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Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #299) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Back in style

NYT Strands today (game #299) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• SIXES
• TIRE
• MILLET
• NONE
• RIGS
• KEEP

NYT Strands today (game #299) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• The synth pop decade

NYT Strands today (game #299) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: top, 3rd column

Last side: bottom, 4th column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #299) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #299, are…

• NEON
• PERM
• MULLET
• SPANDEX
• JUMPSUIT
• WINDBREAKER
• SPANGRAM: EIGHTIES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Maybe it says something about me but I spotted the words Break and Wind before I saw WINDBREAKER – although this is possibly because it’s not the most obvious of EIGHTIES fashions.

SPANDEX – which is an anagram of Expands – seems very particular to the 1980s, but there is probably more of it around today than then, it’s just that we call it Lycra now.

In the UK two very particular sub sections of the male amateur cycling community have emerged in recent years: Lycra Lads – road racers so obsessed with speed and time that they don’t care who gets in their way as they go “aero”, and MAMILs which stands for Middle Aged Men in Lycra. I can’t help thinking both would be less keen on cladding themselves in clingy fabric if we still still called it Spandex.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, 26 December, game #298)

• AUNT
• INLAW
• GRANDCHILD
• NIECE
• COUSIN
• UNCLE
• NEPHEW
• SPANGRAM: REUNION

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Gatekeeping is something that's brought up a lot, isn't it? It's frowned upon, obviously enough, as obnoxious, off-putting, and generally unnecessary – whether we're talking about gaming, music, movies, books, you name it. New fans aren't going to ruin Metallica for you just because they're, well, new, and they like St Anger. I'm not here to talk about that trashcan snare drum, though – no. I'm here to talk about PC gaming and how absolutely diabolically expensive it's become to even get yourself into the ecosystem.

It's dumb. Real dumb. I bought my first gaming PC back in 2011. It was a pretty solid build back in the day: Intel Core-i5 2500K, 8GB of DDR3, a nice BitFenix Shinobi chassis, the works. The crowning glory in that thing, though, was the graphics card, an MSI Twin Frozr GTX 460, complete with 1GB of VRAM, on Nvidia's Fermi architecture at 40nm. Perfect for a bit of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm raiding with my guild Fracture at the time. It's a card that retailed for $250, but I paid around half that for the GPU (£130 in the UK to be precise). In January 2013, I upgraded to a GTX 660, Asus DirectCU II, with 2GB of VRAM. That card was available for £155 (retailing at $229), offering much more performance and twice as much memory (for less money in the US).

Flash forward to 2024, and it’s a whole other ball game. To get even close to a similar model, you're looking at a minimum of around $320, and that's on the low-end. That's an increase of 40% over that 11-year time frame. Take mid-range and high-end cards though, crammed with even more goodies, and that price shoots up even higher. RTX 4090s debuted at, what, $1,800? Even the best Titans used to land around the $800 to $1,000 mark back in the day. That's nearly double the cost for the flagship GPU of choice.

The thing is, though, the more you look into the details – into how it's all lining up – the more you realize that actually a lot of this price hiking ties into inflation quite nicely. Certainly with the more affordable GPUs, anyway. $229 in 2013 works out at around $310 in today's money – about right for the low-end pricing I mentioned.

I'd be less begrudging if economies of scale weren't a thing, and you know, continued advancement and production improvements should lead to a reduction in overall cost, like we've seen in TVs for example.

Yes, of course, there's the argument that these companies need to make money, and there are R&D costs involved, but even so, graphics cards and products just haven't dropped in price like they used to gen-on-gen. And the thing is, these companies clearly have the profit margins to do it. With the current inflationary pressures out there globally, Nvidia, AMD, and Intel all launched new product lines in the last 12 months, all of which either match or are cheaper than their similarly named predecessors. A good PR move – and a smart sales move.

(Image credit: Shutterstock) Buying power, build complexity, and influencers

I believe there are far more complex issues at work here. As far as I can see, there are three primary reasons why buying a mid-range gaming PC today is far more painful than it used to be on the old wallet.

First on the agenda, localized buying power has not kept up with inflation. Certainly not in the US. If you look at real median household income in the States from 2013 to 2023, it increased by just 18.2%, a far cry from that 35.4% cumulative inflation over the same period. Simply put, wages haven't kept up with rising costs. Why that’s the case is more an argument for those in the political sector than for me, but the stats don't lie, and its impact is clear.

The second, and more pressing factor, is the radical increase in companies making ever fancier components across every facet of a modern-day gaming PC build.

Although entry-level and mid-range graphics cards (that still make up the vast bulk of sales, I might add) are amazingly on target for affordability lining up with inflation, the rest of the PC ecosystem isn't. Higher-end GPUs, as well as CPUs, motherboards, RAM, and SSDs have all seen major increases in overall costs.

Certainly, if you compare product lines, Asus ROG Hero motherboards used to come in at just under, or over, the $200 mark – and now one of the latest models will set you back nearly $700. And then there's everything else. Cooling, lighting, fans, custom keyboards, monitors, the works. Everything is a specialist product now, and that all adds to the overall build cost of a PC.

