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Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 has a trailer that’s even more discouraging than the first movie, but die-hard fans will be pleased with one detail - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 10:41

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 has an official trailer
The horror movie is confirmed to be released in cinemas on December 5
Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail and Matthew Lilard reprise their roles from the first movie

The Five Nights at Freddy's 2 official trailer has been released ahead of the sequel movie's cinema premiere on December 5. The upcoming new movie has, strangely, bypassed the Halloween release window, so fans will have to wait until closer to the festive season.

The sequel is set to unleash more animatronics out into the wild than the first Five Nights at Freddy's did, as it will take us beyond Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria – and notably, Scott Cawthon is involved in adapting the screenplay again.

Looking at the trailer, fans can expect Easter eggs and some new faces – or lack thereof – when it comes to Withered Bonnie, the broken rabbit animatronic from the second game.

What is Five Night's at Freddy's 2 about?

Set a year after the first Five Nights at Freddy's movie, the official plot synopsis teases that the stories of the pizzeria have been "twisted into a campy local legend, inspiring the town’s first-ever Fazfest".

So yep, you guessed it, people have developed a morbid fascination with what went down and now there's a festival dedicated to the creepy animatronics, which totally isn't a recipe for disaster or anything.

We'll once again follow former security guard Mike and police officer Vanessa, who are doing everything they can to protect Mike's 11-year-old sister Abby. But when Abby sneaks out to try and see the animatronics again, she "reveals dark secrets about the true origin of Freddy's, and unleashing a long-forgotten horror hidden away for decades".

Not a bad way to continue the story, in my opinion, but despite the last movie being Peacock's biggest ever launch, it was a critical flop, so there's a chance I'll stick to playing the games instead.

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Splitgate 2 is being 'pushed back to beta' as 1047 Games shuts down the original Splitgate and undergoes more layoffs - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 10:50

Splitgate 2 is being put back into a beta state but will remain playable
1047 Games has said it will rework major parts of the game following player feedback
The studio is also laying off employees and shutting down the original Splitgate servers to accomadate Splitgate 2's overhaul

1047 Games has announced that its free-to-play first-person shooter Splitgate 2 is returning to beta following player feedback.

The studio shared its decision in an X / Twitter statement, saying that the game, which launched on June 6, will go "back to beta" and the team will be reworking the game until early 2026.

After admitting it rushed certain features, 1047 Games said major parts of the game will be overhauled, including progression, gameplay, and monetization.

"We’ve heard your feedback, and we agree with you: we launched too early," 1047 Games said. "We had ambitious goals with Splitgate 2, and in our excitement to share it with you, we bit off more than we could chew. We rushed certain features, made some boneheaded mistakes, and most importantly – we didn't give you the polished, portal-filled mayhem you fell in love with.

"So we're going back to beta. We'll be heads down until early next year, rebuilding major parts of the game to capture the spirit of what made Splitgate special. That means reworking progression from the ground up, adding more portals to our maps, simplifying monetization, refocusing on classic game modes you've been asking for, and more, which we’ll share soon."

As a consequence, and just over a month since cutting an undisclosed number of jobs, 1047 Games is laying off additional staff members, to "shift our resources to focus on this rework".

"This is heartbreaking. These are our teammates and our friends, and they helped build what we have today," 1047 said. "They're receiving severance and job placement support, and we're committed to doing everything we can to help them through this transition. We hope to bring them back when we can."

In addition, the original Splitgate servers will also be shutting down this month, "in an effort to retain as many team members as possible", but is considering the possibility of supporting offline or peer-to-peer matches.

"While we'd love to keep servers online indefinitely, it's cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past couple of years, and we have to prioritize our team," the studio explained.

Although Splitgate 2 is returning to beta, the game will remain playable, and Chapter 3 will still ship as intended, along with bug fixes and "high-priority changes."

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Npm package with millions of downloads is at risk from malware hijacking - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 11:19

A popular npm maintainer fell prey to a phishing attack, sharing login credentials with cybercriminals
The attackers accessed their npm account and pushed malware through a popular package
They were removed six hours later, but users should still take caution

Experts have warned that ‘is’, an npm package with more than 2.8 million weekly downloads, was also compromised in the same manner, and served malware for roughly six hours.

This comes shortly after Eslint-config-prettier, another popular npm package, was recently compromised in a supply chain attack which made it serve malware, after its maintainer, JounQin, received an email that spoofed the support@npmjs.com account, asking them to “verify” their account which, when they did, gave the attackers their login credentials.

The access was used to push install versions 8.10.1, 9.1.1, 10.1.6, and 10.1.7 of the eslint-config-prettier package, which carried malware. Other compromised packages belonging to the same developer include eslint-plugin-prettier, synckit, @pkgr/core, and napi-postinstall.

Backdoors and infostealers

Now, new reports claim that John Harband, the maintainer of the ‘is’ was also compromised the same way. The attackers maintained access for roughly six hours, during which they pushed versions 3.3.1 through 5.0.0, which contained malicious code.

‘Is’ is a lightweight JavaScript utility library that basically helps check what kind of value something is.

For example, it can tell you if something is a number, a list, or a word. It can also check if something is empty or if two things are the same.

It is simple, but rather popular, being widely used as a low-level utility dependency in development tools, testing libraries, build systems, and backend and CLI projects.

