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Avocado’s popular "Green" mattress got a luxurious upgrade, but is the Luxury Organic mattress worth its premium price tag? CNET’s sleep experts weigh in.

Along with a solid hair care routine, your hair also requires a steady intake of essential vitamins to maintain its health.

Winged Victoria's Secret models will once again take the runway for the first official show since 2018.

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Character.AI lets users create bots in the likeness of any person—without requiring their consent.

The head of the world’s biggest PC maker has laid out its aims for a powerful, intelligent AI future.

Speaking in his opening keynote at the Lenovo Tech World 2024 event in Bellevue, company chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang, noted how, "we use the power of AI to preserve the most cherished experiences.”

"It's all about using AI to build a smarter future, together, for all,” he added, “Lenovo believes AI is real, it's not a fleeting trend, it’s not an inflated bubble."

Hybrid AI

In a wide-ranging keynote that featured guest appearances from the likes of AMD CEO Dr Lisa Su, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Yang outlined how AI is already improving the quality of life for individuals, delivering higher productivity for enterprises and protecting a more sustainable planet.

“This is a time of amazing productivity gains on the horizon,” he said, “a time of a fundamental paradigm shift in our industry, and a time to re-imagine the future for AI, to work not only in the cloud, but at our fingertips, and within our own organizations.”

Yang stated the company still believes the future lies in a future of “hybrid AI” - an idea Lenovo first put forward a year ago, but one he says is still pertinent today.

This vision sees enterprise foundation models, and the private cloud, co-exist with a public foundation model and public cloud - all complimenting the others to deliver “enhanced outcomes for different customer needs”, Yang declared.

(Image credit: Future / Mike Moore)

Lenovo was also been keen to push the AI PC industry, which is set to explode over the next few years, with Yang saying the company is, “only the beginning of our journey”.

“Our core concept is, one personal AI, multiple devices,” he said, “ to deliver a cross-device, cross-ecosystem, seamless and secure user experience.”

Overall, Yang struck an unsurprisingly positive note about the future of AI, with Lenovo showcasing use cases ranging from creating a digital twin of a thousand-year-old wooden pagoda for mixed reality experiences, to creating digital avatars for ALS sufferers to give them a voice.

“Lenovo is optimistic about the new opportunities that will be unleashed by AI,” he declared.

"We stand on the brink of a new era, defined by AI, we have the opportunity to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges…Imagine a world where technology and humanity thrive side by side - this is not just a dream, but it is within our grasp, if we choose to act, with a vision of smarter AI for all."

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Western Digital knows high-capacity drives are a priority for SSD buyers, and it has responded by adding a new 8TB model to its WD Black SN850X lineup.

The SN850X series has been on the market for a couple of years, offering 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB models, but this 8TB version is a recent addition.

Announced in July, the 8TB WD Black SN850X SSD uses the same 8-channel SanDisk controller found in the smaller capacities but swaps out the BiCS 5 flash for BiCS 6 TLC NAND, built using four 2TB packages composed of 1024Gbit BiCS 6 dies stacked 16-high.

New king of high capacity

You might expect this change to make the new drive faster than other models in the series, but it isn’t.

As TweakTown explains in its review of the new drive: “512Gbit BiCS 5 flash is still slightly faster than 1024Gbit BiCS 6 - at least it is when it's behind the same SanDisk controller that has always powered the SN850X series." The drive features a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface and offers sequential read speeds of up to 7,200 MB/s and sequential writes of up to 6,600 MB/s. Random read and write speeds reach up to 1,200,000 IOPS, and it has an endurance rating of 4,800 TBW.

With this new 8TB model, Western Digital finally has a competitor for Phison E18 8TB SSDs, the best-known of which is Sabrent’s Rocket 4 Plus 8TB. In its benchmarks, TweakTown found the WD Black SN850X 8TB SSD landed mid-table in most tests when up against smaller capacity drives but comfortably outperformed the Phison 8TB. That result is no real surprise, as the Phison drive was introduced over two years ago and is now somewhat outdated.

TweakTown declared the WD Black SN850X 8TB SSD the “New King of High Capacity” in its review, awarding it a 95% rating, and noting, “The 8TB capacity point is indeed the rarest of the rare when it comes to consumer NVMe SSDs. To this point, there have been only two of them. Of those two, the WD Black SN850X 8TB is vastly superior as it relates to user experience, or performance that matters."

The WD Black SN850X not only outpaced the Phison 8TB but also undercuts it at $849.99 -several hundred dollars cheaper. The site also noted there’s a version with a heatsink available for $899.99, making it an ideal option for the PlayStation 5 and other high-capacity storage needs.

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High on the fumes of lithium-ion battery production, Renault is continuing its trip down memory lane with the unveiling of the Renault 4 E-Tech at the Paris motor show. This retro-inspired crossover is just as nostalgic as the recently released Renault 5 but with added roominess and a workhorse demeanor.

