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Can the Hammers get a much-needed win against a Spurs team focused on its European adventure?

The victory hands Venezuelan jockey Junior Alvarado his first career win in the Kentucky Derby. Sovereignty's trainer, Bill Mott, has won the Kentucky Derby once before.

(Image credit: Abbie Parr)

Arne Slot's Reds head to west London for their first match since being crowned champions.

Florida lawmakers have sent the governor a bill that would provide financial relief to condo owners. The measure softens mandates passed after the deadly 2021 collapse of a condo tower in Surfside.

(Image credit: Lynne Sladky)

• Innodisk launches PCIe Gen5 SSD series for AI and big data demands
• Up to 128TB capacity and 14GBps read speeds for enterprise data centers
• New drives support multiple form factors with enhanced security and VMware compatibility

Innodisk has announced its first PCIe Gen5 SSD series, targeting the high-performance – and lucrative – data center market.

The new drives are designed to meet the demands of AI model training, big data analytics, and other data-intensive environments. The series supports multiple form factors, including U.2, EDSFF E1.S, E3.S, and the newer E3.L, offering flexibility for a wide range of enterprise and data center needs.

“To ensure high quality and alignment with market trends, the PCIe Gen5 SSD aims to enhance integration with industry-leading data center standards, such as OCP Data Center NVMe SSD spec v2.0," Innodisk commented.

Fast read/write speeds

Built on the PCIe Gen5 x4 interface, Innodisk says the new 128TB drives achieve read speeds up to 14GB/s and write speeds up to 10GB/s.

The company says the PCIe Gen5 SSDs have been developed to integrate easily with industry standards, offering compatibility with VMware environments and other virtualized systems to enhance performance.

Enterprises managing large-scale or multi-tiered deployments will benefit from features like NVMe-MI for streamlined SSD management and multi-namespace support, helping to ensure scalable, efficient operations, Innodisk says.

The SSDs also include advanced security mechanisms. Secure Boot technology checks digital signatures during firmware updates, blocking unauthorized modifications and ensuring only verified firmware is executed.

The Innodisk PCIe Gen5 SSD series is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2025, but there's no word on pricing as of yet.

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• Rugged smartphones aren't boring - the Tank 4 Pro has a built-in DLP projector
• 8849 Tank 4 Pro is ready for anything, even weekend survival missions
• Big batteries are yesterday’s news; this rugged phone brings a full entertainment system outdoors

The best rugged smartphones now offer more than just durability and big batteries; high-end cameras and even portable projectors are becoming the new norm.

8849, a Chinese smartphone brand known for rugged devices, has announced the 8849 Tank 4 Pro, which blends power and protection, following earlier releases such as the 8849 Tank 4, and Tank 3 Pro.

Its newest device combines a 720p DLP-class projector with 100-lumen brightness and a 64MP night vision camera, as well as a 50MP main camera and a 50MP telephoto lens - and there's even a 32MP front sensor for selfies.

More than just durability

Built to be as smart as it is tough, the Tank 4 Pro features a 6.73-inch AMOLED display delivering 3K resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate.

Powering the device is MediaTek’s Dimensity 8300 chip, supported by 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage.

The 8849 Tank 4 Pro also sports dual camping lights, IP68 water and dust resistance, and a massive 11,600mAh battery. The battery supports 120W fast charging, helping users stay off the grid for days.

This rugged smartphone's connectivity is just as strong, supporting Wi-Fi 6, dual SIM, and compatibility with GSM to 5G NR networks, reaching download speeds of up to 2.34Gbps.

The device easily meets expectations as a rugged tablet replacement for those who prefer portability without sacrificing endurance. It is not just a simple rugged phone but more like a survival kit.

While pricing and availability details are still under wraps, a review sample is expected to arrive on our desk very soon.

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Hints and answers for Connections for May 4, #693.

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 427 for May 4.

Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle No. 1,415 for May 4.

