News
Cyberattacks are increasing in speed and sophistication, ranking among the biggest threats to businesses of all sizes and industries.
Previously unprecedented costs have made headlines; in October, a report from the Cyber Monitoring Centre revealed that the cybersecurity incident which affected Jaguar Land Rover in August cost the UK economy an estimated sum of 1.9 billion pounds.
Meanwhile, in North America, the aerospace sector has seen a spate of attacks, with WestJet’s June cyberattack resulting in the theft of 1.2 million passengers’ data while the data sets of 1.5 million flyers are believed to be compromised following September’s attack on Collins Aerospace.
Research released earlier this year revealed a stark dip in public trust; when questioned on which industry consumers trusted with their data, no single sector saw an approval rate of above 50%.
Without a clear and modernized security strategy, businesses are leaving themselves vulnerable to the far-reaching consequences of a breach, including reputational damage, operational delays, and financial loss.
Why Zero Trust MattersAI has given everyone with a computer, tablet, or even smartphone easy access to automation, including those using it with malicious intent. In the cyber space, this allows criminals to continually change their approach, scaling their efforts and exploiting vulnerabilities in their target’s software. To keep up with evolving threats, Zero Trust is vital, prioritizing data over assumptions is not optional.
The contemporary approach to the principle of Zero Trust has been developed from the work of the Jericho Forum, made up of industry experts keen to establish a ‘de-parameterized’ model that enables a more granular and flexible approach to security.
The group, which later became part of The Open Group Security Forum, paved the way for John Kindervag’s popularization of the Zero Trust principle in 2009, emphasizing the importance of 'Never trust, always verify'. In a conversation with Gartner’s Neil MacDonald, he further explained that “Zero Trust is not a technology; it’s a security philosophy that rewires how we think about access”.
It's a smart idea; allowing security systems to keep up with industry change. In reality, however, despite the majority (96%) of companies incorporating, or planning to incorporate, a Zero Trust strategy, only 35% have made it to the implementation stage.
To decrease the frequency of corporate security breaches, this needs to change. The key to success? A mutually agreed understanding of what Zero Trust is and a cross-industry implementation drive.
Steps to a Modernized Security StrategyThe traditional business approach to cybersecurity, including an over-reliance on VPNs, led companies to draw a single ‘perimeter’ around their data. Thus, once breached, cybercriminals were able to steal and duplicate data from across the organization. In contrast, with a strategy led by strict adherence to the Zero Trust principle, access is confined to the singular section where the incident occurred.
The successful implementation of the Zero Trust principle requires a focus on data and information security across all networks and platforms. For example, the evaluation of risk should take place on a case-by-case basis, with deliberate decisions made to accept, mitigate, or transfer. With this approach, security teams have the flexibility needed to safeguard data and, when inevitable breaches do occur, ensure hackers can only access the top layer of information.
The use of Zero Trust as a basis for risk management necessitates a security infrastructure that does not become stagnant but is ever-changing to prevent cyberthreats from impacting the organization. At any point, a key tech stack component can become a target for criminals. In response, to drive resilience, security professionals should track any attempts, and techniques used, amending infrastructure in tandem.
Across sectors, cybersecurity budgets are growing. In March, the IDC's Worldwide Security Spending Guide predicted a spending growth of 12.2% in the year that followed, growing to $377 billion by 2028. Though this reflection of increased enthusiasm to strengthen security infrastructure is a step in the right direction, organizations need to ensure this investment isn’t just a one-off. Every element, and everyone’s access, must be continually questioned to protect from the escalating threat posed by a breach.
Designing a Forward-Looking Security StrategySolutions adopted with cybersecurity in mind may differ between organizations but, to drive resilience in the long-term and successfully embrace the principle of Zero Trust, vendor-neutral definitions of methodology and standards will be a necessity.
Once these are widely acknowledged, a commitment should be made to strengthening the underlying security infrastructure over the long-term, driven primarily by the principle of Zero Trust. In a landscape where security threats are ever-evolving, so too should each corporation’s ability to protect themselves from malicious actors. This includes blocking access to valuable data sets in the event of a breach and ensuring each person responsible for security is kept up to date with the latest insight on the nature of threats.
When applied in practice, though the exact methods and vision may differ, the guiding principles should remain consistent. To establish necessary considerations, organizations can start with the Zero Trust Commandments, which include the need for security to be integrated through culture and processes, the implementation of asset-centric controls, and the explicit validation of trust through using all relevant information available.
A news landscape dominated by security breaches and cyberattacks has created a generation of consumers that, more wary than before, are no longer shocked when the personal information they have willingly shared with corporations is taken with malicious intent. It should be expected that they will think twice before trusting a new organization with their information, placing an onus on businesses to prove that their infrastructure is robust.
As we look ahead to 2026, the companies that succeed will prioritize security, consider wider society expectations, and prove their commitment to Zero Trust in each decision they make.
We've rated the best firewall software.
This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.
The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit
Paying $20 every month for ChatGPT Plus has always been easy to justify professionally. I use it for research, document analysis, and more than a little organizational assistance around the house.
Still, it's another monthly subscription at a time when everyone is looking for ways to reduce the amount repeatedly drained from their bank accounts. That's why I've been pressing ChatGPT to justify its own cost using the finance feature it debuted a couple of months ago.
I didn't ask ChatGPT to defend its place on my credit card bill literally, though it probably could. Instead, I prompted it to use its analysis of some of my finances to identify places where my money might be evaporating without enough justification, or even awareness.
ChatGPT’s finances tool can review connected accounts, including spending. Although it can't make any changes to how the money moves around, it can point accusingly at a subscription, leaving me to cancel it myself.
If you haven't done so, the setup is straightforward enough. Using ChatGPT Work on the web, you add the Finances plugin and connect whatever accounts you wish.
You can analyze recent spending right away, but I've found the weekly update from ChatGPT and nearly real-time updates to be particularly useful in my quest to make ChatGPT Plus cover its own cost.
Subscription cutsOnly a couple of weeks after starting to use the feature, ChatGPT raised in its weekly report that one of my streaming services seemed abnormally expensive. It turned out to be due to an add-on costing $11.99 a month.
I had subscribed to watch one particular series, finished it, and then apparently just left the subscription in place. ChatGPT found the repeated charge and placed it beside my other entertainment subscriptions.
A second recurring payment belonged to a music app costing $9.99 a month. I remembered signing up for a trial, but I could not remember using it after the first week. The service had quietly collected nearly $60 since.
Canceling those two subscriptions saved $21.98 a month. ChatGPT Plus had technically paid for itself during the first review, with $1.98 left over. That is not enough to retire on, but it is enough to make my article headline legally defensible.
