday, July 16. That's because "7-1-6" is how July 16 is represented using the US calendar format.

The arrival of Stranger Things 5's first trailer is the only logical thing that Netflix can reveal at this point. It's already unveiled the official release dates for Stranger Things season 5 – the streaming titan doing so at Tudum 2025 in late May. I suspect the popular show's devoted fanbase would be incredibly annoyed if the build-up to this big reveal doesn't amount to anything major, so I'm increasingly confident that an actual teaser will be with us in the very near future.

I've reached out to Netflix for comment on what's being teased and I'll update this article if I receive a response.

Why fans can't agree on when Stranger Things 5's first trailer could be released

Some fans think we'll see Hopper and Eleven in a season 5 teaser later today (July 15) (Image credit: Netflix)

While there's evidence pointing towards a trailer for one of the best Netflix shows' fifth and final season arriving on July 16, there are some who think it'll be released a day earlier.

There are indications that this could be true, too. For one, Instagram fan account strangerthingsnetfliix suggested the teaser will drop online on July 15, aka today (at the time of publication). Ordinarily, something like this wouldn't be taken seriously. However, according to Netflix Junkie and the Stranger Things Updates X/Twitter account, Netflix's South African PR division liked the post on the aforementioned fan account. Sure, Netflix South Africa could have done so to mislead fans ahead of the trailer's actual launch on July 16, but I doubt this is the case.

The other big piece of evidence is that July 15 marks the nine-year anniversary since Stranger Things' first season debuted on the world's best streaming service. It would be a fitting tribute to one of the biggest Netflix TV Originals of all-time if a teaser for its final season was released today. However, I think fans are more likely to believe what's posted on the official Stranger Things' Instagram broadcast channel over any fan account. So, don't be surprised if a teaser is released on July 16 and not today.

When do you think we'll see the first trailer for Stranger Things 5? Let me know in the comments. Keep your eyes trained on TechRadar, too, as I'll be covering the teaser (or whatever this announcement is) in due course.

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• Donkey Kong Bananza has seemingly been in development for close to eight years
• That's according to producer, Kenta Motokura
• It's entirely possible Bananza has been in development longer than Grand Theft Auto 6

Donkey Kong Bananza is finally launching in a couple of days' time on July 17, 2025 for Nintendo Switch 2, and it seems like it's the end of a very long road for the game's developers.

Bananza's producer, Kenta Motokura, was recently interviewed by Spanish outlet La Vanguardia (via The Gamer) alongside director Kazuya Takahashi. During the interview, Motokura shared some insight in just how long the game took to make.

"I can't give you very precise details, I can tell you that we started developing it after finishing Super Mario Odyssey," said Motokura.

Super Mario Odyssey originally launched for Nintendo Switch in October 2017, meaning Donkey Kong Bananza has likely had a sizeable development period of close to eight years.

That might not be something you'd expect from a game that stars what Karl Pilkington might call "a little hairy fella," but not only does Bananza seem like it's a massive game, it also has impressive and detailed destructible environments.

Much like how The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had a lengthy six years in development - thanks to its massive additions to the world and impressive physics system - I can imagine Bananza taking a similar time to make for similar reasons.

For further comparison, Rockstar Games parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has claimed that Grand Theft Auto 6 started development "in earnest" only five years ago, around 2020.

So yes, it does seem like the funny monkey game has had a longer development cycle than what is slated to be the most monumental video game release of all time. Food for thought.

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• A detailed specs leak suggests the Pixel 10 Pro Fold could have an IP68 rating
• It might also have a large 5,015mAh battery, among other upgrades
• However, its cameras might not be improved

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is in many ways a very impressive foldable phone, but it has some weaknesses, and going by the latest leak, the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold might not have these same issues.

Android Headlines has shared a detailed Pixel 10 Pro Fold specs list, and one of the most eye-catching aspects is the claim of a 5,015mAh battery. Not only is that significantly higher capacity than the 4,650mAh battery in the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, it’s also far bigger than the 4,400mAh battery in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7.

Samsung actually didn’t increase the capacity at all for the Z Fold 7, so this is one of the more disappointing aspects of that phone.

According to this leak, the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold will also be the first foldable phone to have an IP68 rating. That would mean it’s dust-tight and can be submerged up to 1.5 meters deep in water for up to 30 minutes.

Now, this is a rating that’s commonly found on high-end non-foldable handsets, but foldable phones have really struggled with dust resistance, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 for example only having an IP48 rating, which is the same level of water resistance but means it can only resist dust particles that are greater than 1mm in size.

A better screen but no change to the cameras

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

There are other specs listed too, and some of these are also improvements on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The upcoming phone is said for example to have a 6.4-inch cover screen (up from 6.3 inches on the current model), but due to smaller bezels, the actual size of the handset might not increase.

That screen has also apparently had a brightness boost, reaching up to 3,000 nits (compared to 2,700 nits on the current model), and of course the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is expected to have a new Tensor G5 chipset – though an early benchmark suggests this might not be overly powerful.

Other tipped details include 16GB of RAM once again, but with 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage capacities – the last of which would be new.

Sadly, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s cameras might not be upgraded, with the same source claiming to expect a 48MP main camera, a 10.5MP ultra-wide, a 10.8MP telephoto (with 5x optical zoom), and a pair of 10MP front-facing cameras, all of which would be a match for last year’s phone.

We would however take all of these specs with a pinch of salt, because with the exception of the chipset the majority of this has only come from one source. But we should know for sure what specs the Pixel 10 Pro Fold has soon, as it’s likely to land next month, with August 20 being tipped as the announcement date.

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