Lastly, in part thanks to influencers, and the internet more broadly, it's no longer enough to just have a non-windowed chassis packed with the core hardware. The humble gaming PC has become an ornament, littered with RGB lights and enough accessories to make even the most avid of kleptomaniacs blush. It's a struggle to stay five minutes on social media without getting fed an Instagram Reel or YouTube Short of someone showing off an epic PC build, or gaming den, complete with a $1,200 GPU and RGB lighting that costs nearly as much.

All of that comes together to push an average system build well out of reach of an average wallet. Consoles aren't faring any better either, with the likes of the PS5 Pro debuting at nearly $700. Once upon a time, building a custom gaming PC that was more potent than a console for similar(ish) money was a good reason to jump on the PC bandwagon. Now, it's a pipe dream. A memory from within the mists of time.

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler) Intel leads the way, weirdly

That's why Intel's latest move with its Arc B580 graphics card has got so many people talking (in a positive way for once). Its latest generation of desktop processors (Core Ultra 200S) might not have been released quite as oven-ready as Intel had hoped, but Team Blue's new Battlemage graphics card? Oh boy, it is top-notch, at least on the value front.

Our own John Loeffler took a look at the Intel Arc B580 at the tail-end of 2024, and it absolutely stomps 1440p gaming, which, let's face it, is slowly becoming the de facto resolution for most modern PCs at this point (sorry 4K, you're still too damn expensive).

But the big thing, by far, isn't the fact that the B580 does very well in pretty much every game you throw at the GPU currently, beating out the likes of the Nvidia RTX 4060 and AMD RX 7600 XT. No – it’s the fact that it does this while being 20% cheaper than the cheapest of those cards, and it easily outguns the RTX 4060 Ti in terms of value proposition given the relative performance of the two GPUs. Well played, Intel. Well played.

Team Blue has made a grand statement with this thing. Intel has repeatedly said it aims to target the entry-level gaming market, and if I'm honest, I'm glad. AMD used to hold that mantle nicely, beating Nvidia in the lower-end price bracket while Team Green dominated the high-end – but those plucky Team Red GPUs have since lost their affordable sheen.

Intel, with its Arc GPU line, seems to be pulling back some serious street cred – well, at least for the time being. This'll hopefully lead to both AMD and Nvidia countering with their own price cuts, and that's going to be a major positive for all of us.

(Image credit: ShutterStock) Where will all this lead?

Still, this is just one drop in the ocean. One component out of many. PCs are still too expensive. The PS5 Pro launched at near $700, and more and more we're seeing this ecosystem that used to be so inclusive, just price people out. If you want to get into PC gaming, or even console gaming, it is now so difficult with modern hardware. This is just a fact. You want the best experience? Best take out a loan or remortgage the house.

There's always been an "us and them" mentality when it comes to PC gaming. Always a Red versus Blue, or Green versus Red, or PC versus console conflict. The latter in particular is an age-old tale, but not one that stemmed from cost – it was built off the back of issues like ease of use, graphical fidelity, or mouse and keyboard versus controller. There wasn't artificial financial gatekeeping as there is now.

The thing is, unless there's a radical shift in the world of PC components, and the way they're made, it's difficult to see how there will be any change. Prices are only going to creep up higher, wages are only going to stagnate further, and the situation can only escalate. Combine that with the threat of Trump’s trade tariffs in the US adding an extra 20% to 60% onto the cost of those imported components, and, well, you've got a recipe for disaster.

The glimmer of hope, for GPUs anyway, is that challenge presented to the current duopoly by Intel's Arc Battlemage and the new B580 – and the hope that a rumored B770 model might prompt some further price cuts (although the high-end is set to remain Nvidia's domain, sadly).

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Charges against the CEO of Telegram mark one of the few instances where the head of a major internet platform has been charged over alleged criminal failure to moderate what users do on its site.

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Netflix says more than 200 countries tuned into the "Beyoncé Bowl" and its two NFL games. We may just be starting to learn what that ultimately means for the future of television and sports media.

(Image credit: Julian Dakdouk)

• Project Infinity and Mobile Security Rewards Program bolster Samsung's security strategy
• Red, Blue, and Purple teams safeguard Galaxy devices from cyber threats
• CTI task force scours the Dark Web to prevent device breaches

Samsung has always prioritized security for its Galaxy smartphones, and with the launch of the Galaxy S24 series, it promised an unprecedented seven years of mobile security updates.

Behind this extended protection lies a secretive and highly specialized security initiative known as Project Infinity - but Samsung has now lifted the veil and provided some details about the project.

Project Infinity comprises multiple task forces which ensure that the billions of Galaxy smartphone users worldwide are protected from the ever-growing threat of cybercrime.

The invisible guardians of Galaxy devices

At the core of Project Infinity are three distinct teams, Red, Blue, and Purple, alongside a Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) taskforce. These groups operate globally in countries such as Vietnam, Poland, and Brazil, working in the shadows to prevent and mitigate cyberattacks.