ChatGPT also spotted that my internet bill had increased by $10 from one month to the next. The promotional rate had expired, but ChatGPT suggested I could still get the savings with the right language. The AI wrote out a few talking points to get me any current discounts. After a surprisingly tolerable phone call, the company applied a new promotion and knocked the $10 back off my monthly bill.
Saving on foodThe subscription cuts were easy to measure — I only had to cancel them once and the savings appeared again the following month without any further actions necessary. Food spending was more complicated because there was no single charge I could remove and forget about, but ChatGPT helped me save money there too.
Ordinary takeout is more expensive than ever, but it's the delivery charges and service fees that really raise the final number. I'm not going to stop ordering takeout altogether and deprive myself of all the dishes I can't make myself. But switching to pickup as much as possible would make a big difference, according to ChatGPT. And it saved me about $35 over the next month.
ChatGPT also picked up several trips to convenience stores. Each transaction was small, usually a drink or some paper goods I'd forgotten to pick up at the grocery store. Nonetheless, convenience stores are more expensive than the grocery store, and the result added up quickly, as ChatGPT found in its analysis.
Just staying aware of that fact changed my habits and made me more likely to remember everything I needed to get at my regular shopping run and to bring my own drink when hitting the road.
After two months, the changes were saving me about $67 in a typical month. That figure included $21.98 from the two canceled subscriptions, $10 from the restored internet discount, and approximately $35 from spending less on delivery. Food costs will naturally move around, but the recurring savings alone were already covering the price of ChatGPT Plus.
I wouldn't blindly trust ChatGPT with finances or anything else. And I definitely wouldn't make it my first consultant for any big financial decisions. But these smaller changes are more important than you might think at first.
My Plus subscription still appears on the statement every month, but the reduced streaming and internet costs, not to mention fewer delivery fees, more than justify the $20 a month I'm paying for it.
Most organizations in UK and across Europe don’t struggle to recover from cyberattacks such as ransomware because they lack backups. They struggle because they try to restore everything at once.
In the aftermath of a major cyber incident, the instinct is to bring every system back online as quickly as possible. It feels like the fastest path back to normality. However, in reality, this approach often slows recovery down, reintroduces cyber risk and undermines trust just when the organization needs it most.
In fact, those that recover fastest start from a different premise. They assume large parts of their organization will be unavailable or untrusted, and they plan accordingly. This mindset leads to a much clearer goal - restore what matters most, quickly, and in a state you can trust.
What is critical to survival?Focusing on the critical areas of an organization is the idea behind the Minimum Viable Company (MVC) concept, sometimes referred to as the Minimum Viable Organization. It is a definition of what must exist for the organization to survive in challenging conditions such as a cyber incident.
It’s not just a technology concept, it’s a business definition of survival in terms of the minimum combination of people, processes, technology, documentation, facilities, and third-party dependencies required to keep a business functioning and creating value.
Where to start getting an MVC up and running?There are five key capabilities when it comes to operationalizing an MVC:
1. Clarity on critical services:A precise understanding of the systems and dependencies that directly support revenue and mission-critical operations is needed here. To understand the MVC, it is key to map systems to business value. Without this understanding, it’s impossible to accurately define the MVC.
The first steps focus on undertaking a structured assessment, aligning across business and technology stakeholders, and going through a realistic simulation of how recovery will unfold under pressure. This will uncover the key areas needed to provide just enough capability to keep the organization functioning safely during a crisis and guide recovery.
In practice, this means defining what must function in the first 24 hours, the first 72 hours, and the first week after a disruption.
2. A trusted foundation (Tier 0):In the event of a cyberattack, many organizations miss the critical foundational layer that allows them to establish identity and access control independently of compromised systems.
This foundational layer is what we call Tier 0 or the control plane for recovery. It includes identity and access management, networking and DNS, privileged access controls, core security tooling, physical access systems, and secure communication channels.
It also covers non-technical dependencies that are easy to overlook until they’re urgently needed such as incident response playbooks, contact lists and escalation paths, insurance policies, and contracts with external responders. These are the foundations underpinning the critical systems that need to be restored after a cyber incident. Without this layer, a trusted recovery is not possible.
3. Isolation of recovery assets:In the event of a cybersecurity breach, organizations must establish control of their most critical systems. This requires recovering data separately from clean snapshots and investigating in parallel, not sequentially, to ensure the recovered systems are not infected by malicious software.
As part of this process, backups, configurations, and recovery tooling must be protected from the same blast radius as production. If key recovery assets can’t be isolated, a rapid and trusted control of critical systems can’t be achieved.
4. Clean-room recovery capability:To set up an isolated environment to rebuild systems without reintroducing compromise, organizations need to set up what we call a ‘Digital Jump Bag’. This is a secure, isolated repository containing everything required to establish a trusted recovery starting point to rebuild systems without reintroducing compromise.
5. Validated ability to operateThe next step is to validate the ability of the MVC to operate through realistic crisis scenarios. Resilience must be proven under real-world conditions. Practice is important here because an untested plan remains theoretical. Rehearsals will also help to answer the Board’s most direct question in the event of a cyberattack - how long will it take to restore critical services to a trusted state?
Recovering faster by restoring what matters mostThe most common cyber resilience risks are failing to define what must come back first and how to bring it back in a state that can be trusted. That’s the difference between recovery as a process and recovery as a capability.
The MVC isn’t static. As an organization evolves, its definition must evolve too. But the principle stays the same: recovery improves when organizations stop trying to restore everything and start restoring what matters.
We've featured the best endpoint protection software.
This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.
The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit
- Microsoft used to tell you when a bot was in the lobby, now you can automatically block it
- Watch out, because legitimate add-ons like AI assistants could end up being blocked
- More protections are coming to Teams soon, too
Microsoft is rolling out an important new security policy for Teams, and admins can now finally block external meeting bots automatically.
Previously, the software would identify bots and label them accordingly within the lobby, but leave the final decision to meeting organizers – this new update prevents external bots from joining in the first place.
The company hopes the upgrade will give organizations more control over security to reduce the risks associated with unwanted participants.
Teams now automatically blocks external botsDespite the new change, the policy will be disabled by default, so Microsoft won't be banning third-party bots across the board. But company admins will be able to enable the policy for users or groups to reduce the burden and security risks accordingly, marking a major improvement over the earlier bot protections introduced just two months ago.
Importantly, any external bot detected in a meeting will be blocked from entering, thus legitimate tools could also be blocked, hence the decision to disable the tool by default. That includes legitimate tools like AI meeting assistants, transcription tools, recording add-ons and other similar tools.
"Bots have begun joining meetings that participants never intended them to attend," Meera Ajam explained in a June post, hinting at a shift to hybrid (human and machine) participants.
Nevertheless, it's an important change for the video conferencing platform, which has seen a rise in cybercriminal activity.
Further admin controls, like allow lists for approved bots and audit logs, are also set to come to the productivity suite. This latest update is starting to roll out now, with general availability expected by late September.
