News
- Audio-Technica has revealed a new limited edition version of the ATH-M50xSTS
- It's in collaboration with virtual singer Hatsune Miku
- It will be available later this week
Esteemed audio brand Audio-Technica has unveiled a cute limited edition version of its best gaming headset in collaboration with virtual idol Hatsune Miku.
Officially called the ATH-M50xSTS-USB MIKU, it's a new variant of the excellent ATH-M50xSTS. The headset, which is based on the professional ATH-M50X monitoring headphones, scored close to full marks in our ATH-M50xSTS review.
It offers sublime audio quality that's particularly impressive for its upper mid-range price point, plus multiple comfortable ear-cup types in the box. Paired with a strong boom microphone, it's a fantastic option for gamers or streamers that want to get away from the usual gaming brands.
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The ATH-M50xSTS-USB MIKU comes in a special limited edition colorway inspired by the singer. This includes blue details on the headband meant to mimic her iconic hair and a colorful green ring on the outside of each earcup.
The headset is covered in little details, like the bright Hatsune Miku emblem on the inside of its ear cups and the futuristic-looking blue ring around the microphone module.
They come in special packaging featuring an illustration by the artist LAM created for the collab. It features a USB Type-A connection, so is definitely geared towards PC users, but does come bundled with a USB Type-C adaptor.
The headset will be available from August 22 for $279 / £239.
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- Windows 11's Copilot app just got an update for testers
- This introduces a powerful new natural language-based search
- There are also some useful changes for the app's home page
Windows 11's Copilot app is getting a deeper and more powerful search functionality, and more besides – although this is only in testing for now.
The Verge reports that Microsoft is rolling out an update for the Copilot app to Windows Insiders (those running test versions of Windows 11) who have Copilot+ PCs.
Those devices have the necessary NPU to drive this new AI search, which allows you to use natural language in queries, and will dive into files to find results for you.
So, as Microsoft points out, you can ask a conversational query such as 'find the file with the tiramisu recipe' and the Copilot app will hunt through the files on your PC to locate it. Or similarly, you could ask 'find pictures of my dog on the beach' and the AI will pick out those images specifically. Microsoft calls this functionality a 'semantic file search'.
Microsoft is also bringing in a rejigged home page for the Copilot app which surfaces recently used files, apps, and conversations, a move designed to make it easy for you to jump back into whatever you were doing previously.
You can also click on those recently-used files to query them with Copilot, or elect to get help with apps via a specific 'guided help' pane – this fires up a Copilot Vision session to guide you through said app.
Testers who want to give the new Copilot app a whirl should grab the latest update from the Microsoft Store in Windows 11.
(Image credit: Microsoft)Analysis: AI end gameYour immediate concern here may be privacy, and Microsoft has been quick to allay any fears along those lines in its blog post introducing these changes. The company makes it clear that Copilot surfaces recently-used files simply via the standard 'recent' folder that Windows 11 maintains – so the AI app isn't digging into your system any more deeply than the records which the OS keeps itself.
Microsoft clarifies that: "Copilot doesn't scan your entire system or upload anything automatically." However, when you're directly querying a file with Copilot, in that case it is uploaded for processing, but "nothing is shared unless you explicitly do so".
As for the semantic file-search capability, I assume that it functions similarly to the AI-supercharging of Windows 11's search itself on Copilot+ PCs (when Microsoft introduced natural language queries via the search box on the taskbar).
Microsoft seemingly wants to beef up search with AI across the board, and so on Copilot+ PCs we have that powered-up Windows 11 search, as well as Recall (a screenshot-based AI search leveraging the activity on your PC), and now an improved natural language search within the Copilot app itself.
What's the end game with pushing AI in search so strongly? Well, search is an obvious use case for AI, and I'd speculate that eventually, Copilot will take over all Windows search duties entirely.
There will be no basic Windows search at all, in other words – if you want to find stuff on your PC, you'll ask Copilot, end of story. And hopefully it'll complete the search without showing you 15 related 'suggestions' or 'recommendations' about what else you might need to complete whatever task the AI thinks you're carrying out.
You might also like- Asus announced and unveiled a Tandem OLED gaming monitor at Gamescom 2025
- The monitor will have two layers of pixels for better brightness, power efficiency, and OLED lifespan
- It will have a 520Hz refresh rate at 1440p and 720Hz at 1080p
Gamescom 2025 is well underway, after Opening Night Live hosted by Geoff Keighley revealed world premieres and updates to highly anticipated titles. However, Asus, known for some of the best monitors, is the star of the show so far with new hardware set to enhance gaming experiences – and no, it's not the ROG Xbox Ally.