Each team has a specific role, from proactive threat detection to creating and deploying defensive measures. Their work is largely invisible to the public, only surfacing when you receive a security patch on your device.

The CTI task force specializes in identifying potential cyber threats, ensuring that hackers can’t exploit vulnerabilities in Galaxy devices. The team scours the Deep Web and Dark Web, looking for signs of illicit activity, from malware to stolen data.

By analyzing system behaviors, such as unusual data requests or suspicious network traffic, the team can identify and neutralize threats, while collaborating with other departments to roll out security updates.

“Occasionally, we engage in security research by simulating real-world transactions," noted Justin Choi, Vice President and Head of the Security Team, Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics.

"We closely monitor forums and marketplaces for mentions of zero-day or N-day exploits targeting Galaxy devices, as well as any leaked intelligence that could potentially serve as an entry point for system infiltration.”

Samsung’s security operation is modeled on military-style tactics, with the Red and Blue teams simulating attacks and defenses, respectively.

Through techniques like "fuzzing," which involves throwing random data at software, they can find hidden vulnerabilities that might otherwise go unnoticed. Meanwhile, the Blue team works tirelessly to develop and implement patches that protect against these vulnerabilities.

The Purple team combines the expertise of both Red and Blue teams, focusing on critical areas of Galaxy’s security infrastructure. They also work with external security researchers to ensure no potential weak spot goes unnoticed.

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The sanctuary in Washington state said it was working with officials to determine the cause of the outbreak, which has killed over half of its cats in recent weeks.

(Image credit: iStock)

A round of Israeli airstrikes targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital and multiple ports. The head of the World Health Organization said the bombardment occurred as he prepared to board a flight.

(Image credit: Osamah Abdulrahman)

• HBM4 chips poised to power Tesla's advanced AI ambitions
• Dojo supercomputer to integrate Tesla’s high-performance HBM4 chips
• Samsung and SK Hynix compete for Tesla's AI memory chip orders

As the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market continues to grow, projected to reach $33 billion by 2027, the competition between Samsung and SK Hynix intensifies.

Tesla is fanning the flames as it has reportedly reached out to both Samsung and SK Hynix, two of South Korea's largest memory chipmakers, seeking samples of its next-generation HBM4 chips.

Now, a report from the Korean Economic Daily claims Tesla plans to evaluate these samples for potential integration into its custom-built Dojo supercomputer, a critical system designed to power the company’s AI ambitions, including its self-driving vehicle technology.

Tesla’s ambitious AI and HBM4 plans

The Dojo supercomputer, driven by Tesla’s proprietary D1 AI chip, helps train the neural networks required for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature. This latest request suggests that Tesla is gearing up to replace older HBM2e chips with the more advanced HBM4, which offers significant improvements in speed, power efficiency, and overall performance. The company is also expected to incorporate HBM4 chips into its AI data centers and future self-driving cars.

Samsung and SK Hynix, long-time rivals in the memory chip market, are both preparing prototypes of HBM4 chips for Tesla. These companies are also aggressively developing customized HBM4 solutions for major U.S. tech companies like Microsoft, Meta, and Google.

According to industry sources, SK Hynix remains the current leader in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market, supplying HBM3e chips to NVIDIA and holding a significant market share. However, Samsung is quickly closing the gap, forming partnerships with companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to produce key components for its HBM4 chips.

SK Hynix seems to have made progress with its HBM4 chip. The company claims that its solution delivers 1.4 times the bandwidth of HBM3e while consuming 30% less power. With a bandwidth expected to exceed 1.65 terabytes per second (TB/s) and reduced power consumption, the HBM4 chips offer the performance and efficiency needed to train massive AI models using Tesla’s Dojo supercomputer.

The new HBM4 chips are also expected to feature a logic die at the base of the chip stack, which functions as the control unit for memory dies. This logic die design allows for faster data processing and better energy efficiency, making HBM4 an ideal fit for Tesla’s AI-driven applications.

Both companies are expected to accelerate their HBM4 development timelines, with SK Hynix aiming to deliver the chips to customers in late 2025. Samsung, on the other hand, is pushing its production plans with its advanced 4-nanometer (nm) foundry process, which could help it secure a competitive edge in the global HBM market.

Via TrendForce

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• View or buy at Narwal

Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop two-minute review

Launched to great acclaim at Europe’s biggest tech show, IFA (where it snagged two awards), the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is a successor to the brand's Freo X Ultra. Significant upgrades include dual RGB cameras, LiDAR navigation, and an increase in suction power from 8,200 to 12,000Pa. In layman’s terms, it’s better at obstacle avoidance and adaptive cleaning, plus it sucks up more dirt!

In my tests, I found the Z Ultra excelled at both mopping and vacuuming on hard floors (of which I have many) but it was less cool on carpet. To be fair, I’ve tested some of the very best robot vacuums and am yet to find one that can handle dusty carpets as well as the best manual vacuums for carpet, which always have more power and better filters.