- Report points to AirPods 5 launching in September, in two models
- A cheaper version and a pricier option with noise cancellation
- We're expecting the big iPhone 18 Pro event to happen in early September
Despite all these news stories about AirPods with cameras, we've been hearing that 'normal' AirPods are set to release before the end of the year — and a brand-new report paints a much clearer picture of what we're about to see.
According to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, a prolific Apple tipster, the brand is teeing up to release AirPods 5, consisting of a standard pair of buds and an ANC-toting model.
It's suggested that these buds could come in early September — Apple's regular late-year launch is expected to bring iPhone 18 Pro models, Apple Watch 12 and a folding iPhone Ultra — but, by the sounds of it, there's wiggle room for them to release a little later. Still, it's often Apple's style to have one big event with lots of products.
Back in 2024, Apple expanded its non-Pro AirPods line two have two versions. We received the standard AirPods 4, and also the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, the latter of which received a slightly more positive review from us. It was a similar model, but with a slightly higher price and ANC. It seems that Apple is continuing that trend.
AirPods that are really 'new'(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)Apple's standard AirPods see fewer leaks and rumors than the Pro model, and so there aren't any serious reports as to what we could expect. But we weren't glowing in our review, and there are a few tweaks Apple could make to improve them.
The main thing is simply the value. The AirPods 4 weren't expensive, but they just didn't offer as good value for money as the competition — the likes of the Nothing Ear (a) were cheaper, offered features such as ANC, and sounded better.
They stood in contrast to the AirPods Pro 2 (which were current when AirPods 4 launched) and later the AirPods Pro 3. The premium buds are excellent value compared to the competition, packing in more features, impressive sound, and a comfortable and light design.
Apple had the same problem I saw in Samsung's Galaxy Buds 4: a brand not making its cheaper options cheap enough. I'd like to see AirPods 5 either cost less (unlikely in today's tech world…) or have more features to give them a reason to cost more than the rest of the budget earbuds world.
I also think fit reliability is an area that needs to see changes too. It's a common problem in semi-open buds like the AirPods, that they don't grip in your ears as well as those with in-ear tips — I've lost count of how many AirPods runners I've seen lose their buds mid-jog. Apple's done good design work in this area, but I want to see improvements still.
Apple improved the battery life of its earbuds last time, and I hope it can do that again — they actually outperformed Apple's claimed figures, but it's normal to see earbuds hit close to 10 hours without ANC on, so it'd be great to see Apple get closer to that.
When it comes to audio, I hope they'll improve the way they handle detail. As we said in our AirPods 4 review, they lose fine resolution, which can affect the enjoyment of some tracks. Of all the upgrades I've listed, I'd imagine sonic tweaks are the ones most likely to come to fruition.
If Apple wanted to make some serious changes, it could make AirPods truly accessible to Android users (at the moment, most AirPods features require an iPhone, though they will function for basic audio with any Bluetooth device). I don't see the brand making this change, but it'd certainly shine a needed light on Apple's lesser-bought buds — however, Android support seems to be Beats' role in Apple's portfolio.
It's hard not to treat 2026 as a fallow year for AirPods. The fifth-generation models will likely be iterative updates, as the AirPods Max 2 were, and the camera-toting AirPods are expected to launch next year. But a few tweaks could help make the AirPods 5 feel like more than water-treading from Apple, even just two years after the previous models.
- The PocketBook Q is a new ereader with a 5.84-inch screen
- It's slimmer and lighter than most phone-sized rivals
- However, it doesn't run Android, limiting your access to apps
It seems like there’s a growing hunger for small ereaders, as following in the footsteps of the Boox Palma series, the Viwoods AiPaper Reader, and the even smaller Xteink devices, there’s now the phone-sized PocketBook Q.
This new ereader has a 5.84-inch E Ink Carta 1300 touchscreen with a 788 x 1576 resolution, a front light that lets you adjust both brightness and color temperature, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 1,550mAh battery which supposedly allows for more than a month of reading on a single charge.
It measures 154 x 75.8 x 6.5mm and 130g, making it even smaller and lighter than the Boox Palma 2 Pro and Viwoods AiPaper Reader, though its screen is smaller too, with both of those having 6.13-inch displays.
So this essentially sits somewhere between those devices and the likes of the Xteink X4 Pro with its 4.3-inch screen.
Apps included but this doesn't run Android(Image credit: PocketBook)In any case, the PocketBook Q also has physical side buttons that you can use to turn pages, and it works with Libby for borrowing digital library books. It also has broad format support for both ebook and audio files.
Plus, it comes with an IPX4 rating, for resistance to splashes and moisture, and there’s a text-to-speech tool.
There are a handful of pre-installed apps such as a book store, a browser, and a dictionary, among a few others, but this doesn’t run Android. Rather, it runs PocketBook OS — an operating system based on Linux, so you’re not getting access to the wealth of apps you’ll find on Android.
That helps keep the device focused on books so you avoid distractions, but also means you don’t have access to the likes of the Kindle or Kobo apps on there. That limitation is another way this differs from devices from Boox and Viwoods — though it’s in line with Xteink.
If the PocketBook Q sounds appealing, you’ll be able to grab one for $235 / £175 (around AU$330) when it launches in “late fall” — likely meaning sometime in November.
August's celestial wonders aren't done yet. Following the stunning total solar eclipse and the peak of the Perseid meteor shower a couple of weeks ago, we're set for another extraordinary show this week — a lunar eclipse.
On August 27-28, night sky observers in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Western Asia are in for a treat, with a 96.2% lunar eclipse and 'blood moon' occurring.
It's not a total lunar eclipse — the next one of those takes place on December 31, 2028 (yes, new year's eve!) But for many, this week's eclipse will be the best until then, so it's well worth staying up late/getting up early for.
Here's exactly when and where the lunar eclipse can be seen — and my pro tips for capturing it with your camera of choice.
When and where to see the August lunar eclipseThe lunar eclipse can be seen on the night side of Earth, which on August 27-28 means that large portions of North America and South America, plus the western half of Europe and Africa, will enjoy the best of the eclipse — its maximum.
Further afield, viewers in eastern Europe and western parts of Asia will catch a glimpse of the eclipse — the penumbral and partial phase, but not the maximum 96.2% — while Australia won't see it at all. In total, 44.4% of the global population can catch a glimpse.
A large portion of the US is ideally placed to see the lunar eclipse, including Washington DC and New York, because it reaches its maximum at 12:12am ET time, and the moon will be relatively high in the night sky.
In Europe, the 'maximum' phase of the lunar eclipse occurs an hour before moonset/ sunrise Credit: ESO/F. Char (Image credit: ESO/F. Char)Across Europe, the maximum eclipse occurs at 6:12am (CEST), which is 5:12am BST. In cities including London, Paris and Madrid, the maximum eclipse is around one hour prior to sunrise and as the moon sets, meaning the moon will be very low in the sky — offering the prospect of superb photography opportunities.
