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The new feature shows Reels your friends like, and hopes you like them, too.

The Australian crypto entrepreneur now hosts chats with world leaders. "If [he] is sharing a story, there's a good chance that U.S. policymakers are reading it — and acting on it," said one analyst.

(Image credit: Mario Nawfal/Screenshot by NPR)

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen went to El Salvador to lobby for the release of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, whose deportation has gripped the U.S. He isn't the only lawmaker with such a trip in mind.

(Image credit: Salvador Melendez)

The remarks came in a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the first EU leader to meet directly with Trump since the president imposed — and then scaled back — a 20% tariff on EU imports.

(Image credit: Win McNamee)

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• Nintendo has quietly removed the mention of VRR support from some of its regional Switch 2 websites
• The US, Canada, and Japan websites no longer feature the mention of VRR support
• As of writing, the UK website still mentions VRR, but could still be removed

Nintendo has quietly removed any mention of variable refresh rate (VRR) support from some of its regional Switch 2 websites, suggesting the console may not offer the feature after all.

That's according to Digital Foundry's Oliver Mackenzie (via VGC), who spotted that the US website has been updated since the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, and no longer mentions VRR support for docked play.

Now it reads: "Take in all the detail with screen resolutions up to 4K when you connect the Nintendo Switch 2 system to a compatible TV using the dedicated dock. The system also supports HDR and frame rates up to 120 fps on compatible TVs."

It's not just the US website that has been updated, but the Canada and Japan sites too.

As of writing, the UK site still mentions that the Switch 2 "supports HDR, VRR, and frame rates up to 120 fps on compatible TVs," but Nintendo may be in the process of removing it from all its regional sites.

Some weird stuff going on at Nintendo. Looks like they've changed their US website to no longer mention VRR support for TV play? Only HDR and 120Hz support get a call-out. pic.twitter.com/3VmFDfrNvtApril 17, 2025

It's unclear why Nintendo has made changes, but Mackenzie theorises that VRR support may not be available at launch. However, the Switch 2 in handheld looks like it will still offer VRR thanks to Nvidia G-Sync, which will ensure "ultra-smooth, tear-free gameplay."

Everything we needed to know about the Switch 2's specs was revealed during the Direct earlier this month, where it was also confirmed that the console will have a bigger screen, from 6.2 inches to 7.9 inches, 256GB of internal storage, and a mouse function for its magnetic Joy-Con controllers.

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

You can now pre-order the console in the UK, but US pre-orders and Canada pre-orders have been delayed as Nintendo assesses the potential impact of tariffs.

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Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers say they are closer than ever to confirming signs of life on a distant exoplanet.

• Google 2024 Ads Safety report says it blocked 5.1 billion bad ads
• It also blocked millions of advertiser accounts
• Google notes its detection accuracy improved thanks to AI

Google blocked more than five billion bad ads in 2024 and suspended almost 40 million advertiser accounts that were engaged in fraudulent behavior in what was apparently a bumper year for scammers.

In its 2024 Ads Safety Report, Google outlined how bad ads have really taken off in recent months, alrgely thanks to the advancements in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI).

However, Google is also using AI to improve its deception rates and apparently - it works.

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Banning ad accounts

Google's proactive measures in 2024 were impressive. The company either blocked or removed 5.1 billion ads that violated Google Ads policies. Furthermore, the search engine giant suspended 39.2 million advertiser accounts, which prevented many ads from ever reaching the consumers in the first place.

As a result, the number of stopped bad ads did not grow year-on-year, but remained relatively stable. Last year, Google removed 5.5 billion bad ads, and the drop seems to be due to the fact that Google banned significantly more advertiser accounts (12.7 million).

The company also said to have permanently banned more than 700,000 advertiser accounts for policy violations related to AI-driven impersonation scams.

"To fight back, we quickly assembled a dedicated team of over 100 experts to analyze these scams and develop effective countermeasures, such as updating our Misrepresentation policy to suspend advertisers that promote these scams," Google said in the report.

"As a result, we were able to permanently suspend over 700,000 offending advertiser accounts. This led to a 90% drop in reports of this kind of scam ad last year. While we are encouraged by this progress, we continue to work to prevent these scams."

Google seems to be heavily invested in AI for scanning and detection. It implemented more than 50 enhancements to its Large Language Models (LLMs), enabling more efficient and precise enforcement.

Most of the AI-powered bad ads revolved around deepfaked celebrities.

