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• Intel has confirmed its CPU roadmap for the near future
• Panther Lake is due later in 2025, and Nova Lake in 2026
• It’s still not made clear if Panther Lake will skip desktop, but it seems likely that next-gen desktop CPUs won’t be here until next year

Intel has confirmed its future CPU plans and how the firm’s intended roadmap will pan out across 2025 and 2026, albeit while leaving question marks over certain specifics.

We got confirmation of existing plans – that Panther Lake is due this year, and Nova Lake next year – but there’s still no certainty over whether we’ll get a new generation of desktop CPUs later in 2025 (in other words, whether Intel will stick to its usual yearly cadence).

As VideoCardz reports, what Intel’s current (interim) co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus revealed during a recent earnings call is that we can expect Team Blue to release Panther Lake silicon, its next generation, in the second half of 2025.

Holthaus then observed: “2026 is even more exciting from a client perspective as Panther Lake achieves meaningful volumes and we introduce our next-generation client family codenamed Nova Lake.

“Both will provide strong performance across the entire PC stack with significantly better cost and margin for us, enhancing our competitive position and reinforcing our value proposition to our partners and customers.”

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler) Analysis: Form of the Panther

Okay, so next-gen Panther Lake is still due later in 2025, and 2026 will be the year of Nova Lake, the following generation. Good to know, or rather, to have that confirmed again.

The question is: what form will Panther Lake and Nova Lake take, exactly? The current rumor is that Panther Lake will be mobile chips only, meaning just laptops, not desktop PCs. The sightings of next-gen desktop chips via the rumor mill have been confined only to Nova Lake (so far, and it’s getting late in the day now).

Based on what Intel’s co-CEO says here, there’s no specific mention of desktop CPUs, so that isn’t helpful. However, what we do get from Holthaus is an assertion that “both will provide strong performance across the entire PC stack” and the key word here is ‘both’ of course.

The “entire PC stack” means mobile and desktop, the works, and what appears to be stated here is that both Panther Lake and Nova Lake together will cover the entire PC stack between them. This is still true if Panther Lake doesn’t have a desktop incarnation.

Alternatively, you could read this as both Panther Lake and Nova Lake will separately cover the full stack, both desktop and mobile, in their own right – but that doesn’t feel like the intention here. By which I mean, for me, this seems to be a way of phrasing things that’s deliberately ambiguous to gloss over whether or not Panther Lake will have a desktop presence.

Take that for what you will, of course, and we absolutely don’t know for sure. Maybe Intel does have Panther Lake desktop chips in the works, but based on the rumors, it seems relatively unlikely.

Another alternative could be that Panther Lake is laptop only, but Intel could bring out an Arrow Lake Refresh on desktop later this year alongside it, as a stopgap before Nova Lake desktop CPUs in 2026. Remember, that’s what happened with Raptor Lake, and it was a very minor generational bump – but past rumors have claimed Intel is not going to carry out such a refresh with Arrow Lake for desktops.

Ultimately, for now, it seems to me that the likelihood is that Intel’s next-gen desktop silicon won’t be here until 2026 when Nova Lake blazes into town.

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ExpressVPN is offering a lucky new customer the opportunity to win a once-in-a-lifetime Tottenham Hotspur experience.

ExpressVPN's Dare to Dare competition includes flights to London, three nights in a 4-star hotel, a premium ticket to a Spurs match, and £500 of spending money during your stay.

The VPN provider launched its digital privacy partnership with the Spurs in November, calling on fans to "dare to do more."

You have time until February 28, 2025, to enter the competition and try your luck in winning this exclusive trip for you and a mate.

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ExpressVPN Dare to Dream: what is it and how to join

ExpressVPN's Dare to Dream campaign seeks to reward some lucky new customers who decide to boost their digital privacy with either a 1 or 2-year VPN plan.

The exclusive 3-day trip to London (available for one winner with the option to invite a guest) includes:

• Flights to London,
• Three nights accommodation,
• £500 of spending money – the winner will require a PayPal account to get this,
• A premium Spurs matchday package. This includes two top-drawer seats, food, drink, locker room access, entertainment with Club Legends and more,
• VIP Tour of the stadium with a Tottenham Legend,
• Signed Merch,
• Dare Skywalk or F1 Drive experience,
• Free Aircove Go router – the provider's own router with built-in VPN to bring everywhere with you every time you travel.

Not only that, but everyone signing up for one or two years of ExpressVPN coverage will also receive four months of free protection and 51% off the regular monthly price. Here are all the terms and conditions for participating in the initiative.

Is ExpressVPN worth it?

Football fans will probably be glad to know that signing up to ExpressVPN isn't just a matter of winning an incredible experience – the provider takes its users' privacy and security very seriously.

