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If you're all-in on digital weight training, you'll want to splurge on this fancy slab for sweating.

The company's luxury-level gaming phone will be on display along with a pink Mora edition.

The future of Windows game handhelds can't improve until Microsoft gets involved. Go with a Steam Deck, or wait for the SteamOS version of this handheld.

• The iPad Air and 10.9-inch iPad could be upgraded very soon
• They’re expected shortly after the upcoming M4 MacBook Air launch
• But one source says they “probably won’t come in the next few days”

If you’re in the market for one of the best iPads, you might want to hold off buying one for now. That’s because freshly updated models are supposedly just around the corner, and they could bring a powerful chip upgrade that will make it worth the wait.

Specifically, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman says in his latest Power On newsletter that stock of the iPad Air and 10th-generation iPad are running low at Apple Stores. This is usually a sign that new models are coming soon, as Apple often stops refreshing supplies of its soon-to-be-replaced devices in preparation for new arrivals.

However, while a new MacBook Air with M4 chip could launch as soon as this week, Gurman says that the new iPads “probably won’t come in the next few days.” The timeframe hasn’t been narrowed down any more than that, but it suggests that the tablets could launch within weeks rather than days.

Minor upgrades

(Image credit: Future)

Both the iPad Air and entry-level iPad are expected to receive minor upgrades this year, with new chips among the only changes anticipated. The iPad Air could get the M3 or M4 chip, while the 11th-generation iPad is likely to be outfitted with either the A16 Bionic or the A17 Pro chip.

Don’t bet on wide-ranging changes to the designs or displays of these devices, though. The rumor mill has been very quiet on this front, suggesting most of the changes will come to the tablets’ internals. It’s possible there will be other new features, with Wi-Fi 7 and a new Magic Keyboard both potentially in the cards.

Despite these models reportedly being imminent, the same can’t be said for the iPad Pro and the iPad mini. The iPad Pro probably won’t get an update until Apple’s M5 chip launches later this year, while the iPad mini was only just refreshed a few months ago.

If you’re looking at buying one of those devices, you should be safe to go ahead. But if the iPad Air or entry-level iPad are on your shopping list, it would be best to wait a while longer until the new models come out.

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The Dwarf 3 is great for astrophotography beginners, but has loads of useful tools for more experienced hobbyists.

Watch great films like Adaptation, Apocalypse Now and other free titles this March.

Far from feeling gimmicky, the Find N5 proves foldables can be useful, as well as enjoyable.

SteelSeries Stratus Duo: one-minute review

The SteelSeries Stratus Duo is a compact wireless controller compatible with PC, Android, Chromebook and some VR headsets, thanks to its multiple connectivity modes.

It adopts a rather classic design, reminiscent of Xbox and PlayStation controllers, although it has a smaller, thinner form factor. The total black colorway is rather austere, and the lack of any RGB lighting is a departure from many gaming peripherals.

Compared to many of the best PC controllers around, the layout itself feels quite small in the hand. This makes all buttons easy to reach, especially the shoulder buttons, which are also favorably angled to decrease the amount of finger flexing required.

The build quality feels high all round, with the buttons satisfyingly damped, especially the bumpers, which are perhaps the standout in this regard. However, the LED light bar is roughly finished around the edges, which is a surprise given SteelSeries usual attention to detail.

The Stratus Duo feels great to game with. Its buttons are snappy and responsive, and the triggers and joysticks are precise with plenty of feel. Additionally, the D-pad is accurate and easy to use, although its proximity to the left joystick and sharp edges may prove irksome for some. However, these are minor gripes with what is otherwise a high-performing controller.

Connecting the Stratus Duo to a PC wirelessly was easy, requiring no setup other than plugging in the 2.4GHz USB dongle. It was just as responsive as when connecting using the included USB cable (which, amazingly, uses the micro USB standard, rather than USB-C). Bluetooth connection to Android devices also proved easy, stable and lag-free.

Battery life on the Stratus Duo is also good, in line with the 20-hour claim SteelSeries makes. However, its charging time of about two and a half hours is less than impressive.

The Stratus Duo competes with other popular controllers in terms of price. It has the edge over those controllers thanks to its multiple connectivity and compatibility options, although the lack of customization is a drawback. Ultimately, it may come down to hand size, as the compact layout may exclude those with larger hands, who will likely be better off with the Xbox Wireless Controller, for instance. For everyone else, though, the Stratus Duo is a competent controller with great performance.

