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Having toiled away on critically-acclaimed titles in the Metroid series and reviving Konami’s Castlevania series, developer MercurySteam has taken the risk of co-financing their latest project. Blades of Fire is its chance to prove their development skills at crafting their own original idea, and there’s a lot to love about this game’s blend of dark fantasy and mythology.

Review info

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Release date: May 22, 2025

That being said, it’s hard not to feel the weight of legacy and industry trends, rather than instilling this world with bold new ideas, holding this game back from greatness.

Rather than focusing on the negatives, there’s much to appreciate in this new game, particularly the father-son-esque bond at the heart of this story. While the game builds up a story about an ancient race of giants known as Forgers, instilling the knowledge to craft weapons from steel into humanity, with this power being seized by the anointed Queen Nerea to curse those who oppose her and turn steel to stone, the plot is simple. Aran de Lira possesses one of the ancient hammers necessary to forge his own steel, and alongside Asdo, the son of his deceased friend, embarks on a quest to kill the queen.

(Image credit: MercurySteam) Classic is queen

There’s an almost-quaint retro simplicity to which the world of Blades of Fire is introduced: Aran is a lonely figure with an unspoken past that fuels his desire for a solitary existence, yet he’s more than willing to go and save an old friend he hears in danger nearby. The child desires revenge for his father’s death and, thanks to his knowledge of the Forgers, goes on this adventure with Aran to take down the queen.

The contrast of scholarly child and mysterious scarred older man soon warms to you, and not solely due to the similarities between their bond and that of Kratos and Atreus in the recent God of War titles. Asdo is far from an annoying sidekick, balancing wisdom with genuinely funny quips that are enough to make you laugh without grating (and you can always send him away, if you do wish for him to be quiet). I felt a warmth for Aran and a desire to learn more of his past, especially the guarded secrets of his past relationship to the Queen before her descent to despotic control.

Having first expected a practical but minimal story, I was surprised to find myself attached and with a desire to learn more of the rich lore the devs instilled into this world.

There’s an unabashed videogame-y nature to this world and cast, imbued with a quirkiness reminiscent of mid-budget adventure games abundant in the Xbox 360 and PS3 era

This is balanced with an engaging combat system that, though its quirks and intricacies will take time to learn, thanks to an at-first clunky and uncomfortable control scheme, you soon come to appreciate. Victory requires players to learn enemy attack patterns and the best weapons to counter each of them.

All four face buttons are each mapped to their direction of attack: on a PlayStation controller, this means Triangle will strike from above, X from below, and Square and Circle from each side. Depending on an opponent’s armor, it’s required to consider where you strike in order to deal maximum damage, or at times, inflict any damage at all.

The need to be aware of not just when but where you strike is most important in boss fights. One early sub-boss, a troll, requires you to whittle down its health, then slice off a part of the enemy’s body in order to drain it further before it can regenerate. Whether fighting big bosses - one boss at the end of the Crimson Fort is particularly interesting in how it forces you to learn both attack patterns and strike direction to defeat it most effectively - or small-fry enemies, it rarely tires even after dozens of hours have passed.

It may take time to get used to the stamina system that is required to inflict stronger, quicker attacks, and your hands will strain getting used to the unusual grip of having both block and dodging mapped to the left bumper and trigger, but you soon adjust to the fascinating tension it instils to high-stakes conflict.

(Image credit: MercurySteam) Nerves of steel

Embodying the blacksmith skills key to the game’s identity, you must collect materials around the world to forge new weapons. You have complete control over the type of steel you use, which determines weight, speed, strength, blocking, and more, and once you’ve refined this selection, you must then physically hammer the weapon into shape. The closer to the real shape, the more refined the weapon, and therefore the more you can repair it before it’s unusable.

It’s fun, at first. After a while, it becomes repetitive and time-consuming. If you craft a good enough weapon, you can automatically recraft it to this level without replaying the minigame, but if you wish to improve this stat or build a new weapon, you must spend upwards of five minutes forging, grinding the momentum to a shuddering halt.

It’s one of a few issues holding the game back, many tied to the long legacy leading into this game’s development and the weight of adjusting the game’s design to chase industry trends. Many senior developers on Blades of Fire worked on the mostly forgotten 2001 action title named Severance: Blade of Darkness, which, beyond visual similarities, is often regarded as a precursor to the Dark Souls genre in its careful use of stamina and deliberate action.

Best bit

While it takes some time to get used to it, getting to grips with this unusual control scheme and observing a difficult boss’ attack patterns to correctly slice, dodge, and weave your way to victory brings about a primal joy that wills you forward towards the next area on your adventure.

While this makes it perhaps unfair to compare a game refining these 2001 ideas to Dark Souls, it’s hard not to see their implementation, and many other mechanics not found in Severance but introduced to this game are clearly inspired by the industry’s wholesale embrace of the beloved FromSoftware title. Players have limited flasks of health potions that can only be restored by resting at anvils, this game’s thematically fitting equivalent to bonfires, and upon death, players must return to the location they were felled in order to rescue their weapon.

Even if we were to credit these ideas to Severance and not an attempt to create a Soulslike adventure, Blades of Fire’s level design and enemies feel best suited to a style of action opposite to the plodding action and unstoppable attack animations of both titles. In battles against undead hordes, you can at times be facing close to a dozen enemies at once, and even your fastest weapons are useless with the rate at which your attacks are interrupted.

As this game lacks the punishment of lost resources or the risk of losing your weapon forever if you die before reclaiming it, recovering your weapon feels more like a chore and an obligatory feature to adhere to the formula than a design suited to the pace of this adventure.

(Image credit: MercurySteam) A search for souls

It contributed to an overwhelming feeling that the embrace of so many Souls-isms only served to hinder the natural flow of the game, rather than enhance it.

This is before we discuss the game’s cumbersome map, which, through its lack of dimension, can become nearly useless when navigating more complex, multi-level terrain for the next objective.

This is only compounded by the fact that there’s no clear indication in the environment on where to go next, and even the optional objective markers activated by navigating menus and automatically disabled upon clearing that specific objective, unless reactivated, are often useless in more complex multi-level areas. If you’re navigating a multi-floor fortress and miss an inconspicuous door you must unlock with a newly-obtained key, even a marker won’t stop you wandering in circles for 20 minutes or longer, lost and frustrated.