The malware deployed through these packages was a WebSocket-based backdoor that granted the attackers remote code execution capabilities on compromised endpoints. The Eslint one was also dropping Scavanger, an infostealer grabbing data stored in the web browser.

Via BleepingComputer

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Marvel's next animated series gets new Disney+ launch date – and it'll arrive just one week after The Fantastic Four: First Steps' theatrical release - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 11:29

Eyes of Wakanda is set to make its Disney+ debut earlier than expected
Marvel's next animated TV series will be released on August 1
The Black Panther anthology spin-off show was originally due out on August 27

Marvel is reportedly set to release Eyes of Wakanda, the comic titan's next animated TV show, almost one month earlier than we anticipated.

The four-part anthology series was originally due out on Disney+ on August 27. However, according to Entertainment Weekly (EW), the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) project's launch date has been brought forward to August 1. All four episodes will arrive on the same date and, unlike other Marvel animated projects, are officially canon in the MCU – i.e., they sit on the so-called Sacred Timeline.

I've reached out to Marvel and Disney for official confirmation on EW's report, and I'll update this article if I hear back.

One of Eyes of Wakanda's episodes will be set in the year 1260 B.C. (Image credit: Marvel Television/Disney Plus)

Billed as a Black Panther spin-off, Eyes of Wakanda will explore the fictional, technologically advanced African nation's history in more detail across four time periods.

Indeed, each episode will each feature a different protagonist who are members of the Hatut Zaraze. This collection of highly-trained Wakanda warriors-cum-spies will carry out dangerous missions to retrieve stolen Wakandan artifacts and vibranium-based weaponry.

The miniseries, which is helmed and created by showrunner Todd Harris, was developed in part by Ryan Coogler – the latter being the writer-director of 2019's Oscar-nominated film Black Panther and its 2022 sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Coogler was also an executive producer on recent Disney+ live-action show Ironheart and is in the early stages of developing Black Panther 3.

Opinion: Eyes of Wakanda's new release date might not be to its betterment

The Fantastic Four: First Steps will have only been in theaters for a week by the time Eyes of Wakanda comes out (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

It's rare to see Marvel Studios move up the release date of one of its films or TV show. More often than not, the comic giant has pushed back projects due to reasons outside of its control – the Covid-19 pandemic being a case in point – or due to production issues. Just look at the recent announcement concerning Avengers: Doomsday, which was originally set to land in theaters next May but whose release has been delayed to December 2026.

Nevertheless, I think releasing Eyes of Wakanda three weeks earlier isn't the smartest move. Its revised August 1 launch date means it'll arrive just seven days after The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the final MCU movie of 2025 and one of this year's most anticipated new movies, achieved lift-off in theaters. You can see what I thought of the aforementioned film by reading my review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

For a studio that usually likes to stagger the launch of its projects, it's bizarre to see Marvel release two in quick succession. It's even stranger when you consider that, even though they're available on different platforms, MCU devotees are far more likely to watch First Steps than Eyes of Wakanda.

Indeed, I suspect more fans will opt to see the latest attempt to give Marvel's First Family the big-screen adaptation they deserve than its small-screen counterpart. Compare the A-listers who are part of First Steps' cast against the talented yet less-well-known stars who'll voice characters in Eyes of Wakanda, and the allure of the former easily trumps the latter from a star power perspective, too.

This isn't an attempt to discredit Eyes of Wakanda, by the way. I'm sure it'll be one of the best Disney+ shows of the year and, if it is, its positive word of mouth will turn people onto the fact that it's already out on one of the world's best streaming services.

That said, when I think back to interviews with Marvel actors, directors, and producers during my time at TechRadar, one thing is always abundantly clear: Marvel likes to give each project room to breathe. The company doesn't subscribe to the notion of cannibalizing one production's viewership or box office takings in favor of another.

That begs two questions, then: Why release Eyes of Wakanda just one week after First Steps? And, considering there'll be no Marvel films or TV series until Marvel Zombies arrives in early October, wouldn't it have been best to stick with Eyes of Wakanda's initial August 27 release date?

I doubt I'll ever get definitive answers to the above – Marvel Studios is a notoriously secretive company, after all. Still, regardless of whether Eyes of Wakanda is good or not, it deserves better than being dumped on Disney+ when one of Marvel's most anticipated films has just landed in theaters.

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Cloudflare cracks down on UK piracy – and VPN users are getting caught in the crossfire - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 11:50

Cloudflare has started blocking many pirate domains for users in the UK
Hundreds of illegal streaming sites could be affected
This is the first time that an internet intermediary has started blocking pirate sites in the UK

Cloudflare has just started blocking access to certain pirate streaming websites – but only for users in the UK.

Pirate streaming sites are already commonly blocked by most of the biggest internet service providers (ISPs) in the UK. However, those restrictions can often be bypassed by using one of the best VPN providers. Not this time – using a UK VPN endpoint still triggers the block, preventing the website from loading.

Cloudflare blocked the websites due to a legal order, most likely issued by the Motion Picture Association (MPA). According to reports, up to 200 domains could be affected by this new block.

Cloudflare blocks illegal streams in the UK for the first time

Cloudflare's block on pirate streaming websites in the UK appears to have come into effect just this month, but the legal case may have started as early as February 2024.

Due to this block, users who try to visit pirate streaming sites are faced with an error. Cloudflare's Error HTTP 451 is reserved for situations when a website is blocked due to legal reasons.

