News
- More range, faster charging and a lower price
- NACS support means it can top up at Tesla Supercharger stations
- The Leaf arrives at a time when demand for EVs is waning in the US
Nissan has revealed pricing for its US-bound Nissan Leaf model and it claims it will be the cheapest EV on sale when it hits roads in 2026.
The updated Leaf, which the Japanese marque hopes will prove even more popular than the ground-breaking original, will start at $29,990 for the Leaf S+ and rise to $38,990 for the top spec Platinum+ trim, which manages 259 miles on a single charge.
The entry-level model is around $3,000 cheaper than the 2011 original and undercuts the outgoing 2025 version, but Nissan will also reveal pricing for the cheapest S model later this year, which could well start at under $28,000.
Redesigned from the ground up and sharing its platform with the Nissan Ariya, the US-spec Leaf S+ features a 75kWh battery pack that is capable of 303 miles on a single charge. The outgoing 2025 model managed a max range of 212 miles.
Despite now adopting the more popular SUV/crossover body shape, the new Leaf is actually a bit shorter than the outgoing hatchback and only 10mm taller, but engineers have somehow managed to declutter to the interior so there is more space to comfortably transport passengers.
Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging port has been added, allowing users to gain access to the vast Supercharger network. Charging from 10% to 80% takes around 35 minutes from the faster chargers.
Other notable new features include an electronically-dimming panoramic roof, which Nissan says is a first in the segment, a Google-based infotainment system and advanced camera technology that provides a 360-degree view of the vehicle and offers an 'Invisible Hood' view to make parking easier.
Nissan needs a big hitImage 1 of 6(Image credit: Nissan)Image 2 of 6(Image credit: Nissan)Image 3 of 6(Image credit: Nissan)Image 4 of 6(Image credit: Nissan)Image 5 of 6(Image credit: Nissan)Image 6 of 6(Image credit: Nissan)Despite rapid growth over the past few years, EV sales have slowed in the US in recent months, with Inside EVs reporting that America’s EV market share dropped from 7.4% to 6.6% in April of this year.
Consumer confidence has been shaken by the US government’s decision to remove subsidies, while funding for EV-related industries continues to be attacked. The support to ensure the technology goes mainstream just isn’t in place.
Nissan is also facing a crisis of its own, as its share price continues to tumble due to the continuing losses it has been posting. As a result, it has already announced deep cuts to the workforce and the closure of several plants.
The new Leaf needs to be a big hit in the US, while the upcoming all-electric Micra also hopes to have a successful run in Europe – seeing as it shares most of its components with the hugely popular Renault 5 E-Tech.
Priced as it is, the new Nissan Leaf comes about as close as the US will get to the mythical $25,000 EV (with a useable range) that the internet has been pining for.
Seeing as Tesla looks to have killed that idea, Nissan might be in the perfect position win over new customers.
You might also like- Let the cat out of the bag there’: Elon Musk says the new, affordable Tesla coming in 2025 will just be a cheaper Model Y
- Volkswagen wants you to pay a Netflix-style subscription to unlock extra EV power – and that could be a slippery slope
- Honda's tiny EV makes official debut – and the impossibly cute microcar can power your home too
There are some very interesting Philips Hue products on the way, including new Gradient Strips, Festavia string lights, and a Philips Hue Bridge Pro that can support up to 150 devices, but one rumored release has had me scratching my head - Philips Hue Essential.
These appear to be slightly lower-spec versions of standard Hue smart light bulbs, and will presumably have a more modest price tag to match – but why? Who, exactly, is Philips Hue Essentials for?
The budget end of the smart lighting market is already dominated by the likes of Govee, Ikea, and WiZ – and that’s where things get interesting. You see, WiZ lights are made by a company called Signify – the same company that makes Philips Hue products under license. Why would it pit its two brands against one another with a low-cost version of Hue?
WiZ smart lights (such as this WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp) are made by the same parent company as Philips Hue products, but for different users (Image credit: Abigail Shannon)Well, it isn’t – not quite. Aside from price, one of the key differences between WiZ and Philips Hue is connectivity. WiZ lights connect directly to Wi-Fi, meaning there’s no need for a hub, and they’re easier to set up. They’re a good option if you just want one or two bulbs and aren’t planning to build a sophisticated lighting system with switches and sensors.
