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Google is investing in Flo Health to connect menstrual cycle tracking with wearable data, expand women's health research, and develop personalized AI tools.

The post Google Invests in Flo Health to Bring Period Tracking to Wearables appeared first on TechRepublic.

DeepSeek reportedly plans to lead funding for Chinese robotics AI startup Winverse at a $400 million valuation, signaling a broader push into physical AI.

The post DeepSeek Eyes $400M Robotics AI Startup in New Funding Push appeared first on TechRepublic.

Meta's Muse Wonder AI models challenge OpenAI and Anthropic with new agent capabilities. Explore benchmark results, pricing, access restrictions, and privacy risks.

The post Meta’s New Muse Wonder Models Challenge OpenAI, but Access Comes With Limits appeared first on TechRepublic.

Bad Bunny’s record-breaking soldout tour was one of the hottest tickets in the UK this summer, drawing over 104,000 fans across the weekend of June 27th, 2026.

The show was highly anticipated following his Album of the Year Grammy Award for Debí Tirar Más Fotos and history-making Super Bowl Halftime Show.

But the excitement around the show wasn’t just because of the scale of the artist, it was also due to the incredibly ambitious scale of the production.

The best stadium tours have a way of making their use of technology seamless and in some cases, invisible.

You see a 100ft screen tracking the band’s movement from across the field without missing a beat, or members of the audience picked out and flashed on the giant LED walls around the venue.

None of it looks labored or complex, at least not to the general public in attendance. To them it’s all part of the magic of the show, which is exactly the point.

Media servers

Carlos “Charly” Camina is the tour’s media server engineer, and the size of the kit he oversees is much smaller than the grand scale of the show might suggest. The entire production runs on four Disguise GX 3+ servers, with a fifth GX 3 unit held in reserve as an understudy for the show’s director.

That’s down from five servers during the tour’s earlier Puerto Rico leg, despite the fact that the World Tour carries significantly more content layers and considerably bigger screens at 10,752 x 2,816px, requiring a 4K input.

The GX3+ upgrade alone roughly doubled the processing headroom for the same effects load, which is what made it possible to deliver more with a smaller footprint. The lighting runs on grandMA kit, the unchallenged global industry-standard for live event lighting control, with a grandMA light desk as the main control surface and a grandMA3 compact unit as backup.

The whole setup sits on a dedicated network split into eight isolated VLANs, a structural choice to provide containment, so that a fault in one part of the system can’t spread and collapse the whole thing. The engineering challenge on a show of this scale isn’t cramming in more and more hardware, it’s finding the smallest reliable solution that can do the job every single night, in any venue, anywhere on the planet.

Adaptability is key on any tour

The most unique piece of engineering on the Bad Bunny Tour wasn’t actually planned or commissioned ahead of the show. During rehearsals, the creative team at Sturdy suggested photographing the crowd during the opening act and then displaying those images on LED screens around the venue later on in the show. Charly’s instinct was to push back. Loading fresh, unvetted content into the live system with zero headroom for troubleshooting is the kind of risk that wise engineers know to avoid.

His solution was to keep the additional photography content out of the Disguise system altogether. Instead, he built a standalone application using HTTP Sockpuppet and OSC (Open Sound Control) to communicate with the main Disguise system, running off a laptop. A photographer hands over images for Charly to upload. When the relevant cue fires inside Disguise, it sends a request to the laptop for specific images, which are mapped to specific locations on a four-way live layout.

Charly said that the hardest part wasn’t the concept, it was the live timing: ensuring that front-of-house and the on-stage servers sync closely enough so that there’s no discernable lag, and making sure the system never repeats the same face twice in one night.

How this curveball was handled is a good example of a pattern that shows up across the whole build: rather than adding risk to a proven core system, Charly builds smaller satellite systems to support it and keeps them loosely connected. It’s a slick approach that preserves the magic and spontaneity of a seamless live experience, without risking the core build or compromising the show’s production value.

Animated CGI Frog - Why not?

The tour’s most curious element involved a Puerto Rican-inspired 3D animated frog called “Concho” rendered live using Unreal Engine and a face-tracked performer, which enabled Concho to interact directly with Bad Bunny mid-show as part of a FaceTime call. The segment needed a camera that could move freely, handheld, so the team decided to use an iPhone.

However, the phone could not have any visible external antennas. This meant the feed from the iPhone had to be captured over NDI (Network Device Interface) on a dedicated Wi-Fi network, rather than a standard wireless link that could have been easily interrupted by the tens of thousands of audience and staff devices around the arena. Charly’s team has to scan the RF spectrum every night to find clear channels before the Concho segment goes live.

The benefit of reliability

The ultimate stress test of the system came during the show’s finale where the production deployed a 40-tile feed, displayed in a grid across the main 5K screen and two IMAG screens. Together with Screens Producer Vishal Sharma and his team at All of it Now, who created all the show’s Notch content, Charly decided to route four separate 4K video inputs through a Notch block to build the grid live.

Nothing was pre-rendered or keyframed and the color-grading also took place in real-time. That final segment pushed the servers to their limit, with all four of the GX 3+ units red lining on their performance markers. Despite the load, the system held and delivered a truly spectacular end to the show.

Charly has worked with Disguise servers for over a decade. In that time he’s worked on shows of all types, from festivals like Coachella to state-of-the-art mixed-use venues like the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. With that much experience using these systems, what’s clear to him is that the value in this system isn’t in a specific creative feature. The value is knowing that if a server has an issue mid-show, he can switch to a backup with just one click and have full confidence that the backup will take over seamlessly.

For an engineer, touring a production this huge, reliability and predictability is the actual product. The breathtaking visuals that we get to enjoy as part of the audience will rightly get their applause, but the job is protecting the integrity of the show from its own scale and demands, every night, in every city, until the tour comes to an end.

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The fourth-gen Apple TV 4K is now three times the price of Roku’s top streamer.

After treating us to the grand unveiling of the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and iPhone Duo handsets in September, Apple returned in October to launch some notable device upgrades in the smart home and streaming categories.

There are refreshed versions of the Apple TV 4K and the HomePod mini, plus an Echo Show-style smart display called the HomeView. The HomeView is evidence of a renewed focus on the smart home from Apple, as are the devices being made by LG Electronics and Schneider Electric that the HomeView can connect to.