Those timings are for the maximum eclipse, but the 'penumbral' eclipse begins almost three hours before, and ends almost three hours after. Even as much as 90 minutes before maximum, the moon will start turning red as it moves into a partial eclipse phase.
- The timeanddate.com website provides exact times, dates and places for every eclipse, including for August 27-28, wherever you are in the world. It's a comprehensive resource, also covering eclipse FAQs, such as what is a lunar eclipse is, why the color of the moon changes and more.
The full eclipse cycle will last for about five hours in total, but you don't need to be on the alert for all of it. Let's take New York city as an example.
There, the event kicks off with a penumbral eclipse at 21:23pm ET (August 27), but viewing starts to get interesting from 22:33pm when the partial eclipse begins. This is a good time to set up your camera gear, because the moon will begin to lose its brightness, and will start turning reddish at its edge.
You'll soon see the weird sight of a crescent moon with a blurry straight line between the bright and dark areas. That's the line of Earth's atmosphere being projected onto the lunar surface.
Expect to see the moon turn reddish in color during the partial and maximum phases of the eclipse. Credit: Gill Carter (Image credit: Gill Carter)At 00:12am ET (August 28), the eclipse reaches it maximum, and the moon will be at a viewing altitude of 38.3 degrees, which is relatively high in the sky. At 96.2%, a sliver of bright area of the moon surface remains, but the rest should be a reddish color to the naked eye. This is the maximum phase, when you should takes lots of photos.
From then on, the bright area of the moon increases once more during the partial eclipse phase, which finishes at 1:51am ET, and the eclipse is fully finished at 3:02am. You may wish to stay up for the entirety in order to capture key phases of the eclipse — great for a montage — but the main activity will be in the hour around its maximum.
Meanwhile, in London the timings are less favorable, but the components for photography could be ideal. The penumbral eclipse begins at 2:23am BST (August 28), the partial eclipse begins at 3:33am, while the maximum eclipse is 5:12am, at which point the moon is close to the horizon, and it's approximately an hour before moonset/sunrise.
In the UK, you'll need a clear vantage point looking west to southwest to see the moon (and a dose of luck, if the forecast for cloud is accurate), and if you can plan to include landmarks/points of interest in the frame, it should make for dramatic images of the eclipse's maximum phase. The moon will have set below the horizon before the partial eclipse (after maximum) ends.
During the partial eclipse, the moon will appear part-bright and part-dim Credit: Gill Carter (Image credit: Gill Carter)Camera gear for the lunar eclipseSo, how do you do photograph a lunar eclipse? The good news is that you don't need any filters, as you do with a total solar eclipse. The bad news is that since the moon is so small, you're going to need some magnification for the moon to fill most of the frame. That means either using a telephoto lens, whether that's on a DSLR or a mirrorless camera, or a superzoom compact/bridge camera. Taking decent photos of the moon with your phone is going to be a tougher challenge.
In terms of focal length, a 600mm-equivalent lens (25x zoom on a phone, approx) should fill most of the frame with the moon. You might want to use a slightly wider-angle lens to include landmarks in the frame.
On a smartphone, typically the best optical zoom reach you'll have is 5x. The quality of a digital zoom is poor, and only gets worse the more you zoom in. Some flagship devices such as the Oppo Find X9 Ultra have better telephoto reach — 10x in the case of that phone — and a teleconverter accessory to further extend the maximum reach. My advice for most people is to use a camera with a telephoto lens instead.
Whatever camera you opt for, I recommend attaching it to a sturdy tripod support — especially if you're capturing multiple phases of the eclipse with landmarks in the frame. A tripod minimizes camera shake for sharper shots, and delivers the continuity you need for capturing the phases. Alternatively, find a secure surface to rest your camera on. A self timer or a remote shutter further minimizes camera shake, while shooting in the RAW format rather than JPEG/HEIF gives you more flexibility for editing.
It’s easy to make a montage of your shots License: CC0 Creative Commons (Image credit: CC0 Creative Commons)A lunar eclipse isn't easy to capture, but you will have plenty of time to play with various settings of your DSLR/ mirrorless/ superzoom compact camera. As well as a wide range of colors, lunar eclipses bring a lot of changes in brightness. Also bear in mind that when zoomed-in, the moon is a very fast-moving target (blame our rotating planet).
Consequently, I recommend setting the white balance manually — the Tungsten setting will maintain the color accuracy of the bright moon and rich blue of the night sky.
You'll also need a high shutter speed. So, as the moon dims in brightness, increase the ISO (try ISO 200 during the partial phase, and ISO 1600 during the maximum phase) and open the aperture (start at about f/11 and experiment).
However, it's not just about getting a sharp image, because during the partial eclipse, the moon will be part-bright and part-dim, so you have to make a choice about which side of the moon to expose for. The answer, of course, is to try both, many times over.
Take a spare battery out with you, make sure your memory card has plenty of space on it, and prepare for a marathon post-processing session. Most of all, cross your fingers for clear visibility — cloud cover puts paid to the best-laid plans!
- HMD Global has unveiled the Nokia 300 Charge
- The feature phone can double up as a power bank
- There's also a microSD slot and headphone jack
The Nokia brand lives on, under the stewardship of HMD Global, and following on from four feature phones that debuted in July complete with AI buttons, we now have the Nokia 300 Charge — a handset that's a little different from the norm.
As you can see from the official site (via Notebookcheck), the phone comes with a power bank mode that lets you charge up other gadgets at 10W via the USB-C port on the side. Maybe you could use it to recharge your headphones, or a secondary phone.
While the 3,700 mAh battery in the Nokia 300 Charge isn't huge by power bank standards, it's almost enough to give an Apple iPhone 17 Pro a full charge. It's also a pretty massive capacity for a feature phone, and Nokia says you can get up to 37 hours of talk time and over 40 days of standby time on this device.
Also worth noting is the "high-power" LED flashlight that sits on the top of the device, which is apparently 4x brighter than the one on the Nokia 105. It could well prove handy for finding your way around after dark.
Dimensions, specs, and priceThe Nokia 300 Charge can double as a power bank (Image credit: Nokia)Nokia lists this as being available in green and sandstone, though there's also a black colorway visible on the website. Measuring 136.55 mm x 55 mm x 14.94 mm (5.4 inches x 2.2 inches x 0.59 inches), it tips the scales at 138 grams (0.3 pounds).
The Nokia 300 Charge comes running a 2.4-inch screen with a QVGA resolution and a QVGA camera on the back (though specific resolutions and megapixels aren't listed). A Unisoc SC6531E chipset is paired with 4MB of RAM, and there's 4MB of internal storage.