Cloudflare doesn't appear to be a party in this conflict, though. As the Lumen Database reveals, a private law firm delivered a court order to Google, listing 14 websites — but Torrentfreak estimates that as many as 200 pirate domains could be affected.

(Image credit: Lumen Database)

Many UK citizens are already used to pirate streaming sites being blocked. ISPs such as BT, Virgin Media, and Sky usually carry out these blocks following court orders, which means that many users will never even see the error message from Cloudflare — their ISPs will block the website from loading first. However, those blocks are easily bypassed with a VPN, which lets you keep your activities private.

Many users often connect to a VPN server based in the same country to avoid high latency, but Cloudflare's involvement makes that impossible. If the ISP doesn't catch it, Cloudflare itself will.

Can you still use a VPN to access these websites?

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Cloudflare's block goes beyond what any ISP can place on any given website. As geo-blocking is being used, the websites are simply unavailable in the UK, point blank.

For the first time, this also means that using a virtual private network (VPN) won't bypass these restrictions, as long as the server is based in the UK.

Although we're unable to test this ourselves, connecting to a VPN based outside of the UK might still help circumvent these blocks. Keep in mind that this content is considered illegal, and TechRadar doesn't condone using VPNs to access pirate websites.

A rise in anti-piracy orders

Cloudflare operates one of the fastest public DNS (domain name system) resolvers in the world. It's responsible for connecting billions of users to their desired websites, and as such, it can also step in and block them from doing so before any network-changing tool can interfere. This is why these blocks also affect VPN users.

Cloudflare previously criticized anti-piracy network blocking as ineffective and overreaching. The company has previously told TechRadar that "network blocking is never going to be the solution."

Cloudflare's Vice President and Global Head of Public Policy, Alissa Starzak, went as far as to say that such efforts have collateral effects and they're "ruining the internet." Cloudflare has even filed an appeal with the Spanish Constitutional Court earlier this year, attempting to combat IP blocking during La Liga football matches.

DNS providers aren't the only ones being targeted in Europe, either, as efforts to get rid of piracy continue.

Canal+, a major French streaming provider, scored a legal victory in May when a landmark ruling ordered five popular VPN providers to block access to 200+ illegal sports streaming sites. This, however, sparked questions about where the line between fighting piracy and censorship is really drawn.

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Over 250 malicious apps found targeting Android users in worrying attack - here's how to stay safe - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 12:04

Researchers found 250+ fake dating apps targeting Android users
The apps ask extensive permissions and end up stealing sensitive files
Victims are later extorted under threat of releasing the files to friends and family

An “emotionally manipulative” extortion campaign has been spotted leveraging hundreds of mobile apps across mobile ecosystems.

Security researchers Zimperium zLabs claimed to have found more than 250 Android apps, all pretending to be dating and romance apps.

While they all look slick and well-designed, they all work as infostealers, grabbing contact information, photos, and other data from the devices. In some instances, the victims were lured into granting access through “emotionally charged interactions”, and exclusive “invitation codes”.

How to stay safe?

Zimperium calls the campaign SarangTrap, as it targets mostly people living in South Korea.

If the threat actors find any incriminating information on the compromised devices, they reach out to the victim and threaten to share it with their family, friends, and partners, unless a payment is made.

“This is more than just a malware outbreak, it’s a digital weaponization of trust and emotion,” said the zLabs research team. “Users seeking connection are being manipulated into granting access to some of their most personal data.”

To make matters worse, out of the 80 domains used in this campaign, many were allegedly indexed by popular search engines, making them appear legitimate to victims looking to do their due diligence.

In its report, Zimperium advises mobile users against downloading apps from unfamiliar links, or unofficial app stores, hinting that none of the 250+ apps used in the campaign could be found on the Play Store, or App Store.

Apple and Google are quite diligent when it comes to their app repositories, and while malware finds its way in from time to time, it’s a lot harder to pick up malware on the official store, than on an unvetted, third-party one.

Users should also be careful of apps requiring unusual permissions or invitation code, regularly review the permissions they granted, and installed profiles they operate, and should install on-device mobile security solutions that can help detect and block malware.

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Battlefield 6 gets an action-packed first look along with a promise of a multiplayer showcase next week, as new leaks claim the game will launch in October - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 12:47

The first official Battlefield 6 trailer has been released
The trailer also confirmed a multiplayer reveal event will air on Juy 31
No launch date was announced, but leaks claim the game will release on October 10

EA has shared the first look at Battlefield 6, and although no release date has been confirmed just yet, new leaks suggest the game will launch as early as October.

The two-minute cinematic trailer opened with the fictional President of the United States at a White House press conference speaking to the American public as explosive footage of a war-torn New York City plays on.

As was expected, this entry is returning to a modern setting, as showcased by the shots of aircraft, tanks, and squadrons of soldiers engaging in combat on familiar-looking locations that have been turned into battlegrounds.

"Lock & load for the ultimate all-out warfare experience. Fight in high-intensity infantry combat. Rip through the skies in aerial dogfights. Demolish your environment for a strategic advantage. In a war of tanks, fighter jets, and massive combat arsenals, your squad is the deadliest weapon. This is Battlefield 6," the game description reads.

A multiplayer reveal event was also confirmed for July 31, which will presumably offer a first look at gameplay. You can also wishlist the game now.

While there was no release date announcement to accompany the first trailer, it looks like Battlefield 6 will be launching later this year.