We've also got Siri AI rolling out across the board, which in theory should mean more intelligent and more useful AI conversations. Here's our full recap of what was announced, with links to specific articles if you want to read more.

1. The HomeView is Apple's first smart display — and it comes in two versions

It's like an Echo Show for Apple fans (Image credit: Apple)

Apple just jumped into smart displays: the HomeView is a competitor to the Amazon Echo Show and the Google Nest Hub, giving you a 7-inch screen that lets you control smart home devices, chat to Siri AI, play music, and much more. You can choose between a HomeView on its own rotating stand, or a HomeView designed to be wall-mounted.

A curated list of Apple apps can run on the HomeView, including Calendar, Safari, FaceTime, Weather, and Apple TV. If you like what you see, the HomeView costs $299 / £299 / AU$449 in Silver, Starlight, Rose Pink, or Space Gray. Preorders are open today, with sales and shipping starting on Friday, November 13.

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• Read the full story: I've seen Apple's HomeView smart display in action — it looks like the Apple Watch and classic G4 iMac had a baby, and it could make the Echo Show irrelevant

2. You need an iPhone or iPad to use the HomeView

Before you put your cash down for Apple's new smart display, read the small print. You need to have an iPhone or an iPad handy to set it up, and these connected mobile devices also provide a lot of the HomeView's personalized context — your messages, appointments, reminders, podcasts, and playlists for example.

3. The Apple TV 4K has finally been refreshed (with a big price hike)

A new Apple TV 4K for 2026, any takers? (Image credit: Apple TV 4K (2026))

We're pleased to see the launch of a brand new Apple TV 4K, but less enthused about the increased price: the new model will set you back $299 / £299 / AU$449, up from $199 / £199 / AU$299 (Wi-Fi) and $249 / £249 / AU$399 (Wi-Fi and Ethernet) for the old models, which are no longer going to be on sale from Apple.

You do get more for your money though. The upgrades here include a new Siri Remote that can make a sound when you're trying to find it, Siri AI on board, a faster processor, and three far-field mics for more "hey Siri" voice control options. Preorders are opening today, with a shipping and on-sale date of Friday, November 13.

• Read the full story: New Apple TV 4K finally brings HomePod Dolby Atmos surround sound and a Siri Remote you can’t lose — but its price has been hiked to $299

4. The new Siri Remote works with older Apple TVs

The fourth-generation Siri Remote that comes with the 2026 Apple TV 4K — the one that can make a sound when you're trying to find it, and can be tracked down using Precision Finding on the latest iPhones — is compatible with older Apple TV models too.

That means it'll work with the Apple TV HD and previous Apple TV 4K models. It'll be available to buy separately, but we're still waiting on pricing details.

5. You can pair the new Apple TV 4K with four HomePod speakers

(Image credit: Apple TV 4K (2026))

One of our favorite new features on the Apple TV 4K is the ability to pair it with up to four HomePods as its audio system.

That could be four 2nd-gen HomePods, four HomePod mini 2s, or two of each, it's up to you. Naturally, that could be a pretty pricy combo if you're starting from scratch though — an Apple TV 4K and four HomePod mini 2 units would cost $895 / £895 / AU$1,365, for example.

Still, you're still able to use a single HomePod or a stereo pair with the new Apple TV 4K as well, just like before.

6. The HomePod mini 2 is here, but it doesn’t have Siri AI (yet)

Your color choices for the Apple HomePod mini 2 (Image credit: Apple)

Considering the first HomePod mini launched in November 2020, an updated version was well overdue, and it's now arrived. It comes with a speedier chipset, and a modest price bump to $149 / £149 / AU$229. Preorders are open now if you want to put your money down, with the speaker shipping and going on sale on Friday, October 30.

You've also got new colors to pick from — Green and Pink models are available, alongside the previous White, Midnight, and Blue (Yellow and Orange get dropped) — and the LEDs on top of the speaker can change color to match the artwork of whatever you're listening to. Siri AI is supported as well, but it's coming in a future software update (there's no confirmed date yet).

• Read the full story: The HomePod mini 2 is here, but while the upgrades are subtle, the price hike isn’t — and you'll have to wait for Siri AI

7. There’s no Siri AI update for the second-gen HomePod

(Image credit: Future)

While the HomePod mini 2 will get the all-singing, all-dancing Siri AI update eventually (Apple hasn't set a specific date), the 2nd-gen HomePod launched in 2023 won't be getting the smarter AI.

Apple hasn't yet said why, but presumably the on-board processor just isn't fast enough for the extra demands of the AI.

8. Apple has co-designed new smart home gadgets with LG and Schneider Electric...

The Apple Home Collection includes security cameras (Image credit: Apple)

It's fair to say Apple's smart home ambitions have been limited somewhat by a lack of compatible gear — there's just not the range of products you get that work with Google Home or Amazon Alexa for example — but improvements are coming. A new doorbell and smart lock, plus cameras, sensors, and thermostats, are on the way.

These new gadgets are appearing under the label of the Apple Home Collection, though these are actually joint efforts between Apple and both LG and Schneider Electric. It means if you do buy a new HomeView smart display, you're going to have a wider choice of smart home devices to connect it to, and more hardware is likely to be in the pipeline.

• Read the full story: Apple Home is getting a new doorbell, cameras, and smart lock — but Apple isn’t making them

9. ...but you won’t be able to buy them everywhere

When it comes to the availability of the Apple Home Collection, these devices might not be sold as widely as we might like.

Shipping is scheduled for December across the board, but it looks like the LG Door Lock will only be available in the US and Canada, while the doorbell and cameras are limited to the US and the UK — at least for now.

I wrote earlier this year about Claude’s decision to comply with the EU AI Act, which requires all AI-generated text to be identifiable as AI, and start to insert a watermark into its text. Rather than limit this to EU customers, however, Anthropic decided to roll the feature out globally, which seemed a bit of an overreaction at the time.

OpenAI has now announced that it is following suit, but limiting the geographical areas of impact to the EU only. It is going to start inserting watermarks into generated text, but only for ChatGPT customers who live in the EU. That means that US and UK users won’t be affected at all.

OpenAI announced the change on October 5 saying: “Over the coming weeks, we will add an invisible watermark to eligible ChatGPT and Codex text output in the European Union.”