As reported by The Verge, the new Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27AQWP-W was announced and unveiled at Gamescom 2025, a gaming monitor that offers users a 540Hz refresh rate at a 2560x1440 display resolution and a 720Hz refresh rate at 1080p. Both the Swift OLED PG27AQWP-W and LG's 4th Gen OLED are the fastest OLED and arguably the best gaming monitors on the market.
It's not just regular OLED either; Asus' new gaming monitor will use Tandem OLED technology, which is essentially two layers of pixels used to produce higher and (theoretically) more consistent brightness, deeper black levels, and a reduced risk of burn-in on its 'TrueBlack Glossy' display.
(Image credit: Future / Rob Dwiar)Most importantly, this should result in lower power consumption compared to other OLEDs, since each pixel isn't working as hard as usual to produce high brightness and deep blacks. Asus claims that the Tandem OLED panel results in '15% higher peak brightness, 25% larger color volume, and 60% longer OLED lifespan'.
If these claims are accurate, this should address one of the biggest issues that OLED monitors suffer from, which is an Auto Brightness Limiter (ABL). Brightness limiting occurs whenever viewing brighter content in HDR or, for example, browsing on a pure white screen, which is done to control power consumption, and of course, reduce burn-in risks.
Since Tandem OLED is used to address OLED lifespan and brightness, it sounds like the ideal solution for ABL issues, and this could further widen the gap between OLED and mini-LED monitors, with the former in the lead.
Analysis: I was gradually getting frustrated with OLED care...(Image credit: Asus)The use of Tandem OLED technology may very well be used by a wide range of other monitor manufacturers, and that's fantastic news for me. For a long while, OLED care with constant pixel refreshes and ABL left me considering mini-LED, where neither of those issues (except for ABL, but it's a lot less common compared to OLEDs) exists.
Losing out on consistent high brightness and constantly worrying about burn-in with pixel refresh alerts shouldn't be an issue with Tandem OLED. Of course, it's very dependent on how manufacturers implement this technology on monitors, and whether the claim of a 60% longer OLED lifespan means OLED pixel refreshes aren't required as often.
However, it's already a step in the right direction in terms of the added benefits of deeper black levels and brightness (whether that's with ABL or not), without the cost of using more power.
There's no word on pricing or a release date yet, but I have no doubts that this will cost a fortune, so get your wallets ready if you're interested.
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In recent years, Honor has partnered with the likes of Moschino, Porsche Design, and Studio Harcourt on some of the best Honor phones, but the brand’s latest fashion-forward collaboration is undoubtedly its sparkliest yet.
Designed by the titular fashion designer, the Honor Magic V Flip 2 Jimmy Choo edition features a shimmering, glitter-coated rear panel and a metallic hinge embossed with Choo’s full name and academic title (that’s Professor Jimmy Choo Yeang Keat OBE to you).
Honor says the phone’s limited edition color evokes “crushed stardust scattered across a deep blue sea,” which is perhaps the most celestial description of a smartphone I’ve ever heard. But beyond its sparkles, the China-only V Flip 2 is a genuinely impressive rival to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 – for multiple reasons.
On the outside, it boasts a familiar 4-inch OLED cover display with a 120Hz refresh rate, which is the same sort of cover screen you’ll find on both the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Motorola Razr Ultra 2025. Honor’s flip phone, though, gets a class-leading IP58 resistance rating, which means it’s slightly more resistant to dust than those two big-name models.
On the inside, the V Flip 2 sports what Honor describes as “the most invisible crease of any flip phone on the market right now,” and in our brief hands-on time with the device, this crease is indeed barely noticeable. It sits between a 6.82-inch OLED display that offers a 120Hz refresh rate and a rival-beating peak brightness of 5,000 nits.
Image 1 of 2The Magic V Flip 2's rear panel (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2The Magic V Flip 2's 6.82-inch inner screen (Image credit: Future)In terms of performance, Honor’s latest foldable is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, and it ships with up to 16GB of RAM, which puts it in-between the latest Samsung and Motorola flip phones on the power scale (the former uses an Exynos chipset and has a lower RAM capacity, while the latter uses the newer Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and the same 16GB of RAM).