I loved all the smart automation, which meant I didn’t have to zone off carpets to stop them getting soggy or worry about what power level or speed to set. As a germophobe I also really appreciated how hygienic this robot is; cleaning and drying itself after every session.

Its mapping powers were also great, but I would have liked a quick option for spot cleans. Many robots allow you to mark a zone on the map where there’s a spill and send the robot straight there to clean. The only way I could work out to do this was in video mode, where you can manually navigate the vacuum. The issue here was the video was glitchy about connecting and often flatly refused – not ideal if you have spilt something that could stain and needs speedy attention.

I also had a few bin-related issues, and mopping was deadly s-l-o-w, but absolutely worth the wait. Ideal for large homes with mostly hard surfaces, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra suits tech-savvy homeowners who appreciate an integrated app and can get their head around fine-tuning settings. Technophobes and the impatient (and anyone on a budget) might prefer to steer clear.

Read on for my full Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop review.

Narwal Freo Z Ultra review: price & availability

• List price: $1499.99 / AU$2,499
• Launch date: October 2024
• Availability: US / AU

The Narwal Freo Z Ultra launched in October 2024 and at time of writing is available to buy in the US and Australia, with a list price of $1,499.99 or AU$2,499. That places it firmly in the premium price bracket. There’s no getting away from it, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is a pricey robot vacuum sitting at the very top of the market in both Australia and North America. You can save a few dollars by waiting for seasonal sales (the Black Friday deals often include some big robovac price-drops).

There are two accessories pack options. Option 1 will set you back an extra $259.99, and costs of a whole raft of brushes, detergents, dust bags and mop pads. Option 2 gets you a few of the most-used accessories, for $100. You can also add a one-year extended warranty plan for $79. Buying the accessories individually will soon add up – a replacement detergent is $29.99 – so it’s worth doing the math before you decide which option to start with.

While the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is an investment appliance, it will save you a LOT of time and it’s by far the best mopping robot I’ve tested. I wouldn’t buy it purely for vacuuming, but as a combo, it might be worth the spends.

• Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5

Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop specs Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop review: design

• Stylish robot with mopping and vacuuming skills
• Large mop heads and spinning brushes for getting close to edges
• Decent capacity water reservoirs

Arriving in a huge box, I needed an extra pair of hands to unload the Z Ultra and was grateful for the hand grips in the base station when positioning the heavy unit next to a power point. It comes with a simple instruction card for first-time setup, as well as a more comprehensive user manual. I used the former to install the side brushes, insert the detergent and add clean water. My daughter got a lot of satisfaction from removing a gazillion instructional stickers from both the base station and vacuum unit.

Box size comparison with 11-year-old Bonnie! (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

The design of the Freo Z Ultra, and base station, is very stylish indeed, which is just as well given that it’s hard to hide! Choose from Galaxy White or Space Gray. All the edges are softly curved and, with its two camera ‘eyes’ in the front, has the cute vibes of Pixar’s Wall-E, which is exactly how I like my robot vacuums. The various lids and covers pop off without breaking any fingernails, and everything is easy to access.

(Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

Underneath, this robot has two large microfibre style mops that Velcro on, as well as two rotating side brushes that are a good length for getting into corners. The main roller brush has a rubber flipper part as well as brushes to suit both hard floors and carpets, plus its anti-hair tangle design does actually work. As I have two daughters and two spaniels who seem to molt year-round, I was delighted to swerve the odious task of cutting swathes of hair from around a roller. (Effective anti-hair wrap brushrolls are a key feature amongst the best robot vacuums for pet hair.)

One unusual feature I’ve not seen anywhere else is a fluffy baseboard duster that attaches with Velcro on one side and is designed to gather dust from the tops of your skirting boards as it goes along the edges of the room

The large mops lift up when vacuuming. (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

The Narwal Freo Z Ultra’s base station has two large containers for clean and dirty water. These are are easy to lift in and out, but you'll want to make sure the dirty water reservoir’s lid is properly clipped on, or you may have to clean up a mini flood.

The dirty water bin is very satisfying to empty! (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

There’s also a dust collection bag and compartment into which to slot the bottle of floor cleaning solution that’s supplied. The bot does work without the detergent module in place, which is handy given they cost nearly $30 a pop. There’s a cool little window strip in the base that shows the water being ionized. It’s not clear why the water needs to be ionized but if you like watching bubbling water, take a peek.

• Design score: 4 out of 5

Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop review: performance

• Amazing at obstacle avoiding and navigation
• Great at mopping, poor on carpet
• Self-cleaning is great, but self-emptying hit and miss

The first job any robot vacuum has to complete is a map of the house, which this little beauty did in 17 minutes – impressive given we have quite a few little rooms, and many obstacles. (Here's more on how to prepare your house for a robot vacuum, if you're unsure.)

The mapping was precise and accurate. I liked how the map shows where the rugs and carpets are; often you have to add your own, which requires some guesswork on precise positioning. I’ll discuss the App in more depth later, but it was easy to name each room and set up no-go zones and divide rooms. Another bonus of the Freo Z Ultra is the ability to choose from a wide menu that covers mop, vacuum, mop & vacuum, and mop then vacuum. Some models I’ve tested don’t allow you to just mop.