Yet despite my complaints, I felt just enough charm to find myself soldiering forward. There’s an unabashed gamey nature to this world and cast, imbued with a quirkiness reminiscent of mid-budget adventure games abundant in the Xbox 360 and PS3 era, like Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, but non-existent in this modern era of spiraling budgets.

(Image credit: MercurySteam)

For all I can complain about Soulslike inspirations that these days induce more groans than excitement, there’s a simplicity to this quest to go and kill the queen while offering just enough mechanical depth without bogging you down in an overwhelming number of unnecessary systems.

You craft weapons, you fight enemies, you move forward. Simple, but the sense of a human hand touching every asset rather than some overcautious executive or an overzealous focus group drew me even to its flaws.

Blades of Fire is charming, even if its soulslike eccentricities were more of a hindrance to the characters and adventure housed within. This blend of retro simplicity and modern flair won’t be the best game you play in 2025, but it’s likely going to be one of the more charming (and as such memorable), and isn’t that just as good?

Should you play Blades of Fire? Play it if...

You miss your Xbox 360 or PS3
There’s an indescribable essence to this game that feels like a lost title from the PS3 and 360 generation, modernized with quality-of-life and graphics improvements, giving it a feel unlike many other modern games.

You enjoy customizing your weapons
The gameplay is fun, but key to victory is picking the right choice from dozens of refinements of steel while even customizing the pommel and small of your weapons to your playstyle. Understanding the best way to craft a weapon takes patience.

Don't play it if...

You aren’t a fan of Dark Souls or soulslikes
While not a soulslike, many mechanics indicative of the famous series are present, and likely won’t gel with players seeking a more fast-paced action adventure.

Accessibility features

Accessibility features in Blades of Fire are limited. Camera shake and motion blur can be adjusted, alongside the size and color of subtitles but otherwise, the default text is small, and it lacks many commonplace accessibility features such as colorblind modes.

How I reviewed Blades of Fire

I played just over 30 hours of the game on a base PS5 model using a standard DualSense controller on standard difficulty, getting all the way through the game to the latter stages of the main story.

I utilized an ASUS VG27AQL1A gaming monitor, while for audio, a mix of Denon speakers and a wireless audio adapter, and AirPods Max were used.

First reviewed May 2025

If you’d have told a 33-year-old Tom Cruise at the 1996 premiere of Mission: Impossible that he’d be promoting — and not just promoting, living — the same film franchise 29 years and seven instalments later, he probably would’ve believed you right there and then.

There are plenty of seemingly impossible things about Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, but Cruise’s commitment to the character of Ethan Hunt is not one of them. Brian De Palma’s big-screen reboot of the 1966 Mission: Impossible TV series was the first to be produced by Cruise’s then-new production company C/W Productions, and the ageless star has since committed to going bigger and better with each subsequent instalment.

The Final Reckoning is, we presume, the last Mission: Impossible movie for some time (maybe ever!), and though it’s certainly no better than what’s come before – in truth, it probably places fifth or sixth in our ranking of the Mission: Impossible movies – it’s most definitely bigger than anything else you’ve seen (or will see) this year.

Back in the saddle

The series' eighth entry picks up where 2023’s Dead Reckoning left off, with Ethan and the rest of the IMF gang still trying to outfox the rogue artificial intelligence system known as 'the Entity'. It’s essentially the same Big Bad as before, except now the Entity is hell-bent on nuclear armageddon, and it’s also started to brainwash small pockets of the populace into supporting its apocalyptic cause (some people just have to be part of a club).

To ensure its own survival when the bombs start to fall, the Entity needs access to a secure digital bunker in South Africa, and it’s here that our heroes hope to trap ChatGPT-on-steroids using a combination of various hard-to-get-hold-of MacGuffins, including an elaborate USB stick buried in the belly of a sunken Russian submarine. So far, so Mission: Impossible.

There are many, many other facets to The Final Reckoning’s convoluted story, which is even more difficult to follow than the plot of the original Mission: Impossible, but the film is essentially a '90s disaster movie dressed up as a commentary on AI and misinformation.

That’s not necessarily unbecoming of the franchise – Ethan has always been dropped into a race against time to save the world – but, to its detriment, The Final Reckoning feels distinctly more grandiose than any other Mission movie before it, with more time devoted to politicking and fate-of-the-world decision-making than to ingenious gadgetry and covert spycraft.

Ethan spends precious little time with his IMF crew in The Final Reckoning (Image credit: Paramount)

Mission: Impossible is at its best when Ethan and his band of IMF misfits are infiltrating a famous landmark or pulling off an improbable escape, quipping at each other as they do so (the Burj Khalifa sequence in Ghost Protocol is an all-timer example of that formula in action). The Final Reckoning swaps this playful tone for doom and gloom in a bid to raise the emotional stakes, but the trade-off is a more serious, arguably un-Mission: Impossible-like experience overall.

This sentiment isn’t helped by an exposition-heavy first hour, which jumps between locations, characters, and plot threads like a YouTube recap of the Mission: Impossible series so far. Flashbacks are fine in moderation, but the sheer number of them deployed by director Christopher McQuarrie in the opening moments of The Final Reckoning is an indictment of the film’s unwieldy story.

Getting down to business

The underwater sequence is an instant Mission: Impossible classic (Image credit: Paramount)

Mercifully, things take a turn for the action-packed about halfway through, when Ethan jumps into the Bering Sea in search of that aforementioned Russian submarine. It’s here that we’re introduced to Captain Bledsoe, played with scene-stealing aplomb by Severance star Tramell Tillman, and the first of two outrageously gripping stunts gets underway.

If you’ve seen any of The Final Reckoning’s trailers or posters, you’ll know that the biplane sequence – shot at 8,000 feet in 140mph winds with no CGI – is being framed as the film’s centerpiece, and while it’s undeniably impressive, the earlier submarine sequence is arguably the bigger highlight. Here, McQuarrie and Cruise use a combination of digital effects and practical wizardry to simulate the inside of a missile-filled submarine at the bottom of the ocean, and the sense of scale and jeopardy the pair achieve is staggering.

Watching Cruise dodge nuclear warheads under life-threatening amounts of pressure will have you, too, feeling like you’re trapped on the ocean floor, especially if you experience this ordeal in the expanded aspect ratio afforded by IMAX.