Inserting the watermark

To insert the watermark, which involves subtly changing the word choice for generated text, OpenAI is using a system of its own called textGrain. A note on the OpenAI website says: “Our text watermarking technology, textGrain, adds an invisible statistical signal to the model’s word choices. Our detector looks for that signal to assess whether a passage contains an OpenAI watermark. More details about how textGrain works can be found in our technical report⁠, which will be updated with additional details in the coming weeks.”

Like many people, I find that idea that the word choice of the AI that I’m paying to use is now being influenced by a watermarking algorithm, not by what’s optimal for me the customer, to be deplorable. I’m not saying that the resulting text will automatically be worse because of the watermark, but it certainly won’t be optimal.

It also sounds like it’s an easily broken solution that is full of holes. To detect AI text that’s produced using textGrain's watermarking a special AI detection tool needs to be used, which it’s currently unavailable to the public. OpenAI says it is providing detector access to researchers and expert organizations and that approved researchers and expert organizations can apply starting today.

“The tool will report whether it detects an OpenAI watermark”, continues the OpenAI article “without identifying the user or revealing their prompts or conversations. Given the risk of missed watermarks and false positives, we are not making it publicly available at launch.”

So if the detector tool isn’t being made public it begs the question, what is this supposed to accomplish?

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Daniel Chetroni)A box-ticking act?

The OpenAI article specifically says that detectors are prone to errors. That “shorter or more constrained text is harder to detect”, and that “editing can weaken the watermark”. It already sounds flawed, but what happens if you try and circumvent it completely by asking ChatGPT not to write in a way that can be detected, or to not use textGrain. Will it do it?

All of which leads me to conclude that the move by OpenAI looks a lot like a box ticking exercise to comply with the EU AI Act, which it is forced to do, since it requires generative AI providers to make generated text identifiable in a “machine-readable way”

It’s reassuring to hear that the changes are only going to be implemented inside the EU and that the text will remain private when the detector is used, but I suspect most ChatGPT users would rather OpenAI concentrated on producing the best possible answers rather than making those answers easily identify as AI-generated.

There’s also something fundamentally strange about a system that deliberately changes the words an AI chooses, without telling you which ones, to insert a watermark that can potentially be removed simply by editing the text. If the goal is to make AI-generated content more transparent, then surely the answer should be something that actually works, rather than an invisible signal that nobody outside a select group can even check for themselves.

• A new app called RemoveMacAI can delete Apple Intelligence files
• Doing so can reclaim up to 12GB of storage space
• But it comes with some scary warnings that shouldn’t be ignored

Apple promises that its new Siri AI and Apple Intelligence tools can help improve your daily experience through the magic of AI. Many people aren’t convinced, though, and a new Mac app has been doing the rounds that promises to delete Apple’s AI for good — so I decided to take it for a spin to see what all the fuss was about.

Dubbed RemoveMacAI, the app originally gained popularity in late September. At that time, though, it was just a simple Terminal command, which — given the obvious security risks of entering unknown code into a utility as powerful as the Terminal — turned some people off.

Now, the same developer is back with a Mac app that is essentially a wrapper for the command. This makes it a lot easier to understand what you’re deleting and what you’re enabling when you use the app, with a built-in tutorial and clear toggles spread across several different tabs and categories.

Apple makes it pretty difficult to eliminate every aspect of Apple Intelligence from your machine, which is why something like RemoveMacAI has gained a foothold. Its developer says Apple’s System Integrity Protection layer — which stops unauthorized code from running on your Mac — is never disabled, and that the app doesn’t make any network requests and doesn’t collect telemetric data.

That said, I loaded RemoveMacAI onto my Mac and was immediately met with a concerning warning: macOS did not trust the app and wouldn’t let me run it. The developer said this is due to the app being unsigned, and you’ve got to manually let it through Apple’s gates. I’ve occasionally encountered apps that do this, and it’s never a pleasant experience.

(Image credit: Future)

Foolishly or not, I pushed on. You can either choose the app’s recommended settings, which delete Apple Intelligence and turn off some privacy-invading settings, go “maximum privacy” and also disable Game Center and some Safari settings, or choose what to do yourself.

I opted to just delete Apple Intelligence and nothing else. RemoveMacAI breaks your options down into sections — you can switch off Siri AI, ChatGPT’s extension, Writing Tools, Image Playground, and much more, all with modular toggles.

Once that’s done, there’s another jarring moment: RemoveMacAI wants you to install a custom profile that it uses to enact your changes. Fortunately, you can read through every change it includes, so there’s visibility over what’s being done.

I accepted that and let RemoveMacAI get to work deleting Apple Intelligence. In the end, it freed up 11.7GB, which is nothing to sniff at and is in line with the developer’s claims. If you’re running low, it could be a good way to claw back precious disk space.

Although RemoveMacAI comes with some scary settings, it attempts to ease your fears by letting you read through everything that’s going to be changed, including the macOS profile. You can undo your decisions too, and doing so will revert your settings changes and redownload the Apple Intelligence models when they’re needed next.

Ultimately, I found RemoveMacAI to be a handy utility, especially if you want one resource for not only deleting Apple Intelligence, but also for restricting some of macOS’s more privacy-invading practices. The lack of notarization and the subsequent alarming warnings will likely put some people off, though, and they stop me from wholeheartedly recommending the app as a result.

Apple’s new smart display and speaker marks the company’s Siri AI-ification of your home. Preorders are open now.

In Google's most recent closed press briefing, in which Google's top brass revealed the new Fitbit Edge fitness tracker to a video call full of international journalists, it also revealed Google was entering into a "multi-year partnership" with an app called Flo.

Flo is a women's health app that can track your period, ovulation windows, and pregnancy stages, and it's widely used across the world.

Google said the new partnership was going to involve creating "personalized experiences for women". This includes building new products, and incorporating Flo into the AI-forward Google Health app.

Google says it's "working hard to sync Google Health with Flo for deeper insights", using trackers such as the Fitbit Air to collect data and Google Health to organize and surface that data, possibly with the AI chatbot Google Health Coach premium service.

During the presentation, Google stated that "Flo has spent more than a decade earning the trust of women". But a high-profile lawsuit against Google and Flo — and Google’s fellow big tech giant Meta — ended with Google and Flo paying a settlement of $56 million.

What happened?

In a consolidated lawsuit against defendants Flo, Google and Meta, representatives of Flo app users between 2016 and 2019 alleged that sensitive period tracking information was shared by Flo to Google and Meta without their knowledge or consent, through Flo's in-app software development kits.