The robovac didn't get quite as close to the edges of rooms as I'd like (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

Once I’d got to grip with the controls, I loaded up the water tank and tasked the Freo Z Ultra to vacuum and mop my entire ground floor, which is mostly engineered wood, with some terracotta, porcelain, luxury vinyl and of course rugs and carpet. Pretty diverse then.

While it was possible to set my own cleaning parameters, the Freo Z Ultra has an AI mode that uses various sensors and cameras to automatically adapt to different floor types and dirt levels. This takes the brainwork out of setting up and ended up being my go-to mode throughout my three-week trial period.

The first thing I noticed was how good the Freo Z Ultra was at obstacle avoidance – no banging into furniture or corners and no dragging cables or dog toys around the floor with it. (TechRadar's article on how robot vacuums navigate walks through the typical approaches brands use.) I never once got a message to say the roller brush was stuck, which is the usual warning that a robot has eaten something it shouldn’t! It was also excellent at powering over thresholds and the annoying chair legs I have that robot vacuums usually get grounded on, and spin like mad until sending a stuck error message.

(Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

The second thing I noticed was how it doesn’t get terribly close to the edges in mopping mode. When vacuuming, I could see the little spidery side brushes pulling dog hair and dander in from the edge but in mop mode there was a clear inch or more of bone-dry flooring around the perimeter of the room and any floor-level furniture like our kitchen units and sideboard.

And on the subject of edges, I’m sorry but the little fluffy baseboard duster on the side of the robot is only going to work if you have super low baseboards. Like many heritage properties, the baseboards in our Victorian home are quite high so it doesn’t reach the tops, aka the only bits that need dusting.

The mop edging wasn't brilliant, especially alongside the kitchen kickboards. (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

The Freo Z Ultra doesn’t carry any water onboard, which is unusual. Instead, it loads its mops up with warm, soapy water at the base station before heading out to clean. I was concerned this would result in dry patches of flooring, but the dampness levels were perfect – not too wet (important on real timber flooring), nor too dry.

The only downside is it has to make repeat returns to load up with more water, which can elongate the cleaning time, especially in rooms that are furthest from the base. For example, it took 1hr 19mins to mop our utility and hallway, which is an area of just 40 sq m. To vacuum and mop the whole ground floor, 68.3sq m, the Freo Z Ultra took a tedious 2h 41mins. Imagine how long it would take if I asked it to vacuum and then mop, rather than do it consecutively. I didn’t want to find out! I’ve never tested a robot that spends longer than two hours on the job.

When the robot returns to base after mopping and vacuuming, it automatically empties the bin and cleans its mop heads and then dries them. The latter takes a couple of hours but it’s incredibly quiet, so you won’t notice it. I did have to set the bin emptying to every run on the app, otherwise it clogged up and couldn’t self-empty itself. Hardly surprising given how microscopic the onboard bin is. Even then, there were a few times the bin just wasn’t self-emptying, even though it said it was, which was frustrating.

(Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

There are a handful of extra features – perhaps the most interesting one being that in Video mode you can see through your robot’s 'eyes' and remote control it around your home. That means you can use it as a security bot, or to check up on pets and send it off to specific locations. This mode isn't authorized by default, you'll need to manually switch it on if you want to use it.

Cleaning tests

When it came to running our standard vacuuming tests – one using a fine mix of biscuit and flour, and another using oats to represent larger particles – the results were a mixed bag. The Freo Z Ultra did well on the hard floors, eventually anyway. It took at least three passes and full power mode to get everything up.

I used multiple ‘no-go’ zones on the map to create my 1m x 1m test area, but the robot still seemed to spend far longer cleaning around the area I had made my test spills than it did actually dealing with the mess. This led me to seriously question Narwal’s claims that it homes in on and targets dirt using its beady little cameras and sensors.

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Oats on hard floors (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

With oats on carpet, the results were middling. The robot pushed things around a fair bit and it took three runs before they were gone. The dog may have helped!

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Oats on carpet (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

On carpet, the fine mix removal was very disappointing. I gave up after three attempts and got my cordless vacuum out. Although this isn't great news, I'd argue that it's not often you'll experience this level of concentrated 'dust' and I was always happy with its carpet cleaning results in general.

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Flour on carpet (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

Next, I tried out the mop function by 'spilling' first Ribena juice and then ketchup, which I left to dry, on the porcelain tiles in our cloakroom (I didn’t want to risk stains on our timber floors). These results were much better, although the dried-on ketchup required two passes to complete the job. According to Narwal, this impressive mopping is achieved via dual rotating mop heads that press down with 1.2kg of force and spin at 180 RPM. Other robot mops I’ve used either just drag a static mop pad along, or have a vibrating mop, this spinning tech is the closest I’ve come to mimicking real mop work. And the results show it.