Via BleepingComputer

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• Instagram is launching Blends, a new custom Reels feed
• The idea is you add this to a DM or Group Chat and watch Reels that will appeal to the people who make up the group
• You can react and add comments that live within the DM

If you’re anything like me, you can spend maybe too much time (though I’ll never admit it) scrolling through Reels on Instagram, and clips on TikTok. But not so surprisingly, Instagram wants to keep you within the walls of its app and has a new feature that lets you make a custom Reels feed for you and your friends.

Dubbed Blend, and launching right now, you can set up this custom feed for you and a friend and be served Reels that match both of your interests. It’s an invite-only Reels feed that you can scroll within your chat window and reply to at the bottom to strike up a conversation about whatever you’d like.

And if you were guessing it lives within DMs, you’d be right, as that's where Instagram invites you to keep the conversation going. Further, if you’re concerned that the Reels will live in line next to your messages, GIFs, and potentially other shared Reels … fear not.

Blend will live via an icon at the top of the chat that looks like a merge of two basic emojis. You’ll tap on that to access your Blend, which is a Blended feed of Reels that hit your interests, and it’s also where you can invite someone to join your blend.

Another important note – you can’t force someone to join your Blend on Instagram; whoever you invite will need to accept it. Instagram also says you can set up blends for you and one other person or for a group of people.

Here’s how Blend will work

(Image credit: Instagram)

So once you’ve set up a Blend with, say, two of your besties, you’ll open that group message within Instagram and tap the new icon next to the call buttons on the top right of the chat.

Tap that, and you’ll be taken to your customized Reels feed. It should look pretty similar. You’ll see the Reel creator’s username, the audio used, a snippet of the caption, and the ability to like it, comment, and even share it.

The difference is that you’ll see a bubble that says “Suggested for [insert username here],” so Instagram will clue you in as to who it thinks will like the Reel the most. And yes, this is based on whatever Reels you’ve engaged with and what Instagram knows about you.

More specifically, Instagram says “Suggested are based on each person’s activity on Instagram, including the reels they watch and interact with. They can also be based on reels sent in the chat.”

As you scroll, if you feel compelled to, you can send a message back to your group about the Reel you’re watching or even drop a reaction like an emoji. For instance, if it’s a particularly epic one, you might use the fire emoji.

(Image credit: Instagram)

It’s pretty neat and a new way to explore Reels with friends on your own time, while still interacting with each other. Not for nothing, you won’t need to risk SharePlaying on iOS or screensharing on Android, not knowing what might appear in your regular feed.

However, since this is based on your interests, your friends might learn something – those I invite to Blend will know I like Bruce Springsteen, Disney Parks, Lego, and Star Wars.

That’s the risk of the Blend: it essentially shows your Instagram Reels interests to a friend (assuming they accepted the invite). If you’re up for the fun and the challenge, you can give Instagram’s latest feature a try as it’s rolling out now.

Just make sure that the Instagram app on your iOS or Android device is up to date.

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• Marvel has released a new trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps
• The MCU Phase 6 film will arrive in theaters worldwide this July
• The teaser is full of moments that fans have been waiting to see

Marvel has revealed the official trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps – and, if I wasn't already super excited for its release, I certainly am now.

The Marvel Phase 6 film's latest teaser is full of new footage that fans will want to *ahem* stretch their eyeballs around. Indeed, from first looks at Julia Garner's Silver Surfer and Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards using his stretchy superpowers, to new teases of the movie's villain Galactus, it's an unmissable two-and-a-half minute feast for the eyes.

The arrival of a new Fantastic Four trailer shouldn't come as a big surprise. Indeed, a new teaser was shown exclusively to CinemaCon 2025 attendees a two weeks ago. That trailer confirmed a big fan theory about Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm – i.e., that she'll be pregnant for a portion of the film. With this latest round of footage doing likewise, it appears that Marvel has simply released the trailer it showed at during Disney's presentation at the trade show on April 3.

A new trailer hasn't been a long time coming for the final Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie of 2025. The first teaser for First Steps only achieved lift-off in early February, so it's not like we've had an excruciating wait for new clips to pore over.

Still, with Marvel's Thunderbolts* movie set to be released in theaters in early May, the comic book giant will want to run a new teaser ahead of that flick to further build anticipation for First Steps' own launch, which will take place in late July.

#TheFantasticFour: First StepsOnly in theaters July 25. pic.twitter.com/OyTgSYCl2hApril 17, 2025

Joining Pascal, Kirby, and Garner on the film's cast are Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, Ralph Ineson as the voice of Galactus, and John Malkovich, Paul Walter Hauser, Sarah Niles, and Natasha Lyonne as TBC.