Quite frankly, The Final Reckoning is saved by its two major set-pieces. They bring a much-needed injection of excitement to an otherwise drawn-out disaster story, and while the film as a whole could do with more action and less situation-room drama, these stunts will remind you why you paid the ticket price. Nobody is doing it like Tom Cruise, and this eighth and potentially final entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise – for all its many shortcomings – hammers home that truth and then some. Cue the theme music!

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning arrives in theaters and IMAX on May 21 (UK) and May 23 (internationally).

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is defending major cuts in the foreign affairs budget as he testifies on Tuesday before the Senate committee where he used to serve.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

• Windows 10’s May update carries a bug that could be a painful experience
• Microsoft has rushed out an emergency fix already
• Be sure to apply that fix before you install the May update – but if you’ve already encountered this bug, there’s still a way out

Windows 10 users need to be aware of a fresh bug in the latest update for the OS, even though it’s a glitch that’s going to be much more prevalent with business laptops rather than consumer machines.

That’s because if your Windows 10 PC does encounter the problem, it can be quite a nasty one to have to rescue your system from – and you can avoid any potentially technically traumatic episode by simply installing an emergency fix Microsoft has just rushed out.

Windows Latest reported the issue with the May update for Windows 10, which causes an affected PC to fail to install the upgrade, and then run an automatic repair – a process that can happen several times, confusingly.

Adding further to the confusion is that if you have BitLocker or Device Encryption turned on (so the data on your drive is encrypted), you’ll end up at the recovery screen. That recovery process asks for your key ID, and if you don’t have that info to hand, then you’re in something of a pickle, shall we say.

Let’s cover those all-important caveats first, though, the main one being that to be affected, your PC must be running an Intel vPro processor (10th-gen or newer). This is because the bug relates to Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT for short) which is part of the vPro array of security measures.

As the name suggests, vPro is a brand of chips mostly used for professional (business) notebooks, but they can be found in consumer laptops, too. As Microsoft notes: “Consumer devices typically do not use Intel vPro processors and are less likely to be impacted by this issue.”

It’s worth checking if your PC has such an Intel vPro chip inside, and if it has, if you haven’t already installed the May update for Windows 10 22H2, whatever you do, push pause on that.

Rather than grabbing the May cumulative update, to avoid the bug in question, make sure you install Microsoft’s emergency patch which was deployed yesterday.

This is KB5061768, which you can only install manually – it won’t be delivered by Windows Update. Get it from Microsoft’s update catalog here, and download the ‘Windows 10 version 1903 and later’ variant which is correct for your PC. (That’s likely the 64-bit (or x64) version – check your processor type in the Device Specifications section of System > About in the Settings app, but if you don’t have a 64-bit CPU and OS, you want the x86 version, ignore the Arm variant).

(Image credit: MAYA LAB / Shutterstock) Breaking down the problem – and what to do if you’re already hit, and locked out of your PC

What’s actually happening with this glitch? There’s some problem with the May update for Windows 10 which is causing a process (lsass.exe, a security-related service) to be terminated unexpectedly. This is prompting the automatic repair process to run to try and fix things, though as noted above, your Windows 10 PC may make several repeated failed attempts to install the update before it gives up and rolls back to the previous (April) update (hopefully).

That’s messy, but things are worse for those using Device Encryption or BitLocker, who could end up stuck at the recovery screen if they don’t have their recovery key to hand.

So, what happens if you’ve missed the boat to install this emergency fix from Microsoft, as you’ve already installed the May update for Windows 10, and now you can’t get into your system (past the recovery screen) to download and apply said fix?

Well, in this case, Microsoft advises that to start Windows 10 successfully, you’ll need to turn off Intel Trusted Execution Technology and another setting, Intel VT for Direct I/O, in your PC’s BIOS. However, that apparently requires entering your BitLocker recovery key (again, problematic if you don’t have it on hand).

If you’re stuck in this particular dead-end, according to Windows Latest, it’s possible to simply turn off Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) in your BIOS, without touching the other setting (Intel VT), and then you can successfully restart your PC to get back to the desktop.

The first step here is to get into the BIOS, and the method to do this varies depending on your PC (check the manuals supplied with your machine). The key to access the BIOS can be one of a number of possibilities, but it’s often F2, F10, or F12, which you press repeatedly as the system just starts to boot up.

Once in the BIOS, you need to find the Intel TXT (or Trusted Execution Technology) setting. This is likely in Security > Virtualization, or System Security Settings, or some label pertaining to Security or System Configuration. It’ll most likely be a security-related title, so check carefully through any such option screens looking for Intel TXT. When you locate this, turn it off, but as mentioned, you can leave Intel VT for Direct I/O alone.

Now choose the option to save changes to the BIOS and reboot your PC, and you should be back in Windows 10, where you can now install Microsoft’s patch (KB5061768) from the update catalog. Once that’s done, you can go back into your BIOS and switch Intel TXT back on.

All things considered, to avoid any potential messing around like this, it’s a far better idea to install the fix before you grab the May cumulative update for Windows 10.

This is not the first time Microsoft has visited a bug like this on Windows 10 users (or indeed Windows 11 PCs). It’s also worth remembering that if you’re running Windows 11, and you upgrade to the latest version, 24H2, using a clean install, this applies the Device Encryption feature automatically. Note that an in-place upgrade to Windows 11 24H2 won’t do this, only a clean install of Windows 11 24H2. Furthermore, it has to be an installation linked to a Microsoft account, too, as that’s where the encryption recovery key info is saved (which is why you must be very careful about deleting a Microsoft account, as the key vanishes with it).

Device Encryption is basically a ‘lite’ version of BitLocker, providing encryption for Windows 11 Home PCs, but it only covers the data on the main system drive.

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Adams said he expects "to be checking out from this domain sometime this summer." The controversial cartoonist, a vocal supporter of President Trump, expressed compassion for former President Biden.

(Image credit: Lea Suzuki)

Ransomware remains one of the most disruptive and costly cyber threats facing businesses and public sector organizations. In June 2024, a ransomware attack on Synnovis, an NHS laboratory services provider, resulted in £32.7 million in damages – over seven times its annual profits. This incident caused widespread disruption to medical procedures across London hospitals, further reinforcing the real-world consequences of such attacks.