Test after test, TechRadar's reviewers keep loving ExpressVPN for its many security features, stable and fast connections, easy-to-use apps, and string encryption protocols.

Talking about encryption, ExpressVPN was one of the first providers to adopt the new post-quantum encryption standards recently to ensure you can be protected even against new threats.

ExpressVPN even dropped its prices for the first time in fifteen years a few months ago, making it even more value for money.

• New York Blood Center announces it was hit by a ransomware attack
• It has notified the police, but said its operations were hindered
• No details about the attackers or the consequences just yet

One of the largest independent, community-based blood centers in the world has suffered a ransomware attack which crippled its operations.

In a public announcement, the New York Blood Center (NYBC) said it was working on restoring its systems, and had notified police about the attack.

“On Sunday, January 26, New York Blood Center Enterprises and its operating divisions identified suspicious activity affecting our IT systems. We immediately engaged third-party cybersecurity experts to investigate and confirmed that the suspicious activity is a result of a ransomware incident,” the announcement reads. “We took immediate steps to help contain the threat and are working diligently with these experts to restore our systems as quickly and as safely as possible.”

Blood firms in the crosshairs

Other details are not known at this time. We don’t know who the threat actors are, or how they managed to access NYBC’s IT infrastructure. Since ransomware attackers usually steal sensitive information, it is safe to assume the same happened here. However, we don’t know how many people are affected, or what kind of information might have been stolen.

NYBC serves over 75 million people across the United States. Annually, it collects approximately 400,000 blood donations and distributes more than 1 million units of blood and blood components to nearly 200 hospitals. Therefore, the number of potentially affected people could be quite large, and the information stolen could be sensitive.

Blood donation firms seem to be in the crosshairs these days. Earlier this month, news broke that OneBlood, a nonprofit medical organization crucial for the operations of healthcare firms across the Southeastern US, lost sensitive donor information in a ransomware attack that happened last summer.

The move disrupted services across multiple US states, with the organization operating at a ‘significantly reduced capacity’.

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• The limited-time PS5 themes will be removed today
• Sony thanks fans for the "fantastic response" to them
• As a result, they will be coming back in future

Sony has confirmed that the limited-time console themes, which allow you to deck out your PS5 UI in an original PlayStation, PS2, PS3, or PS4 aesthetic, will be removed today.

In a recent X / Twitter post, Sony thanked fans for the "fantastic response" to the themes but confirmed that they will be "leaving" today. This is bad news if you were a fan of the unique looks, but there is a silver lining here.

Thanks to the "positive response on these four themes" Sony is now "doing some work behind the scenes" to bring them back in the "months ahead." There's no clear timeframe yet, but this will presumably involve making them a permanent option on PS5 sometime later this year.

In spite of this, Sony also stated that there "aren't plans to create additional themes in future," which is a massive shame. Many PS4 owners loved the ability to personalize their console's home screen, which has a wide range of both free and paid options available inspired by top games. Although it has been a much-requested feature for PS5, it looks like we won't be seeing anything as comprehensive as that old system implemented any time soon.

Given the rather sparse look of the PS5 home screen, I definitely wouldn't mind the ability to spice things up a little bit. At least the future return of these four retro themes is better than nothing.

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Panasonic Lumix G97 two-minute review

The Panasonic Lumix G97 is effectively an updated refresh of the 2019 Lumix G95/90, with a higher-resolution rear screen, the video recording limit removed, and a new USB-C port for charging and power. Granted, that doesn’t sound like much of an update – but when you use the G97 you realize just how responsive, well-made and powerful this camera still is, even by todays’ standards.

It does have a 20MP Micro Four Thirds sensor, which is half the size of the sensors in its APS-C rivals, which also offer more resolution at 24-26MP+. This has some effect on the ultimate image quality, but perhaps not as much as you might expect, since the G97’s sensor has no anti-aliasing filter in order to maximize fine detail; and while there is more digital noise at higher sensitivities, you have to push the ISO quite a long way before it shows (and APS-C cameras also produce noise, of course).

Does the Panasonic Lumix G97 look familiar? It's VERY closely based on the previous G95/90 with a handful of minor improvements for 2025 (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

And then there’s Panasonic’s somewhat controversial DFD contrast AF – the G97 does not employ Panasonic’s latest hybrid phase/contrast tech. Is it a problem? Not in stills photography, where the AF is extremely fast and responsive. You might notice the difference in video, though, where many users report the AF hunting or ‘pulsing’ as it keeps re-checking even stationary objects. It will depend on what you film, and how.