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In co-stars Ruth Buzzi and Gary Owens at NBC's 75th Anniversary Party, in Los Angeles, in 2002. Buzzi was best known for her regular appearances in the variety TV show during the late 1960s and early 70s.'/>

Buzzi, who was best known for her regular appearances on the NBC variety TV show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, died on Thursday at her home in Texas.

(Image credit: Rene Macura)

The Daniel K. Inouye telescope snapped a clear image of sunspots.

(Image credit: VTF/KIS/NSF/NSO/AURA)

The billionaire investor, now 94, also said he would be resigning as CEO at the end of the year. He spoke at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting known as "Woodstock for Capitalists."

(Image credit: (AP Photo/Josh Funk))

• Researchers set new wireless data record over 4.6km with infrared
• Data beams allow many parallel high-speed connections without interference
• Researchers believe this can bridge future 5G and 6G network connectivity gaps

Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have transmitted data between the TU/e campus and the High Tech Campus over a 4.6km distance using infrared light.

This feat happened at the astonishing rate of 5.7 terabits per second, the equivalent of streaming 1.9 million Netflix shows in HD simultaneously, making it the fastest wireless data transmission ever demonstrated over this big a distance in an urban setting.

The record-breaking connection was established using advanced optical antennas from Aircision, a spin-off of TNO based at the High Tech Campus. These antennas transmit data through invisible infrared beams instead of cables or radio signals. This technique, known as free-space optical (FSO) communication, enables ultra-fast, interference-free data transmission.

Paving the way for its future applications

“We need new ways to meet the increasing demand for fast and reliable connectivity,” said Vincent van Vliet, a TU/e PhD researcher involved in the project. “Infrared wireless communication combines the high data speeds known from optical fibers with the flexibility of wireless communication systems.”

The team used the Reid Photonloop testbed to achieve the breakthrough. This permanent set-up allows experiments with high-speed wireless communication and uses cutting-edge technology to combine multiple wavelengths in a single transmission.

“Because the transmitted infrared light is highly focused, an almost unlimited number of communication links can exist side-by-side without interference, allowing wireless network capacity growth at an unprecedented scale,” Van Vliet explained.

The Reid Photonloop testbed, named after the late John Reid, a driving force behind the project who passed away before its realization, stretches between the Flux building at TU/e and Building 37 at the High Tech Campus, a distance of 4.6km across Eindhoven.

"This facility will allow us to refine high-speed wireless communication and optimize its reliability and availability in all weather conditions,” said Chigo Okonkwo, Associate Professor and head of TU/e’s High-Capacity Optical Transmission Lab.

Aircision sees future applications for this technology in connecting 5G and 6G antennas where laying fiber is impractical.

“We are redefining how data is transmitted over the air. This record-breaking achievement proves that our technology is ready to make high-speed internet accessible to millions of people faster than ever before,” said Luis Oliveira, co-founder of Aircision.

The findings were presented at the Optical Fiber Communications (OFC) Conference 2025 in San Francisco.

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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he will ask Defense Department officials why an Army Black Hawk helicopter violated flight restrictions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

(Image credit: Stefani Reynolds)

Hansi Flick's league leaders go in search of a win against the relegated Pucela.

We live in times when tech firms will more often than not leave us disappointed; such is the nature of iterative technology upgrades and product cycles. So I was fully prepared to be disapproved by an attempt to run Death Stranding on my aging MacBook Air 13-inch (M2).

Last year, Apple touted how the 2019 game, which originally launched on the PS4, was coming to both macOS and iOS.

Now, Death Stranding is a rather attractive open-world game with a good few systems at play, and it has the added need of rendering actors Norman Reedus and Léa Seydoux, among others, with solid realism. It’s not a game for a bit of low effort porting, so I’d prepared myself for disappointment.

Thanks to the move to in-house Apple silicon, modern Mac and MacBooks have buckets of performance to tap into – be that for battery efficiency or handling a mass of Chrome tabs or some professional video rendering. Of course, one’s mileage varies depending on the generation of chip and whether it’s an M-series with a 'Pro' or 'Max' suffix (those offer the most power).