This is just one example of the many high-profile incidents that have occurred over the years, despite successful efforts by the UK Government and their allies to use various tools to disrupt and counter the operations of ransomware gangs.

One tool under consideration by the UK Government is extending a ban on ransom payments beyond central government to all public sector bodies and Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) operators.

The aim is clear: reducing the financial incentives that sustain ransomware operations. While disrupting the revenue stream for cybercriminals is a logical step, it raises a critical question: will this make the public sector and CNI more resilient?

The pitfalls of paying ransom

While paying a ransom may seem an appealing way to quickly recover your operations, it is a risky gamble. There is no guarantee that cybercriminals will restore access to systems, refrain from selling your stolen data, or even re-exploit an organization. Furthermore, organizations risk making payments to a sanctioned entity that might have obfuscated their affiliation

If public sector organizations are stripped of the option to pay, they need to be equipped with the resources to defend against and recover from attacks. That might require additional funding to bolster security and resilience programs, timely access to specialist expertise, and the use of real-world threat intelligence to guide decisions. The NHS, for example, presents a particularly complex challenge - could a blanket ban on payments be maintained in cases where a ransomware attack might impact public safety?

Additionally, if ransom payments become increasingly banned, they may be excluded from cyber insurance coverage. Organizations could face steeper premiums as insurers adjust for potentially increased recovery costs. Forensic investigations, system rebuilds, and operational downtime might exceed the cost of a ransom demand.

The supply chain dimension of ransomware attacks

Comprehensive supply chain security should be a critical part of an organization's resilience strategy. Even if an organization has strong cybersecurity defenses, it is still vulnerable if its suppliers do not.

The government is weighing up whether to extend ransom payment prohibitions to critical suppliers of public sector bodies and CNI. If suppliers fall victim to ransomware, how confident can organizations be that those suppliers can recover quickly without paying?

A ransomware attack on a critical supplier can trigger a domino effect. Many businesses lack visibility into these hidden dependencies, only realizing their exposure when a disruption occurs. A single compromised supplier could paralyze multiple organizations downstream, causing widespread outages and significant business challenges.

Without clear visibility of supply chain risks, businesses can only prepare for a limited range of scenarios and are unable to identify and prepare for risks resulting from dependencies from suppliers existing at the 4th party level and beyond, i.e. subcontractors and suppliers’ suppliers.

Industry-wide collaboration can increase resilience

Regardless of whether ransom payments get banned, the key to enhancing operational resilience to ransomware attacks lies in proactive, collaborative defense. When businesses share information about suppliers, they may spot risks that a single company might miss on its own. By exchanging timely insights, organizations can detect and respond to emerging threats before they escalate into serious incidents.

Mapping out these connections help reveal concentration risks where an attack could cause widespread damage. Organizations may then initiate discussions with targeted suppliers on their ability to recover from a ransomware attack without the ability to pay a ransom.

Additionally, by taking a broad view across the industry, this enables organizations to make informed decisions on their overall supplier base. This may include whether to diversify their set of suppliers to reduce concentration risks or introduce additional controls to reduce exposure to ransomware attacks.

Organizations can better prepare for additional risk scenarios that are only illuminated after consolidating supply chain information with their peers and seeing a comprehensive and holistic view of their supply chain. While many businesses recognize that a supplier might be the limiting factor in their overall security, it is imperative for them to understand that this potential limiting factor may be beyond their current visibility.

Banning ransom payments may remove some of the financial incentives for cybercriminals, but it won’t make ransomware disappear. However, organizations are right to scrutinize their suppliers’ ability to resume operations without paying a ransom. Therefore, the real challenge lies in building organizational resilience – and that requires a shift in mindset.

Businesses must move beyond siloed thinking and treat cybersecurity as a shared responsibility. Only by working collaboratively with peers, suppliers, and regulators, and by broadening visibility across the supply chain to identify and address potential risks, can we reduce the impact of ransomware and make it less viable business model for criminals.

We've featured the best malware removal.

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

It's the Amazon-owned company's seventh test market, with plans to start autonomous driving there this summer.

• GitHub's latest Copilot agent is embedded straight into the platform
• It'll boot a secure dev environment and clone your repo before cracking on
• If you need to make further changes, just leave a comment in the thread

Announced at Microsoft's annual developer conference, Build 2025, GitHub launched a new and updated version of its Copilot AI assistant designed to streamline the integration of computer-aided coding even further.

"GitHub Copilot now includes an asynchronous coding agent, embedded directly in GitHub and accessible from VS Code," the company wrote.

GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke explained how the agent gets to work in the background when you assign a GitHub issue to Copilot or prompt it in VS Code, adding that it enhanced productivity without putting organizations' security at risk.

GitHub's Copilot agent sits quietly in the background, ready to spring into action

"Having Copilot on your team doesn’t mean weakening your security posture – existing policies like branch protections still apply in exactly the way you’d expect," Dohmke explained.

The new tool works by booting a secure dev environment via GitHub Actions, cloning the repo, analyzing the codebase and pushing to a draft pull request. Users can observe session logs for greater visibility, validation and progress, with the Copilot agent promising to help across feature implementation, bug fixes, test extensions, refactoring and documentation improvements.

Dohmke also noted that users can give the coding agent access to broader context outside of GitHub by using Model Context Protocol (MCP).

The Copilot agent acts much like a human colleague in that it will tag you for review, where you can then leave a further comment asking it to make more changes, which it processes automatically.

Emphasizing the enterprise-grade security measures, GitHub noted: "The agent’s internet access is tightly limited to a trusted list of destinations that you can customize." GitHub Actions workflows also need developer approval.

Copilot Enterprise and Copilot Pro+ will be the first account types to get access to GitHub's new powerful agent, with each model request the agent makes costing one premium request from June 4, 2025.

GPT-4.1, GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 3.7 Sonnet and Gemini 2.5 Pro each account for one premium request, however more powerful and complex models have considerably higher multipliers. For example, one question using o1 costs 10 premium requests, and GPT-4.5 has a 50x multiplier. On the flip side, Gemini 2.0 Flash has a 0.25x multiplier, meaning four questions cost one premium request.

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Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Tuesday, May 20 (game #1212).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1213) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1213) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 0.