According to Reuters, Google and Flo chose to settle out of court to the tune of $56 million combined, with an addition $3.5 million from a now-defunct mobile company Flurry.

Meta, which chose not to settle, was found liable for having 'violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act' according to court documents, and its attempts to overturn the motions were denied.

Google's new stance

(Image credit: Google / Flo)

It's big tech's MO to collect an enormous amount of information from across the web, but sometimes we don't quite realize the extent or personal nature of the information these companies collect.

I asked Google the following:

"The announcement of the multi-year partnership between Google Health and Flo comes after the high-profile $56 million class-action settlement by Flo and Google. Meta chose not to settle, and was found liable. Given the nature of the case, what additional privacy assurances can Google make to ensure the health data of Flo users remains safe?"

Google responded, stating that "Google Health Coach onboarding incorporates explicit consent informing users that shared third-party app data is utilized specifically to deliver personalized coaching."

Google also added that "Google Health Coach algorithms are designed not to log or store sensitive women’s health-related events and ongoing monitoring ensures AI responses remain aligned with sensitive communication standards."

Google also reiterated in the press briefing I attended that it will not use Google Health information for Google Ads. Google's blog post on the subject also says that 'no data will move between the apps without your explicit permission — given separately for each type of data and each purpose — and you have the control to withdraw permission at any time. Flo data shared with Google Health will never be used for advertising, never be sold, and will not be made available to other apps or developers through Google's health platforms.'

What this means for your data

Google says its algorithms aren't logging or storing anything, and therefore Google's AI isn't being trained on your sensitive health data. The lack of usage for Google Ads means Google says it won't use information from Flo to personalize and tailor ads to your interest and profile. Your data won't be sold or moved between parties without consent. All of this is good.

However, Google and Flo's controversial partnership history may mean that some users are put off from using the platforms' women's health tracking features. As Flo users found out prior to the lawsuit, data processing can be an opaque process.

As users, we can withdraw consent if we're concerned about the treatment of our data. You can view which third parties have access to your health information through your Google account by visiting Google's Privacy Checkup page, and you can also use this page to remove any third parties' access to your data.

• Malware infection at a third-party contractor may have exposed data of 8.7 million customers and employees
• Exposed records included personal details, though no payment data or confirmed misuse was reported
• Incident highlights supply-chain risks, with Daiichi Kosho investigating and reviewing contractor security

Even the entertainment industry is not safe from data-stealing cybercriminals - Daiichi Kosho, one of the biggest entertainment system makers in Japan, has disclosed a malware infection in its supply chain that may have resulted in the compromise of 8.7 million of both customer and employee information.

“Daiichi Kosho has received a report from Nippon Columbia Group (NCG), to which the Company outsources the handling of personal information, that a device used by an NCG employee was infected with malware and that the company’s customer information may have been leaked,” a machine-translated data breach notification letter reads.

“At this time, we have not confirmed that personal information was actually leaked externally or that it was misused as a result of this incident. However, as we cannot rule out the possibility that personal information was leaked, we are providing the information currently available and the actions we will take, as follows. We have also confirmed that the company’s systems were not affected.”

Supply chain attack

The wording is intentionally ambiguous - as this is obviously a supply chain attack, since Daiichi Kosho was not directly compromised.

Instead, it was Nippon Columbia Group, a group formed in 2025 after a restructuring of Faith. Nippon’s roots date back to 1910, when its predecessor became Japan’s first record company. Today, Faith established Nippon Columbia Group as a new organization focused on AI-powered entertainment and content distribution.

Daiichi Kosho, on the other hand, is one of Japan’s leading karaoke and entertainment companies. It was founded in 1973 and is today best known for its DAM karaoke systems and Big Echo karaoke venues. In fact, the company today runs more than 400 karaoke venues across Japan, including more than 100 in Tokyo alone.

The company both sells and rents karaoke gear, runs establishments and restaurants, and produces music and videos. Daiichi Kosho is a substantial business, generating roughly ¥163 billion (around $1.06 billion) in annual revenue a year.

Malware infection

According to BleepingComputer, Daiichi Kosho outsources the handling of its customers’ personal information to NCG. On October 5 2026, that company notified Daiichi Kosho that it found a malware infection and isolated the affected systems the day after. We don’t know exactly how the company ended up infected, or what kind of infection it was. What we do know is that it suspects records on 93,000 employees and 8,631,000 customers may have been exposed.

These records contain people’s full names, genders, dates of birth, email addresses, and telephone numbers. Customers of BIG ECHO, MEGA BIG, Karaoke CLUB DAM, Banana Club, B-GARAGE, and DK Dining, are among those affected by the attack. Passwords, loyalty points, or payment data, were not disclosed, the notice reads. Furthermore, there is no evidence of the data being misused on the dark web.

However, Daiichi Kosho did warn employees and customers to be wary of incoming email messages, especially unsolicited ones claiming to come from the company itself.

Personally identifiable information holds value on the black market because threat actors can use it to launch personalized, highly tailored phishing attacks.

Through these attacks, they can steal login credentials for corporate environments, or deploy infostealers to grab the passwords. That allows them to pivot to corporate IT infrastructure, steal business secrets and other data, and establish persistence. Ultimately, all of this allows the attackers to threaten to release the files to competitors and the public and thus pressure the victims into paying a ransom.

Daiichi Kosho said it will “continue to monitor the situation and take the necessary measures if we detect any signs of unauthorized use.”

It also said that, out of an abundance of caution, it was now inspecting other systems and was examining how it manages its contractors to see if there is room for improvement.

“If further investigation reveals any new facts, we will promptly provide an update, including the customers affected and the measures to be taken,” the machine-translated notice reads.

The Jackery Explorer 1000 V2 is one of our favorite off-grid power units. Combining a 1070Wh battery, 1500W output, and fast charging, we called it "one of the best portable power stations around, a solid choice and one of the most robust and reliable options available," after testing this one out.

That 1070Wh capacity means it can run a range of everyday electronics, while the unit delivers 1500W of continuous AC output, with a 3000W surge rating for devices that require more power when starting.

• Best for: Homeowners preparing for power outages, campers, RV owners, and anyone needing portable electricity for laptops, phones, small appliances, and other compatible devices.