Apparently, this robot also analyses the waste water to decide if another cleaning run is required but I had to make that decision myself with the ketchup; the Freo Z Ultra thought it was done after one attempt.

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Dried-on ketchup (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)Image 5 of 6

Dried-on ketchup (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)Image 6 of 6

Dried-on ketchup (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

To check navigational skills, our final test involves placing a sock (in a similar shade to the flooring) a shoe and a charger cable on the floor. The Freo Z Ultra absolutely nailed this test, not touching any of the objects but getting close enough to clean sufficiently around them.

All these common objects were successfully swerved. (Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

The Freo Z Ultra takes around 2.5 hours to charge, which is a bit speedier than normal, and has a run time of just over 2 hours 15mins (in vacuum and mop mode), which is about the standard for a high-end robot. It automatically returns to the base to charge if it runs low on juice during a cleaning cycle, which is also the norm. If I was asking it to do the whole house, it never managed on a single charge but I usually tackle the dirtiest rooms (kitchen and hallway) more frequently and that was easily done without the need to stop to recharge.

Noise-wise, I am quite noise intolerant and as I work from home, I don’t like having noisy robots rattling around the house while I am trying to focus. Happily, I found the Freo Z Ultra one of the quietest robots I’ve tested, especially in mopping mode, with my decibel meter App recording between 60-70dB max. This is way below the noise levels you would get from a regular vacuum, but if they still bother you, just schedule the robot to work while you’re out of the house.

Maintenance

I found the Freo Z Ultra easy to clean and maintain, the internal bin pops out for emptying, if it hasn’t emptied automatically into the base station, and the mop heads are automatically washed with hot water and dried after every use. This is important to prevent bacteria breeding in the mop heads and before being dragged all over your home. All this self-cleaning did mean it rattled through the clean water in the tank and I had to refill it before most cleaning runs, but that’s a small price to pay I’d argue.

Like all robot vacuums, it’s important to keep the sensors and charging contacts clean, which is an easy wipe-over task. The roller brush didn’t clog in the three-week test period, but if they had, they do clip out very easily. I also didn’t fill the dust bag in the base station but it just clips out and pops straight in the bin when full.

Narwal recommends cleaning the filter once a week, which involves clipping it out from under the top cover on the robot and tapping out the dust – simple. It should be replaced every three-six months.

(Image credit: Future/Linda Clayton)

• Performance score: 3.5 out of 5

Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop review: app

• Very easy to work out without assistance
• Lots of options to customize cleaning (or not)
• Mildly glitchy connection

The Narwal Freo Z Ultra app is user-friendly and intuitive (I never needed to use the Help Center), making it easy to create custom cleaning schedules, adjust settings, and monitor cleaning progress in Real Life. Make sure you connect using a 2.5GHz wi-fi link, not 5GHz.

If you love an easy life (as I do), you can clean in Freo Mind mode, which leaves all the decisions about power levels, patterns and passes to the robot. If you’re a control freak, each cleaning program comes with various adjustment options, such as mopping humidity, coverage precision, detergent use etc.

You can choose which rooms to clean, but I also liked that I could set the cleaning sequence for a full home clean. For example, I set it to start in the kitchen, then hallway, then dining room (where my desk is), so that it gets those rooms I spend most time in done first (while I’m taking the kids to school). You can also split rooms, merge rooms and add no-go zones.

The app also provides cleaning history and notifications to ensure you stay informed of cleaning progress. I did experience quite a lot of delays between opening the app and the robot syncing, but we’re only talking seconds. And it often annoyed me that there was no Spot Clean option but that may well come with a software upgrade.

• App score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop? Buy it if…

You’ve got lots of hard floors

You’ll probably need to give carpets a thorough clean with a more powerful vacuum once a week or so, but you can save your mop for emergency spills – this robot has got regular mopping covered.

You want to spy on your pets

In Video mode you can see through your robot’s 'eyes' and remote control it around your home to hunt out and check up on pets while you're out.

You’ve got a messy home

While it’s always worth picking up stray toys and shoes etc. before your robot cleans, sometimes you just don’t have time. Luckily this robot has amazing obstacle avoidance – I never had issues with it its roller brush getting blocked by shoelaces or charging cables.

Don't buy it if…

You’re on a water meter

Okay, so it’s not so thirsty your water bill will rocket but you will need to refill the large water tank (and empty the dirty one) a lot, depending on area. For me, it was every full ground floor clean. You can adjust the reduce water use in the app, but I didn’t find the results as good.

You’re impatient

Frequent returns to base to wash the mopheads and replenish with clean water takes its toll on timescales. This was by far the slowest robot I’ve tested. I tended to set it going when I knew I’d be out of the house for a couple of hours.

You’ve got loads of carpet and rugs

This is robot is too expensive to not take full advantage of the mop mode, and there are more powerful suckers out there for a lot less if you have mostly carpet.