Quordle today (game #1213) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1213 - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1213) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• N

• C

• D

• D

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

Quordle today (game #1213) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1213, are…

• NOVEL
• CHOSE
• DIRTY
• DONUT

If I had chosen COULD as a start word instead of WOULD I would/could have finished today’s Quordle a little more quickly, but that’s my only gripe.

NOVEL was the only word I struggled to find, but with three letters in the correct positions it didn’t take long to uncover it. How was it for you?

The Daily Sequence was far more challenging after I took seven tries to get the first word.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1213) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1213, are…

• HOWDY
• STOCK
• SILLY
• SHOWY

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1212, Tuesday, 20 May: DECOY, SHAKE, MAPLE, PURER
• Quordle #1211, Monday, 19 May: LINK, HANDY, DITCH, WAIVE
• Quordle #1210, Sunday, 18 May: QUACK, ROACH, PURGE, DOWNY
• Quordle #1209, Saturday, 17 May: STRIP, RANGE, UNITE, GEESE
• Quordle #1208, Friday, 16 May: SHEEP, SNUCK, DRIFT, BREAK
• Quordle #1207, Thursday, 15 May: PAINT, CROUP, PEDAL, FLUKE
• Quordle #1206, Wednesday, 14 May: FAVOR, METER, PICKY, MAKER
• Quordle #1205, Tuesday, 13 May: SCENT, AGAPE, POLAR, YEARN
• Quordle #1204, Monday, 12 May: ROYAL, ARGUE, BUNCH, READY
• Quordle #1203, Sunday, 11 May: QUASH, MUNCH, ALTER, UNDUE
• Quordle #1202, Saturday, 10 May: RELIC, BADGE, CHAMP, SATIN
• Quordle #1201, Friday, 9 May: MINUS, CRIME, NOSEY, SLAIN
• Quordle #1200, Thursday, 8 May: ELUDE, GREET, POPPY, ELITE
• Quordle #1199, Wednesday, 7 May: QUOTH, TRUNK, BESET, NAIVE
• Quordle #1198, Tuesday, 6 May: UNITE, SOGGY, FILET, PORCH
• Quordle #1197, Monday, 5 May: WREAK, COWER, STEAD, QUEUE
• Quordle #1196, Sunday, 4 May: PINCH, SMOKE, SCARY, CANNY
• Quordle #1195, Saturday, 3 May: PLUSH, VERGE, WROTE, CONDO
• Quordle #1194, Friday, 2 May: CAUSE, RISEN, MACAW, SMELT
• Quordle #1193, Thursday, 1 May: IDIOM, EXILE, SPOOF, DRAPE

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, May 20 (game #709).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

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

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #710) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• TRASH
• PATCH
• LAPTOP
• BAR
• REFUSE
• MUSIC
• COMPACT
• DESKTOP
• CLAM
• BLOCK
• TABLET
• PICTURES
• CREAM
• WAFFLE IRON
• DENY
• SPRAY

NYT Connections today (game #710) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: No way in
• GREEN: Computer storage
• BLUE: Pharmacy products
• PURPLE: Type of hinge

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #710) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: PROHIBIT, AS ENTRY 
• GREEN: FOLDERS ON A MAC 
• BLUE: MEDICINE FORMATS 
• PURPLE: THINGS THAT OPEN LIKE A CLAM 

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

NYT Connections today (game #710) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #710, are…

• YELLOW: PROHIBIT, AS ENTRY BAR, BLOCK, DENY, REFUSE
• GREEN: FOLDERS ON A MAC DESKTOP, MUSIC, PICTURES, TRASH
• BLUE: MEDICINE FORMATS CREAM, PATCH, SPRAY, TABLET
• PURPLE: THINGS THAT OPEN LIKE A CLAM CLAM, COMPACT, LAPTOP, WAFFLE IRON

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I found this Connections to be the easiest for a while – possibly because I own a MacBook that opens like a clam, and I'm forever blocking people, and I take a lot of medicine.

Including CLAM in the category THINGS THAT OPEN LIKE A CLAM seems like a bit of a cheat and not a very Connections thing to do, but I’m struggling to think what could take its place other than describing very particular brands of backpack that open that way rather than the traditional duffel bag style.

Still, it helped me get a purple group very early, which made me feel clever, so zero complaints from me.

I’m guessing that some PC users may have found FOLDERS ON A MAC puzzling through pure dint of the fact that they find anything to do with a Mac puzzling.

As a user of both operating systems I can reveal that having a “recycle bin” instead of TRASH aside they are both the same. Especially if you are just using them to play Connections on!

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, May 20, game #709)

• YELLOW: ACCOUNT BOOK LEDGER, LOG, RECORD, REGISTER
• GREEN: SEEN IN A BARN BALE, HORSE, PITCHFORK, TROUGH
• BLUE: DETECTIVES OF KID-LIT BROWN, DREW, HARDY, HOLMES
• PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "BED" CANOPY, DAY, MURPHY, WATER

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, May 20 (game #443).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #444) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Three's a crowd

NYT Strands today (game #444) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• PATCH
• DOME
• RENT
• COLT
• CHIRP
• TINS

NYT Strands today (game #444) - hint #3 - spangram letters How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 13 letters

NYT Strands today (game #444) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 3rd row

Last side: right, 1st row

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

NYT Strands today (game #444) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #444, are…

• MATCH
• PAIR
• PARTNERS
• TWINS
• TWOSOME
• COUPLE
• SPANGRAM: DOUBLE TROUBLE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Sometimes it can take a while to see the spangram in its entirety. I’d tapped out double, doubles, and doublers before I saw DOUBLE TROUBLE.

Today’s theme is, of course, based around the phrase “two’s company, three’s a crowd” but I was uncertain what we were looking for originally – so began by looking for words that would give me a hint.

After seeing the word PATCH I looked for other words with the same A-T-C-H ending and got MATCH, quickly followed by PAIR and PARTNERS.

Incidentally, I asked Google who the most famous TWINS in the world are and it responded with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. My favorite British twins are Xand and Chris van Tulleken, two celebrity British doctors who I struggle to tell apart and whose names I struggle to spell, but who are both wonderful medical mythbusters and podcasters. Not as famous as the Olsens and unlikely to start a boho chic fashion empire, but equally interesting.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, May 20, game #443)

• DESSERT
• SOUP
• SALAD
• CHEESE
• APPETIZERS
• ENTREE
• SPANGRAM: FINE DINING

What is NYT Strands?