While I’ve been thoroughly impressed by the M2 chip in my MacBook Air, it’s mostly been for how well it handles everyday tasks and sips power – at least compared to Windows laptops I’ve used. It can also run Baldur’s Gate 3, which is no mean feat, and handles the likes of Divinity Original Sin 2 with aplomb.

Still, I was concerned that a more graphically ambitious game would prove too much for my MacBook.

Reader, I was wrong.

Out-stranding

(Image credit: Future / Roland Moore-Colyer)

Booting up Death Stranding, I was surprised at how smooth everything felt – there were no odd audio glitches or stutters, as can happen in my experience when running demanding games on Valve’s Steam Deck. Positive first steps, then.

Once the game got up and running, and after an oddball opening sequence that’s very much in keeping with the style of director Hideo Kojima, I was dropped into the boots of futuristic delivery man Sam Porter Bridges’ boots.

And, to my surprise, the game ran at what I felt was a steady 30 frames per second – sure, not the smooth 60 fps I like, but more than playable. This was at a resolution of 2560 x 1440 and with graphics settings turned up to their highest settings.

Now, playing a game with the kind of expansive vistas that Death Stranding sports on a 13.6-inch display isn’t the best way to experience it. But the impressive colors the Retina display on my Air manages, despite being an LCD panel, helped make some of the wet and green landscapes of North America pop with punchy dark greens, blues, yellows, and grays.

(Image credit: Future / Roland Moore-Colyer)

At 30 fps Death Stranding – at least so far – feels very playable. Plus I’m sure I could squeeze out more if I dig into the graphics settings.

It’s also seriously impressive that I’m running a game of this calibre on a fanless laptop, where previously it would take a dedicated games console to kick Death Stranding into gear. So yeah, I was impressed and had to put my skepticism to bed.

More than all of that though, is how this shows the promise for proper gaming on MacBooks.

Mac gaming has arrived

(Image credit: Future / Roland Moore-Colyer)

With Apple's in-house designed chips showcasing that they are more than just great slices of silicon for getting stuff done, and have the graphical grunt for gaming, I could see a decent future for actually gaming on Macs.

Now I don’t expect custom Windows PCs to be replaced by Macs, no matter how powerful the latter get. But I do see MacBooks being viable gaming machines if more games are ported over to run on M-series chips, either via the App Store on Stream.

I like the idea of a MacBook being a form of secondary device to game on when you don’t want to be hunched over a desktop PC. Or as a machine that goes from work to play when on a trip away from home; perhaps replacing the need to carry the likes of the Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch, especially when dealing with limited luggage capacity.

(Image credit: Future / Roland Moore-Colyer)

But beyond that, I think there’s scope for Apple Arcade to be expanded to include games that are made from the ground up to run on M-series chips. This might go against the initial idea behind the ‘Arcade’ moniker, which suggested that the subscription service was able to offer the same games on all manner of Apple devices. But it could open up a new tier of gaming for Macs.

There’s a slight wrinkle in that I’ve been waiting for gaming to improve on Macs for a while, what with the introduction of the Metal graphics API, but it’s only just feeling like it's getting to a noteworthy level. So it could be a case that we’ll need to wait a few more years before we see any significant changes.

But I’m hopeful for a future where gaming on Mac is less of an afterthought, and the laughable proposition it once was is left thoroughly in the rear mirror.

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The idea has been hanging in the air for a few years (pun very much intended), and now it’s finally happened: DJI has killed off its long-running Phantom drone.

The company recently announced that, as of 1 June 2025, it’ll be suspending after-sales support and servicing for its Phantom 4 Pro and Phantom 4 Advanced drones. This means there’ll be no more official technical support or product maintenance for these two models – and that doesn’t come as a great surprise, given that neither of them has been in production since 2018. It’s just the way of the consumer electronics world: things move quickly, nothing lasts forever, and resources need to be directed towards newer products.