How I tested the Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop

I tested the Narwal Freo Z Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop for three weeks on the ground floor of my four-bed historic home. With the exception of thick-pile carpet, we have all manner of flooring types from porcelain and terracotta tiles to vinyl and engineered oak. I ran the robot in various rooms, in every cleaning mode, every day and tried cleaning in both automatic smart mode and fully customized. I also set schedules and conducted controlled tests where I had the robot vacuum flour, crushed biscuits and oats from hard floors and rugs, as well as mop wet and dried on spills from the porcelain tiled floor.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed November 2024

My thumbs are pretty chunky for the size of my hands. This is admittedly a bizarre thing to lead with but it has a lot to do with how I’ve fared with different smartphones.

Over the last 15 years, phones have swelled to meet shifting habits. With streaming on mobiles devices more viable, thanks to 5G, it makes sense that screen sizes have expanded to make for a much better experience. In light of my oversized thumbs, which I'm using right now to type this sentence, you may assume that, for me, this amounts to progress. But I’ve always struggled to use smartphones – my first was an iPhone 4 – without awkward autocorrects or the occasional typo. On balance, however, I prefer more compact phones than the goliaths we’ve become used to.

Despite forgoing the larger screen size for better video playback and error-free communication, these devices are more likely to have sharper displays (higher pixel-per-inch counts), they're more sophisticated and far more practical (you can fit them into pockets); that's my view.

But I've tended to go with the flow – usually as a technology journalist your phone tends to be whatever you're reviewing at the moment. I've handled all kinds of devices, from the best iPhones to £120 plastic rectangles and everything in between – and more often than not I've ended up with screen sizes in the 6.5-inch-plus range.

That's why when my previous smartphone, an Oppo Find X3 Lite (and its 6.7-inch panel) hit retirement age, I figured this was the perfect time to downsize for good. So I did my dutiful research, weighed up the options and made a concrete decision. I haven't looked back since (to a point – but I'll get back to that later).

Ok, so size does matter

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

I then got my hands on the Samsung Galaxy S23. This is the perfect antidote to years of fumbling about with an oversized phablet – a relatively modestly-sized high-end smartphone with plenty to love, as we covered in our review. For me, it was between that and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (which, admittedly, wasn't an easy choice); of course, these aren't the latest Galaxy phones, but they were going spare in the TechRadar Cupboard of Phones, whole the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Ultra were being put to use by other TechRadarians.

Now, a few months into using it, what exactly is it that I miss about the larger devices? Zilch. Nada. Nil.

I was quite happy watching England bore its way to the Euros final on-the-go on this much smaller device this summer. No longer must I let go of my phone for a split second before catching it in a risky manoeuvre that gets even dicier after you've had a few drinks – simply so I can reach the top-third of my screen. I can also shove my phone into my pocket without fear of it peeking out and granting pickpockets easy access. It's a huge quality of life upgrade. And my chunky thumbs have adapted well too.

There is, however, something that doesn’t quite sit right with me.

Oh how I'd love to see, a whloe new iPhone SE

(Image credit: Future)

Not only do I feel that I can go smaller yet, but I’m finding it hard to gel with this particular brand of Android OS. Really, it has made me realize that what I’ve wanted this whole time is just a new, edge-to-edge iPhone SE that packs the power of the latest iPhone 16 into a more compact unit. Despite exciting rumours, the iPhone SE never materialized at Apple’s glitzy September launch event – and the portfolio is much weaker for its absence.

My iPhone 4 was followed by the original iPhone SE (2016) – a device I consider unrivalled and underappreciated for its time. It was a phenomenal smartphone that packed the latest Apple hardware into a much sleeker, compact, and better-designed package, than the iPhone 6. The only downsides were the slightly smaller screen – which I was okay with.

As the form factor began inching ever larger, this device dug its heels in – a nod from Apple to the fact there remained plenty of customers still keen to reject modernity even as it was dragging its portfolio in a new direction.

The previous two versions of the iPhone SE were disappointments, as far as I’m concerned, in light of the use of the older chassis and the lack of an edge-to-edge display. There’s every chance the iPhone SE 4 – if and whenever it’s released – will continue in this vein.

But I’m still holding out hope that – sitting buried somewhere in a secretive lab, deep in Apple’s Cupertino HQ – are schematics for a next-gen, edge-to-edge, pocket-sized iPhone SE that offers something that nothing else on the market can right now. Fingers crossed for what 2025 could bring for the house that Steve Jobs built.

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• Broadcom is rumored to have an ongoing partnership with Apple to help it build its own AI chip
• TikTok parent company, ByteDance, OpenAI also reportedly in the picture
• The move comes as hyperscalers look to reduce their dependency on AI chips from Nvidia

Nvidia has ridden the generative AI boom to record-breaking revenues and profits over the past two years, and while it remains well ahead of its competitors, the company is facing growing pressure - not only from rival AMD but also from hyperscalers which have traditionally relied on Nvidia GPUs but are now looking to reduce their dependence on its hardware.

As The Next Platform notes, “Nvidia’s biggest problem is that its biggest customers have massive enough IT expenditures that they can afford to compete with Nvidia and AMD and design their own XPUs for serial and parallel computing. And when they do so, it is chip design and manufacturing houses Broadcom and Marvell, who have vast expertise running chippery through the foundries of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, who will be benefiting.”