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

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

• The Marshall Heston 120 soundbar launches on 3 June 2025
• And it will set you back an almighty $1000 / £899
• Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and HDMI passthrough

Marshall, known for its amp-making heritage and rock ‘n’ roll-inspired speakers, is taking its first steps into an all-new product category: soundbars.

The audio brand’s very first soundbar, the Marshall Heston 120, is coming to your living rooms from June 3 2025 and will be available for an eye-watering $999 / £899 (about AU$1599). Marshall’s Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbar is over 100cm long – suitable for the best 55-inch TVs and up – and promises a “colossal audio experience” with both “immersive and spacious sound”.

However, it doesn’t harness a separate sub or rear speakers to supply this, with Marshall instead opting for an all-in-one design. As a result, it feels that this is a natural competitor to the excellent-sounding Sonos Arc Ultra, which holds the title of ‘best all-in-one soundbar’ in our guide to the best soundbars available today.

Getting hands on with the Heston 120

(Image credit: Future)

I was lucky enough to be among the very first to hear the Marshall Heston 120 at Marshall’s headquarters in Stockholm. First of all, I was struck by its luxury, retro design – something I’ve always loved about products like the Marshall Monitor III ANC and the Marshall Emberton III.

Its faux leather outer casing combined with sleek golden details makes it stand out in a market full of chunky black plastic bars.

There’s a lot of attention to detail with design, too. For instance, Marshall has installed three tactile dials for controlling volume, EQ and source. These use haptic feedback for a satisfying user experience, and are made of knurled metal – another nod to Marshall’s amp-related roots. There are also buttons for different sound modes such as Music, Movie, Night, or Voice.

But what you’re probably most keen to find out, is how did the Heston 120 sound? Well, I only got a brief demo in a space that almost mimicked a living room. But from what I heard, this thing is pretty impressive.

Marshall showed off the Heston 120’s capabilities across three formats: stereo music; Dolby Atmos music; and Dolby Atmos movies. Ed Camphor, Audio Technology and Tuning Lead at Marshall Group, told me that “our focus was very much on getting a good level of polish on every format”, and that certainly seemed to be the case.

(Image credit: Future)

For instance, when listening to stereo music, I was instantly smacked with punchy, impactful bass – the kind that so many soundbars struggle to replicate, particularly without the help of a dedicated sub.

Dolby Atmos music impressed me too – when tuning into bury a friend by Billie Eilish, vocal pans were tracked accurately with rumbling, deep bass and haunting screams piercing through.

Finally, we watched a portion of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace on Disney Plus. The directionality of soaring spaceships in one scene was delivered with precision, and the soundbar recreated big sound effects such as ships overtaking and crashing cleanly, in a true-to-life manner. Unfortunately, Jar Jar Binks’ dialogue was crystal-clear, all the way through the scene.

Of course, these are only my initial impressions from a demo, so if you want my full and unfiltered thoughts, you’ll have to wait for my full review. That’s coming soon…

Into the nitty gritty…

(Image credit: Future)

So, in terms of tech specs, the Marshall Heston 120 makes use of 11 active drivers, which includes height channels to capture the verticality needed for ‘true’ Dolby Atmos and side channels for truly expansive audio. Altogether, you’re getting a maximum power output of 150W in a 5.1.2 configuration. Of course, there’s Dolby Atmos compatibility for movies and music alike, but the Heston 120 also supports DTS:X content as well, which is an advantage it has over the Sonos Arc Ultra (Sonos continues to avoid DTS support).

There are so many ways to play through the Heston 120 too. There are HDMI eARC and HDMI passthrough ports (another plus it has over the Arc Ultra, which only has one HDMI port), RCA stereo and mono slots, as well as both Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6 compatibility.

You can play music over Apple AirPlay 2, and Marshall has also integrated a range of streaming services, including Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Airable. These can also be bound to preset buttons for easy access. There’s even Auracast.

One more nice little nugget of info is that Marshall will revamp its companion app in tandem with the launch of the Heston 120 soundbar. This unlocks detailed EQ options, remote control of volume, source and sound modes, as well as room calibration options to get the best sound for your living space.

The app is so fleshed out, in fact, that the Heston 120 will not come with a separate remote – all you need is your phone and you’ll be ready to go.

Marshall may be launching the Heston 120 as a standalone soundbar, but it has confirmed that later down the line, you’ll be able to snap up the Heston Sub 200 – a separate subwoofer – to really feel that low-end eruption.

On top of that, a smaller soundbar, the Heston 60, will be available to those who are working with a little less room. Both will release later in 2025 and we’ll be sure to keep you updated with more details as they come.

The Marshall Heston 120 soundbar is available for pre-order now and will go on sale from June 3rd 2025 via Marshall’s own website. It will later become available with select retailers from September 16th 2025.

(Image credit: Future) You might also like

• Want to get to grips with the Marshall Heston 120’s competition? Then take a look at our list of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars
• Want a flashy new soundbar but working on a tight budget? Fear not – we’ve got you covered with our guide to the best cheap soundbars

As artificial intelligence becomes more integral to businesses across all industries, small and medium-sized companies are slowly integrating it. In 2024, only 26% of these types of businesses used the technology, despite 76% recognizing its value.

However, as AI's benefits become more pronounced, these businesses will only benefit from integrating it into their operations. As a critical tool, AI can help these businesses build and foster stronger relationships with clients, develop innovative solutions that allow them to compete better with larger institutions and increase efficiency, allowing them to focus on business growth.

Transformative potential AI has for small-and medium-sized businesses

In the coming years, small and medium-sized businesses must incorporate AI to remain competitive in an ever-changing business landscape. The good news is that AI can enable smaller organizations to break through competitively and provide more personalized offerings to clients across industries.

The impact across industries is telling. In the accounting and finance industry, the shift to AI can empower businesses to move from traditional number-crunching services to personalized advisory relationships. Within sales and marketing, AI can go beyond providing predictive insights and can offer real-time personalization to improve sales conversion rates.

AI can provide employees with seamless service and connectivity in the IT industry, where building a digital workplace is the standard. Furthermore, within customer service, AI-powered agents and chatbots help maintain a consistent brand voice across all client engagements while automating inquiries and communications to provide answers at a previously impossible pace.