Although you can control individual Philips Hue lights from your phone using Bluetooth, most people will use them with a Philips Hue Bridge, which plugs into your router and uses the Zigbee wireless protocol to create a mesh network that links all your devices together. No Wi-Fi necessary.
Using Zigbee rather than Wi-Fi means you can have a lot more smart lights in your home (a typical home Wi-Fi router isn’t really intended to communicate with more than a couple of dozen devices), with better range without the need for a Wi-Fi extender. (Zigbee devices also use less power, though LED bulbs aren’t huge energy-hogs to begin with, so you’re not likely to notice a huge difference on that front.)
Philips Hue Essential and WiZ bulbs, therefore, aren’t filling quite the same niche. If you only ever intend to own a couple of smart lights, then WiZ would be just fine, but Hue Essential will give you the option to expand your setup much further in the future, should you choose to.
A bright idea?"Hue stretches across indoor and outdoor, and has different variants of products in all those categories," Giuliano Ghidini, Business and Marketing leader at Signify, told me in a recent interview.
"Hue offers a more comprehensive range so you can cover all rooms, and thanks to the technology it’s based on, Zigbee, with a Hue hub, you have very good coverage indoor and outdoor, and very high reliability without putting too much stress on your Wi-Fi network."
Pick up a couple of Philips Hue Essential bulbs with a Hue Bridge, and you'll have the option to extend your setup much further at a future date if you want to (Image credit: Philips Hue)That makes Hue appealing if you have a generous budget and can afford to deck out your entire house, but the high entry price can be off-putting otherwise. A starter kit of two White & Color Ambiance bulbs bundled with a Hue Bridge might cost as much as $140 / £130 / AU$190. When you can pick up four Govee bulbs for a quarter of the price, with no hub necessary, it’s easy to see why homeowners with more modest needs would write off Hue.
The Philips Hue Essential series, depending on how it’s priced, sounds like it could offer the best of both worlds, with a palatable asking price and the ability to expand your smart lighting setup as much as you like later on, or just keep it simple and not feel like you’re under-utilizing it.
Essential? Perhaps not quite, but certainly more tempting.
You might also like- I swapped my alarm clock for this Philips Hue light, and I've never felt more refreshed in the morning
- If Philips Hue is too expensive, the HDMI Sync Box and TV Backlight set from WiZ is a cheap and effective alternative
- Phillips Hue lights get a free AI upgrade – and it's a feature that could take your smart home to the next level
This month's departures from HBO Max have a color in common: red. It's the color of Hellboy and the color of Mars – and it's also the color of that famous scene in the horror classic Carrie.
My three catch-em-while-you-can recommendations for HBO Max this month have something else in common too: stunning central performances. Ron Perlman is a wisecracking delight as a hellishly powerful superhero, adding a very welcome dose of grumpiness to a genre that was starting to feel somewhat stale. Matt Damon is utterly believable and completely compelling as a scientist stranded millions of miles from home. And Sissy Spacek in Carrie is truly exceptional, delivering a performance that's heartbreakingly fragile and truly terrifying.
These are very different movies, but they're all exceptional. If you've seen them already they're well worth revisiting. And if you haven't, you're in for a movie masterclass on one of the best streaming services.
CarrieTwo Carries are leaving HBO soon: the 1976 original and the 2013 remake. The older film is vastly superior to the newer one – the remake scored just 51% with the critics on Rotten Tomatoes and has variously been called "remarkably redundant", "terrible pointless junk" and "one of the worst remakes ever made". But the original film based on Stephen King's horror classic is tremendous, with an astonishing central performance by Sissy Spacek as the titular teen who starts to suspect she has supernatural powers. It's currently sitting with a whopping 94% rating from the critics.
Carrie "is a terrifying lyrical thriller," legendary New Yorker critic Pauline Kael wrote. "The director, Brian De Palma, has mastered a teasing style – a perverse mixture of comedy and horror and tension." Looking back from the 2020s, Total Film wrote: "Brian De Palma transcends the pulpy horror feel by emphasizing the awakening-sexuality metaphor, and using some glorious trickery," while The Fright File called it "One of cinema's ultimate operatic teenage melodramas. I have seen "Carrie" more times than I can count, and yet it never loses its uncommon heartbreak and blood-curdling dramatic power."