Retro phone fans will be pleased to know there's a microSD card slot, which lets you expand the storage up to 32GB. There's even a classic 3.5 mm headphone jack for listening to your tunes — though no support for Spotify, obviously. The standard Nokia S30+ software runs everything on board.
As yet, there's no international pricing for the phone, though it does appear on the global website for HMD. In the Philippines, the handset is available for 1,990 pesos (roughly $32 / £24 / AU$45 with a direct currency conversation).
- Crooks used Google Sites and stolen Google Ads accounts to push fake OpenAI Codex pages
- macOS users tricked into pasting Terminal commands, leading to AMOS infostealer infection
- Campaign abuses Google’s trust signals; Windows download button was a decoy, only Mac payload worked
Cybercriminals were seen abusing Google Sites, the Google ad network, and OpenAI’s good name, in a campaign that targets macOS users with infostealers.
According to security researchers CATO CTRL, the crooks used Google Sites to create a fake version of the OpenAI Codex download site. To avoid being flagged by Google’s security systems and ultimately removed, the site itself contains no malicious code or download links, whatsoever. Instead, it hosts an iFrame that displays content hosted elsewhere.
Then, they advertised that site on the Google Ads network. Google is usually good at spotting and preventing malicious ads from running on its network, but sometimes threat actors steal legitimate accounts with good standing and use them to bypass automated scans and get the ads listed, while also spending other people’s money on the ad campaign.
Not ClickFixThe ads were displayed to users searching for “codex macos download”, at the very top of the page. Using both Google Sites and Google Ads is a deliberate attempt to appear legitimate and trustworthy since after all, many people trust whatever Google displays as the top result without double-checking or scrutinizing the result.
Those that do click will see a website that, by all accounts, looks like OpenAI’s download site for Codex, the company’s AI coding agent. The site has download buttons for both Windows and Mac, but only the latter works. The download and installation process was designed to look “advanced” - instead of getting an executable, the victims are told to paste a command in Terminal.
Cato’s researchers call this a ClickFix attack, but ClickFix usually displays a fake problem, before offering an equally fake solution. This looks more like another way to appear legitimate because after all, several AI agents are specifically designed to be installed and run from the macOS Terminal, including OpenAI’s Codex CLI.
The end goal of the campaign is to deploy AMOS, a known macOS infostealer capable of grabbing browser data, login credentials, cryptocurrency wallet information, and more.
Via SiliconANGLE
- The Witcher 4 is officially targeting a 2028 release window
- CD Projekt Red joint-CEO Michal Nowakowski says the game won't be at Gamescom 2026
- He confirms that the game is the studio's "most ambitious game to date"
As CD Projekt Red prepares to showcase The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's next major expansion, the studio has confirmed that The Witcher 4 is officially targeting a 2028 release window.
In a video posted to social media ahead of Gamescom Opening Night Live, CD Projekt Red joint-CEO Michal Nowakowski teased Songs of the Past, The Witcher 3's third expansion launching in 2027, saying, "We've got a lot of the expansion to show off, including a taste of its dark story, and the new continent it will bring."
Songs of the Past will get a full reveal at Gamescom and is rumored to be a prelude to The Witcher 4, which will star Ciri as the titular witcher. Fans have been waiting for another glimpse of the sequel since the technical demo was shared last year; however, Nowakowski has confirmed the studio won't be showcasing the game at Gamescom.
To our beloved fans, players, and community:As we near #gamescom in just a few days, CD PROJEKT RED Joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski would like to personally invite YOU to join us there, and hear about the future of The Witcher franchise! pic.twitter.com/Jyam30SrQHAugust 24, 2026
He revealed that more than 500 developers are currently working on The Witcher 4, and the game will feature "a huge and immersive open world, intense and action-packed gameplay, and a deep, impactful story that we hope will stay with you for a long time."
"Simply put, this is our biggest, boldest, and most ambitious game to date," Nowakowski said, before confirming that The Witcher 4 is "targeting" a 2028 launch window, which significantly narrows down its expected release date.
"I know it's a bit of a wait and you'd love to play it sooner," he said, "but let the team cook. It will be worth the wait."
The joint-CEO added that fans can expect Gamescom to be in CD Projekt Red's plans "for the coming years," suggesting The Witcher 4 could be featured at next year's or 2028's showcase.
While we finally have a launch window, this means the game could still slip to 2029 depending on its development status. It's also unclear if the sequel will get a PS5 physical edition, as Sony plans to end production of game discs from January 2028.
- Apple introduces the M6 chip, and it lands first in the new Mac mini
- It’s a bit more expensive than its predecessor, but offers improved performance, with a focus on AI tasks
- It can also be configured with the M5 Pro, while the latest Mac Studio gets the M5 Max or new M5 Ultra
Apple reintroduced the Mac mini in its sportier, more compact design with M4 chips in October 2024, and now, just a few months shy of two years later, we’re getting the next generation.
Apple is sticking with the ultra-tiny build that doesn’t skimp on ports, and it's also using its new entry-level Mac desktop to usher in its next generation of silicon: the M6. While this next-gen Mac mini sports an identical look to its predecessor, it’s built to pack a performance punch with either the M6, which is Apple’s first 2nm chip, or the M5 Pro for those who need an even more substantial setup.
This performance boost comes at the cost of a price increase over the M4-powered Mac mini. The Mac mini with M6 starts at $899 / £899 / AU$1,449 for 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM — that's a $100 increase in the US over the current price of the M4 model — while the M5 Pro starts at $1,699 / £1,699 / AU$TBC with 512GB of storage and 24GB of RAM. You can, of course, pay more for more RAM and storage — we’re waiting to see full pricing.
The Mac mini with M6 will start at $899 — a $100 increase in the US over the $799 MSRP for the M4 model – with 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM, while the mini with M5 Pro will start at $1,699 with 512GB of storage and 24GB of RAM. Of course, you can pay more for more RAM and storage — we’re waiting to see pricing.
The M6 isn’t the only new chip arriving from Apple. The next-gen Mac Studio, which keeps its now-iconic design, is sporting either the M5 Max or the M5 Ultra under the hood for extreme performance, be it creative or professional workflows, or the demands of AI processes. Like the Mac mini, it’s a bit more costly, starting at $2,499 / £2,499 / AU$4,299 for the Mac Studio with M5 Max or $5,499 / £5,499 / AU$TBC for the M5 Ultra.
The reveal timing is a little out of line with the release cycle we’ve gotten used to for the Mac lineup, as it comes just weeks before Apple's rumored September event, at which Apple will likely debut its iPhone 18 lineup and other devices.
Let’s dive into what we know about the M6 and the new Mac mini, its first home, and the even speedier Mac Studio.