• The deal: The Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Portable Power Station in Dune White is now $519 (was $589) at Jackery. Don't want white? The black model is also on sale at $499 (was $559).

Today's top Jackery portable power station deal

Portable Power Station Explorer 1000 V2 - Dune White: was $589 now $519
This Dune White version of the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 features a 1070Wh LiFePO4 battery, 1500W AC output, three AC outlets, dual USB-C ports, USB-A charging, optional solar input, and a five-year warranty for buyers.

Black model: now $499 (was $559).View Deal

Why we recommend it

In his 4.5-star review, our expert Alastair said the Jackery Explorer 1000 V2's "feature set makes it an ideal choice for anyone needing mains-style power away from the home or office and will run most domestic appliances up to 1500W without issue. What's more, the added features make it a durable choice when working off-site, as well as packing in features that make it a great choice for home power backup with UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) technology."

There are three AC outlets, two USB-C ports, a USB-A port, and a 12V car outlet. One USB-C port supports up to 100W output, the second offers up to 30W, and the USB-A port provides up to 18W.

Emergency Super Charge mode can top up the battery from 0% to 100% in an hour, and the power station uses LiFePO4 battery chemistry, with the cells rated for 4000 charging cycles before capacity falls to 70% of the original level. Its ChargeShield 2.0 protection system is designed to manage charging and battery safety, and you get a five-year warranty.

You can recharge the power station using compatible solar panels, including Jackery's bifacial 200W panels, making it useful for longer outdoor trips.

Price context & historical value

The Dune White Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 has dropped from $589 to $519, giving you a $70 saving (approximately 12%). There's also a Black version of the power station with the same features. This sells for $559 and is currently priced at $499, a $60 saving.

This isn't an all-time low though, as the Explorer 1000 v2 was available for $449 last year. For more options, take a look at our roundup of the best portable power stations we've tested.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Dune White Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 if...

You want a portable backup power source for essential electronics during outages, camping trips, or other situations where mains electricity isn't guaranteed. The 1070Wh battery and 1500W output can power a wide range of compatible devices.

❌ Skip the Dune White Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 if...

You need to run high-power appliances such as large electric heaters that exceed the 1500W continuous output limit. For occasional smartphone or laptop charging, a smaller and less expensive portable power station would be better.

More Jackery portable power stations deals

Homepower 3600 Plus: was $1899 now $1709
Delivers 3584Wh capacity, expandable to 21kWh, with 3600W output, LiFePO4 battery technology, 6000 charging cycles, quiet 30dB operation, portable wheeled design, and support for 120V and 240V home appliances.View Deal

Solar Generator 5000 Plus: was $5159 now $4234
Delivers 7200W rated power and 14,400W surge output, supporting 120V and 240V appliances, including air conditioners and water heaters. Provides up to 13 days of backup power for home emergencies.View Deal

• Shop all portable power supplies on sale at Jackery

Speak naturally and generate text instantly across apps without relying on cloud-based transcription tools.

The post Skip the Keyboard with This $55 Mac Dictation Upgrade appeared first on TechRepublic.

• The new Apple TV 4K is official and starts at $299 / £299 / AU$449
• It has microphones built-in for hands-free Siri control and supports HomePod surrounds
• The updated Siri Remote can chirp to help you find it, supports Precision Finding, and works with older Apple TV models

I fondly remember when Apple brought the price down on the Apple TV 4K box, and then I also remember the unfortunate price hikes from earlier in 2026. That pushed the Apple TV 4K without Ethernet to $199 / £199 / AU$299 and the one with Ethernet to $249 / £249 / AU$399.

Now, alongside the HomeView and the second-generation HomePod mini, Apple is ushering in the new Apple TV 4K and sunsetting the previous models. It keeps a similar shape — it's still a black square with curved edges and a logo up top — but there are some new tricks here.

It also carries a new price point: the Apple TV 4K (2026) comes in one version and costs $299 / £299 / AU$449. That’s a big jump, especially when compared with competing Roku players and Fire TV Sticks. It’s actually the same price as the new Apple HomeView, which includes a screen and speakers. Still, it's up for preorder now — beginning October 13, 2026 — and ships on November 13, 2026.

I’ve spent a bit of time with the refreshed Apple TV 4K, seeing it work through some Siri AI tasks and hearing its new audio capabilities, which include the ability to work with up to four HomePod speakers in a surround setup.

That could mean two second-generation HomePods up front and two HomePod mini second-generation as rear speakers, four full-sized HomePod 2 units, or four HomePod mini 2 units.

Your phone can point you precisely towards the lost Apple TV remote (Image credit: Apple TV 4K (2026))

By far the most meaningful upgrade, and the one that shows Apple’s listening to customers, is the new Siri Remote. Now in its fourth generation, it can finally chirp and emit a sound when you can’t find it. So you can ask, “Hey Siri, where’s my remote?” to no one in particular (the Apple TV 4K box's microphones will hear you) and the remote will emit a sound.

It’s pretty loud, though Apple isn’t sharing the exact decibel level, and it should be very audible even if the remote is stuck deep between couch cushions, in a pile on the floor, or somewhere else entirely.

If you also have an iPhone 17 or newer, iPhone Air, or iPhone Duo, you can open Find My, tap Devices, and then use Precision Finding to help you locate the remote. These are both super-helpful features, and you don’t need the new Apple TV 4K to take advantage of them, as this remote is backwards compatible with the Apple TV HD and previous Apple TV 4K models. I’m still waiting for price confirmation, but for reference, the current Siri Remote is $59 / £59 / AU$89.

(Image credit: Apple TV 4K (2026))

As someone who’s bought into the sound quality of the HomePods since the first generation, which sadly isn’t supported here, this is a welcome upgrade. But you do need a lot of new hardware.

Theoretically, that’s $895 / £895 / AU$1,365 for an Apple TV 4K and four HomePod mini 2 units, or $1,695 / £1,695 / AU$2,645 for four second-generation HomePods and the Apple TV 4K, or $1,295 / £1,295 / AU$2,005 for two HomePod mini 2s, two second-generation HomePods, and an Apple TV 4K.

I heard a brief snippet of Widow’s Bay, which streams on Apple TV, with the latter setup: two full-sized HomePods next to a TV and two HomePod mini 2s a bit farther back behind a couch. It sounded really good, and compared with just two HomePods, the full setup offered a much wider experience that excelled at showing off both the low and high ends, from a quieter scene that ramped into a more vibrant one. This combo packs a punch.