According to reliable leaker Billbil-kunat Dealabs (via IGN), the upcoming multiplayer shooter will release on October 10, 2025, for PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

It's also claimed that the standard edition on console will cost $79.99, while a separate "Phantom Edition" will be priced much higher at $109.99. However, the PC version will reportedly be $10 cheaper at $69.99.

Pre-orders for the game are also expected to open on the same day as the multiplayer reveal, on July 31, but Dealabs reports that no early access will be granted for either edition.

EA did, however, confirm in a social media post that there will be an Open Beta at some point, where "players can choose official playlists with Signature Weapons locked to class, or not", with more information to come.

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AMD's fastest GPU ever will sell for as little as $1244 — Radeon AI Pro R9700 will come with 32GB GDDR6 memory - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 13:32

Radeon AI Pro R9700 confirmed for July 23 launch with 32GB GDDR6 memory
Early partner listings show pricing between $1244 and $1277 depending on model
The GPU is built for demanding workloads like AI, rendering, and local model inference workflows

AMD's Radeon AI Pro R9700, its fastest GPU to date, is on sale now, priced as low as $1,244.

While AMD hasn’t confirmed exact pricing at the time of writing, recent listings from board partners, spotted by Benchlife, give a good idea of what to expect.

The listings show Sapphire's models priced at $1,244 and $1,277, while ASRock's version, available to pre-order on Tech-America is listed at $1,267. That puts the probable midpoint at around $1,259.

Built for professionals

First shown at Computex 2025, the R9700 is built on the RDNA 4 architecture and uses the Navi 48 GPU. (Fun fact: Its name is a nod to the original 9700 Pro made by ATI which outperformed Nvidia products back in 2002 and helped shift the market. AMD went on to acquire ATI a few years later.)

The card comes with 32GB of GDDR6 memory, twice that of the Radeon RX 9070 XT, which shares the same core but is aimed at gamers.

That memory runs at 20000MHz over a 256-bit interface, delivering 640GB/s of bandwidth, and could make a real difference for professional users working with big datasets, training models, or juggling multiple pro apps.

By cutting down on memory swaps to RAM, the R9700 aims to keep things running smoother during demanding workflows.

The dual-slot form factor and blower-style cooling are aimed at multi-GPU setups inside professional workstations.

The card offers up to 47.8 TFLOPS in single-precision performance and up to 1531 TOPS in INT4 operations. It packs 128 AI accelerators and supports most modern media codecs, including AV1, H.264, and H.265 for encoding and decoding.

The card connects via PCIe 5.0 and features multiple output ports, including DisplayPort 2.1a and HDMI 2.1b.

Custom models from the likes of ASRock, Asus, Gigabyte, Sapphire, XFX, and Yeston will be available to buy in the coming months.

These designs will include different cooling setups or small tweaks, but the GPU core and memory will remain the same.

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Yahoo and AOL mail suffered hours of outage – here's how it played out - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 14:59

Both Yahoo and AOL's email services got hit by an outage that appeared to last some four hours, and mostly affected the US.

From what I could ascertain, the outage happened around 10am ET, with users unable to access the email services of both brands, or unable to send and receive emails.

At the time of this update, it would appear that the outage has been resolved, with increasing amounts of users reporting they now have access to their email. However, plenty of people have noted they are missing emails; at the time of writing there's no indication Yahoo or AOL will work to restore these emails.

It's also not clear what caused this outage, but it did seem to be limited to just the email services.

Check out the live blog posts below for my reporting of the outage as it developed, And do let me know if you have any insight into it, or if it affected you in a big way.

AOL took to X to post that it's experiencing outage problems with it email service.

We understand some users are currently experiencing difficulties accessing their accounts. We are actively investigating this issue and will provide updates as soon as more information becomes available. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may…July 24, 2025

Yahoo has basically said the same as AOL on X: "We understand some users are currently experiencing difficulties accessing their accounts. We are actively investigating this issue and will provide updates as soon as more information becomes available. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

It's seems to be a day for outages as over in the UK, network provider EE is also suffering an outage, which also appears to be ongoing.

Looking at the Downdetector report for AOL, it seems to be specifically affecting the email side of its services.

"I'm in Alabama. I can log in and it show's I have email but the messages says there was an error fetching the items in the list. I used MS Outlook and am getting a sync error for my AOL account. This SUCKS! I sell Real Estate and this is one of the WORST things that could happen!!!" said one user on Donwdetector.

It seems to me that this outage has been going on for AOL from around 10am ET.

And there have been growing reports on Downdetector, which would indicate this issue is becoming widespread in the US.

In the UK there was a spike of AOL outage reports, again pertaining to emails but the outage seems a lot smaller; that could be down to fewer UK users than in the US.

The same could be said for Yahoo Mail in the UK, though it seems to me that on the Downdetector page, reports of problems could be abating.

As one might expect, there's not a lot of friendly sentiment for Yahoo on X, with one user noting: "Yahoo email is so unreliable. Time to find something better, and that shouldn't be too hard."

Yahoo email is so unreliable. Time to find something better, and that shouldn't be too hard.July 24, 2025

Equally, and a little like me, some people have expressed wry bemusement that people are still using Yahoo email...

TIL people are still using Yahoo for thingsJuly 24, 2025

There's a little bit of inconsistency in how the outage seems to be affecting Yahoo Mail users, with some saying they can log into their email but aren't getting any messages, while others are noting they can't aces any of their emails, with error messages being thrown up.