(Image credit: Future) SteelSeries Stratus Duo review: price and availability

• $59 / £64 / AU$105
• Available now
• Black colorway only

The Stratus Duo costs $59 / £64 / AU$105 and is available now in one colorway: black. The SteelSeries SmartGrip, an attachment for holding an Android smartphone, is sold separately and costs £9.99.

At this price, it’s up against the Xbox Wireless Controller, one of the best PC controllers and best Xbox controllers around. It does have more connectivity options than the Xbox controller, though, as well as a rechargeable battery as standard.

Although it’s compatible with various platforms, it doesn’t officially work with PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch consoles. If you’re after one of the best PS5 controllers, then the PlayStation DualSense controller is top of the class, and the 8BitDo Ultimate is one of the best Nintendo Switch controllers in our view. Both of these aren’t much more expensive than the Stratus Pro.

SteelSeries Stratus Duo review: specs

(Image credit: Future) SteelSeries Stratus Duo review: design and features

• Compact form factor
• Finely damped buttons
• No software

The Stratus Duo sports an all-black color scheme with an angular design that looks somewhere between an Xbox controller and a PlayStation DualSense, although it’s thinner and lighter than either of those.

It’s also more compact in its layout, with all its buttons relatively close together. The grips are more prominent too, meaning you can really wrap your fingers around them.

The shoulder buttons angle downwards more than on other controllers, which is a welcome feature and makes reaching for them much more comfortable, as well as being easier to press, as less finger bending is required.

Adopting the same schema as the Xbox, the Stratus Duo's buttons position Y and A top and bottom respectively, and X and B on the left and right. Although the buttons themselves are black like the rest of the Stratus Duo, there is a handy color key between the buttons – again mimicking the Xbox standard – although this is quite small and hard to parse in the heat of the moment if you need to look down to check.

The construction feels solid, with nicely damped buttons that are satisfying to press, especially the bumpers, which are far better to use than those on the Xbox controller. All buttons are also tightly fitted with very little play. One strange area where SteelSeries seems to have dropped the ball, though, is the plastic around the LED bars, as my unit appeared to show signs of fraying, which is not what you’d expect from a SteelSeries product.

Another baffling design choice is the fact that the Stratus Duo uses a micro USB port rather than the now ubiquitous USB-C. Thankfully, a cable is included, but considering most of the world has left the micro USB standard behind, it’s a bizarre decision.

What’s more, the Stratus Duo can’t be customized or tinkered with using SteelSeries’ GG software, which does feel like a missed opportunity, even at this price point. Even the Xbox Wireless Controller allows for some degree of remapping, but there’s none of that here with the Stratus Duo.

(Image credit: Future) SteelSeries Stratus Duo review: performance

• Responsive buttons
• Precise joysticks and triggers
• Easy connectivity

Gaming with the Stratus Duo is a mostly positive experience. It feels comfortable in the hands, largely thanks to the ergonomic grip design, and the aforementioned compact layout makes every button easy to reach.

The joysticks are precise and offer enough grip without getting sticky to the touch, as those on other controllers are prone to. And while both sticks are relatively close together, I didn’t experience any issue with my two thumbs clashing.

The triggers are also great to use, offering plenty of control and feedback without being too weighty. This allows for precise inputs, very useful in racing games for subtle throttle control, despite not having as much travel as other controller triggers, such as those on the Xbox controller and the DualSense.

The D-pad is quick and easy to use, amenable to rolling in multiple directions, which is largely thanks to the long four-way prongs. Despite all directions being housed within a single unit – as opposed to having entirely separate buttons for each direction – I didn’t experience any mispresses.

However, the edges of the D-pad are quite sharp, which can be irritating after long sessions, and the aforementioned compact layout also meant that I sometimes knocked the left analog stick when making fast and frantic presses.

The inputs themselves are very responsive when using wirelessly with the included 2.4GHz dongle. Connecting via this method was a simple case of plug and play, and I experienced no issues with lag or stability.

The same is true when connecting via Bluetooth to Android devices. There’s a simple toggle switch on top for Bluetooth and 2.4GHz modes, and a pairing button should you need it. I also didn’t notice any discernable difference in lag between using Bluetooth and the 2.4GHz dongle.

SteelSeries claims a battery life of over 20 hours for the Stratus Duo. Although I wasn’t able to reach its limits during my time with it, I can say that it barely dipped after several days of use. It took around two and a half hours to charge from empty to full, which isn’t a stellar performance; thankfully, you can charge and play at the same time.

(Image credit: Future) Should I buy the SteelSeries Stratus Duo? Buy it if...

You want to connect to other devices
As well as PC, the Stratus Duo is compatible with Android devices, thanks to its Bluetooth capability. It’s also compatible with Chromebooks and certain VR headsets.