The MartianMatt Damon spent a lot of time in spacesuits in the 2010s: there was (mild spoiler alert) Bad Space Matt in Interstellar, and Good Space Matt in this impressive solo performance. Damon is Mark Watney, left behind on Mars after a fierce storm leads his fellow explorers to think he's dead and leave the red planet without him. But he's not dead, and he'd really like to get home.
The 91% critic rating is well deserved. Empire Magazine gave the film four stars: "Instantly joining E. T. and Bruce Dern’s Freeman Lowell (Silent Running) in the pantheon of cinema’s greatest space gardeners, Damon’s Watney is the actor at his most engaging, by turns flip and desperate... The Martian mixes smarts, laughs, weird character bits and tension on a huge canvas. The result is (Ridley) Scott’s most purely enjoyable film for ages."
HellboyLike Carrie, there's more than one Hellboy movie and the original is vastly better than the remake: the 2019 reboot of Hellboy got a frankly embarrassing 17% critic rating. That's partly because it didn't have Guillermo Del Toro in the director's chair or Ron Perlman in the Hellboy prosthetics. The film is "a unique romp," The New Yorker said, "with an exciting yet vulnerable superhero at the center who just happens to be the spawn of Satan."
NPR raved about it too. "Anyone can send an immense, computer-generated vegetable monster rampaging at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, but it takes a special kind of imagination to do it in a way that's thrilling, emotionally complex, and rapturously beautiful all at once." Time Out agreed. "Del Toro, in love with his source but never overawed by it, keeps things moving; Perlman ties it together with some of the driest witticisms this side of Indiana Jones."
You may also like- Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is looking at Gemini to power Siri
- Apple Intelligence's best bits are still delayed until possibly 2026
- No confirmation from either company, and the report put discussions at the earliest stages
Apple's efforts to deliver the smarter Siri and full Apple Intelligence we were promised "in the coming year" might get a boost from an unlikely third party if Bloomberg's latest report is true. The iPhone maker is reportedly in early-stage exploratory talks about integrating Gemini in Siri.
There aren't many details beyond that, though Bloomberg's Mark Gurman contends that the shift to these Google chats happened after Apple couldn't reach financial terms with Anthropic (maker of Claude AI).
The possibility of Apple using Gemini's much more accomplished generative AI and one of its models (Gemini Pro, Flash, Lite?) to bring the conversational intelligence lacking in Siri would immediately transform Apple's nearly 15-year-old digital assistant into a more able AI tool, but it would also mean that Apple is ceding control in what is a key digital arms race.
How we got hereWhile working with third parties has always been a part of Apple Intelligence's strategy, Apple's CEO Tim Cook and the company's development leadership have never mentioned ingesting someone else's generative AI models. It's also a fact that Apple Intelligence's rollout has not gone exactly according to plan.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)In TechRadar's conversation at WWDC 2025 with Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, who is also now running Apple's AI development efforts, he explained why the company hadn't delivered full Apple Intelligence and a smarter Siri on time. After struggling to get V1 architecture working as they wanted to, Apple had a decision to make:
"...fundamentally, we found that the limitations of the V1 architecture weren't getting us to the quality level that we knew our customers needed and expected." He added, "As soon as we realized that [...] we let the world know that we weren't going to be able to put that out, and we were going to keep working on really shifting to the new architecture and releasing something."
Gurman, though, contends that Apple is still not fully committed to using its own architecture and models and will soon make the decision about whether or not to outsource to a third party like Google for at least some of the necessary intelligence. Again, the discussions he describes are in the earliest stages. And whatever comes of them, assuming they exist, it's unlikely they will have any impact on the upcoming release of iOS 26, which features a smattering of Apple Intelligence updates but virtually none to Siri.
(Image credit: Shutterstock/rafapress)Far from strangersApple and Google are already search partners (Google is Safari's default search engine), and in Apple's Visual Intelligence, where you can choose to use Google to search on captured images (or you can ask OpenAI's ChatGPT about them).
Still, Gemini inside Siri would mark a major turning point for Apple and an admission that it's simply not up to the task of competing in the AI sphere, at least not at the level of an OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, or Google.
This approach, though, is not unheard of; Microsoft's Copilot is essentially a reskinnning of ChatGPT (though there are questions if Microsoft will continue getting access to OpenAI's best models).
Even so, Apple put a lot of effort and marketing into Apple Intelligence. The question is, can it still be called that if a big chunk of it is powered by Google?