Things aren't exactly rosy for AOL either, with responses to the company's X account noting the outage is somewhat widespread in the States and affecting different devices.

This user isn't happy...

I guess this what we get for keeping aol as our email. I've had it since 1998. RidiculousJuly 24, 2025

So why are AOL and Yahoo both suffering an outage? Well they merged into one company so are almost certainly sharing infrastructure, meaning an outage for one brand is likely to affect the other.

With so many email clients and services one might think an AOL/Yahoo outage could be glossed over a little but as one Downdetector poster notes: "RIP. Can't retrieve MFA codes."

So if you're using such an email service to handle multi-factor authentication then you might be a little stuck.

Still nothing new from Yahoo or AOL on how long this outage will last or what's caused it.

I can't see any outages for cloud platform providers that could be affecting email service servers and supporting infrastructure, so I'm a little limited on how much I can speculate as to the cause of this email outage.

Interestingly, the sign-up page for AOL email still appears to be active...

I kind of feel sorry for small businesses when these forms of email outages occur, as they probably lack the resources and backup systems to mitigate for such outages.

Down on desktop, app and iPhone in Massachusetts. Please keep us updatedJuly 24, 2025

So if you look at this image, you can see it's not a good look for AOL's email in Downdetector, but perhaps the number of outage reports have peaked...

(Image credit: Downdetector)

It's understandably a similar situation for Yahoo on Downdetector, as you can see below...

(Image credit: Downdetector)

No hint of when a fix will be made for Yahoo. And I feel this X user's frustration...

What is the time frame to have this issue fixed? I really need to access my EmailJuly 24, 2025

AOL is being equally quiet...

But oddly it seems like AOL email is working on iPhone for some users.

AOL mail is down online but available on an iPhone.July 24, 2025

Totally get this could be a big ol' issue for Yahoo email users too:

When an important website (like a bank) sent a code to your email to sign in but your email is unavailable....What happens to the code or other info that was sent to this email? @YahooCare @yahoomail pic.twitter.com/YPlCJ3z2pgJuly 24, 2025

(Image credit: Google; Shutterstock)

I'm a Microsoft and Gmail email user so tend to have backups for certain important authentication services. But it's not a fool proof method, especially if you can't use a backup or secondary email.

If I couldn't get a bank code due to an email outage, I'd be rather upset... I'm not the most patient of people.

AOL's main website, including its search and news functions are all operating fine, so this does appear to be an outage exclusively linked to email services.

Hmmm I'm seeing some murmurings that AOL email could slowly be coming back with Downdetector user MelissaW noting "It looks like it works, but will not delete email or let you look in folders. Gives an error message."

Certainly doesn't look look like the email issue is fixed, but sporadic returns of service may be an indicator that AOL is trying out fixes.

A scathing comment about AOL by one Stephen Jackson on Downdetector: "AOL too busy bombarding us with their ever switching non-stop spam, instead of focusing on making sure their email works."

On the Yahoo Downdetector page it looks like some of the service is coming back with one RL Ross noting: "It seems to be coming back up - just got my emails from this morning, finally."

"Mine just came back," said Downdetector user Pamela. So things are looking up.

This message still remains at the top of AOL's Help page: "We are aware some users are experiencing issues accessing their AOL Mail, or displaying their mailbox. We are working to resolve this as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience as our engineers work to remedy this concern."

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff)

Looks like AOL email could be back up in South Florida, New York City, Langhorne, Washington, Los Angeles and North Carolina, according to a clutch of Downdetector users.

We got an email from a reader called Barbara Callahan who said the following: "I have been following you about AOL outage. Thank you for ALL the updates am on Long Island NY and mine seems to be up and working now."

So it looks like all is slowly getting well with Yahoo and AOL's email services. Expect a few hiccups or perhaps some lost emails or ones stuck in drafts.

"The outage today ate some emails. I have a gap of about 3-4 hours of emails that I never received that I know were sent. Yikes." said a Downdetector user on the Yahoo page.

With AOL some users are suggesting a restart of the app, and that's something I'd recommend after an outage, so consider it a good tip.

While it doesn't look like a every Yahoo and AOL email user has got a fully functional instance of the services, it would appear that whatever has been done to fix the outage is spreading across that States.

There are a good few users of both email services reporting that they are missing emails that they expected across the some four hours of service outage.

"My Yahoo mail is back but it looks like about four hours of missing messages? Will Yahoo restore those? I hope so." said Downdetector user 'leemortimer'.

In regards to AOL, Downdetector user Jana noted: "The mail is back up in NJ but I am missing all the messages sent from 10:30am-2:15pm."

While AOL has yet to remove the outage message from its Help page, and neither it or Yahoo have posted on X to follow up on their previous posts noting their respective email services were experiencing issues, going by Downdetector and user reports, it would seem like both email services are mostly back up and running.

There are plenty of reports of missing email, which is to be expected in such an outage, and it's not clear if Yahoo/AOL will be able to retrieve them.

But I'm closing off this live blog for now, as I consider the incident to be over. I just hope you weren't hugely affected by this, but if so do check out our roundup of the best email services if you fancy a switch from AOL or Yahoo.