Marvel fans think they know who Lyonne is playing in First Steps, though, and many are also convinced that Hauser and Malkovich are playing B-tier Marvel antagonists in Mole Man and Red Ghost respectively. Lastly, Mark Gatiss appears to be playing the TV host of a show that Marvel's First Family appear on in the trailer and forthcoming film.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps will take flight on July 25. While we wait for its arrival, read more MCU-based coverage in the section below.

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• Netflix has revealed The Sandman season 2's official release date
• The fantasy show's final season will be released in two installments in early July
• An official teaser and first-look images have also been released

It's official: The Sandman season 2 will wake from its slumber this July – and it'll arrive in two parts.

The acclaimed fantasy show, which is based on Neil Gaiman's graphic novel namesake, will return for its second and final chapter in mid-2025. Volume 1, which will consist of six episodes, will make its debut on Netflix on July 3, 2025. Season 2's five-part second volume will be released on July 24, 2025.

The Dreaming awaits your return. The Sandman: Season 2. Volume 1 - July 3rd. Volume 2 - July 24th. pic.twitter.com/ORsNJRh89pApril 17, 2025

Netflix didn't just unveil The Sandman's two new launch dates today (April 17), though. The Tom Sturridge-fronted TV Original also received its first teaser trailer, which shows The Endless, Sturridge's Dream included, summoned to a meeting by one of their siblings Destiny.

It's unclear why Destiny has called on his fellow immortals to join him (well, unless you've read the source material) and the teaser doesn't exactly reveal what the purpose of the meeting is. Nevertheless, it suggests one of the best Netflix shows – depending on who you ask, anyway – is aiming to go out with a fantastical bang with its final installment.

This is the first official information we've received about The Sandman 2 since last September.

During Netflix Geeked Week 2024, the streaming titan revealed a dreamy behind-the-scenes look at season 2, which revealed a 2025 release window. Prior to that, Netflix confirmed who would play Destiny, Delirium, and The Prodigal in season 2 last May, before announcing nine new cast additions for The Sandman's final season in July 2024.

Why is The Sandman ending after two seasons?

The Sandman season 2 will be the show's final installment (Image credit: Netflix)

Netflix hasn't provided an official statement about ending The Sandman after two seasons. With so much source material left to adapt, general audiences might be bemused by the best streaming service's decision to do so.

Anyone who's kept up with the news over the last year, however, will have an idea about why the high fantasy series is prematurely ending – and it's all to do with Gaiman.

In July 2024, the award-winning writer was accused of sexual assault and abuse by five women on a Tortoise Media podcast called 'Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman'. Since then, more allegations, some of which date back to 1986, have come to light about Gaiman's behavior and include his alleged involvement in human trafficking. As of February 2025, three federal lawsuits have been brought against the author, too.

Gaiman has strenuously denied all of the accusations made against him. Nonetheless, live-action adaptations of his works have been impacted since he was accused of the aforementioned crimes. That includes the third season of Good Omens, the popular Prime Video TV show, which Gaiman is no longer involved in and has since been turned into a 90-minute movie.

As I wrote earlier, it's unclear if Netflix is bringing its retelling of The Sandman to an end because of what's been outlined above. One thing is certain, though: The Sandman won't get another outing on Netflix.

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• Samsung's first RGB micro-LED TV will be 115 inches
• It may be the only model this year, although smaller models will follow
• The tech is also due this year from Hisense

Samsung's next TV is a big deal: it'll use an RGB backlight, which looks set to be the next key technology in high-end televisions.

Unfortunately, the TV is going to be big in two other respects: it'll be a 115-inch model, too big for many homes, and it'll come with a big price tag that'll make it unaffordable for many too.

We've covered Samsung's RGB LED TV plans before: the firm showed off an 8K RGB micro-LED TV at CES 2025. That was a 98-inch model but Samsung said at the time that the actual product might be differently sized… though we weren't expecting it to be larger.

The news comes via trade site The Elec, which says that the RGB micro-LED TV tech will be used in an "ultra premium lineup", with more models appearing after the 115-inch TV makes its debut this year.

(Image credit: Future) Why this big TV will be a big deal

This isn't a traditional micro-LED TV. That tech works like OLED, in that each pixel generates its own light. Samsung's RGB micro-LED moniker is for TVs that use a backlight and LCD panel just like its QLED TVs – but the backlight can display a wide range of colors, it won't just be one hue, enabling far better color depth and more efficient brightness levels.