Still, when a product line as iconic as the Phantom comes to an end, it feels like a momentous occasion. After all, this is the drone series that truly popularized and democratized aerial photography and videography, taking them from something only experts and professionals could undertake into hobbies available to anyone with a few hundred pounds to spare.

DJI launched the line in January 2013 with the original Phantom (later known as the Phantom 1), a distinctive white quadcopter that used a GPS-based navigation to hover steadily in place. It didn’t include a built-in camera but could accommodate an optional GoPro Hero.

By the end of the year, its successor the Phantom 2 Vision had arrived, complete with a gimbal-mounted camera capable of capturing 14MP photos and 1080p video plus the ability to deliver a live feed directly to the pilot’s smartphone, which would be mounted on the remote controller.

A truly visionary drone

The DJI Phantom 2 Vision and its pioneering 1080p camera in action (Image credit: DJI)

Back in early 2014, the Phantom 2 Vision became the first drone I ever reviewed. Or ever flew, for that matter. I’d been writing about cameras and photography for a few years already, but the idea of being able to take a camera up into the sky and gain an entirely new perspective on the world felt incredibly fresh and exciting.

I was living in New York at the time and often took this (rather ungainly) white quadcopter soaring above the parks, playgrounds, streets, buildings of my neighborhood in Brooklyn, and even over the East River.

The footage looks extremely rough these days, but at the time there was nothing else like it out there. It felt crazy and more than a little transgressive to be flying above the city capturing HD video – like the Phantom had given me access to a secret world that very few others had cottoned onto yet. I never quite had the guts to fly it among the skyscrapers and packed streets of Manhattan, even if the drone laws back then were a lot less strict than they are today.

Few non-techy people even knew about the existence of consumer camera drones in 2014, and I’d often have to field questions from intrigued passers-by – which could be difficult to answer adequately whilst simultaneously trying to keep a drone that had nothing in the way of anti-collision technology in the air.

I crashed several review samples of this and other Phantoms over the following years (sorry, DJI PR people!), not only in New York but when I eventually returned home to the UK – memorably ploughing one straight into a tree seconds after informing a curious dog-walker that “these things are pretty much impossible to crash”.

The Phantoms did get less accident prone over the years, incorporating more and more of the autopiloting and obstacle avoidance technology that we’ve come to take for granted in today’s DJI drones. They also saw the introduction of better cameras, gimbals to keep those cameras dead level with the horizon, and batteries that went on for far longer than the Phantom 2’s stingy 15-minute lifespan.

The DJI Phantom 4 Advanced: a much more capable drone than the early Phantoms, but still a little too large by modern standards

By the time the Phantom 4 Advanced arrived in 2017, the range was capable of capturing 4K video and flying for almost 30 minutes on a charge. However, it soon became clear that DJI’s priorities were shifting to its folding drones like the Mavic and later Mini and Air series. And why not? For all the Phantom’s charms and lightweight build, its inability to fold down to a conveniently portable size made it a pain to carry, whereas the Mavic, Air and Mini series will easily fit into a backpack – or even a pocket, in the Mini’s case.

DJI's drones dominate practical every drone category today, from the feature-packed sub-250g Mini 4 Pro, to the triple camera Mavic 3 Pro, with others offering superb value such as the Mini 4K beginner drone.

It is probably an apt time, then, for the Phantom to fade away into darkness like the spirit for which it’s named. But even if it’s gone, I’ll certainly never forget those early days of the range. It was a truly ground-breaking product that essentially built the consumer drone market from nothing. Godspeed, DJI Phantom – and may your props never stop spinning.

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• The Sony WH-1000XM6 could be out in the next couple of weeks
• They may go back to the older folding design
• It seems likely that they'll cost more than the WH-1000XM5

When it comes to the best over-ear headphones you can buy, our current list features both the WH-1000XM4 and the WH-1000XM5 from Sony – and it looks as though the Sony WH-1000XM6 pair are going to be unveiled before too long.