Let’s look at what this camera delivers elsewhere. You get an extremely effective in-body image stabilization system (the smaller sensor helps here), a good-quality EVF where most rivals at this price don’t have one at all, a 1.84m-dot vari-angle touchscreen, a twin-dial control system (three dials, if you count the one on the back) and, if you go for 12-60mm lens bundle, one of the best kit lenses out there, both for zoom range and for real-world image quality. Really, this is an enthusiast-level camera at a beginner-level price.

Panasonic Lumix G97: Release date and price

• $850 / £799 with Lumix G 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6
• £699 body only (UK)
• £899 with Lumix G 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 II (UK)

At launch, the Lumix G97 is being offered only as a bundle with the Lumix G 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens in the US, but in the UK you can buy it body-only or with the Lumix G 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 10x zoom. They’re all great deals, but the 12-60mm bundle looks the best for new users.

It’s worth pointing out that this is a 24-120mm equivalent 5x zoom that goes well beyond the range of most kit zooms, and it’s also rather good.

At these prices, the Lumix G97 is just about the cheapest new mirrorless camera on the market, matched closely on price by the OM System OM-D E-M10 Mark IV. The Canon EOS R100 is cheaper still, but does not have IBIS, has weak 4K video features, and does not come with a lens to rival the Panasonic’s excellent kit lens.

• Price score 5/5

Panasonic Lumix G97: Specifications

The Lumix G97 uses a 20MP Micro Four Thirds sensor half the size of an APS-C sensor, but still delivers excellent detail rendition (Image credit: Rod Lawton) Panasonic Lumix G97: Design and handling

• DSLR-style design with twin control dials
• 1.84m-dot vari-angle touchscreen
• 5-axis 5-stop IBIS

The Panasonic Lumix G97 is styled like a compact DSLR, with a substantial grip for the right hand and a decent 2.36m-dot electronic viewfinder (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The Lumix G97 looks and handles like a small DSLR. It might seem unnecessarily large for a camera with a Micro Four Thirds sensor, but the fact is that there is a limit as to how small you can make a camera that still fits a human hand properly – especially one which takes interchangeable lenses.

Where you do see an advantage from the smaller sensor is in the smaller and lighter lenses this system uses. The 12-60mm (24-120mm equivalent) kit lens is a great example – it offers a 5x zoom range in a lens that’s little larger or heavier than a 3x kit zoom on a larger-format camera.

There’s a decent-sized grip on the right side of the body that provides a secure hold, leaving your other hand free to operate the lens or the flip-out touchscreen. If you prefer to use the EVF, that's bright and clear, and has an eye sensor to switch from the LCD to the viewfinder automatically.

Image 1 of 6

The Lumix G97 takes a single SD UHS II memory card, but it's accessed by a door at the side and not squashed in with the battery (Image credit: Rod Lawton)Image 2 of 6

One of the handful of changes in the Lumix G97 is the swap to a USB-C port for power and charging. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)Image 3 of 6

The rear screen has had a resolution boost to 1.84m dots. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)Image 4 of 6

The top controls are clearly labelled and are positive and firm to use. There are also two control dials, with a third on the back. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)Image 5 of 6

The menu system is clear and easy to navigate and there's also a Q.MENU display for common camera settings. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)Image 6 of 6

The Lumix G 12-60mm (24-120mm equivalent) kit lens is perhaps the star of the show, offering excellent image quality right across its 5x zoom range. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The main mode dial is clearly labelled and has a firm, positive action. There are two control dials on the top, one around the shutter release and the other at the rear, right where your thumb lies. These do different things in different modes; in Manual mode, for example, the front dial adjusts the lens aperture and the rear dial changes the shutter speed. These dials are firm, positive and perfectly weighted. In between them is a prominent red Record button for video.

Round the back there’s a useful three-position focus mode lever with an AF-L/AE-L button in the center and a four-way controller with a rotary dial around the outside – though this does not have the same feel as the control dials on the top.

Overall, this feels an extremely well-made camera for the money, with all the controls right where you need them – there are buttons for white balance, ISO and EV compensation on the top, and a Q.MENU button on the back to bring up an on-screen display with more camera settings.

A focus-point joystick would have been nice to make setting the focus point easier, but you only get these on more advanced semi-pro cameras, so you can’t really complain – and you can always use the touchscreen to set the AF point.

• Design and handling score 4/5

Panasonic Lumix G97: Performance

• Excellent definition and contrast from 20MP sensor and great kit lens
• Very fast AF for single-shot stills photography
• Continuous AF less good, and occasionally some ‘pulsing’ with video

The Limix G97 is capable of excellent results. Photography like this depends on lighting and composition, not small differences in sensor technology (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The 12-60mm kit lens is a huge advantage, giving a natural perspective to this canine portrait as well as extremely crisp definition (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The Lumix G97 delivers first-rate detail rendition. The lack of a low-pass filter and a kit lens that delivers super-sharp detail right across its focal range makes for a combination that plenty of APS-C cameras can’t match. Higher ISOs do show noise quicker, it’s true, but not by much. Besides, today’s AI noise-reduction tools can make an ISO 6,400 image look practically like ISO 200.