Samsung previously told us that by using micro-LED rather than mini-LED backlighting for these sets would deliver "three times more LEDs", which means better brightness and more local dimming zones for more precise control. However, it would suggest that we're not really talking about LEDs that are truly in line with micro-LED.

Still, the TechRadar team has seen this type of TV in the flesh, and we're very excited about the technology: while the first TVs to use it will have huge price tags, mini-LED has plummeted in price and micro-LED is likely to do the same.

Hisense has announced that its first RGB backlit model will arrive this year, and will be 116 inches, so will probably also have a huge price tag. TCL has also confirmed plans to release a TV with this tech in 2026.

We've been told that the tech will generally not cost much more than current mini-LED backlit TVs… but not if it's stuck at over 100 inches, where every TV is super-expensive. We'll have to see if sizes can come down to something more realistic next year – otherwise, current budget mini-LED tech will remain dominant for a while.

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• Almost all enterprise mobile apps come with security risks, experts warn
• Most frequent flaws include misconfigured cloud storage, hardcoded credentials, or outdated cryptography
• Zimperium shares its advice on how to stay safe

If your business is using mobile apps, there is a good chance those apps are leaking sensitive information and putting your entire operation at risk of data breaches, loss of trust, regulatory fines, and a whole swathe of other headaches.

Cybersecurity researchers Zimperium analyzed more than 17,000 enterprise mobile apps, and revealed many carry vulnerabilities such as misconfigured cloud storage, hardcoded credentials, or outdated cryptography, and while these are not tied to a particular platform, there were significantly more iOS apps vulnerable (11,626 on iOS compared to 6037 on Android).

Breaking the numbers down, the researchers found 83 Android apps with misconfigured or otherwise unprotected cloud storage, and 10 Android apps with exposed AWS credentials.

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Spoofing SharePoint

Almost all of the analyzed apps used weak or flawed cryptography, and five of the top 100 apps had high-severity cryptographic flaws. Others, also from the top 100, had storage directories exposed to the public.

“Our research found that 88% of all apps and 43% of the top 100 use one or more cryptographic methods that don't follow best practices,” the researchers said. “In some cases - high-severity cryptography flaws.”

To avoid these risks, Zimperium suggests that every company’s mobile device fleet manager gains visibility into app behavior patterns. That way, they’ll be able to identify misconfigured cloud storage settings, detect exposed credentials and API keys, and evaluate cloud service integration security.

Furthermore, they should validate encryption methods and key management, identify outdated or weak algorithms, assess security of integrated cloud SDKs, validate third-party cryptographic implementations, and monitor for known vulnerabilities.

“We cannot change the apps, but we can choose which apps we allow to ensure our data’s security,” they concluded.

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• Independent testing lab confirms Saily’s ad blocker reduces mobile data usage by 28.6%
• The ad blocker blocks ads and trackers at the network level using DNS filtering
• Test showed Saily used less data than four other eSIM providers across 22 websites

While using an eSIM for international travel, users often end up paying for mobile data consumed by ads they neither want nor understand.

However, new testing found Saily's ad blocker feature blocks ads at the network level. Powered by NordVPN's threat protection, the ad blocker feature applies DNS filtering to block ads and prevents websites from loading malicious ads.

The test was carried independently by West Coast Labs across 22 global websites spanning gaming, shopping, travel, and entertainment - with results showing a 28.6% reduction in data usage with Saily.

Built-in security features

Backed by NordVPN, Saily draws on established expertise in security features. When Tech Radar Pro spoke with Saily CEO Vykintas Maknickas, he highlighted how they company building a 'network-level security for travel eSIM connectivity'.

Saily's suite of security features reflects a broader industry shift towards a low-cost and safe solution for travel.

As the demand for eSIMs continues to rise, providers like Saily are setting themselves apart from other players by creating an all-around travel service.

Other security features like web protection and virtual location are built at the network level and are readily available with the eSIM, provided they are enabled in the Saily app.

“While traveling abroad, users are often exposed to ads in local languages they do not even understand. They pay to see this irrelevant content by buying and using their mobile data," Maknickas added.

Comparisons were also made with the industry average of data usage and compared with four other eSIM providers - Saily, with the ad blocker enabled, used less data on every website.

"A web-browsing user with a 5 GB plan could expect 1.43 GB of data savings. With these savings, the cost per gigabyte becomes lower too, which is a fair deal from the perspective of the consumer,” Maknickas added.

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