The AirPods backpack is very odd, and I love it - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 16:00

44-liter backpack inspired by Apple's earbuds
Two giant pods and a laptop sleeve inside
On sale 25 July 2025

The design studio and clothing brand that brought you Foot Clogs (clogs that look like feet) Toe Slides (sliders that look like giant toes) and the Rock Shoe (which, of course, is a shoe that looks like a rock) has done it again: the AIRPACK is an AirPods-inspired backpack that looks like a giant AirPods case.

The inspiration doesn't stop on the outside. Open up the clamshell-style zipper and there are two pods inside – but instead of giant earbuds, they're pouches for flexible storage. There's also a dedicated laptop sleeve to keep your MacBook safe. (I assume you have a MacBook if you're buying this.)

The AIRPACK "reimagines tech minimalism as streetwear utility," Hypebeast says, and it's part of Bravest Studios' tradition "of transforming everyday objects into wearable art".

And you can use it to pretend you've been zapped by a shrink ray, which is definitely a bonus.

A post shared by Bravest Studios New York (@bravest)

A photo posted by on

Bravest Studios AIRPACK: price and release date

I have to admit, I love the irreverence that Bravest brings to some of its designs: while most of its products are pretty sensible, it's the more out-there stuff that gets the headlines and gets people talking. And to go with the AIRPACK there's an equally irreverent collection of imagery that deliberately apes the iconic iPod ads.

I don't like it enough to actually buy an AIRPACK, mind you: 44 liters is absolutely massive for a daily backpack, and the AirPods case-styled shape looks overly wide.

I very much doubt I'd be able to have it as carry-on luggage on a budget airline, and wearing one on the subway's likely to make me extremely unpopular. But I like that it exists, and at a reported price of $130 (about £96 / AU$197), I suspect the limited run will sell out very quickly when online sales go live on 25 July.

Maybe I'll treat myself to a pair of Toe Slides instead.

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A new trick for merging lasers with silicon could finally make photonic chips cheap, fast, and ready for mass production - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 16:03

Photonic chips with quantum lasers are finally being built without redesigning the whole system
These lasers work directly on silicon and still survive high heat for over six years
University of California researchers filled the laser gap with polymers and nailed precision beam control on-chip

A new fabrication method could make photonic circuits cheaper and more practical by directly integrating quantum dot (QD) lasers onto silicon chips, a process that could influence how future smart home devices, fitness trackers, and even laptops are engineered.

The research team, led by Rosalyn Koscica at the University of California, achieved this by combining three key strategies.

They used a pocket laser configuration for direct integration, followed a two-step growth method involving metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and molecular beam epitaxy, and introduced a polymer gap-filling technique to reduce optical beam spread.

Closing the gap with careful engineering

This development addresses longstanding challenges involving material incompatibilities and coupling inefficiencies that have historically limited the performance and scalability of integrated photonic systems.

The combined efforts minimized the initial interface gap and made it possible for lasers to function reliably on silicon photonic chiplets.

As the researchers note, “Photonic integrated circuit (PIC) applications call for on-chip light sources with a small device footprint to permit denser component integration.”

The new approach enables stable single-mode lasing at the O-band frequency, which is well-suited for data communications in data centers and cloud storage systems.

By integrating the lasers directly with ring resonators made of silicon or using distributed Bragg reflectors from silicon nitride, the team has also addressed issues related to alignment and optical feedback.

One of the more surprising findings from the research is how well the lasers perform under heat.

“Our integrated QD lasers demonstrated a high temperature lasing up to 105 °C and a life span of 6.2 years while operating at a temperature of 35 °C,” says Ms. Koscica.

These performance metrics suggest a level of thermal stability previously difficult to achieve with monolithically integrated designs.

This thermal resilience opens the door to more durable applications in real-world environments, where temperature fluctuations can limit the reliability of photonic components.

It may also reduce the need for active cooling, which has traditionally added cost and complexity to past designs.

Beyond performance, the integration method appears well suited to large-scale manufacturing.

Because the technique can be executed in standard semiconductor foundries and does not require major changes to the underlying chip architecture, it holds promise for broader adoption.

The researchers argue that the method is “cost-effective” and “can work for a range of photonic integrated chip designs without needing extensive or complex modifications.”

That said, the approach will likely face scrutiny regarding consistency across large wafers and compatibility with commercial photonic systems.

Also, success in controlled lab environments does not guarantee seamless deployment in mass manufacturing settings.

Still, the combination of a compact laser design, compatibility with conventional processes, and integration of O-band functionality makes this development notable.

From data centers to advanced sensors, this silicon-compatible laser integration could bring photonic circuits closer to mass-market viability.

Via IEEE

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San Diego Comic Con 2025 live – the biggest movie and TV show announcements from Peacemaker season 2, Predator: Badlands and more - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 16:03

San Diego Comic Con 2025 is officially underway, and despite Marvel not appearing in this year's lineup, there's still a packed slate of entertainment panels and exclusive previews for the most-anticipated upcoming movies and TV shows.

I'll be rounding up some of the biggest movie and TV show announcements from the Comic Convention, including for returning series such as Peacemaker season 2 and Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 as well as for TV premieres such as Alien: Earth and IT: Welcome to Derry. That's on top of upcoming movies including Predator: Badlands and Tron: Ares.

There are close to 50 panel sessions in the schedule that studios such as Disney and Universal Pictures and streamers including Hulu and Paramount+ are hosting for some of their biggest movies and TV shows, so it's going to be a busy few days of announcements. For all the latest, follow along below.