The bottom line: no matter the industry, AI is improving business outcomes, and small- to medium-sized businesses have much to gain from the technology.

Where to start: clean data is crucial for successful AI integration

It is clear that AI has many benefits, but an AI algorithm is only as good as the data it learns from. Clean, well-structured data is essential for AI models to function accurately and efficiently. AI systems can produce biased, misleading or outright incorrect results without it. Data must be accurate, complete, consistent, unique, valid and timely.

One of the most significant risks of poor data quality is bias. If an AI model is trained on incomplete, inconsistent or skewed data, it will replicate and even amplify those biases. Overrepresenting data from one source while unnecessarily reducing the representation of another can have serious consequences, from discriminatory hiring practices to inaccurate medical diagnoses.

In short, AI models rely on patterns within datasets to make predictions and decisions. The outputs will be unreliable if the data contains errors—such as duplicates, missing values or incorrect labels.

Furthermore, inconsistent and inaccurate data could slow down processing times, increase business costs, and require extensive human intervention to correct mistakes. On the other hand, when data is clean, AI models can train faster and operate more effectively, saving both time and resources. Whether it’s customer interactions, financial transactions or healthcare records, people need to know that AI-driven decisions are based on reliable information.

Poor data quality erodes confidence, while clean data strengthens the credibility of AI systems. Good, clean data is the foundation of successful AI. Without it, even the most sophisticated models will fail to deliver meaningful results. Ensuring high data quality should be a top priority for any organization looking to use AI.

Steps to take to improve data quality

For small and medium-sized businesses to reap the benefits of AI, they must use modern data management tools to guard data quality, including implementing high data quality standards, data structuring and data governance policies.

The first step is to clean and structure the data into a format that AI algorithms can efficiently process and analyze to extract meaningful insights and make accurate predictions. Data is gathered from various sources, including databases, files and application programming interfaces. Once collected, data cleaning is performed to remove inconsistencies, errors and irrelevant information. The data is then converted into a format suitable for AI algorithms, such as numerical values, vectors or graphs.

Data structuring techniques vary based on the type and purpose of the data. For example, relational databases store data in tables with rows and columns, making them ideal for structured data. In contrast, NoSQL databases offer more flexibility by storing data in various formats, making them suitable for unstructured or semi-structured data.

Finally, data storage ensures that the structured data is efficiently organized and accessible for AI processing. Each step is critical for optimizing AI performance and delivering accurate, meaningful insights.

Ensuring data governance

Organizations need a robust data governance framework to maintain high data quality. This internal governance structure—like a cross-functional committee or task force—sets policies, processes and accountability measures.

First, this framework should assign clear roles and responsibilities for managing data, which will help ensure accountability and safeguard critical information. Next, businesses must enforce data controls and standardize formatting and data structures across systems to promote consistency.

Once organizations have established their framework, they should maintain real-time updates and scheduled data refreshes, keeping data relevant. Additionally, compliance with validation rules and predefined formats must be maintained.

Finally, businesses of all sizes must provide user-friendly interfaces, clear documentation and efficient retrieval systems to ensure data is accessible and valuable. Comprehensive data coverage across all relevant systems and processes is necessary.

AI has the potential to transform small and medium-sized businesses significantly. However, the success of these AI initiatives depends heavily on the quality and structure of the data they utilize. By improving data quality through robust standards, effective structuring, comprehensive governance policies and modern management tools, these businesses can fully leverage AI to gain a competitive edge and drive innovation.

We've featured the best small business software.

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

• A security researcher found a way to pull all sorts of sensitive data from a call
• Among the data was geo-location information as well
• The bug was present since early 2023 but was now fixed

O2 UK has fixed a vulnerability in its VoLTE and Wi-Fi Calling implementations that allowed malicious actors to discover people’s locations and other identifiers.

Back in 2017, the company introduced the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) service, called “4G Calling”. The service provides better audio quality, and more reliable phone calls. However, Daniel Williams, a security researcher, recently analyzed the feature and discovered that during the call, he was able to pull all sorts of information about his conversation partner, straight from the network.

That data includes IMSI, IMEI, and cell location.

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"The responses I got from the network were extremely detailed and long, and were unlike anything I had seen before on other networks," Williams said in a detailed blog post. "The messages contained information such as the IMS/SIP server used by O2 (Mavenir UAG) along with version numbers, occasional error messages raised by the C++ services processing the call information when something went wrong, and other debugging information."

Luckily enough, the vulnerability was not present since early 2017 but was rather introduced in February 2023.

To get cell location, Williams used the Network Signal Guru app on a Pixel 8 device. He pulled raw IMS signaling messages during a call, and used them to find the last cell tower the call recipient connected to. He then cross-referenced that data with a map of cell towers, pinpointing a person’s location within 100 m2 in an urban environment. In a rural environment, though, the information was somewhat less precise.

Williams said he reached out to O2 UK multiple times and, at first, got no response. The company later reported the issue had been fixed, which Williams also confirmed.

"Our engineering teams have been working on and testing a fix for a number of weeks – we can confirm this is now fully implemented, and tests suggest the fix has worked, and our customers do not need to take any action," Virgin Media O2 told BleepingComputer.

Via BleepingComputer

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• A malicious variant of KeePass is being offered online
• The malware deploys an infostealer and a Cobalt Strike beacon
• The cybercriminals are using the access to deploy ransomware

Cybercriminals are distributing a tainted version of a popular password manager, through which they’re able to steal data and deploy ransomware. This is according to security researchers WithSecure Threat Intelligence, who recently observed one such attack in the wild.

In an in-depth analysis published recently, the researchers said a client of theirs downloaded what they thought was KeePass - a popular password manager. They clicked on an ad from the Bing advertising network, and landed on a page that looked exactly like the KeePass website.

The site, however, was a typosquatted version of the legitimate password manager. Since KeePass is open-source, the attackers kept all of the legitimate tool’s functionalities, but with a little extra Cobalt Strike on the side.

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The fake password manager exported all of the saved passwords in a cleartext database, which was later relayed to the attackers through the Cobalt Strike beacon. The attackers then used the login credentials to access the network and deploy ransomware, which is when WithSecure was brought in.

WithSecure said that the campaign has the fingerprints of an initial access broker (IAB), a type of hacking group that obtains access to organizations and then sells it to other hacking collectives. This particular group is most likely associated with Black Basta, an infamous ransomware operator, and is now being tracked as UNC4696.