You want a compact controller
The Stratus Pro is smaller than other popular controllers, with a more compressed layout, so its great for those who really want to get a handle on their pad.

Don't buy it if...

You want to play on console
Despite strong compatibility for some devices, it misses out on console play, with Xbox, PlayStation and Switch all excluded.

You have large hands
That reduced form factor may be a problem for those with larger hands, and I did experience some clashing between the D-pad and left stick in use.

Also consider... SteelSeries Stratus Duo review: also consider

Microsoft Xbox Wireless Controller
The standard bearer and our pick as the best controller for PC, The Xbox Wireless Controller does most things well. It connects to many devices, thanks to its Bluetooth and wired capabilities. However, there are few missteps, such as the lack of a rechargeable battery as standard, and customization is limited.

Read our Microsoft Xbox Wireless Controller review

PlayStation DualSense Wireless Controller
If you’re in the market for a controller to use on PlayStation, then the DualSense Wireless Controller is certainly one of the best PS5 controllers in our view. It also works with many PC games, and can connect wired or wirelessly. The only real drawbacks are its weak battery life and mic quality.

Read our DualSense Wireless Controller review

How I tested the SteelSeries Stratus Duo

• Tested for several days
• Played various titles on PC and Android
• Over 25 years of gaming experience

I tested the Stratus Duo for several days and used it to play games on PC and on Android.

I played a variety of titles, designed to test each aspect of the Stratus Duo: I played Tekken 8 to test its responsiveness and D-pad ability, Assetto Corsa to test the precision of the triggers and analog sticks, and Call of Duty: Mobile to see how well the Stratus Duo handles Android games over Bluetooth.

In over 25 years of gaming I have used a large number of first- and third-party controllers for PC, Xbox, Nintendo and PlayStation. I have also reviewed many gaming peripherals, including other controllers, mice, and keyboards.

• Read more about how we test
• First reviewed November 2024

I was enamored by these mind-bending folding screen ideas at MWC 2025.

• The two latest patches for Windows 11 24H2 are causing some users problems
• Allegedly, the worst affected hardware is the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K
• Game crashes and slowdown appear to be exclusive to the latest updates

Some users of Windows 11 24H2 have been experiencing some issues, including slowdown and even crashing, with people quick to blame the latest update of the popular operating system.

As spotted by Neowin, two of the most recent Windows 11 24H2 patches (KB5050094 and KB5051987) have caused crashing and instability problems. Neowin forum user kiddingguy first observed game crashes with the latest update halting The Settlers: New Allies in Ubisoft Connect, but others have experienced far worse issues since.

Writing to Borncity, one Windows 11 24H2 user running an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor on an ASRock Z890 Pro RS motherboard could only get the newly built system running with a beta bios. The failure to launch was attributed to the Intel microcode update integrated into the bios, despite the latest version of Windows 11 being installed as normal.

The performance issues did not stop once the new hardware was up and running either. With Windows 11 24H2, it's claimed that a "new massive performance problem" was impacting the system as soon as a program was minimized or not the main "focus". It's claimed that applications are "massively throttled", so much so that the CPU's clock rate was even decreased. Screenshots show the differences in utilization.

Arguably, the most worrying thing about the impact of the two most recent Windows 11 patches is the fact that this user was able to replicate the problems with different applications. These include 7Zip and Prime95, proving it doesn't seem to be tied to any one specific program with incompatibility or stability issues with either KB5050094 or KB5051987.

The user claims that the performance in 7Zip's benchmark was effectively halved when minimizing the program and that distributing the workload across all available cores (for which the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K has 24 in total) did not alleviate the issue. No solid fix is yet to be implemented, other than a workaround of forcing the maximum energy-saving plan to push "full CPU performance" in the background processes, which is far from ideal for long-term use.

Interestingly, it's claimed that the same problems did not occur with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X processor as it did with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, nor with the older Intel Core i9-12900K. Because of this, it's possible that the bulk of severe issues could be specific to Intel's latest LGA 1851 platform, but this does not seem to be as widespread as the software crashing and incompatibilities seen so far.

To double-check your processor's compatibility with Windows 11 24H2, you can read through Microsoft's official supported processors list, which outlines AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm CPUs that are confirmed to run without issue. If you're experiencing any slowdown or crashing, then it may be time to revert to a previous version of the operating system until things begin to stabilize.

The problems with Windows 11 continue

Recently, it seems that there's been no shortage of issues with Windows 11, with the 24H2 version of the operating system having a few outstanding problems. As well as the newly reported crashing and slowdown, this variant of the OS included more advertising in the Settings menu, high CPU utilization from Task Manager, and consistent reminders to back things up.