The V Flip 2 does, however, boast an amighty 5,500mAh battery, which is the largest ever in a clamshell foldable at the time of writing.
Honor’s latest foldable also boasts some pretty impressive cameras: you’ll get a 200MP main sensor and a 50MP ultra-wide sensor, the first of which is unheard of in the flip foldable category.
So, even if the sparkly Jimmy Choo-ness of the Magic V Flip 2 isn't for you, it's hard to deny the phone's on-paper credentials. Honor has somehow managed to squeeze a class-leading crease, battery, camera, and resistance rating into its latest foldable, and while it’s not available for purchase outside of China, it certainly takes the fight to the best foldable phones on this side of the pond.
You might also like- Google showcased new hardware at the Made by Google event
- This includes a mystery smart speaker we haven't seen before
- It could materialize at an event in a few months
The August 20, 2025, Made by Google event gave us plenty of new hardware to feast on – including (of course) the new Google Pixel 10, 10 Pro, and 10 Pro Fold Android smartphones. But in a quick (not-quite-blink-and-you ’ll-miss-it) segment, we caught a glimpse of an unannounced Google smart speaker.
The showcase was packed with cameos, and in one such star-studded showcase, we saw Formula One driver Lando Norris and NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo trade places – and use Gemini’s advice to better tackle the other’s sport.
Pixel 10 phones made an appearance, and Norris also used a new mini speaker with Gemini.
(Image credit: Google)As you can see in the image above, the device isn’t like anything Google currently makes – our Audio Editor Becky Scarrott described its look as “like a HomePod mini in a Google dress but with an Echo Dot ring around the bottom,” which perfectly sums it up.
It also seems to possess Google Gemini’s reasoning powers based on how it was used, suggesting it might launch as part of the Gemini for Home upgrade Google has promised.
While the Gemini upgrade is also promised for existing smart speakers and displays, it certainly makes sense that Google would want to upgrade its lineup with some new hardware.
(Image credit: Google)We haven’t had new hardware since the Google Nest Hub (2nd generation) in 2021, and before that, the last Nest speaker we got was the Google Nest Audio, which just squeezes into our best smart speakers list (but mostly because it’s the best for Google).
So we’re long overdue for an upgrade, and it seems Google is all set to deliver one in the not-too-distant future.
Most likely we’ll see something “in the fall" (so September through to November) as that’s when Google has promised a major update, which should also solve the many complaints Nest users have about their devices.
You might also like- Agentforce for Public Sector has already achieved FedRAMP High authorization
- It is hosted on AWS infrastructure for maximum security compliance
- AI agents get to work to boost human workers’ efficiency
Salesforce has introduced Agentforce for Public Sector, a new platform powered by agentic AI specially designed to assist in government agencies.
The branch of Agentforce promises to inject AI agents into government workflows where it matters the most, such as handling repetitive tasks, by improving responsiveness, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
It has also already received FedRAMP High authorization to guarantee security standard compliance, so may be a common sight in US Government services soon.
Salesforce's government-approved Agentforce platformSalesforce noted the “staffing shortages and rising public expectations” faced by government agencies as a key attraction for Agenforce for Public Sector.
The company's recent Global AI Readiness Index claimed 90% of global constituents are open to engaging with AI‑powered government services, but concerns around privacy and security have slowed adoption within the sector. This FedRAMP approved platform hopes to change that.
The City of Kyle, Texas has already started using the platform. “It’s like having every aspect of town hall instantly accessible 24/7, whether you’re a city employee or a resident seeking help,” Assistant City Manager Jesse Elizondo said.
Among the first features to launch are three key systems – Compliance Management, Complaint Management and Recruitment Management. They use agents for summarizing and analyzing constituent complaints and detecting complaint trends, assisting compliance officers with violations and fee calculations, and screening job applications to match candidates with relevant agencies.
Job recommendation, benefit application and complaint filing bots will also become available from October 2025.
In a bid to provide clarity to government agencies, Salesforce stressed that Agentforce for Public Sector runs on AWS infrastructure, which is built to meet stringent security requirements for high-sensitivity organizations globally.
“With AI agents working alongside dedicated government workers and providing 24/7 support for constituents – helping with everything from routine inquiries to complex, time consuming tasks – Agentforce will power a more responsive, agile, and effective government,” Salesforce EVP and GM of Public Sector Nasi Jazayeri explained.
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