We contacted Apple and Google for comment. Google had no comment. We'll update this story if and when Apple replies.
You might also like- Anthropic has developed an AI-powered tool that detects and blocks attempts to ask AI chatbots for nuclear weapons design
- The company worked with the U.S. Department of Energy to ensure the AI could identify such attempts
- Anthropic claims it spots dangerous nuclear-related prompts with 96% accuracy and has already proven effective on Claude
If you’re the type of person who asks Claude how to make a sandwich, you’re fine. If you’re the type of person who asks the AI chatbot how to build a nuclear bomb, you'll not only fail to get any blueprints, you might also face some pointed questions of your own. That's thanks to Anthropic's newly deployed detector of problematic nuclear prompts.
Like other systems for spotting queries Claude shouldn't respond to, the new classifier scans user conversations, in this case flagging any that veer into “how to build a nuclear weapon” territory. Anthropic built the classification feature in a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), giving it all the information it needs to determine whether someone is just asking about how such bombs work or if they're looking for blueprints. It's performed with 96% accuracy in tests.
Though it might seem over-the-top, Anthropic sees the issue as more than merely hypothetical. The chance that powerful AI models may have access to sensitive technical documents and could pass along a guide to building something like a nuclear bomb worries federal security agencies. Even if Claude and other AI chatbots block the most obvious attempts, innocent-seeming questions could in fact be veiled attempts at crowdsourcing weapons design. The new AI chatbot generations might help even if it's not what their developers intend.
The classifier works by drawing a distinction between benign nuclear content, asking about nuclear propulsion, for instance, and the kind of content that could be turned to malicious use. Human moderators might struggle to keep up with any gray areas at the scale AI chatbots operate, but with proper training, Anthropic and the NNSA believe the AI could police itself. Anthropic claims its classifier is already catching real-world misuse attempts in conversations with Claude.
Nuclear AI safetyNuclear weapons in particular represent a uniquely tricky problem, according to Anthropic and its partners at the DoE. The same foundational knowledge that powers legitimate reactor science can, if slightly twisted, provide the blueprint for annihilation. The arrangement between Anthropic and the NNSA could catch deliberate and accidental disclosures, and set up a standard to prevent AI from being used to help make other weapons, too. Anthropic plans to share its approach with the Frontier Model Forum AI safety consortium.
The narrowly tailored filter is aimed at making sure users can still learn about nuclear science and related topics. You still get to ask about how nuclear medicine works, or whether thorium is a safer fuel than uranium.
What the classifier attempts to circumvent are attempts to turn your home into a bomb lab with a few clever prompts. Normally, it would be questionable if an AI company could thread that needle, but the expertise of the NNSA should make the classifier different from a generic content moderation system. It understands the difference between “explain fission” and “give me a step-by-step plan for uranium enrichment using garage supplies.”
This doesn’t mean Claude was previously helping users design bombs. But it could help forestall any attempt to do so. Stick to asking about the way radiation can cure diseases or ask for creative sandwich ideas, not bomb blueprints.
You might also likeThe Ricoh GR IV is the premium compact and Fujfilm X100VI rival that many keen photographers have been waiting for. This week, finally, preorders went live.
You'd think I'd be happy, but as a (mostly) satisfied Ricoh GR III user for several years, I was sorely disappointed when I saw the specs and first product images – the GR IV looks like a really minor upgrade.
I put together my Ricoh GR IV wishlist a long while back, and it looks like I'm going to have to hope and pray that the next generation delivers.
Yes, my top wish for the new model was that it remained as small as its predecessor. Ricoh went one better by making the GR IV even slimmer... fractionally. However, keeping something the same is hardly a reason to upgrade, is it?
Better autofocus was another wish of mine. I've not used the new GR IV yet, but the first hands-on video by a Ricoh ambassador suggests autofocus is slightly quicker, but only by baby steps. Again, not enough of a reason to upgrade.
And here comes the real sting in the tail – Ricoh has hit fans with a huge price hike, especially for shoppers in the US. The new GR IV costs $1,499 / £1,199 / AU$2,099. Ouch.
Holding my own GR IIIX. In my book, a model from the GR III series is the thriftier purchase than the new GR IV (Image credit: Future)There's simply no way that a camera with updates this minor can merit such a price increase (of around 20-35%, depending on where you live).