Another strange Windows 11 24H2 bug even featured half the interface displayed in one language, with the latter half mixed up in another. This glitch was apparently tied to a faulty installation where two language options were layered upon each other, something which was previously unheard of until last month.

Of course, artificial slowdown and software crashes are more severe than advertising, throttling, and language errors, but it culminates in a user experience which has been less than ideal since the most recent version rolled out on October 1, 2024. The two most recent problematic patches are optional, at least, so if you're having trouble with them, we recommend reverting to a previous (more stable) version or freshly reinstalling Windows 11 altogether.

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Last night’s 2025 Oscars marked the 97th annual ceremony of the biggest night in Hollywood, and out of the 10 Best Picture nominees, Sean Baker’s drama Anora came out on top and took home the trophy. Out of all the recent releases, Anora has sat in my Letterboxd watch list for a while and now that award season has come to a close, there’s only a few weeks left before it arrives on one of the best streaming services – and I can’t wait to finally watch it.

In addition to winning Best Picture, which was the icing on the cake of what was a huge night for Baker and the Anora squad, it triumphed four out of the ‘big five’ categories including Best Actress for Mikey Madison, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for Sean Baker, as well as Best Film Editing. If Anora’s five Oscar wins isn’t enough to convince you to stream it this month, perhaps its contemporary rags-to-riches story will entice you.

If you’re in the same boat as I, and was foolish for not catching it in theaters on time, fear not, as Hulu will be the place to go in the coming weeks.

Anora (2024) will be available to stream on March 17. (Image credit: Neon) Where can I stream Anora?

Anora lands on Hulu on March 17 and this month it really has its ear to the ground with its new March 2025 titles, from previous Oscar-winning movies to yet another slew of titles with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, but there’s no hiding that Anora is the one I’m most excited for. You might need to sign up to Hulu to watch Anora, though if you’re a student then you can reap the benefits of a Hulu student discount and pay only $1.99 a month. There's also the excellent Hulu and Disney+ bundle, bringing you both services from $9.99 per month.

If you’re based outside of the US, then you might have to wait a little longer before you can stream Anora. At the moment, you can rent it from the likes of Apple TV or Amazon for £4.99 / AU$19.99, or buy it for £11.99 / AU$24.99.

It's also coming to 4K Blu-ray in May, as part of the Criterion Collection, with a load of interesting features, including two separate commentary tracks. Collectors with one of the best 4K Blu-ray players might want to take this route regardless of whether you've got Hulu or not.

What's Anora about?

Brooklyn sex worker Ani (Mikey Madison) has her life turned upside down when she meets Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a notorious and incredibly wealthy Russian oligarch who she hastily marries.

At first, her new, modern Cinderella tale life seems like the best thing that could ever happen, but things turn ugly when news of the marriage reaches Vanya’s family back in Russia, which ignites a mob chase to hunt down the young couple and end the marriage.

It's far more of a comedy than a thriller, and really is laugh-out-loud funny for huge section – but as is typical from Sean Baker, it's also dark and emotional.

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• Google has added memory ability to the free version of Gemini in a browser
• It can now remember anything about you that you tell it to
• Mobile app version will hopefully roll out soon

Google has added the ability to remember personal information to the free version of Gemini, just a few weeks after launching the feature for Gemini Advanced subscribers.

The ability to recall information is one of the most useful features of an AI Chatbot, and makes it feel much more personal. That ability has been available in Gemini rival ChatGPT for about a year now, so Google are late to the game, but making the 'saved info' feature available to all Gemini users so quickly is a really great move.

Talking to a friend

'Saved info' means you don’t keep having to tell Gemini the names of your children or what job you have, which makes the conversations with it feel much more natural. For example, I’m currently working on writing a book, and once I’ve asked Gemini to remember this, and a few things about it, I can simply refer to it as “my book” in future conversations and it knows what the subject is and what level it’s aimed at, meaning our conversations about it feel much more natural. It really is like talking to a friend.

If you’ve been using Gemini for a while now with the app on your phone or through a web browser then you’ll know that it’s a powerful chatbot, on a par with ChatGPT, and you can also voice chat with us using Gemini Live, which comes with 10 different voices, just like you’re having a conversation with a human.

Gemini Live requires a Gemini Advanced subscription on an iPhone, but Android users get it free.