When is San Diego Comic Con 2025?

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San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) 2025 begins on Thursday, July 23, and will run throughout the weekend until Sunday, July 27. Each of the four days has a packed schedule of celebrity panels, exclusive previews and interactive exhibits, but the first three days are the most busy for movie and TV show announcements.

I'm Amelia, the senior editor of entertainment at TechRadar, and I'll be bringing you all the info you need ahead of the SDCC's official start.

SDCC 2025's movie and TV show day 1 schedule

A reminder that the programming schedule for Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27 for Comic-Con 2025 are live! Click the links to view! #SDCC2025Sat: https://t.co/7PmMfDQCwI Sun: https://t.co/yXy73eGzsl pic.twitter.com/6GnfQUYAcOJuly 14, 2025

This year's SDCC will kick off with a celebration for the 20th anniversary for Avatar: The Last Airbender, followed by panels with the cast and crew of Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2, The Legend of Vox Machina season 4, Twisted Meal season 2, The Strangers – Chapter 2, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 and South Park season 27 on July 24.

SDCC 2025's movie and TV show day 2 schedule

(Image credit: FX Networks)

On day two (July 25), we're expecting to hear about Outlander season 8 and the prequel series Outlander: Blood of My Blood, Resident Alien season 4, Upload season 4, Phineas and Ferb season 5, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Rick and Morty season 8, Alien: Earth, Butterfly, Nobody 2, Lil Kev, The Long Walk, Solar Opposites season 6, Lilo & Stitch, Gen V season 2, King of the Hill season 15, Predator: Badlands, Dexter: Resurrections, TRON: Ares, as well as upcoming Neon movies Keeper and Together.

SDCC 2025's movie and TV show day 3 schedule

(Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

It's another equally busy day on July 26 as the lineup includes panels for Bob’s Burgers season 16, the live-action Coyote vs. Acme, Futurama season 13, Abbott Elementary season 5, The Bad Guys 2, The Simpsons season 37, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, The Rookie season 8, American Dad! season 20, Family Guy season 24, Paradise season 2, Spartacus: House of Ashur, Ghosts season 5, Peacemaker season 2, Project Hail Mary, Interview with the Vampire season 3, IT: Welcome to Derry and Twisted Metal season 2.

SDCC 2025's movie and TV show day 4 schedule

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The last day of the Comic Convention will play host to George Lucas for the very time (the Star Wars filmmaker has never been to the event), who will speak alongside Guillermo del Toro and Doug Chiang as part of a panel about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art that's set to open next year in Los Angeles. However, we're not expecting to hear any updates about new Star Wars movies and shows.

Why isn't Marvel, DC or Star Wars at SDCC 2025?

(Image credit: DC Studios/Max)

There are some notable studios missing from this year's SDCC. Marvel, DC and Star Wars have all decided to sit out of the pop culture event, despite each having major launches over the coming months, including James Gunn's Superman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps and The Mandalorian & Grogu.

That means we won't get any updates about either studio's upcoming movie releases this year unfortunately. The decision not to showcase any upcoming titles in Hall H is reportedly down to funds, sources close to the matter reportedly told The Wrap. "I think it’s expensive to go and hard for movies to really pop there now and move the needle. It used to feel like a must," the source told the publication.

Despite their absence, we will still hear from DC Studios about the next installment of James Gunns' hit HBO Max series Peacemaker. The panel – which includes Gunn alongside John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee, Frank Grillo, Sol Rodriguez and Tim Meadows – is reportedly set to show a sneak peek of footage from the upcoming new season on Saturday (July 26).

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 has an official trailer

Ahead of today's panel for Five Nights at Freddy's 2, Universal Pictures dropped the official trailer for the sequel to Blumhouse's video game adaptation.

Directed by Emma Tammi and starring Piper Rubio, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail and Matthew Lillard, the film will pick up one year after the "supernatural nightmare at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza".

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is set to open in cinemas on December 5, 2025, and while it will eventually come to streaming, it won't launch at the same time on Peacock like the first movie did.

Lego debuts 9 new sets at SDCC

(Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future)

Of course, Comic-Con International isn't just about the movie and TV show panels. The annual pop culture event draws in thousands of fans all geared up in cosplay outfits galore to take part in exhibitions, presentations, screenings and more.

Before SDCC officially kicked off today (July 24), TechRadar's managing editor of news Jacob Krol got a preview of Lego's booth at showstoppers the night before to see its latest range of new products.

Lego dropped nine new sets at Comic-Con 2025, including a stunning brick-built Game Boy that he got to try out. This was unveiled alongside Lego’s Batman Arkham Asylum set, which has stunning details and 16 mini-figures.

Jacob is in San Diego at the Convention Center in person, so will be bringing you all the latest as he sees it today. I'll be back tomorrow to cover the build up to day two of SDCC. Until then!

The countdown is on for 'Happiness Is Contagious" at SDCC

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Apple TV+ surprised us all with a tease for a show from the creator of Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan, earlier this week. While walking around some of the activations, I spotted a bright yellow truck. It turned out that it wasn't just vibrant for vibrancy, but rather it was another teaser with the countdown visible.

It also has the exact cryptic phrase, "Happiness is contagious," on the front, and while they did hand out doughnuts for those waiting in line, the folks staffing the experience (or activation) were a little dystopian, repeating the phrase.

