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When it comes to laptops, "good enough" isn't good enough: you need a system that's as smart as you are, with the stamina to handle the most demanding days and your passion projects too. And that means a PC with a Snapdragon X Series® processor.
Snapdragon X Series processors deliver an unrivalled balance of performance and battery life measured not in hours, but in days. It powers up all your favourite apps and takes care of even the most intensive tasks without breaking a sweat. And it does all of that on a single charge that lasts for days*.
The speed you need to ace everythingTo say Snapdragon X Series processors are fast is like saying space is quite big. Snapdragon X Series delivers the kind of performance that makes jaws drop and eyes pop.
All Snapdragon X Series deliver exceptional speed, and the star of the family is the incredible Snapdragon X Elite. It comes with the new Qualcomm Oryon™ CPU, which is the leader in performance per watt. In plain English that means blisteringly fast performance and exceptional battery life too: it's available at processor speeds of up to 4.2GHz with up to 64GB of memory. Your PC may look like a laptop, but inside it's a supercomputer.
(Image credit: Qualcomm)Battery life that's twice as niceSnapdragon X Elite isn't just speedy. It’s smart too. It intelligently distributes workloads across the entire system in order to deliver exceptional battery life: twice as long as typical laptops. With up to 22 hours of battery life* from a single charge, your PC powered by Snapdragon X Elite allows you to work or play for several days without needing to find a power outlet. That makes PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite particularly great for anyone who needs to work or study in multiple places that may, or may not have readily available outlets, and for anyone who loves going off grid or going on adventures.
AI like no otherAI's becoming an increasingly important tool for students, and PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite are the perfect partners for generative AI, large language models and other advanced technologies that lesser laptops just cannot cope with. The Snapdragon's incredible speed – it handles up to 45 trillion operations per second – meaning it outperforms rival laptops to bring you a turbo-charged AI experience. And because the Snapdragon X Elite is so efficient, it does it without draining the PC’s battery.
(Image credit: Qualcomm)Immersive entertainmentSnapdragon X Elite comes with Snapdragon Sound™ Technology Suite, the cutting-edge sonic system that elevates your audio to deliver high-quality streaming and sensational soundtracks in crystal-clear lossless audio. The premium integrated Qualcomm Adreno GPU delivers stunning graphics and deliciously vibrant 5K video for immersive entertainment, delivering supercharged performance with ultra-low power consumption. And the Snapdragon X Elite [1] can make you look good too, with support for 4K HDR webcams that deliver super-sharp video calls and conferencing.
Comprehensive connectivityWhen you have a laptop powered by Snapdragon X Elite, you’ll want to take full advantage of its impressive capabilities with incredibly fast wireless connections for both work and entertainment. Snapdragon X Elite delivers just that. With high-performance Wi-Fi 7 and the latest Bluetooth® wireless technologies, you get lightning-fast and incredibly stable wireless connectivity. Additionally, optional support for fast 5G mobile data connections, combined with the long battery life characteristic of Snapdragon processors, makes PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite ideal for travel.
(Image credit: Qualcomm)The perfect partner for youOne of our favorite things about PCs with Snapdragon X Series processors is that there’s one to suit every kind of student, and to suit every budget too. From the ultra-portable Acer Swift Go AI and Microsoft Surface 13 to the massive and massively powerful Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge 16 there are Snapdragon PCs of all sizes and specs – and if you want something even more flexible, there are all kinds of innovative designs such as Lenovo's brilliant IdeaPad 5x 2-in-1, which instantly and effortlessly converts from a laptop to a tablet and has ultra-fast Wi-Fi 7 to make it a perfect portable PC.
What we love most about PCs with Snapdragon X Series processors is that you don't have to compromise. You don't have to pick between high performance and long battery life, because Snapdragon X Series delivers both. And you don't have to settle for a PC that's less than perfect, because Snapdragon X Series powers amazing PCs of all shapes and sizes from all of your favorite names.
Click here to discover how your Snapdragon PC will help you rule the school.