(Image credit: Google) Free vs Advanced

With a Gemini Advanced subscription Gemini’s ability to remember things works in both the standard chatbot interface and in Gemini Live. To get Gemini to remember something just say, or type, “Remember that” or “keep in mind”, followed by what you want me to remember. On a free account you'll now notice that 'Saved info' has been added to the web interface so you can now use it in the same way Gemini Advanced subscribers can, however we haven't been able to access it in the mobile app yet for free users. Hopefully it will roll out in the next few days.

Gemini doesn’t have to remember what you've told it to remember forever, either. To delete something you’ve saved just write or say, for example, “Forget everything I told you about my sci fi novel”. You can also manage what Gemini has saved for you on the ‘saved info’ page accessible from tapping on your profile image.

You might be wondering if it’s still worth being a Gemini Advanced (via Google One AI Premium) subscriber, which costs $19.99 / £18.99 / AU$32.99 a month, since a lot of the benefits have now transferred over to the free Gemini, including use of the latest Gemini 2.0 Flash LLM. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that the premium service gives you access to a number of other new LLMs like 2.0 Experimental. You also get 2TB of storage and access to NotebookLM Plus.

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The best-known budget bidet maker successfully counters high-end electric bidets (with a few minor quirks).

You don't need me, or HMD (Human Mobile Devices), to tell you that there's a screen time epidemic among young people, but the latter's new research into the subject does highlight just how badly smartphones (and specifically social media) are actively harming an entire generation.

Of 12,000 teens surveyed by the Nokia phone maker for a recent study, over half said they’re worried that they may be addicted to their phone, while 37% said they’ve had a stranger approach them and try to move them into an encrypted chat like WhatsApp. 53% said they’ve seen something that they wish they hadn’t – which for most respondents was content of a sexual or violent nature – and 56% said they’ve seen bullying online. The bleak stats go on.

Parents, too, know that these issues exist, but existing smartphone safeguards like screen time apps are easily circumvented by any curious teenager with access to YouTube or Reddit. To address this, HMD has partnered with smartwatch manufacturer Xplora to develop the ‘first smartphone for teens’ – a seemingly regular-looking handset that gives parents greater control over their child’s (potentially first) smartphone experience.

Launching in May for £229 (international pricing is yet to be confirmed), the HMD Fusion X1 – when purchased alongside an Xplora subscription – will allow parents to remotely enable, disable, or limit access to apps of their choosing. This subscription also includes continuous location tracking at 20-second intervals, emergency SOS calling for the smartphone-owning teen, as well as low battery alerts and remote device access for parents.

Additionally, a dedicated School Mode function will minimize distractions during school hours by locking specific apps and features as desired, and HMD has also confirmed that its SafeToNet software – which uses AI to detect and block harmful content before it reaches the user – will begin rolling out to compatible devices (the Fusion X1 included) later this year.

I know what you’re thinking: no teenager would willingly give their parents this level of control over their smartphone. And that may have been true a few years ago. But young people are absolutely becoming more aware of the dangers of social media addiction (HMD’s findings are by no means anomalous) and if the draw of ‘just one more scroll’ is too strong to resist, perhaps teenagers are now more willing to give someone else the keys (after all, ‘brain rot’ was named the 2024 Oxford Word of the Year for a reason).

A promotional tease for the upcoming HMD Fusion X1 (Image credit: HMD)

Indeed, as HMD Founder Jean-Francois Baril put it at MWC, the Fusion X1 is “the phone teens want, with the safety parents desire.” It won’t have an infantilizing design, either, with the company teasing a conventional-looking, industrial-style handset at MWC.

HMD also has two new feature phones on the way: the HMD Barca 3210 and the HMD Barca Fusion. The first is a rebranded version of the Nokia 3210, featuring exclusive, Barcelona-themed notes and easter eggs like an engraved logo, hidden messages from players, custom wallpapers, and, yes, even a Barcelona-themed version of Snake.

@techradar

♬ stellar (Sped Up) - .diedlonely & énouement

HMD Barca Fusion, meanwhile, is a custom version of HMD’s Fusion handset with 11, glow-in-the-dark player signatures engraved into its rear panel. Like the 3210, the Fusion is also designed with TikTok doom-scrollers in mind, so it features a detox mode to keep users focused on the things that matter.

@techradar

♬ original sound - TechRadar

Drew Barrymore also appeared on stage at HMD’s MWC keynote to tease ‘Project Wildflower,’ an upcoming collaboration between the actor and HMD to tackle the aforementioned screen time epidemic. We don’t have the details just yet, but the involvement of one of Hollywood’s biggest names will no doubt bring much-needed attention to an issue that HMD is clearly intent on addressing.