There's no doubt that $299 / £299 / AU$449 for a streaming box, even with that audio capability, is a lot. But the Apple TV 4K does pack in a few other bells and whistles. Under the hood, it should be speedier, with quicker app launches and more runway into the future thanks to the A19 processor.

The new Apple TV 4K also supports Siri AI at launch in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the UK, the US, Singapore, and South Africa.

This lets you ask questions with personal context, like, “Hey Siri, what was the episode of Star Wars Rebels I was talking about with Max?” or “What was that show that Benjie recommended a few months back in the group chat?”

Leaning on personal context from a connected iPhone, it can deliver those results, and it worked quickly in a demo, pulling up an episode of Ted Lasso in short order.

(Image credit: Apple TV 4K (2026))

That about wraps up the new Apple TV 4K — it replaces the previous-generation models, though if those get discounted, they’re definitely worth a look. It’s available to order now ahead of its November 13, 2026 launch.

It’s a sizable price increase, and I wish Apple still offered the previous generation as a more affordable option, something like an entry-level iPad equivalent or an “e” option, similar to the iPhone 17e.

It’s clear that this is a higher-end, premium streaming box, but we’ll need to spend some time with it to see how it compares and whether the $299 / £299 / AU$449 price point is worth it. Let me know what you think in the comments below, particularly your thoughts on that higher price and feature set.

• Apple's HomePod mini 2 freshens the smart speaker with new colors and a few new tricks
• The top LED glow can now mirror the colors of album artwork
• The smart speaker will get Siri AI in a future software update

Techtober is marching on in a pretty big way, and this week it's Apple leading the pack. Alongside its first-ever smart display, the HomeView, Apple is also upgrading the speaker that serves as the entry point to its smart-home lineup.

The HomePod mini 2 is a refresh of the smart speaker that’s been a workhorse in Apple's lineup since it launched in 2020. For this second generation, Apple isn’t changing much: there are new colors, a better processor under the hood, and a new trick with the glowing LED on the top, though Siri AI is coming… but only via a future software update.

It also comes with a notable price hike. In the US, the first-gen HomePod mini jumped from $99 to $129 in June, and now the HomePod mini 2 costs $149.99 — so that's a 50% upgrade over the price the original cost just five months ago. It’s up for preorder now, and will begin shipping on October 30. It's priced at £149 in the UK, and AU$229 in Australia.

(Image credit: Apple)

Looks-wise, the HomePod mini 2 is still about the size and shape of an tennis ball, but with a flat top and bottom. Alongside White, Blue, and Midnight, new arrivals Green and Pink aim to offer a fresh pop of color. Fans of Yellow and Orange, which were options for the first HomePod mini, will likely be missing those — myself included.

Still, I’m a fan of the fresh Pink here. I saw it demoed in a stereo pair alongside the pink iMac, and there’s definitely some Cupertino synergy here. Beyond the fresh paint jobs, the HomePod mini 2 will still ship with a color-matched cord and USB-C power plug.

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Under the hood, Apple has made the jump from an S5 chip to the S10 chip, which premiered inside the Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3, and third-generation SE.

The new chip will be faster for processing, and will also improve connectivity, allowing for improved latency when the HomePod mini 2 is used as a dedicated speaker for a Mac — a new capability for this model. It can also be grouped with other HomePods as a surround sound setup for the new Apple TV 4K.

(Image credit: Apple)

The S10 chip will also power a forthcoming free update to bring Siri AI to the speaker. When it does arrive, you can opt into the new, more personalized Siri through the Home app on your iPhone. The update will apply to your account, and if you’re in a shared household, other users will be able to make the jump too.

As with the Apple HomeView, you’ll need an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence and the new Siri, and that has recently connected to your Wi-Fi network. Once enabled, you can ask for more personal information from Siri, whether that’s finding a song your friend texted you, pulling information from your calendar, or handling any number of other tasks. There will be a bit of a wait for these Siri features, though, with no confirmed date.

The other big change is a fun one. The HomePod mini 2’s top is still a circular touch surface with LEDs underneath, but it's been updated. No, it’s not a full Liquid Retina display as on the HomeView, but the LEDs are more precise, and can now color-match the album art of whatever you’re listening to.

Think of the colorful glow in the iPhone’s Dynamic Island when a Now Playing widget is active. Whether you’re listening to Apple Music or Spotify, that color-matching effect can now translate to the top of the HomePod mini 2.

It’s a neat update, though the lights don’t get all that bright. In a demo, they matched the blues, whites, and violets of Olivia Rodrigo’s latest album while it was playing.

Potentially more interesting is that it works with soundscapes, too. I currently have two original HomePod minis on my nightstands, and use rain sounds to fall asleep, so the idea that the new model can visually reflect the pitter-patter of raindrops is intriguing. In a dark room, that gentle glow could be a soothing touch.

(Image credit: Apple)

Aside from that, the HomePod mini 2 still offers the same rich, vibrant, and surprisingly loud playback experience for audio, podcasts, and other content. It’s again powered by a full-range driver, and dual passive radiators.

It sounded pretty great in the demos, and I’m especially pleased that two of these can be combined with a pair of second-generation HomePods for a full surround sound experience with the Apple TV 4K. You can of course also pair this HomePod with any other AirPlay speakers or the HomeView, too.

Apple is taking preorders for the HomePod mini 2 now, with shipping from October 30. That’s right before Halloween, and while Orange isn’t in the lineup anymore for a pumpkin look, you'll be able to ask Siri to serve up some spooky tunes.

• The Apple Home Collection is a new set of smart-home devices made by LG Electronics and Schneider Electric
• The new devices have been designed in partnership with Apple
• The smart locks, video doorbell, and sensors, among other devices, are designed to work seamlessly with Apple Home

While there are lots of smart-home of gadgets that work with Apple Home — or HomeKit, as it was once called — Apple has never really taken the next step of designing and building its own devices, like doorbells, sensors, thermostats, and locks. That’s still the case, but alongside unveiling the Apple HomeView smart display, with features that clearly make it a smart home hub, the tech giant is also moving into the smart-home device space, in collaboration with partner brands.

Rather than simply certifying devices for Apple Home — and those options aren’t going away — Apple has been working with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric to design and build several devices that will serve as a new flagship standard for gadgets in Apple's ecosystem. They'll start shipping in December.