The original Renault 4 of the 1960s was immediately embraced in its home country, as it was used to ferry everything from people to livestock in a robust, reliable package. Like the liberating Renault 5, the R4 sold in its millions.

This new-fangled all-electric version isn’t exactly faithful to the design language of its forefather but instead opts to offer a few subtle nods to the past. For example, there’s a modern take on the original car’s vertical grille and the cheeky rear quarter windows.

Around the back, there’s a more obvious play on the original R4 in the shape of the taillights, while the designers have even added plastic shrouding to the rear bumper, evoking the metallic hooks found on the cars of the 60s.

(Image credit: Renault)

Predictably, it is based on the same AmpR small vehicle platform as the Renault 5, but it features an increased ground clearance (some 1.2cm more than the Captur SUV) and generally improved interior roominess compared to the recent R5 reimagining.

There is more head and legroom for rear passengers, and the boot or trunk space is up to 420 liters, which is an increase of almost 100 liters over the Renault 5.

The French marque has also added lashing hooks, elasticated bands, and cubbyholes for stashing various objects in the back... there’s that utilitarian side coming through.

A neat feature that has been resurrected from the archives is a modern take on the classic canvas roof. Here, a plastic canvas roof can be opened electrically - or by using the AI voice assistant Reno - to act as a sunroof or peeled all the way back like a quasi-convertible.

Although, with roof bars fitted and standard, opening the canvas roof to reveal the bottom of a roof rack or top box probably won’t be as romantic as looking up at beautiful cote d'azur sunshine.

Analysis: Renault is on a roll

(Image credit: Renault)

With the recent launch of Renault 5, the unveiling of Renault 4 at the Paris motor show and an impending launch of an electrified Twingo (set to be the smallest and most affordable EV in the Renault stable) the French marque is going against the grain and offering style-focused battery electric vehicles that stand out from the crowd and aren’t solely reserved for the wealthiest buyers.

Like Renault 5, the R4 E-Tech will be offered with either 52kWh or 40kWh battery packs, mated to electric motors that develop between 120hp and 150hp. Depending on the size of the battery, the electric range is slated to be either 250 or 186 miles.

A similar infotainment offering is also on the cards, comprising twin 10-inch displays, complete with AI assistant Reno and a premium Harman Kardon sound system. The interior is similarly stylish, relying on soft-touch fabrics and retro-inspired touches to create a premium-feeling ambiance.

Prices haven’t yet been confirmed, but Renault says the 4 E-Tech will be marginally more expensive than the Renault 5, so we can expect prices to start at around £30,000 - or around $40,000/AU$58,500.

With the Kia EV3, the Skoda Elroq, the Dacia Spring and Hyundai Inster all tipped to go on sale next year, Europe is going to be faced with a healthy choice of smaller, more affordable electric vehicles that could finally turn the tide of faltering sales figures and hesitant buyers.

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Mosab Abu Toha was able to escape Gaza, along with his wife and three young children. The award-winning poet talks about parenting in war and the devastation of leaving his family and friends behind.

An autumn tournament for conkers, a traditional English game, has drawn people to a country pub for years. But now a scandal — or conkerversy — is brewing after an accusation of cheating.

(Image credit: World Conker Championships)

Nabbing a new Galaxy Watch at a discount is possible, and we've gathered the best deals we could find on new and previous-gen watches right here.

The company is also making changes to playlists.

The speaker features upgraded components and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for $799.

Rosita Milesi was honored with the U.N. Refugee Agency's Nansen Award for 40 years of activism. The U.N. calls her a “formidable refugee champion.” And she has life lessons to share.

(Image credit: Marina Calderon)

Cybersecurity researchers from Microsoft have warned the effectiveness of a cyberattack method called Kerberoasting is growing.

To help businesses engage their defenses against this attack, the company published a new blog, explaining the methodology, the risks involved, and protection guidance.

According to Microsoft, the technique has grown more effective lately because hackers are increasingly using GPUs to accelerate password cracking.

GPUs making attacks potent

The blog, published by Microsoft’s Vice President of Enterprise and OS Security, David Weston, notes Kerberoasting is a cyberattack that targets the Kerberos authentication protocol, and which allows threat actors to steal Active Directory credentials.

Kerberos is a network authentication protocol that uses secret-key cryptography to allow secure authentication of users and services over unsecured networks, such as the internet. Active Directory, on the other hand, is a directory service developed for Windows domain networks, used to manage and authenticate users, devices, and services within an organization.

Kerberoasting is a post-exploitation attack technique where an attacker, after gaining access to a network, requests service tickets for accounts associated with services in Active Directory. These tickets are encrypted with the service account's NTLM hash. The attacker then extracts the ticket and attempts to break it offline and thus reveal the service account's password.