The Mac mini pushes forward with M6(Image credit: Apple )While the new Mac mini's design is unchanged — and we're just fine with that — the big change is under the hood. Apple says the M6 delivers up to 40% faster CPU performance and up to four times faster AI performance. Note that latter claim, as AI is a theme that Apple’s going with here, and it makes sense considering how many folks are choosing to run OpenClaw and other models on the Mac mini (if they can get their hands on one — we're hoping Apple has addressed the supply chain issues that have resulted in some customers facing long waits for the previous-gen Mac mini and Mac Studio).
As I noted above, the M6 is Apple’s first 2-nanometer chip, and it boasts some seriously impressive specs on paper. For starters, it’s now a 12-core CPU, the first such Apple silicon, with two super cores, four performance cores, and six efficiency cores. That’s the CPU side of the M6, while the GPU side has 12 cores with Neural Accelerators, support for the FP8 format, and higher overall geometry throughput, which should aid 3D graphics and gaming visuals. One aspect we’re keen to test is a new dual 16-core Neural Engine, which promises up to twice the peak AI compute performance.
(Image credit: Apple )There’s also the even more impressively equipped Mac mini with M5 Pro, the same chip that’s currently available in the MacBook Pro. In the Mac mini, it as in the MacBook Pro, the M5 Pro starts with a 15-core CPU, 16-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.
Whether you opt for the M6 or M5 Pro, the new Mac mini also gets the Apple-made N1 chip for connectivity, specifically support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. There's a 2.5Gb Ethernet port as standard, which you can upgrade to 10Gb, and while the M6 has Thunderbolt 4 ports, the M5 Pro gets Thunderbolt 5, which should make it easy to chain multiple Mac minis together.
Mac Studio levels up with M5 Max and M5 Ultra(Image credit: Apple)We’ve been waiting a while now for Apple to level up the current M4 Max and M3 Ultra Mac Studio, and these are looking like considerably beefy upgrades that’ll ensure that whether you are running advanced professional, creative, AI, or even gaming tasks, the Studio will rise to the occasion.
The M5 Max inside the Mac Studio boasts an 18-core CPU and a 40-core GPU for up to 30% faster compute performance and 40% faster graphics performance compared to the M4 Max, according to Apple. For ultimate performance, meanwhile, the M5 Ultra, the latest chip made using Apple’s next-gen UltraFusion technology, is essentially two M5 Max chips connected together in a quad-die architecture. The result is a chip with a 36-core CPU — made up of 12 Super Cores and 24 Performance Cores — an 80-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine.
(Image credit: Apple)As in the Mac mini, Apple is using its own N1 chip to power connectivity in the upgraded Mac Studio, with support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. You’ll also get faster, more efficient RAM and storage to speed things up even more.
Together, these upgrades are all about boosting performance and making these machines better equipped for almost any task, whether professional or creative, with or without AI processes.
Apple's Mac Studio with M5 Max starts with 512GB of storage and 36GB of RAM, while the Studio with M5 Ultra starts at 1TB of storage and 96GB of RAM. Pricing starts at $2,499 / £2,499 / AU$4,299 and $5,499 / £5,499, respectively.
(Image credit: Apple)Based on Apple's shared benchmarks and performance numbers, both the Mac mini and Mac Studio are AI performance powerhouses. Whether it's using an app to upscale an image, quickly render out a task, or even run full frontier models on-device, it’s clear that Apple knows what people are using its desktops for, and is offering those users something with even more muscle.
As with the Mac mini, the new Mac Studios arrive with a price hike. In the US, the Mac mini with M6 starts at $100 more than the current prices of the M4 model. The Mac Studio keeps the same starting price at $2,499 for the M5 Max versus the M4 Max, while the M5 Ultra starts at $200 more than the M3 Ultra, at $5,499 compared to $5,299.
Storage increases and RAM upgrades will come at hefty costs, but with 256GB starting storage in the Mac mini and 512GB starting storage in the Studio for the base chips — and both the RAM and SSDs are said to be faster here — Apple is still looking to max out the value proposition, even at the starting prices.
Preorders for these new Macs are open now, and with shipping from September 22. That's a bit of a wait, but it might be that this schedule is timed to coincide with that for other items Apple might reveal in the next few weeks. The Macs will ship with macOS 27, including some new Apple Intelligence features, out of the box.
I've now spent a month with Samsung's two recent folding phones. I've used them as my daily phones, worked and played with them, and even taken hundreds of pictures between them to test the cameras (650 when I wrote that article; nearly 1,000 now).
Through that time, I've used the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 most, and that's for purely practical purposes. It's a brand-new form factor, so as a tech journalist, my time is better spent testing it out.
Despite enjoying my time with the Z Fold 8, I've been wavering back and forth on whether I prefer it to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The two handsets have a lot in common, but that includes a really high price. And so the smaller display, reduced camera count, and lack of features in the Fold 8 mean I've been struggling to claim it as the overall winner.
That was until I took the Galaxy Z Fold 8 on vacation to France; it got a nice dose of real-world testing, and the trip helped me appreciate elements of the phone that I hadn't noticed, or had taken for granted, before. I took the Z Fold 8 Ultra with me, too, which helped underline how much better the new-form phone is.
And with another vacation coming up, I'm glad I've discovered just how useful the Fold 8 is when on the go.
This is the perfect shape for a phone(Image credit: Future)When I wrote about my Galaxy Z Fold camera test, I mentioned that the smaller-body Fold 8 felt like the instinctive camera device to use, as it was easy to remove from my pocket without endless maneuvering. The long, thin Fold 8 Ultra doesn't fully fit in my pocket, and digs into my hip when I walk.
The more I used both phones, the more I realized that's not only true for picture-taking, but basically everything else too. When I needed to navigate around an unfamiliar city, use Translate to understand a menu, or get contactless ready for public transport, the readily removable Fold 8 was a much more convenient choice.
It's not just trouser pockets that show the benefit. The Fold 8 is the perfect shape to fit in the side pockets of my backpack, or the small inner pockets for valuables. That's all unlike the Ultra, which sticks out awkwardly.
And that awkward design isn't just bad for looks or utility. It's pretty normal to be worried about losing your possessions while travelling, either from nifty pickpockets who identify you as a tourist, or from them falling out when you leave your bag somewhere. When I was walking around with the Ultra sticking its camera bump out of my jeans, those fears were multiplied — not so with the standard model, which could disappear from view.
Many people have referred to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 as the 'passport'-style foldable. In the above image, you can see the phone alongside my battered-looking passport: they're very similar sizes (the document is thinner but taller). Given that this document was designed to be easily portable for travellers, it makes sense that Samsung has taken inspiration from the shape of the booklet.
All my holiday experiences aren't just true abroad, though. A svelte form factor that keeps the phone secure but ready to remove is just as useful at home as away.
The wide screen keeps getting better and better(Image credit: Future)I forgot something, didn't I? This is a folding phone, and I've yet to metaphorically unpack it to discuss the inner display. And yet, the Z Fold 8's 7.6-inch, 4:3 aspect ratio main display is one of its main differences from the Z Fold 8 Ultra's 8-inch 1:0.9 aspect ratio primary panel.