While we don't know what the countdown will reveal, although it's likely not a surprise drop of the series, it will provide us with information about the sci-fi drama headed to Apple TV+. It's likely that Vince Gilligan will cue us in a bit more. You can see the full countdown clock here.

Wyze's New Lamp Socket Can Smarten Up Your Outdoor Lighting. Here's How It Works - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 16:18

This smart home addition might help you save on electricity, too.

Starlink Outage Takes Down Elon Musk's Satellite Internet Service - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 19:03

Starlink has confirmed it's experiencing an outage, but says it's now "mostly recovered."

Google Photos can now animate your photos into short videos - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 17:00

Google Photos is adding a feature that turns still images into six-second AI-generated videos
The platform is also adding a tool called Remix that will remake images into different styles
All generated content includes visible and invisible watermarks

Google Photos is rolling out new generative AI features that can transform still images into short video clips, briefly bringing anyone in the photo to life and including natural-looking motion. The Photo to Video tool employs Google’s Veo 2 AI video model, the same model deployed on YouTube, Gemini, and other parts of Google’s ecosystem. The feature doesn’t turn your snapshots into full movie trailers; it just creates six-second clips.

Once you see the option to make your images into videos, you just pick the image picture you want to animate, then choose either “Subtle movements” or “I’m feeling lucky” from the buttons below. As you can imagine, the subtle movement choice has the people in the picture move around a little bit. The model is designed to guess what might have happened in that frozen second. The other choice could do anything, perhaps even throw confetti in the air.

The update is rolling out in the U.S. on Android and iOS right now, but there are other AI tools coming later this summer to Google Photos. Most notable is the Remix feature coming in the next few weeks. Remix takes your existing photos and restyles them into looking like comic book panels, anime stills, 3D renderings, or pencil sketch art. It's an ability that Gemini and its many rivals already offer, but now it will be built directly into your photo gallery and won't need you to write a full prompt for it.

All of this comes together in a new section of the app called the Create tab, which will serve as a hub for these tools and any other AI features Google may release in the months ahead. In the near term, it will include the Photo to Video and Remix features alongside the existing collage and highlight video creators. But as Veo gets smarter and Google’s confidence grows, the possibilities could expand into any number of AI enhancements such as extended video clips, voiceovers, or multi-image stories.

The packaging is what is crucial here. This is the first time that photo-to-video generation has been embedded into a mainstream app like Google Photos, which the company claims has more than a billion users.

AI-powered video tools like Sora and Veo have generated headlines for their jaw-dropping realism and deepfake potential. But Google Photos isn’t pitching this update as a creative revolution. It’s presenting it as a memory enhancement. That said, Google doesn't want to accidentally trick anyone about where the new images and videos come from. That's why every AI-generated video or remix will carry a visible label showing that the content was created with AI. They will also each include an invisible SynthID watermark identifying the AI behind its production, the same as the one used by all of Gemini’s image and video generators.

AI photo inspiration

It's unlikely Google will simply drop these new features and move on. After all, the company has already deployed Veo 3, the latest iteration of the text-to-video model, to Gemini and YouTube for higher-quality short videos complete with synced dialogue and background audio. Tools that animate stills today may very well narrate them tomorrow.

This is more of a play for those not constantly trying the latest AI toy, but who do like to share photos and look at pictures taken by others. It's easy to poke fun at the idea of making your selfie move, but that's the sort of feature that attracts a lot of users who want to see just how animated AI can make them.

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This absolutely tiny dock has 1TB storage, 100W power delivery, and can even output 4K to a monitor - Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 17:35

Patriot Memory MD330 Storage Hub delivers 100W charging and 4K output, all from one tiny USB-C port
Storage goes up to 1TB, but transfer speeds and encryption are still a mystery
Handles video output and file storage, but reliability under pressure is not guaranteed

Patriot Memory has introduced the MD330 Storage Hub, a device that combines a unique set of capabilities in a single unit.

The company says it offers high-speed charging, local storage, and 4K video output through a single USB-C port - features which are rarely found together, especially in a device weighing just 21 grams.

This makes the MD330 less a refinement of existing accessories and more an attempt to redefine what a USB hub or docking station can be.

Designed for tight workflows

The MD330 connects via USB-C and supports 4K display output, with both mirrored and extended screen modes, and also delivers up to 100W of power, which theoretically allows it to charge laptops or handheld consoles while connected to an external display.

Whether this works reliably under sustained use, particularly with power-hungry devices, is something Patriot has yet to fully demonstrate.

These capabilities are usually reserved for more bulky setups, so questions remain about thermal handling and power stability.

Beyond video and charging, the MD330 integrates flash storage, available in capacities from 128GB to 1TB, which turns the hub into a portable archive for media or project files.

However, transfer speeds are not specified, and there’s no mention of encryption or file system compatibility - and without those details, it’s difficult to determine whether the storage is suitable for anything beyond casual use.

The MD330 aims to simplify mobile setups by combining a power bank, USB hub, and dock into one device, but that doesn’t guarantee consistent performance.

Running display output and power delivery at the same time could strain the device, especially if file transfers are also in progress.

How it manages bandwidth and thermal load across these tasks will ultimately determine whether it’s genuinely useful or just an overpromised accessory.

At the time of writing, Patriot has not revealed the price of the MD330, a key detail that could heavily influence its appeal.

Via Techpowerup

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