The sensor only sees a small resolution bump – from 24MP to 26MP. There's a new 28mm f/2.8 lens, but it's unclear to me yet if it is noticeably better.
I wanted a tilt screen, but we still have a fixed one. I asked for a built-in flash, but again, that's a no. Better build quality? You guessed it – nope.
Yet here we are with a steep price increase that pushes the new model into a category with much fiercer rivals, such as the powerful (if bulkier) X100VI.
The GR series has comfortably sat around the $1,000 / £900 for years (with a slight price increase due in part, no doubt, to demand). That price feels fair.
If the price of the new model were around the same as before, I'd be tempted. But if I'm buying anything this week, it's going to be Ricoh's shiny new GF-2 external flash ($119.95 / £99 /AU$ TBC).
The new flash gun slots into the camera's hotshoe and is appropriately tiny, plus it's compatible with my GR III (although at the time of release, auto exposure isn't supported for older models – Ricoh says that'll come via a firmware update).
I'd rather the flash be built into the camera, but at least there's a good external option now.
With the GR IV, I think Ricoh has been stingy and greedy in one fell swoop, even if I'm delighted it has kept the series alive.
Want my advice? If you're keen on the GR series – and you should be, the GR III is one of the best point-and-shoot cameras with top image quality from a genuinely pocketable compact – then I suggest saving some cash by buying the older Ricoh GR III instead of the GR IV. You'll need to hurry to grab one while stocks last, though. Ricoh has discontinued it.
You might also like- Stream all 21 stages of 2025 Vuelta a España free on SBS On Demand (Aus)
- Unblock SBS with NordVPN (Try 100% risk-free)
- Today: Stage 1 from Torino Reggia di Venaria → Novara
You can watch the 2025 Vuelta a España on SBS On Demand, streaming for free from Saturday, August 23. The free stream includes live coverage with start times varying each day between 10:30am BST (5:30am ET) and 3pm BST (10am ET).
This year Jonas Vingegaard will be eyeing his first Red Jersey after a previous unsuccessful attempt in 2023. Other challengers include Joao Almeida, Richard Carapaz and Egan Bernal.
SBS On Demand will stream all three weeks so you don't miss a twist or turn. But how can you watch the 2025 Vuelta a España on SBS from anywhere? Can you get the free 2025 Vuelta a España stream in the UK and the US too? And what devices is SBS On Demand available on?
Here's our full (and quick) guide to how to watch the 2025 Vuelta a España on SBS...
How to watch Tour de France 2025 on SBSSBS are streaming the Vuelta a España for FREE to Australian residents.
To watch SBS: visit the SBS On Demand website or download the SBS On Demand App (iOS / Android ).
SBS is free – but you will need to register for an account with an an Australian postcode (e.g. NSW 2000)
Register – sign up with your Gmail (we did back in May during the Giro d'Italia and the coverage was superb)
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How to watch 2025 Vuelta a España on SBS from anywhereAlthough SBS is a brilliant streaming platform, it is only available in Australia.
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It's really easy to use a VPN to watch 2025 Vuelta a España action on SBS.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is the best choice.
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SBS Q+AWhat will SBS's 2025 Vuelta a España coverage include?You can watch all the action from the 2025 Vuelta a España live and free on SBS On Demand from 23 August to the 14 September, with all the replays and highlights also on the platform.
The SBS Sport website will also provide cycling news, analysis and much more.
In addition to the 2025 Vuelta a España, SBS also shows live soccer as well as the other major grand tours across the cycling season.