* Battery life varies significantly based on device, settings, usage and other factors
- The Battlefield 6 system requirements have been revealed
- A beefy CPU and graphics card are recommended
- Players should also use SSD storage for the best experience
EA has revealed the system requirements for Battlefield 6 and, if you're anything like me, it might be a sign that you need to upgrade your gaming PC.
Available via the official Battlefield 6 website, the game will require an Nvidia RTX 2060 or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT 6GB graphics card at a minimum. This is in addition to Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 processor and 16GB of RAM.
As those specs are just a minimum requirement, however, I can't imagine that the experience will be very smooth.
You're recommended to have at least an Nvidia RTX 3060Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6700-XT graphics card, in addition to a newer Intel Core i7-10700 or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X CPU and the same 16GB or RAM.
Although the game will run on a conventional HDD, an SSD is also recommended and should help keep loading times to a minimum.
You can see a full list of the requirements minimum below:
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor(AMD): AMD Ryzen 5 2600
- Processor(Intel): Intel Core i5-8400
- Memory: 16GB
- Graphics Card(AMD): AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT 6GB
- Graphics Card(Nvidia): Nvidia RTX 2060
- Direct X: DX12
- Online Connection Requirements: Yes
- Hard Drive Space: HDD - 55GiB
And the recommended requirements:
- OS: Windows 11
- Processor(AMD): AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
- Processor(Intel): Intel Core i7-10700
- Memory: 16GB
- Graphics Card(AMD): AMD Radeon RX 6700-XT
- Graphics Card(Nvidia): Nvidia RTX 3060Ti
- Direct X: DX12
- Online Connection Requirements: Yes
- Hard Drive Space: SSD - 80GiB
The reveal of these system requirements follows a comprehensive rundown of the game's explosive multiplayer mode.
We also learned that the game will launch on October 10 and be exclusive to current generation platforms including PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S. Pre-orders are available now.
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- I learned tai chi from a bear, fought a man named Chubby Brother, then caught the bubonic plague in Where Winds Meet – and now I’m downloading this free PS5 game on day one
The 10 finalists for the 20205 Reply AI Film Festival have just been announced. The festival, which launched last year, is designed specifically for films "written, enhanced or animated using AI".
The ten finalists for 2025 were selected for their ability to explore the theme of this year’s awards, which was "generation of emotions", and for “demonstrating how artificial intelligence can generate authentic and emotionally engaging experiences through cinematic language.”
AI artists, filmmakers, writers, animators, VFX artists, and enthusiasts from around the world, including Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the United States and Brazil took part in the contest.
I’ve watched most of the short films, and the amount of creativity on show is breathtaking. The films contain a wide range of styles, from anime to photorealistic to film noir.
In April the Oscars gave a tentative green light to the use of AI in films, but the topic continues to ruffle feathers amongst artists, the public and production studios alike.
Even the lovable popstar Nick Cave got into a spot of bother recently, for changing his mind about the use of AI in a post on his Red Hand Files blog. Cave had been gifted a new AI-created soundtrack film for the classic Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song Tupelo, created by the filmmaker Andrew Dominik, who is known for creating Chopper, The Assassination of Jesse James, One More Time With Feeling, and Blonde, among others.
“As I watched Andrew’s surreal little film, I felt my view of AI as an artistic device soften. To some extent, my mind was changed", said Cave.
You can view the AI-generated movie yourself here: .
Cave’s unexpected about-face on AI has caused something of a reaction in the artists community, with his musician friend Amanda Palmer equating some of the scenes of AI recreating the deceased Elvis Presley as akin to “grave-robbing”.
Reply 2025Like any tool, I believe it’s what you use AI for that matters. Rather than using AI to recreate the famous and dead, the finalists in the Reply AI Film Festival feature stunningly bold creative choices that might have been unfeasible without using AI.
For example, I was particularly struck by the short film Instinct by Marcello Costa Jr., a film-maker from Portugal – which features a neanderthal hunting a deer in the middle of a forest suddenly encountering a modern day skyscraper – and the mind-bending visual effects of the short film Meme, Myself and AI, by Private Island, a production studio from the UK.
Of course, the films in the Reply AI Film Festival are mostly less than five minutes long, but this is just the start of the AI movie revolution – I don’t think it’s going to be long now before the world gets its first full-length feature film, made entirely with AI.