I'm an iPad user, and so I was already primed for the Z Fold 8's main screen, since Apple's tablets also use that aspect ratio. But with how popular the previous Z Fold phones are (which share dimensions with the new Ultra), I was expecting the new screen shape to really need to prove itself.
And there are certainly some tasks for which the Z Fold 8 Ultra is better. I prefer it for grid-based tasks like seeing my calendar, checking out pictures I've taken, and calculator use. The user interface feels more spacious, with extra space at the bottom for a web browser search bar, and I appreciate that my apps and widgets are in the same place if I rotate the phone.
When I was on my holiday, the Ultra was relegated to my gaming and camera phone — that result is what convinced me of this article's thesis statement in the first place — but I can see its more square-shaped main display being the right shape for certain users, who have specific use cases.
The Galaxy Z Fold 8's display proves itself as especially useful for many, many other tasks. And I'm not just talking about entertainment; video-watching is one of the main tasks Samsung used to justify the wider 4:3 aspect ratio, but there's a lot more to the phone than that.
(Image credit: Future)The pictures above show two types of phone use that are common on holidays (and that I used the phone for on my trip): reading using the Kindle app, and navigating with Google Maps. As regards the former, you can see that the wide aspect ratio does a better job of resembling a book than a Kindle would, and as for the latter, you can see that the UI overlay and maps sit together just as well as on a squarish display (as on the Ultra). In fact, when I used Google Maps on the Ultra, the search bar and options being higher made it a little more annoying to use.
Speaking more generally, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 feels great for multi-tasking, as the two apps feel like they're sized in a more natural way than on a squarish Z Fold 8 Ultra or long, thin Android tablet. It took me going on holiday, when I'd split-view tourist information websites and maps, or my gallery app and Instagram, to really appreciate this kind of use.
It's hard to explain to someone who isn't using the Z Fold 8, but apps just feel right on this wider phone (well, when they're actually optimized for the shape; some, like Strava, just give you their usual vertical scroll). Every day, I find another function which feels great on the wider screen.
There's one glaring omission. Samsung opted not to give the Z Fold 8 Flex Mode, while it's present in the Ultra. This is a tool that identifies when your foldable is part-open and splits the main display in natural ways; it'll give you a camera viewfinder in one half, and controls on the other, for example. It's a useful, though admittedly sparsely implemented, feature. The Z Fold 8 is worse off for its omission, and I'm hoping it gains it in an update.
It's not just a pretty screen(Image credit: Future)The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is smaller and cheaper than its Ultra sibling. Most of the time, when we see phones like that, the smaller one is a Lite handset and is weaker or worse in some ways. And so I had a bias towards the Fold 8, expecting it to be far more inferior than it actually was.
It's great for gaming, especially on the large screen, even if it does get a little hot quicker than I'd like (that's the Snapdragon chipset doing what, in my opinion, Snapdragon chips do best: overheat).
Even down to the specs minutiae, the Z Fold 8 matches the Ultra. Its storage sizes are the same (well, with a few slight region-based variations, but generally, the storage and RAM options are the same). It uses UFS 4.0 flash storage, and it has a mostly quick side-mounted fingerprint sensor, which I love way more than under-display ones.
As I mentioned before, the Z Fold 8 Ultra was my go-to gaming phone. This isn't because it was more powerful, but because I assumed it would be and so downloaded all my games onto it first (and got stuck into various runs, with progress I didn't want to lose). But some time away on my holiday gave me time to play the same titles on the Z Fold 8, and there's no noticeable difference in how games run on either phone (other than the form factor difference).
(Image credit: Future)My trip helped me appreciate the software a lot more too. Both phones have Samsung's One UI, and its implementation is largely the same between the two, other than the aforementioned Flex Mode fiasco. Which means the cheaper phone doesn't give you a worse experience.
The camera quality and suite of photo editing features were all, obviously, tools which I used constantly on my holiday. And I quickly realized that, despite this not being the 'Ultra' phone, its results largely match what you'll get on the pricier phone (mostly, but we'll get more into that later). Despite what you see in the picture above, I mostly used the inner display for editing snaps, as its large size and aspect ratio let me see details in my photos that a smaller screen might have me missing.
Software remains a strong point of Samsung's camera phones, even if I've come to expect the strong stuff to be kept in reserve for the Galaxy S mobiles. I noticed that, after taking photos and checking them out in the Gallery app, the phone would take a few seconds to apply its own filters, optimizations, and fixes. So I could clearly see the 'before and after' of the phone's magic, and it made it apparent that the handset does a great job at fixing my mistakes.
But there's one design consideration I want to flag, which I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't spent a week shoving both phones in pockets and bags while abroad. Both devices collect dust and fluff, but the Z Fold 8 seemed to collect way more inside its body than the Ultra. Maybe it's a side effect of the shape or aspect ratio, or the Ultra's larger display making an equal amount of fluff appear like more, but I always had to give the Z Fold 8 a wipe when using its main display.
Fluff is normal and unavoidable... but it can mess up foldable phones if it gets in the joints or hinges. So I'm curious to discover the longevity of these phones, especially with iFixit revealing just how disastrous dust can be to the devices.
Have Fold, will travel(Image credit: Future)Despite the myriad reasons to like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that there are several problems with it.
The biggest issue is the battery life: it's not good. I can't pretend to be surprised, given how little space there is in the Fold to fit a power cell, but the reason doesn't detract from the challenge.
I struggle to get the Z Fold 8 to last a day, and find myself having to use it sparingly or engage power-saving mode if I'm going to be away from a charger. While I was on my holiday, I charged it multiple times per day, and afterwards I've found myself ensuring it's fully charged every time I leave the house.
Another weak point of the phone is its camera setup, or more specifically its camera omissions. Generally, pictures taken on the Z Fold 8 are good, but the absence of the Ultra's zoom lens means the premium phone is my go-to photography handset when I have time to stop and choose between the two.
The Ultra is better for holiday shots, product pictures (including the ones accompanying this article), and portrait pictures. As mentioned, I probably take more pictures with the Z Fold 8 given it's the more easily accessible phone, but there's no denying which of the two is the superior shooter.
For the Galaxy Z Fold 9, then, improvements to the camera array and battery life are at the top of my wish list.
- Kaspersky found Android malware abusing DoFun car head units via TWCore updates
- Multi‑stage attack installs loaders and reverse proxy, aiming to build a botnet of connected cars
- Campaign attributed to MoYu Group; DoFun patched vulnerabilities after disclosure
We’ve seen botnets comprising cameras and DVRs, we’ve even seen botnets comprising smart fridges and digital frames, but we’ve never seen botnets comprising automobile infotainment systems. First time for everything.