The new doorbell, indoor and outdoor cameras, thermostats, and various sensors represent a set of gadgets that not only work seamlessly with Apple’s home hubs — Apple TV 4K, HomePod, HomePod mini, and the new HomeView — but also integrate with the broader Apple Home ecosystem, allowing Siri to be central to controlling them.

All these new devices look and feel modern and well-made. Take LG Electronics’ Video Doorbell, for example: it’s a wired option priced at $249 in the US and £229 in the UK. It’s a sleek, matte-silver cylinder with a classic doorbell button, microphones, a speaker, and two cameras. One camera faces outward to give you a view of who’s at your door or what’s happening on the street, while the other faces downward, so that you can see whether a package has been dropped off.

There's also an LG Door Lock, which will work in the United States and Canada, and conforms to the deadbolt lock standard in North America. This is priced at $199. Like the recently launched Ring Smart Lock, it supports UWB — ultra-wideband — and Apple Home Key, so as you approach the door with your iPhone or Apple Watch, it can sense your arrival and automatically unlock the door. You can also enter a code using the keypad, or slide the panel to the side to use a physical key.

(Image credit: Apple)

Another potentially over-engineered, but pretty sleek, option is LG’s Indoor Camera. This cylindrical camera sits in a mini drum connected to an arm, and when you set it not to be in use — such as when you arrive home, or according to a schedule — it swivels downward so the lens faces the floor. There’s no physical shutter here, but it’s a unique and visible approach to privacy, and you can also activate it on demand with a button on the top. It’s priced at $199 in the US and £179.95 in the UK.

(Image credit: Apple)

These are just three of the devices in the collection. LG is also making an Outdoor Camera, with or without a floodlight, while both LG and Schneider Electric offer smart thermostat s, and Schneider Electric is making a variety of sensors. It’s likely that these are just the start of a much larger range, but they cover some of the basic building blocks of a smart home.

(Image credit: Apple)

While these new devices aren’t made directly by Apple, this partnership arrangement is similar to how Apple worked with LG on the original UltraFine 2K and 4K monitors for MacBook Pro users, or how Belkin has become a featured partner for accessories such as the MagSafe mount that lets you use your iPhone as a webcam for your Mac.

I think it’s also a tell about exactly where Apple wants to play within the smart home. For instance, there are no smart lights here, likely because a handful of lighting brands already support Apple Home, from Nanoleaf to Philips Hue.

As mentioned, these new devices won’t launch until December, with exact availability still to be confirmed, but I’ll be curious to see how they perform.

(Image credit: Apple)

One unique aspect of these devices is that you'll be able to set up and pair them much like AirPods or an Apple Watch. You’ll see a splash screen appear on your iPhone when you bring it close to the device, whether that’s a doorbell, camera, thermostat, sensor, or smart lock.

That’s a slicker approach than the sometimes-arduous process of setting up other smart-home devices. It’s also clear that Apple is building on the foundations of the Matter standard, and making that experiences feel more seamless within its own ecosystem.

Having largely stayed out of the smart-home space until now, Apple today jumped in with both feet, unveiling the Apple HomeView, its first smart display — introduced alongside the Apple HomePod mini 2, a new Apple TV 4K, and a range of smart-home devices — including a video doorbell — produced by partner brands LG and Schneider Electric.

The Apple HomeView is a modern, cute 7-inch Liquid Retina display and smart-home hub that enables you to use the touchscreen or Siri AI voice commands, to control connected devices, play music, check the weather and more.

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There are two models: a version with the display sitting atop a speaker unit (shown at the top of the page), to which it's attached by an adjustable arm that enables you to tilt and rotate the display; and a screen-only model that's designed to be wall-mounted.

(Image credit: Apple)

The HomeView starts at $299 in the US, £299 in the UK, and AU$449 in Australia, with preorders opening today (October 13) ahead of a November 13 on-sale date.

It comes in familiar Apple colors: Silver, Starlight, Rose Pink, and Space Gray. That price is actually more competitive than I expected, given that rumors had pointed to a price around $350.

While $299 is still $100 more than the Echo Show 8, Apple is clearly pitching the HomeView as its alternative to Amazon's devices — and if you’re already in the Apple ecosystem, there are some compelling reasons to consider it.

As for the hardware, you get a 7-inch Liquid Retina display, a 12MP Ultra Wide Center Stage camera, a four-microphone array, and a multi-driver speaker system in the model with the speaker unit.

Apple’s A18 processor powers the HomeView, though the platform is not iPadOS, tvOS, or iOS — it’s all-new HomeView Software.

The HomeView has features that can rival the likes of the Amazon Echo Show or Google Nest Hub. And when it comes to the former, it might have the edge for two key reasons: privacy, and integration with the Apple devices you already use every day.

As the rumors and reports suggested, HomeView is reminiscent of the iMac G4 of yesteryear, but feels more refined. It starts with a face you can set to a variety of clocks — think an Apple Watch face or the screensaver interface on an Apple TV 4K — and some will feel familiar if you’ve used an Apple Watch, though with distinct differences.

(Image credit: Apple)

Snoopy is back with fresh adventures, and the Flow face is reimagined here so that, rather than simply grooving like a lava lamp, its colorful shapes respond to what the camera up top sees. You can add complications such as your calendar, to-do lists, and weather, with information adjusting from a general view to more specific details as you approach.

The HomeView can recognize up to six family members using its integrated camera, which helps it personalize the experience for whoever is interacting with it. Each family member can customize their own face, apps, and widgets, and here the interface resembles iOS, even to the degree that you can tint the icons.

The similarities extend to privacy, too. Apple says personal information stays personal, meaning another family member shouldn’t be able to walk up to HomeView and access your messages or see who you’re texting.

Siri requests aren’t recorded, according to Apple, and personal data isn’t stored directly on HomeView itself. It also has no ads, unlike the Echo Show, which makes it feel more like part of your home than a billboard on your kitchen counter.

You'll need an iPhone or iPad to set it up, and doing so unlocks much of the HomeView’s personal context.

(Image credit: Apple)

You won’t find an App Store on the HomeView. Instead, Apple curates the experience around the apps and features it thinks make sense on a shared home display. Those include Apple’s own apps and services, such as Messages, Music, Weather, Reminders, Calendar, Safari, Find My, FaceTime, Apple TV, Podcasts, News, and the Home app.