Which devices can I watch the 2025 Vuelta a España on SBS with?- Amazon Fire (Tablets, Cube, Stick, TVs)
- Android TV (please note: some models aren’t supported)
- Android (Mobile & Tablet) - Android 7.0 and above
- Apple TV (tvOS 14 or later)
- Google TV (Chromecast with Google TV and NVIDIA Shield)
- Freely
- Freesat (please note: some models aren’t supported)
- Freeview Play (TVs and set-top boxes) (some models aren’t supported)
- iOS (iPhone & iPad) - iOS 14 and above
- LG Smart TVs (2016–2024)
- NOW Smart Sticks and Boxes (minimum firmware v11.5.0)
- PlayStation (PS4 and PS5)
- Roku (Stick & Roku-OS powered TVs, minimum firmware v11.5.0)
- Samsung Smart TVs (2017 and above)
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- YouView (BT, Humax, Sony, TalkTalk)
- Xbox (One, Series X, Series S)
Stage 1 | Saturday, August 23 | Turin → Novara | 183 km
Stage 2 | Sunday, August 24 | Alba → Limone Piemonte | 157 km
Stage 3 | Monday, August 25 | San Maurizio Canavese → Ceres | 139 km
Stage 4 | Tuesday, August 26 | Susa → Voiron | 192 km
Stage 5 | Wednesday, August 27 | Figueres → Figueres (TTT) | 20 km
Stage 6 | Thursday, August 28 | Olot → Pal (Andorra) | 171 km
Stage 7 | Friday, August 29 | Andorra la Vella → Cerler (Huesca La Magia) | 187 km
Stage 8 | Saturday, August 30 | Monzón → Zaragoza | 158 km
Stage 9 | Sunday, August 31 | Alfaro → Valdezcaray | 195 km
Rest Day | Monday, September 1 | Pamplona
Stage 10 | Tuesday, September 2 | Sendaviva (Arguedas) → El Ferial Larra Belagua | 168 km
Stage 11 | Wednesday, September 3 | Bilbao → Bilbao | 167 km
Stage 12 | Thursday, September 4 | Laredo → Los Corrales de Buelna | 143 km
Stage 13 | Friday, September 5 | Cabezón de la Sal → L'Angliru | 202 km
Stage 14 | Saturday, September 6 | Avilés → Alto de La Farrapona | 135 km
Stage 15 | Sunday, September 7 | Vegadeo (A Veiga) → Monforte de Lemos | 167 km
Rest Day | Monday, September 8 | Pontevedra
Stage 16 | Tuesday, September 9 | Poio → Mos (Castro de Herville) | 172 km
Stage 17 | Wednesday, September 10 | O Barco de Valdeorras → Alto de El Morredero (Ponferrada) | 143 km
Stage 18 | Thursday, September 11 | Valladolid → Valladolid (ITT) | 26 km
Stage 19 | Friday, September 12 | Rueda → Guijuelo | 159 km
Stage 20 | Saturday, September 13 | Robledo de Chavela → Bola del Mundo | 159 km
Stage 21 | Sunday, September 14 | Valdeolmos‑Alalpardo → Madrid | 101 km
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
This week, we had Made by Google, the annual showcase where Google debuts its latest Pixel devices – and it served up a real treat!
We also got some brand new streaming goodies, including Peacemaker Season 2 (following Superman, we’re a lot more keen to see what the DCU is serving up nowadays).
To catch up on all that and more, scroll down for the 7 biggest tech news stories of the week (spoilers: there’s a fair bit of Google in here, but that’s no bad thing).
7. Silksong got a release date at Gamescom(Image credit: Future)Kicking things off with a different G, Gamescom 2025 was this week, and by far the biggest announcement is that Silksong finally has a release date, and it's in just two weeks on September 4. This writer couldn’t be more excited, and taking a Switch 2 with us to IFA has transitioned from a good idea to a must.
There’s also a new Lego Batman game. Legacy of the Dark Knight looks to combine elements of the most iconic Batman stories from across comics and the films, as well as gameplay which looks ripped from the Arkhamverse games – with, of course, a healthy dollop of iconic humor Lego titles are synonymous with.
We also got Black Ops 7 details, a look at Fallout Season 2, a Lords of the Fallen 2 trailer, a first look at the Sekiro No Defeat anime, and a teaser for Black Myth: Zhong Kui – among so, so, so much more.
6. Apple TV+ got pricier(Image credit: Apple TV Plus)Another day, another streaming service hiking up its prices – and this time, it’s Apple TV+. Apple’s streaming service shocked this week by raising prices for the third time in three years.
The changes took immediate effect on Thursday (August 21) for new subscribers, while existing customers will see their next renewal bill jump from $9.99 to $12.99 in the US, from £8.99 to £9.99 in the UK, and from AU$12.99 to AU$15.99 in Australia.
If you’re considering canceling your subscription off the back of the news, then it’s worth looking at ways you can avoid the Apple TV+ price hike, as you can save money by signing up for an annual account, bundle, or Apple TV+ free trial – which is essential if you’re a Slow Horses fan!