As per The Walkman Blog (via Notebookcheck), the Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones are set to be announced in the first or second week of May. However, it might be the middle of June before you can actually order them online or find them in shops.

The same source says the price will be around $479. As you'll see from a read of our Sony WH-1000XM5 review, the current headphones launched at $399 / £380 / AU$649 (though they're now cheaper) – so we're looking at quite a substantial price hike.

Bearing in mind that the WH-1000XM5 headphones made their debut in May 2022, the follow-up pair have been a long time coming. The model before that, the Sony WH-1000XM4, were unveiled all the way back in August 2020.

What we think we know so far

The non-folding WH-1000XM5 headphones (Image credit: Future)

There's one other tidbit of information from this leak: the WH-1000XM6 headphones will apparently fold, unlike the WH-1000XM5 we have now. It's a return to the design of earlier models, including the WH-1000XM4 and the Sony WH-1000XM3.

It's a lot more information about a pair of headphones we haven't really heard too much about so far, despite their launch apparently being imminent. One leak that has emerged suggests the color options are going to be black, platinum silver, and midnight blue.

Another leak from the start of the year pointed to improved Bluetooth capabilities and perhaps a redesigned and stronger hinge. Our expectations are pretty high, considering we've been waiting for these headphones for three years now.

As we've also seen the Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones make their way through regulatory filings, it seems very likely that they're going to be unveiled in the coming weeks – and we will of course let you know as soon as anything is official.

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• Fraudulent chargebacks are no longer rare, they're a rising epidemic draining billions from merchants
• First-party fraud is booming because banking apps make it easy to lie and win refunds
• Mastercard says businesses face 324 million chargebacks by 2028 if nothing changes fast

Fraudulent chargebacks are fast becoming a major financial and operational burden for global businesses, new research has warned.

A Mastercard-sponsored study by Datos Insights estimates sellers will lose $15 billion to fraudulent chargebacks in 2025.

The total volume of chargebacks is projected to reach $33.79 billion this year and rise to $41.69 billion by 2028. These fraudulent disputes have far-reaching implications that affect everyone from merchants to consumers.

Digital growth comes with new risks

The increase in digital and card-not-present transactions has made online shopping faster and easier, but it has also made it more vulnerable. More purchases made via ecommerce platforms mean more chargeback claims.

Ironically, 45% of chargebacks stem from "first-party" claims, where valid customers fraudulently deny transactions. This is aided by the ease with which malicious actors can contest charges via banking apps, even without solid proof.

Mastercard believes that if nothing is done quickly, there will be 324 million chargebacks by 2028, up from 261 million in 2025. Unfortunately, a system created to protect consumers is now being abused.

Chargebacks are more than just a financial hassle for online companies, particularly those that use even the best ecommerce platform. On average, the chargeback value per dispute for some industries exceeds $120.

Businesses, especially SMEs, cannot handle this cost, and so to save time, many sellers dismiss low-value claims, but these losses mount quickly. They are now forced to decide whether to bear the loss or invest heavily in cybersecurity and dispute resolution procedures. Either way, they will spend more money, which will eventually lead to higher prices or even worse outcomes.

The Mastercard data shows that 46% of SMEs have experienced a cyberattack, with severe outcomes: 18% filed for bankruptcy, and 17% shut down entirely. Cybersecurity is now seen as essential, with 62% of SMEs making it a top budget priority and around 80% calling it critical to daily operations.

The solution? Advanced AI tools. Automated alerts, clear transaction labels, and detailed digital receipts enable smarter dispute handling. Mastercard notes that businesses using these tools now win more than half of their representation cases, where they contest chargebacks with evidence.

Businesses need to collaborate with the best merchant service and payment gateway providers to curb this threat because, without intervention, the costs will inevitably fall on everyday shoppers in the form of higher prices and slower service.

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Prices for goods, credit card debt, the job market and your investments can be impacted. Here's what's at stake when the Fed meets next week.