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• V-Copter Falcon Mini features two tilt-rotors for "unmatched agility"
• It follows the V-Copter Falcon from 2020 as a lighter, sub-250g model
• 4K camera is stabilized with a 3-axis gimbal

Zero Zero Robotics has unveiled the V-Copter Falcon Mini. It looks like a beginner drone with a difference, and a compelling DJI alternative from the makers of our favorite selfie drone – the HoverAir X1 Pro – especially for people who want a longer period of flying fun.

Most drones are quad-copters in that they feature four propellers, but the V-Copter Falcon Mini is a bi-copter, meaning it has just two propellors, positioned in a V-shape above the drone's body.

The pay-off is what Zero Zero Robotics claims is "lightning fast acceleration" and "unmatched agility", compared to the likes of the DJI Mini 4K, while aerial photographers are served by a three-axis stabilized 4K camera.

We've seen this tech before in the V-Copter Falcon from 2020, but that chunkier model weighs over 700g and is in a different category of drones hit with various flight restrictions and regulations. The 'Mini' version on the other hand weighs less than 250g, which makes it a much simpler option for beginners.

Currently, this is a soft reveal on the V-Copter website and we don't have pricing info or a sales start date yet. However, you can subscribe on the website for early bird offers and the launch announcement.

(Image credit: Zero Zero Robotics) Half the propellors, twice the fun?

The V-Copter Falcon Mini's two rotors are positioned above the drone's body and, within miliseconds of the drone being engaged, tilt downwards to optimize airflow and thrust for fast and powerful acceleration.

Those twin rotors can work independently too; by tilting in opposite directions, sharp turns and precise maneuvers are possible. There's also a video on the V-Copter site showcasing the drone's flight stability, which is seemingly the fruit of real-time flight adjustments and a 0.01 rotor angle precision. Together with that three-axis gimbal, users should enjoy smooth 4K video footage.

V-Copter is also showcasing a Reverse Flight Kit, which unleashes new flight skills and tricks, including upside down flight and a reverse one foot spin – these look like a bit of fun and not for aerial shots.

The tech all sounds very impressive and has certainly piqued my interest, but is it any good? We plan to review the V-Copter Falcon Mini once it's available to find out.

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• The charging case can charge your phone too
• Distinctive hinged design
• £179.99 (about $227 / AU$365)

HMD's new Amped Buds are very different from your average earbuds: the buds themselves have a very distinctive hinged design instead of the AirPods style of so many headphones. And their charging case looks more like a power bank than an earbuds case – because that's exactly what it is.

The charging case is also a Qi2 wireless power bank with a 1,600mAh battery, and that's a very beefy battery for a case – so beefy in fact that if you only use it for charging your earbuds, you can expect nearly 100 hours of playback time before you need to hunt for a USB-C charger.

To clarify, 1,600mAh isn't as big the battery you'll get in a dedicated power bank – they tend to come in multiples of 10,000mAh – but it's enough to charge an iPhone 16 Pro to about 20%, so still pretty useful if you're running dangerously low on juice.

(Image credit: HMD) HMD Amped Buds: key features and pricing

The quoted battery life is 95 hours, although as ever that's with ANC off: put the noise cancelling on and you can expect a still impressive 58 hours. The buds by themselves will run for 8.1 hours without ANC and 4.9 hours with.

Of course it doesn't matter how long the battery lasts if your earbuds don't sound good. But the drivers here are 10mm so they should be pretty punchy, and the buds support Snapdragon Sound; there are also three mics for clear voice calling and for yelling at your chosen virtual assistant.

Bluetooth is 5.4 with fast pairing, and on Android there's support for Find My Device. They're IP54 rated for dust and water resistance and you can choose from black, cyan or pink.

We don't have news of a US launch or pricing as yet, but the HMD Amped Buds will be £179.99 in the UK and €199.99 in Europe. The UK launch will be "VERY soon", HMD says.

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• Samsung has announced 5 key upgrades coming to its third-gen earbuds
• The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro/Buds 3 upgrades are exclusive to One UI 7
• …which means that right now, you need a Galaxy S25 to get them

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Buds 3 just got several key upgrades – for those of you who just bought one of the company's newest Galaxy S25 or S25 Ultra smartphones, that is.

I'll list the updates coming to Samsung's July 2024-issue earbuds in detail momentarily – there are five to get through – but you should know right from the get go that to enjoy them, you'll need to be running One UI 7 (read: Samsung's answer to Android 15). It's the much-touted OS that made its debut in Samsung's S25 lineup, introducing a UI overhaul with all-new AI and navigation perks, including the Now Bar.