The beauty of AI is that it can go as far as your imagination will allow.
“AI is not a replacement for human creativity, but a catalyst for innovation. It will enable filmmakers to explore new styles, genres, and narratives that were previously unimaginable.”, commented Gabriele Muccino, chair of the Reply jury.
Chosen from over 2,500 submissions across 67 countries, the Reply AI Film Festival winner will be awarded in a ceremony on Thursday, 4th September at the Mastercard Priceless Lounge, Hotel Excelsior, Venice.
You might also like...- Microsoft uncovers cyber espionage attacks targeting diplomats
- Embassies within Russia are being hit with malware
- The threat actors are using adversary-in-the-middle attacks
Foreign embassies in Moscow are being targeted by Russian state hackers, who are using custom malware tracked as ApolloShadow, disguised as Kaspersky antivirus software, new reports have claimed.
The attacks have the end goal of installing a TLS root certificate which allows the threat actor to ‘cryptographically impersonate’ trusted websites visited by the infected system inside the embassy, Microsoft Threat Intelligence reports.
“This campaign, which has been ongoing since at least 2024, poses a high risk to foreign embassies, diplomatic entities, and other sensitive organizations operating in Moscow, particularly to those entities who rely on local internet providers," the experts noted.
Secret BlizzardThis cyber espionage campaign targeting diplomats and embassies uses what's known as an adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attack, which occurs when hackers intercept and alter communications between two parties without their knowledge.
These frequently leverage other attack vectors like social engineering emails or messages to create conditions in which an attacker can intercept and manipulate the communications between users and the legitimate services they use, then stealing credentials and authenticated access tokens.
The notorious threat actor, Secret Blizzard, has previously been observed hacking Ukrainian military tech by stealing points of entry from third-parties. The group is one of the most sophisticated and most prolific state-sponsored threat actors in the world.
Microsoft previously assessed with ‘low confidence’ that Secret Blizzard was conducting cyberespionage within Russian borders against its adversaries, but the company now confirms that they have the capability to carry these out on the Internet Service Provider (ISP) level.
This means diplomats using local ISP or telecommunications within Russia are ‘highly likely’ targets of Secret Blizzard’s AiTM position within those services.
“In our previous blog, we reported the actor likely leverages Russia’s domestic intercept systems such as the System for Operative Investigative Activities (SORM), which we assess may be integral in facilitating the actor’s current AiTM activity, judging from the large-scale nature of these operations,” Microsoft confirmed.
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- Pixel Watch 4 pricing for the US has leaked
- The main models will stay at the same price
- We could get a price drop on the LTE models
The Pixel Watch 4 is expected to be unveiled on Wednesday, August 20 at the next Made by Google event – alongside the Pixel 10 phones and the Pixel Buds 2a – and a new leak gives us some idea about how much the new wearable is going to cost.
According to information obtained by Android Headlines, the starting price of the Pixel Watch 4 in the US will be the same as it was for the Pixel Watch 3 last year: $349. Presumably the international pricing of £349 / AU$579 will stay the same too.
That's for the 41mm model without LTE, but Android Headlines says the price for the Wi-Fi-only 45mm wearable is going to be the same as last year as well: $399 (or £399 / AU$669). In other words, Google seems to have avoided adding any price hikes.
In fact, the LTE variants are said to be cheaper: $399 vs $449 for 41 mm LTE and $449 vs $499 for 45 mm LTE. Internationally, the Pixel Watch 3 prices for those models were £449 / AU$749 and £499 / AU$839 respectively, so we'll have to see if there's any change there.
Promo packagesYou might be able to get YouTube Premium with your Pixel Watch 4 (Image credit: Future)We also have a few details about the promotional offers that are going to be available if you decide to pick up a Pixel Watch 4. Apparently everyone who buys the device will get six months of Fitbit Premium and a month of YouTube Premium included.
That gives you access to features such as extra fitness insights, instructor-led workouts, and meditation routines (with Fitbit Premium), as well as an ad-free YouTube experience, offline downloads, and YouTube Music Premium (with YouTube Premium).