“Kerberoasting is a low-tech, high-impact attack,” Weston said. “There are many open-source tools which can be used to query potential target accounts, get service tickets to those accounts, and then use brute force cracking techniques to obtain the account password offline.”

When threat actors obtain valid credentials, they are allowed to quickly navigate through compromised networks and devices, identifying other high-value targets, such as sensitive data, important credentials, and more.

To spot an attack, admins should check for ticket requests with unusual Kerberos encryption types, check for alerts from Microsoft Defender, and check for repeated service ticket requests. Further recommendations on how to tackle Kerberoasting can be found here.

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As computing shifts from single-chip processors to multi-chip systems, traditional communication methods, such as Network-on-Chip (NoC) and Network-in-Package (NiP), are becoming less efficient. To address these limitations, scientists are exploring terahertz frequencies for high-speed data transfer, despite the challenge of noise interference, which complicates data decoding.

A research team from universities in Australia and the US has been studying wireless communication at the chip level and looking at ways to reduce noise. By applying Floquet engineering, a quantum technique that manipulates electron behavior, they found they were able to improve terahertz signal detection.

When implemented in a two-dimensional semiconductor quantum well (2DSQW), the approach successfully mitigated noise and boosted signal clarity. The team’s findings suggest that this method could pave the way for more effective and reliable wireless communication between chiplets, offering a potential solution for the efficiency challenges faced in multi-chip systems.

Wide-ranging applications

The team also developed a dual-signaling system that uses two receivers to monitor noise levels and adjust signals in real-time, further reducing error rates.

Writing forTech Xplore, researchers Kosala Herath and Malin Premaratne explained, “By overcoming the challenges of noise and signal degradation, our dual-signaling technique marks a key advancement in developing high-speed, noise-resistant wireless communication for chiplets. This innovation brings us closer to creating more efficient, scalable, and adaptable computing systems for the technologies of tomorrow.”

Their findings were published in the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

As we previously reported, universities are also looking at ways of boosting the potential of terahertz technology in order to unlock bandwidth for future telecommunications.

The University of Adelaide has developed a polarization multiplexer that doubles data transmission capacity at terahertz frequencies, while researchers at the University of Notre Dame showcased a silicon topological beamformer chip capable of splitting a single terahertz signal into 54 smaller beams.

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The German airline barred 128 Jewish passengers from their May 2022 connecting flight based on the alleged misconduct of a few. The U.S. government considers that discrimination; Lufthansa disagrees.

(Image credit: Michael Probst)

Monitor maker Unitcom has released the iiyama PC, featuring a 14-inch or 16-inch design and plenty of other attractive features.

The iiyama PC comes with Intel's Core Ultra Series 2 processors, known as Lunar Lake, and the body of the laptop uses magnesium alloy to make the device lightweight without sacrificing sturdiness.

Thanks to the alloy, the 14-inch version of the iiyama PC can weigh less than 1kg, which is extremely light for a laptop. For comparison, the 14-inch MacBook Pro weighs in at 1.55kg with the lightest M3 chipset.

iiyama PC - an unexpected surprise

(Image credit: Unitcom)

Anyone who has looked to travel with a laptop knows that weight is basically the most important consideration, and the iiyama excels in this regard.

There is also Wi-Fi 7 and support for Microsoft's new Copilot+ PC initiative, which requires the laptop to use newer Intel chips to unlock various AI features within Windows and its associated apps. There's also a 5MP webcam for good measure.

The best business laptop you can't buy

The downside to wanting Unitcom's iiyama PC is that sadly it will only ever be available in Japan. While that might suit some frequent travellers to Japan, for the rest of us, we'll have to resign ourselves to never getting our hands on one.

The iiyama PC comes in three versions, for 169,800 yen (£870) and 194,800 yen (£997) for the 14-inch model and 199,800 yen (£1,000) for the 16-inch model.

What is the best business laptop?

Seeing as the iiyama is not widely available, TechRadar has spent a lot of time checking out all of the best business laptops on the market.

In our considered opinion, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8 is the best thing out there right now, offering up to 13th-Gen Intel Core i7, 1TB to 4TB of storage, and a pretty lightweight and portable design.

For anyone on a budget, we recommend the Acer Travelmate P4, which has slightly less impressive specs but can easily be upgraded, has decent battery life and a Thunderbolt port, and doesn't cost much at all.

Of course, we'd be remiss not to mention the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (2023), a laptop that probably doesn't need much introduction. If you aren't tied into the Windows ecosystem (or have loose ties), then this is the MacBook for work. The MacBook Pro isn't bad either .

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This card shines in its high rotating bonus category rewards, competitive welcome bonus and useful cardholder perks.

The wait is almost over for the next Call of Duty game, and subscribers can play it on day one.