5. Spotify stole and improved an Apple Music feature(Image credit: Shutterstock / Taner Muhlis Karaguzel)Earlier this week, Spotify unveiled a new in-app feature that allows users to transition seamlessly between songs in new and existing playlists by tapping the ‘Mix’ button in the filter toolbar. The feature is similar to Apple Music’s AutoMix function, but Spotify is allowing you to customize your own cross-overs.
When you enable the feature, tabs will appear between each track in your playlist, marking each transition. The ‘Auto’ preset will be applied at first, meaning that Spotify will automatically transition the songs for you, but you can also choose from a selection of presets such as ‘Melt’ and ‘Wave’, or create your own transitions by playing around with its volume, EQ, and effect curves functions to craft a perfectly-blended playlist from start to finish.
According to Spotify’s blog post, its answer to Apple Music’s AutoMix is being rolled out in beta to ‘eligible Premium users’, but we don’t know when it will be available for all paying Spotify subscribers just yet.
4. We watched Peacemaker Season 2(Image credit: HBO Max)As another terrifically written and acted installment of the HBO Max Original, Peacemaker season 2 gets more than a thumbs-up from us.
Set a few months after Gunn's Superman movie, Peacemaker season 2 reunites us with Chris Smith (John Cena), aka the eponymous anti-hero, as he continues to struggle with reconciling his past.
It’s an impressive, entertaining, and startlingly thought-provoking continuation of its predecessor. A series packed with the usual trappings of a James Gunn project – dark and awkward humor, heart-wrenching moments, action-heavy sequences, a banging soundtrack, reams of melodrama, and broken characters you can't help but adore – it's must-see TV for DC comic book devotees, nascent DCU fans, and casual observers alike.
3. Google Pixel Buds 2a made their debut (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)Google has launched the Pixel Buds 2a, aka the new most affordable Pixel earbuds. And in case you already own the Pro 2, Google gave those some useful free upgrades (coming September) at the same time.
As well as being the first A-series earbuds to get active noise cancellation (which Google says is 1.5x better than the noise-nixing you’d find in the original Pixel Buds Pro), they’re the smallest and lightest Pixel Buds to date, with Google's Silent Seal 1.5 to help block unwanted ambient audio – and we've given it a try in our early Pixel 2a hands-on.
As you'd expect, they work with Google's Gemini – but it’s good to see the latest 'Live with Gemini' variation of the service for real-time conversational responses.
And what of the Pixel Buds Pro 2 updates? There's a new color option, Moonstone (to match the Google Pixel 10 phone range), plus a free software update for all the other perks.
From September 2025, Pixel Buds Pro 2 will gain Adaptive Audio (Google's take on adaptive noise cancelling) alongside Loud Noise Protection and head gesture control, so you can pick up calls and reply to texts hands-free. They’ll also get better audio processing for using Gemini in noisier environments, Live with Gemini support, plus extra notifications about your battery level of the earbuds' case, so you're never caught short.
- Read more: I tried Google’s Pixel Buds 2a
While the Google Pixel 10 phones were the headline attraction at the Made by Google event this week, the Pixel Watch 4 also got some attention. With features new to the smartwatch category, such as emergency satellite connectivity, replaceable batteries and screens, a fully-domed screen, and simple raise-to-talk access to Google Gemini, the future looks bright for Google's smartwatch (especially due to its 3,000-nit brightness screen). It arrived alongside the announcement of a personal AI health and fitness coach headlined by Stephen Curry, although there aren't too many details on this front.
1. We got new Pixel Phones(Image credit: Google)As expected, we got a whole new collection of Pixel phones from Google, including the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, and Pixel 10 Pro Fold, which brought some nice upgrades on the camera side, like better selfie cameras and a 5x optical zoom on the base model (unheard of).
Visually, none of the four phones, including the lovely Pixel 10 Pro Fold, got much of an update, but there are features that I think Pixel fans will appreciate. They’re all running the new Tensor G5, and, naturally, that’s powering all that AI and photo assistance, including the Camera Coach, which might make a great photographer out of any of us. Add Me can now add animals, and your phone can now do live translation in your voice.
Still, if we had to boil it down to the two most talked about updates, it might be IP68 protection for the Pixel 10 Pro Fold (a first in the folding space) and Pixel Snap, Android’s own version of Apple’s MagSafe. All we can say is, “It’s about time.”