These offers are now fairly typical with Google Pixel products, and certainly add to the appeal of the devices: Fitbit Premium will cost you $9.99 / £7.99 / AU$15.49 a month, and YouTube Premium $13.99 / £12.99 / AU$16.99 a month, if you decide to keep them on.
One more tidbit from this particular leak is that the Pixel Watch 4 is set to offer 25% faster charging than its predecessor, getting from zero to 50% of a charge in 15 minutes. We've already seen a leak of the redesigned charger that comes with the wearable.
You might also likeOn April 25, 2025, Patrick Opet, CISO of JPMorgan Chase, issued an open letter to technology providers, urging the industry to address growing concerns about software supply chain security. His message emphasized the increasing operational and systemic risks associated with SaaS providers, particularly in highly regulated sectors like financial services.
To many across the SaaS and cyber security industries, this comes as no great surprise. For years, large businesses have been heavily investing in their own cyber security. However, in response, cyber criminals are moving down the supply chain to third party vendors as the new attack surface to bypass in-house security measures.
Instead of defensive posturing, we see this as an opportunity to demonstrate how purpose-built solutions can directly address these critical concerns. In particular, Opet’s call aligns with a wider industry shift—spurred by frameworks such as the EU’s DORA and the UK’s CTP regime—toward greater transparency, accountability, and operational resilience throughout the supply chain.
Supporting Resilience Through Deployment ChoiceA key concern raised in the open letter is the industry’s growing reliance on single deployment models that can introduce concentration risk. Many SaaS providers operate solely in multi-tenant environments with shared IT infrastructure and common update cycles—an approach that can create efficiencies, but may not suit all customers’ control or compliance requirements.
One solution, and our own approach, is to offer deployment flexibility—whether that’s via public cloud, or on-premise. These technical capabilities support both single-tenant and hybrid models, giving clients greater control over how and where their data and workloads are managed.
For example, our asset management clients processing legacy data sets may choose an on-premise deployment for maximum control, while payment processors handling high transaction volumes might opt for our scalable cloud managed service solution.
This flexibility doesn’t need to come at the expense of innovation. Release cycles can be structured to give customers clarity and choice around when to adopt updates, with rigorous testing built into the process. In sectors where operational continuity is mission-critical, this control can be just as important as feature velocity.
Reducing Supply Chain ComplexityOpet’s letter also touches on the systemic risks posed by opaque third-party dependencies. In this regard, a conservative approach to supply chain design can help to minimize reliance on external services in the delivery of core applications.
When cloud infrastructure is relied on, robust business continuity and disaster recovery planning is required, including real-time replication across zones. We actively monitor our providers and maintain the transparency needed to support regulatory expectations around fourth-party oversight.
Resilience is about more than just technical architecture—it’s about building a culture of preparedness, and ensuring clients are confident in how their data is managed, stored, and protected.
Continuous Assurance, Not Annual ComplianceAnother theme highlighted is the insufficiency of annual certifications as a stand-alone assurance model. Frameworks like ISO27001 and SOC 2 should be foundational—but not the end of the story.
Organizations must provide ongoing support for client audits and due diligence, and encourage proactive engagement between teams and clients’ governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) functions. Security and resilience aren’t one-off milestones—they are continuous, evolving responsibilities.
Enabling Secure, Governed Use of AIThe growing use of AI across the software landscape brings new opportunities—and new responsibilities. Vendors are integrating AI features in areas such as anomaly detection and process automation, always with clear governance and internal risk oversight.
For regulated firms, assurance around how AI is deployed, tested, and controlled is critical. Having said that, ensuring that any AI capabilities within platforms are developed with transparency, control, and compliance at the forefront, is essential.
Building Tomorrow's Security Standards TodayThe message from JPMorgan Chase serves as an important reminder: as technology providers, we are an extension of our customers’ risk environments. Our role is not just to deliver functionality—it’s to help our clients operate safely, confidently, and compliantly in an increasingly complex world.
SaaS providers must commit to providing the flexibility, transparency, and resilience that financial services firms need to navigate today’s evolving regulatory expectations.
In return, the firms that will thrive are those that view security not as a compliance checkbox, but as a competitive advantage built through genuine partnership with their technology providers.
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