But as any Galaxy S24 or S24 Ultra owner knows, you could be waiting until May to get One UI 7, owing to Samsung's apparent plan for multiple beta versions for anything not in the S25 lineup – and if Google goes ahead and announces Android 16 in May, that might instantly make the update feel, ahem, outdated before it gets its full rollout.

Anyway, back to the upgrades for some of you and, following an announcement on February 27, Samsung has explained five changes to be on the lookout for if you own an S25 or S25 Ultra along with a set of 3-suffixed Galaxy Buds.

The first is new Galaxy Buds 3 settings, found within the rejigged One UI 7 Quick Settings panel. Basically, you'll no longer have to fire up the Galaxy Wearable app in order to tweak your Buds’ settings – you’ll now be able to do it right from Quick Settings. Less clunky!

Also mentioned by Samsung was the ability to set sound preferences for individual apps (also within Quick Settings), a tailored sound experience for those with hearing issues, Galaxy AI with Interpreter in 20 languages, and a new microphone software upgrade that should interpret the ambient sound around you to adjust volume.

Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Buds 3: the 5 upgrades

• Tweak sound settings more easily: with One UI 7, you won't need to go in through the Galaxy Wearable app on your smartphone, you can do it directly in the quick settings panel.
• App-specific personalized sound settings: you can set sound preferences for individual apps within the quick settings panel.
• Tailored sound for specific hearing needs: an updated Adapt sound feature expands on ambient sound capabilities for more clear and accurate in-call experiences or when watching videos and so on.
• Easy communication in 20 Languages: thanks to Galaxy AI with Interpreter in Listening Mode, you'll be able to hear translations for conversations piped directly into your Galaxy Buds.
• Intelligently optimized sound: Adaptive Noise Control will use your Buds' onboard mics to analyze your immediate surroundings and automatically adjust the optimal level of noise-nixing, without the need to tweak it yourself.

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Galaxy Buds 3 were launched in July 2024 and to stay sitting pretty on the cutting-edge of technological advancements, these upgrades – especially within Samsung's flagship earbuds – feel both necessary and welcome.

The issue, of course, is whether or not you've got the necessary software to enjoy it, which is currently tied exclusively to whether or not you've bought a 2025 Samsung phone. Of course, if you need to have the newest and best, updating to the latest handset as and when it lands, this is no stumbling block for you. But that's not all of us.

As we noted in our review of the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Samsung chose to take a leaf out of Apple's playbook last year, by introducing a swatch of decidedly 'walled garden' features with the proposition – perks you'll always need a new-ish Samsung source device to enjoy. And that's all well and good if there's reasonable backwards compatibility. But if the electronics giant can't deliver its latest One UI 7 update to its wider fanbase (and by that I mean people who bought one of the company's newest phones and earbuds in 2024) sooner rather than later, that could be an issue.

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• Truffle Security found thousands of pieces of private info in Common Crawl
• The archives are used to train some of the biggest LLMs today
• The researchers notified the vendors and helped fix the problem

Cybersecurity researchers have found thousands of login credentials and other secrets in the Common Crawl dataset.

Common Crawl is a nonprofit organization that provides a freely accessible archive of web data, collected through large-scale web crawling. As of recent estimates, the organization hosts over 250 petabytes of web data, with monthly crawls adding several petabytes more.

Recently, security researchers from Truffle Security analyzed roughly 400 terabytes of information, collected from 2.67 billion web pages archived in 2024. They said that almost 12,000 valid secrets (API keys, passwords, and similar) were found hardcoded in the archive. They found more than 200 different secret types, but the majority were for Amazon Web Services (AWS), MailChimp, and WalkScore.

Training AI

“Nearly 1,500 unique Mailchimp API keys were hard coded in front-end HTML and JavaScript,” the researchers said, noting many secrets were found in multiple instances. In fact, almost two-thirds (63%) were found on multiple pages, with one WalkScore API key appearing “57,029 times across 1,871 subdomains”.

Software developers often leave login credentials and other secrets in the code, to simplify the process during development. However, many seem to forget to remove the data, leaving a simple backdoor for malicious actors to exploit.

Cybercriminals could scour the archives for the secrets themselves, but there is an ever bigger problem here. Many of the world’s most popular large language models (LLM), such as the ones from OpenAI, DeepSeek, Google, Meta, and others, are trained using Common Crawl’s archives, meaning that crooks could use Generative AI to uncover login credentials and other secrets.

LLMs don’t use entirely raw data, and it is filtered to remove sensitive information, but the question remains how well the filters work, and how many secrets make it through.

That being said, Truffle Security allegedly reached out to impacted vendors and helped them revoke compromised keys.