In its most recent earnings conference call, Hock Tan, President and CEO of Broadcom, told investors, “Specific hyperscalers have begun their respective journeys to develop their own custom AI accelerators or XPUs, as well as network these XPUs with open and scalable Ethernet connectivity. As you know, we currently have three hyper-scale customers who have developed their own multi-generational AI XPU roadmap to be deployed at varying rates over the next three years. In 2027, we believe each of them plans to deploy one million XPU clusters across a single fabric.”

Gaining its fair share

Without naming specific companies, Tan added, “To compound this, we have been selected by two additional hyperscalers and are in advanced development for their own next-generation AI XPUs.”

It is widely believed that Broadcom is working with Google and Meta, and as we previously reported, with ByteDance and OpenAI on custom AI chips.

Apple is also thought to be developing its first artificial intelligence server chip, codenamed “Baltra,” with Broadcom providing the advanced networking technologies essential for AI processing.

During the Q&A portion of the earnings call, when Tan was asked about market share, he responded, “All we are going to do is gain our fair share. We're just very well positioned today, having the best technology, very relevant in this space. We have, by far, one of the best combination technologies out there to do XPUs and to connect those XPUs. The silicon technology that enables it, we have it here in Broadcom by the boatloads, which is why we are very well positioned with these three customers of ours.”

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• ByteDance could use Broadcom to design its AI chips

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• Researchers discovered multiple vulnerable endpoints being targeted by a new Mirai variant
• The endpoints are assimilated into a botnet and used for DDoS attacks
• The vulnerabilities used in the attack are years old

Mirai, an infamous botnet targeting Internet of Things (IoT) devices to use in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, has gotten a new variant which is now targeting multiple vulnerable devices, experts hae warned.

The malware is reportedly going after DigiEver DS-2105 Pro NVRs, multiple TP-Link routers with outdated firmware, and Teltonika RUT9XX routers. For DigiEver, Mirai is abusing an unpatched remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability that doesn’t even have a tracking number.

For TP-Link, Mirai abuses CVE-2023-1389, and for Teltonika, it’s going for CVE-2018-17532. It’s worth noting that the TP-Link flaw is a year old, while the Teltonika one is roughly six years old. That means that the crooks are mostly targeting organizations with poor cybersecurity and patching practices.

Mirai is an active threat

The campaign most likely started in September or October 2024, and according to researchers from Akamai, uses XOR and ChaCha20 encryption, and targets different system architectures, including ARM, MIPS, and x86.

"Although employing complex decryption methods isn't new, it suggests evolving tactics, techniques, and procedures among Mirai-based botnet operators," Akamai said.

“This is mostly notable because many Mirai-based botnets still depend on the original string obfuscation logic from recycled code that was included in the original Mirai malware source code release."

Experts from Juniper Research recently warned Mirai operators were looking for easy-to-compromise Session Smart routers.

"On Wednesday, December 11, 2024, several customers reported suspicious behavior on their Session Smart Network (SSN) platforms," Juniper said in its security advisory.

Researchers also recently reported cybercriminals were exploiting a flaw in the AVM1203, a surveillance camera model designed and sold by Taiwanese manufacturer AVTECH, to hijack the endpoints and assimilate them into the Mirai botnet.

Via BleepingComputer

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• Includes HDMI, USB Type-C, and 3.5 mm jack connectivity
• NVMe transfer speeds up to 10 Gbps
• The first shipments have already begun

RayCue has introduced a new docking station designed specifically for Apple’s latest Mac mini powered by M4 and M4 Pro processors.

This compact dock enhances the already versatile mini-PC by adding seven ports and the ability to expand storage by up to 8TB using an NVMe SSD.

While the RayCue device brings practical upgrades, its inclusion of three separate memory card readers raises questions about their utility.

Raycue's Mac mini hub can be customized at checkout to ship with a 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB SSD, with the choice between a 10Gbps 10-in-1 stand, or 40Gbps 4-in-1 stand.View Deal

A compact solution for expanded connectivity

The RayCue dock offers an array of ports, including HDMI with support for 4K at 60 Hz, USB 3.2 Type-A and Type-C for high-speed data transfer up to 10 Gbps, a USB Type-C charging port, and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

The dock also features an M.2 2280 slot, which allows users to add up to 8TB of external SSD storage. Both NVMe and SATA III SSDs are supported, with transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps for NVMe and 6 Gbps for SATA drives.

However, one of the dock’s most puzzling design decisions is its inclusion of three separate memory card readers: one MicroSD and two SD slots. While card readers are useful for photographers, videographers, and other creatives, it’s unclear why the dock offers two SD slots alongside the MicroSD reader.

The RayCue dock is priced at $99. Pre-orders began shipping on December 15, making it one of the first third-party accessories available for Apple’s latest Mac mini.

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• Slim-Llama is an LLM ASIC processor that can tackle 3-bllion parameters while sipping only 4.69mW

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