The G97’s video looks good too, though with only 8-bit internal capture there’s a limit to how far you can push things if you want to grade your footage heavily later. It does come with Panasonic’s V-Log profile, a paid add-on for many Lumix models, but this really needs better-quality 10-bit 4:2:2 capture to work on, and you can only get that with the G97 via an external recorder. It’s fine for basic use and if you’re just starting out vlogging, but it’s not a serious filmmaking tool.

Image 1 of 6

This shot and the next show the focal length range, and the opportunity for different perspectives with the 12-60mm kit lens. This was shot at 12mm (Image credit: Rod Lawton)Image 2 of 6

This was taken from the same position at a focal length of 60mm, offering a very different image. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)Image 3 of 6

The smaller Micro Four Thirds format means you're working with shorter focal length lenses, so depth of field is rarely a problem in landscape photography. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)Image 4 of 6

Does this piece of driftwood look like a wild boar, or is it just me? The vari-angle screen makes low-level shots easy. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)Image 5 of 6

Having a little extra depth of field makes it easy to get pet portraits sharp from nose to ears. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)Image 6 of 6

The 12-60mm lens focuses pretty close, so although it's not really a macro lens it can still fill the frame with small objects. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

The autofocus is a mixed bag. For stills photography, it’s extremely fast and responsive. In burst mode, it’s a little less positive, though given that the G97 can only manage 6fps with continuous autofocus, it’s not really intended to be an action specialist.

The AF generally does a good job for video, refocusing smoothly as your subject distance changes or you reframe the shot. Its characteristic ‘pulsing’ effect is often hard to see, but if you’re filming a static subject and background it can be quite annoying. One solution is to switch to single-shot AF and simply tap the rear screen while filming to refocus – carefully!

The IBIS is excellent. It’s only rated at five stops, but this is actually a consistent and achievable figure, unlike the bigger numbers often quoted for larger-sensor cameras – which are often absolute best-case figures you can rarely approach.

• Performance score 4/5

Should I buy the Panasonic Lumix G97?

Like all cameras, the Lumix G97 is better at some things than others, but its versatility and value are hard to ignore (Image credit: Rod Lawton) Buy it if...

You want performance, versatility and value
Who doesn't! The Lumix G97 gives you an awful lot for your money. Effectively, it's an enthusiast-level camera at little more than a beginner-camera price.View Deal

You need a camera that can 'grow' with you
This is a sophisticated camera that's capable of all sorts of more advanced photographic techniques when you're ready to try them out.View Deal

You want a decent, versatile kit lens
The Lumix G 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 typically bundled with the G97 offers a 5x zoom range and excellent quality.View Deal

Don't buy it if...

You already have a Lumix G95/G90
The improvements aren’t enough to make it worth swapping, though this could be a good upgrade from the older 16-megapixel G85/G80.View Deal

You want to do any high-speed action photography
The burst speed is only 6fps with continuous autofocus, the buffer capacity is only average, and the continuous AF can struggle.View Deal

You want a camera specifically for video
The G97’s video quality is good but it lacks higher-quality settings, and the autofocus can ‘pulse’ visibly, making it hard work for solo shooters/presenters.View Deal

How I tested the Panasonic Lumix G97

• I spent two weeks photographing and filming a variety of subjects
• I tested the 5x zoom kit lens across its range of focal lengths
• I checked if the 5-stop IBIS lived up to its claims
• I tested autofocus performance for stills and video AF/tracking
• I assessed the image detail and quality against APS-C rivals

This is a 2.5-second handheld exposure I took to test the IBIS. It's not quite up to the latest standards like the Lumix GH7 or OM System OM-1, but it's still pretty impressive (Image credit: Rod Lawton)

I tested the Lumix G97 and its 12-60mm kit lens on many different subjects including outdoor still images, action sequences (with a very excited dog), close-ups and indoor shots, and in a variety of lighting conditions.

Panasonic’s DFD autofocus has not always had the best reputation, so I particularly wanted to find out if and when it struggled, and what to look for.

I also wanted to check the definition of Panasonic’s 20MP MFT sensor, which has no low-pass filter, to see how it stacked up against larger-sensor APS-C rivals. The 12-60mm kit lens is particularly interesting because it offers a 5x zoom range compared to the 3x zoom of most kit lenses, and I did want to see how the image quality varied across the zoom range, and whether it declined at all at longer focal-length settings.

Lastly, the IBIS system in the G97 is only rated at five stops of compensation, so I wanted to find out just how achievable that was in real-world shooting.