This group was previously linked to Nitrogen Loader campaigns, BleepingComputer reported. Older Nitrogen campaigns were linked to the now defunct BlackCat/ALPHV group.

So far, this was the only observed attack, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others, WithSecure warns: "We are not aware of any other incidents (ransomware or otherwise) using this Cobalt Strike beacon watermark – this does not mean it has not occurred."

The typosquatted website that’s hosting the malicious KeePass version was still up and running at this time, and was still serving malware to unsuspecting users. In fact, WithSecure said that behind the site was extensive infrastructure, created to distribute all sorts of malware posing as legitimate tools.

Via BleepingComputer

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The company didn't specify pricing but said some models will be priced higher due to 25% tariffs affecting the auto industry.

It seems that the big robot vacuum manufacturers all got together and decided that what we really need is a bot with a mechanical arm. One that can move clutter out of its path as it cleans, and even sort your mess out and relocate it where it needs to go. We saw a few arm-equipped robot vacuums at this year's CES – the event where everyone showcases their upcoming launches – but Roborock surprised everyone by announcing that its own model wasn't just at the wacky invention stage, it would actually be going on sale within the year.

Fast-forward a few months, and the Saros Z70 is indeed now available to buy. So does it deliver on its potential, or has Roborock rushed it through before the tech is ready? Is this innovative bot ready to compete with the rest of the best robot vacuums on the market? I've spent the past two weeks testing it out – you can get the full low-down in my Roborock Saros Z70 review.

While it's not perfect, there are plenty of great things about it – including a few that surprised me. Read on for 3 things I loved about this handy robovac, plus 3 that I think still need work if it's going to be genuinely useful.

3 things I loved 1. The pincering is excellent

The hardware part of the pincer arm is very well designed. In my tests I found I could remote control the robot over to a bit of clutter and tell it to pick it up, and it would – almost without fail – recognize it and adjust its positioning and pincer so it could pick it up. I could then resume control and drive the bot where I wanted the clutter to go.

Should the pickup fail, Roborock has included manual adjustment options so you can operate the arm yourself. These are intuitive and precise, and the grip is gentle but firm. The arm also tucks neatly away behind a hatch when it's not in use, so it can't get caught on anything while the bot's on its travels. There's big potential for people with limited mobility here.

2. There are plenty of safety measures

Most people I talk to about this robovac seem afraid that the OmniGrip will be overzealous and try and tidy away the cat. Roborock has built in plenty of safety features to ensure this doesn't happen. First, all the arm features are off by default, so nothing at all will happen until you specify exactly what you want it to do.

It's designed only to try and tidy very specific objects, having identified them using Roborock's (generally excellent) object recognition tech, and the arm has a weight sensor that prevents it from lifting objects over 300g. The pincering itself is designed to be 'firm yet gentle', to prevent damage to objects, so kind of like one of those fairground claw games, but with a much higher success rate. Finally, there's a physical 'Emergency stop' button on the robot itself, and a child lock.

3. It's easy to use

This is a new and potentially intimidating bit of tech, so kudos should go to Roborock for making it impressively accessible. It has placed the robot arm options front and center in the companion app, encouraging users to explore and become familiar with them. Plus, the controls themselves are logical and intuitive.

4. It's an unexpectedly great security camera

A lot of high-end robot vacuums can double as home security cams, but you're a little limited by the fact that your view is at ground level. Here, Roborock has added a camera on the arm itself. Not only can the arm reach much higher up, it can also tilt vertically, thus offering a much more expansive field of view than if you were using the front-mounted camera alone. Of course, you can only spy on what's happening inside your home, but useful nonetheless.

3 things that need improving 1. It doesn't work on its own

While the remote control-assisted pincering worked very well in my tests, really, the Saros Z70 needs to be able to tidy up unassisted if it's to be genuinely useful to most people. Theoretically, you can ask the robot to identify objects suitable for tidying while on a whole-home clean, then once it's finished, embark on a second run to pick them up and put them in a designated spot.

Unfortunately, this bit doesn't really work yet. It seems all the conditions need to be absolutely perfect in order for the process to be successful. So the bot needs to see the items and correctly identify them, then be able to find them again, then successfully pick them up, and then find its way to the correct relocation spot. I haven't yet managed a run where one of these factors doesn't fail.

Roborock also told me that the process has a lower success rate on carpet than hard floors, due to a "hardware limitation". That feels like a significant caveat.

If something appears to get stuck on the arm, then all other functions are locked until you manually reset it by pressing physical buttons on the robot. For instance, on one occasion during my tests the arm picked up a sandal, then as it rotated with it, the sandal got caught on a doorstop and the strap twisted, so when the bot tried to drop it, it couldn't. I had to go and rescue it before I could proceed. It's probably a logical safety measure, but it's not ideal to have to physically get involved to fix the matter.

I'm hopeful the automation functions will improve with updates, but right now, this bot can't really be left alone to tidy for you.

2. It can only pick up a few things

At time of writing, the list of supported objects is very short – sandals / light slippers, socks, small towels, and crumpled tissue paper. It makes sense that Roborock would be cautious about adding more objects, because it needs to be confident the bot can correctly identify them and doesn't end up trying to grip something it shouldn't. But it does limit its usefulness a little, as does the weight (and presumably size) limitation.

It's not so much Roborock's fault as a limitation of the form factor. Logically, it follows that the bot won't be able to tackle anything too big or heavy. But it still affects how helpful such a design might be in the longer term.

(Image credit: Future) 3. The price

At the moment, the Roborock Saros Z70 comes with a price tag of $2,599 / AU$3,999 (UK price TBC, but potentially around £1,950 based on what it costs elsewhere). It's the most expensive robovac we've tested, by some margin, and out of reach of most people. At the moment, it's the only robot vacuum on the market to feature a robotic arm, so an eye-watering list price isn't surprising. However, I'm not sure I'd buy it at that price, at least until some of the issues were ironed out.

Because the robot vacuum market is competitive, with new models being released regularly, I'm used to seeing good deals and prices dropping fairly quickly as even better bots hit the market. There look to be more arm-equipped robovacs in the pipeline from other brands, so if the idea proves a hit, we might see a more competitive pricing landscape emerge. I suspect it'll take a while, though.

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