Apple also shared that select third-party media apps that already work with CarPlay will be supported, potentially bringing more of your favorite audio services, such as Spotify, into the experience.

You can’t just download whatever you want, but Apple has clearly thought about how people will use HomeView throughout the day, whether that’s for checking the weather, catching up on messages, playing music, or controlling connected devices.

(Image credit: Apple)

Siri is central to HomeView, and the integration with Apple’s broader ecosystem is where the experience starts to feel more ambitious than a typical smart display.

HomeView can draw on personal context to help with requests that go beyond simple commands. During a demonstration, I saw how it could help find a recipe a friend had recommended, or one your mom had sent, or pull up a song a friend had texted you about.

It can also handle more involved requests. For example, you could ask when your dad’s flight lands, work out how long it will take him to get from the airport to your apartment, and then look for brunch recommendations. Rather than treating each question as a separate task, HomeView can use context to help connect the dots.

It’s not just about asking Siri to turn on a light or set a timer; Siri AI on HomeView seems purpose-built for personalized, multi-step assistance — much like what Apple promised with the next-generation personal assistant.

(Image credit: Apple)

The HomeView isn’t just a screen with a speaker attached. Apple has built a more considered audio setup into the device, with two custom drivers for high notes in the screen, alongside a down-firing woofer and two other force-canceling woofers in the base of the speaker-mounted version.

During a kitchen demonstration, I heard a Bad Bunny track playing on Apple Music, and HomeView got impressively loud without distorting. Lyrics appeared on the screen, too, making it feel like a natural fit for a kitchen island or another shared space where music is part of the routine.

The speaker-mounted version feels especially suited to the kitchen, where you might angle the screen toward yourself while cooking, then turn it toward someone else when they walk in. As mentioned, there’s also a wall-mounted option, with audio tuned specifically for that placement, though I didn’t get to demo music on that model.

(Image credit: Apple)

One of the more practical features is how HomeView works with your iPhone. If you’re looking at a recipe on your phone, you can tap or bring the phone close to HomeView to hand it off to the larger screen. You can also switch a FaceTime call or music in the same way.

With a recipe, Safari can show the important details, including ingredients and step-by-step instructions. You can work through the recipe as you go, with timers available along the way.

Siri AI adds another layer. You could ask it to add ingredients to a shopping list, set a reminder, or help find a nearby grocery store for something you need. It’s the kind of connected workflow that makes sense on a display designed to live in a shared space, rather than one that’s just a smaller tablet sitting on a counter.

The HomeView also feels like a natural extension of Apple’s smart-home ambitions. The Home app enables you to control compatible lights, thermostats, door locks, and cameras, while smart home widgets put your most-used controls closer at hand.

You can receive doorbell alerts and view live camera feeds, with support for up to nine camera views at once. Existing Apple Home-compatible and Matter-compatible devices will work with it, naturally, giving HomeView a clear role as a central smart home hub.

The HomeView will arrive ahead of Apple’s new Home Collection, a range of smart home products made in collaboration with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric, that are expected to arrive in December. These will include a video doorbell, a smart lock, and various security cameras and sensors.

(Image credit: Apple)

As mentioned, you can choose between speaker-mounted or wall-mounted versions of the HomeView. The wall-mounted option feels like a replacement for touch controls for an automated home system — the feel will be similar to a smart thermostat, too.

The speaker-mounted version feels much more like a communal, catch-all device. Both versions have their appeals, but you will need to give this some thought before you buy.

The HomeView has fewer features than some rivals, and as mentioned it’s not an entirely open software experience. I think that’s a two-fold decision: it enables Apple to deliver a compelling, well-thought-out experience built around what HomeView is designed to do at launch, and to put privacy front and center.

The HomeView will be central to controlling your smart home, but it also ventures closer to being a personal assistant around the house, thanks to its integration with Apple’s broader ecosystem. The HomeView isn’t a standalone device in the traditional sense given that it requires you to have and iPhone or iPad, but if you’re already invested in Apple’s ecosystem it could also mean that you're reaching for your iPhone a little less.

It’s taken Apple a long time to enter the smart-display category, but after seeing HomeView in action, I think the wait has been worth it. This feels like one of Apple’s strongest new category entries in quite some time. Apple has used its ecosystem strengths to give HomeView a clear purpose: a shared display that still feels personal, a smart-home hub that doesn’t require you to reach for your phone, and a genuinely useful extension of the Apple devices you already own.

The Echo Show has been a familiar fixture in the smart home for years. But now Apple has finally arrived on the scene, with a product that feels distinctly Apple — and if you already have an iPhone at the center of your life, I can see the HomeView making a lot of sense.

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• UK annual data center growth anticipated to be less than half seen in Ireland, Finland and Norway
• Nordic sites are costing €600k per MW, Western European sites are costing €2.25m/MW
• UK needs to tackle energy prices, land prices and grid connection speeds

Consultancy firm Kearney has branded the UK as one of Europe's slowest-growing data center markets, despite the government's positive narrative, and it could all be down to regulation.

At present, the UK is said to be Europe's second-largest data center market, however demand is only expected to grow by 17.6% annually between now and 2030, putting it second-last only to Germany (16.2%).

On the flip side, Ireland is slated to see an annual growth rate of 36% – around double the UK's.

UK data center market could be on the decline

Kearney doesn't blame a lack of demand for the slower-than-average growth, but rather its poor ability to accommodate new infrastructure efficiently and affordably.

The consultancy firm sees energy availability as a major blocker across Europe as a whole, with forecasts of 236 Two by 2035 just for data center consumption – up from 96 TWh in 2024.

But beyond energy constraints, which are pretty widespread, the research also reveals that high land prices could be making UK data centers less competitive.

Typical costs for British and other Western European sites are around €2.25 million per megawatt, but Nordic markets are able to hit a low average of €600,000 per megawatt. It puts Finland and Norway's anticipated annual demand growth at 37.6% and 36.8% respectively between now and 2030.

"What has changed is that power and land are scarce enough that the next wave of capacity must match the workloads that genuinely need to be close to users, customers, and national jurisdictions," European Data Center Lead Christoph Neunkirchen explained. "Everything else will go where it is easier to build."

For the UK in particular, whose government says at least 6GW of AI data center capacity will be needed by 2030, Kearney emphasises the need for lower electricity prices, cheaper land and faster grid connections.

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