Via BleepingComputer

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• XPANCEO has unveiled a trio of smart contact lens prototypes at MWC 2025
• Technology showcased includes fully remote power transfer
• Other prototypes include a biosensing smart contact lesns, and a lens that can help manage glaucoma

A self-acclaimed "deep tech" company focused on the next generation of computing has unveiled three smart contact lens prototypes at MWC 2025, giving us a glimpse into the technology that could shape vision health of the future.

XPANCEO took the covers off its three prototypes, each one showcasing a unique technology that could feature in future "smart" contact lenses.

The company's prototypes highlight fully remote power transfer (charging over the air), biosensing, and intraocular pressure sensors for managing and detecting diseases such as glaucoma.

Here are the three prototypes and what they could mean for the future of vision health. After all, we'll happily wear the best smartwatches and smart rings, as tech progresses, it seems only natural that more and more ubiquitous items take on the "smart moniker."

1. Smart Contact Lens with a Wireless Powering Companion

(Image credit: XPANCEO)

XPANCEO's first prototype (and these are all prototypes likely years from production) showcases fully remote power transfer technology. Naturally, any "smart" device including a contact lens requires power from a battery or other source to run. This prototype technology offers twice the range of previous industry solutions, powering a contact lens wirelessly from a compact companion device such as a contact lens case you'd carry around.

Having literal electricity fired into your eye doesn't sound like a great starting point for any smart health device, but XPANCEO says its solution puts out radiation levels similar to other common wearables such as the best wireless headphones.

2. Biosensing Smart Contact Lens

(Image credit: XPANCEO)

XPANCEO's prototype biosensor can measure body parameters directly from tear fluid. The lens purportedly uses nanoparticles to enable high-sensitivity monitoring of biomarkers such as glucose, hormones such as cortisol, estradiol, estrone, progesterone, and testosterone, and vitamins B1, B2, B3, E, and D.

While Apple is still trying to wrap its head around non-invasive blood glucose monitoring on Apple Watch, XPANCEO is proposing a decidedly more clinical sci-fi future where you can measure body metrics through tears.

3. Smart Contact Lens with an IOP (Intraocular Pressure) Sensor

(Image credit: XPANCEO)

XPANCEO's third tech prototype is a non-invasive glaucoma management system. Using an AI-powered smartphone app and a built-in intraocular pressure sensor, the company says it can provide "instant, highly precise measurements" that can be used to detect early glaucoma before significant vision loss occurs.

XPANCEO's other smart lens tech

XPANCEO also showcased improved tech for its smart contact lens featuring augmented reality, which no longer uses external image sources but instead features an integrated microdisplay that can show images previously only viewable through smart glasses or AR/VR headsets. Finally, the company showcased a smart contact lens for data reading using a wireless data transmission antenna to send real-time data from the contact lens to a smartphone.

Naturally, showing off these prototypes is world's away from developing a contact lens that incorporates all of this technology in a commercially viable package that can be mass produced. But if XPANCEO can crack even one of these technologies for mass market, it might have a major health breakthrough on its hands.

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• Lossless audio over Wi-Fi without ruining battery life
• Very limited phone compatibility and definitely no iPhones
• £159 / £189 (about $200 / $240)

Xiaomi's new Buds 5 Pro have launched in Europe and are available in two flavors, the standard Buds 5 Pro and the Buds 5 Pro Wi-Fi. Both models have a very impressive specification, but the Wi-Fi ones are particularly impressive: they're capable of delivering lossless audio at up to 4.2Mbps over their Wi-Fi connection. That's way beyond anything the best Bluetooth headphones can deliver.

The Buds 5 Pro Wi-Fi have Qualcomm's S7 Pro chip and Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound Technology Suite, which supports audio at up to 96kHz/24-bit. However there's a caveat: it'll only work with certain smartphones. Xiaomi says it'll post a list of compatible devices on its website imminently. Right now the only supported phones are the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Ultra.

(Image credit: Xiaomi) Xiaomi Buds 5 Pro and Buds 5 Pro Wi-Fi: features and pricing

The Buds 5 Pro are based around 11mm dynamic drivers with a PZT tweeter and planar driver, and they support aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless. Bluetooth is 5.4 and the built-in ANC is capable of removing noise up to 55dB. The buds also offer AI features including real-time translation.

Surprisingly, the Wi-Fi models have even better battery life than the Bluetooth-only ones: ten hours compared to eight, with a total of 40 hours via the charging case.

The Buds Pro 5 are £159.99 (about $200 or AU$325) and you can have them in white or gray; the Buds Pro 5 Wi-Fi are £189.99 (around $240 or AU$385).

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