Earlier this week, security researchers Kaspersky warned about finding a brand new Android malware targeting the car’s head unit. The victim seems to be a Chinese manufacturer called DoFun. Head units from this manufacturer, built on Android, are running an app for analytics and software updates called TWCore.
According to Kaspersky, the attackers abused TWCore’s update mechanisms, instructing it to download a malicious APK. This malware is then placed in the app’s cache directory and installed by the legitimate com.tw.core package.
No active campaignsThe researchers said this was a multi-stage attack. In the first stage, a tiny dropper with no user interface gets deployed. It decrypts embedded data, and extracts the information it needs for stage two. In the next stage, the loader contacts the attackers’ server and gets instructions about stage 3, which can be different things, from deploying additional malware, to running the “zhima” reverse proxy.
Despite its multifunctional nature, Kaspersky believes that the true goal of the campaign is to assimilate the cars into a botnet. Some cars come with a SIM slot and are connected to the internet 24/7. It is probably not an exaggeration to say that cars just might be the perfect devices for a malicious botnet.
Kaspersky attributed the campaign to MoYu Group, a threat actor known for building malicious botnets based on Android devices. In the past, this group was observed building the BadBox botnet out of Android smartphones, tablets, streaming devices, and other internet-connected hardware.
The researchers notified DoFun of their findings, and the vulnerability was quickly fixed: "We notified the vendor about the distribution scheme, and they subsequently reported fixing the security issues," the researchers said.
Via The Record
The Shards episodes 6 and 7 are streaming on Hulu for US viewers and Disney+ internationally soon, and you won't want to miss them.
This is our second double bill, after the dramatic ending last episode that saw Rhonda arrive on the scene alive, and Cha Cha found dead in the bathroom of a television set. Moments like these are why I gave the show such a great rating in my The Shards review.
So far, Rhonda is the only kidnapped teen The Trawler kept alive, but nobody knows why, so hopefully this week's double bill will answer some big questions.
Here's what you need to know about the dual release of The Shards episodes 6 and 7.
What time can I watch The Shards episodes 6 and 7 on Hulu?For US viewers, The Shards episodes 6 and 7 will drop on Wednesday, August 26 at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET.
Here's when you can stream the new episodes in other countries.
- US – Wednesday, August 26 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
- Canada – Wednesday, August 26 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
- UK – Thursday, August 27 at 2am BST
- India – Thursday, August 27 at 6:30am IST
- Singapore – Thursday, August 27 at 9am SGT
- Australia – Thursday, August 27 at 11am AEDT
- New Zealand – Thursday, August 27 at 12pm NZDT
This is our last double-bill of the series as we build towards the thrilling finale on September 9.
For dates as well as the episode titles for the upcoming The Shards releases, take a look below.
- The Shards Episode 1 “Pilot”: Out now
- The Shards Episode 2 “Don’t You Want Me”: Out now
- The Shards Episode 3 “Help Me! Rhonda!”: Out now
- The Shards Episode 4 “Robert’s Party”: Out now
- The Shards Episode 5 “Murder on the Dancefloor”: Out now
- The Shards Episode 6 “Homecoming Part One”: Wednesday, August 26
- The Shards Episode 7 “Homecoming Part Two”: Wednesday, August 26
- The Shards Episode 8 “Hamlet”: Wednesday, September 2
- The Shards Episode 9 “Stairway to Heaven”: Wednesday, September 9
The Creality K2 Pro Combo, one of our absolute favorite 3D printers, is a serious step up from an entry-level model, combining a large enclosed build area with fast printing, and active chamber heating.
The K2 Pro Combo is now down to $799 (was $1099) from Creality's online store. A massive $300 off a package that includes both the K2 Pro and one four-slot CFS (Creality Filament System) for automatic multi-material and multi-color printing.
For anyone looking to move beyond basic single-color PLA printing, there's a lot here to like, including multi-color capabilities, carbon-fiber-reinforced filament support and AI-assisted monitoring. In the UK, the K2 Pro is down to £649 (was £949) at Creality.
K2 Pro Combo 3DPrinter: was $1099 now $799
The K2 Pro offers a 300 x 300 x 300mm build volume, printing speeds up to 600mm/s and acceleration up to 20,000mm/s². There's also dual AI cameras, an air purifier, filament-tangle detection, power-loss recovery and RFID filament recognition.
In the UK: now £649 (was £949)View Deal
Why we recommend itThe combination of size, speed and material support makes the K2 Pro much more versatile than a basic 3D printer, and its 300mm-cubed build volume offers plenty of room for large models and prototypes.
The Combo package is especially handy because the included CFS has four filament slots and automatically manages filament changes, letting you create multi-color or multi-material prints without manually swapping spools.
In his 4.5-star review, our 3D printing expert Alastair called it: "'An exceptional machine capable of producing some of the best 3D prints," adding, "It looks great, and the overall build quality and mechanics, as well as the serviceability of the machine, mean that it should give you many years of use."
For more options, check out our roundup of the best 3D printers you can buy.
Should you buy it?✅ Buy the Creality K2 Pro Combo 3D if...
The K2 Pro Combo makes sense if want more than a basic 3D printer, including more room, faster printing and support for a greater range of materials. The heated chamber, 300°C nozzle, full-auto leveling and dual AI cameras promise plenty of capabilities to grow into.
The included CFS means four-color printing is available without buying another accessory, and the ability to add additional CFS units leaves a route to 16-color projects later.
❌ Skip the Creality K2 Pro Combo 3D if...
If most of your projects are relatively small, single-color PLA prints, much of what makes the K2 Pro interesting won't be used. There are considerably cheaper printers capable of handling straightforward everyday printing.
Price context & historical valueAt $799, the Creality K2 Pro Combo is $300 below its $1,099 regular price. For context, the same model is on sale at Amazon, but it's $848.99 there, which is more expensive than this deal.
This is the Combo rather than the standalone K2 Pro, so one four-slot CFS is included and you also get three months of Creality Cloud Premium which offers access to additional models, cloud storage and faster downloads.
For more savings, we track the best 3D printer deals with updates every week.
The Catch: What to know before you buyThe K2 Pro Combo includes one four-slot CFS, so can manage four colors out of the box. Reaching 16 requires four CFS units in total, with the additional three sold separately.
There's also an important distinction between maximum and typical printing speed. The K2 Pro can reach 600mm/s, but Creality lists 300mm/s as the typical printing speed, so don't expect every model and filament to run at the headline maximum.
Finally, the printer weighs 23.7kg and its 300mm build volume comes with a much larger physical footprint, so you'll want a workspace with plenty of room.
- Stream The Airport Chaplain free on SBS On Demand (Aus)
- Unblock SBS with NordVPN (Try 100% risk-free)
- Hugo Weaving and Shabana Azeez star in this tension-filled drama series
Veteran actor Hugo Weaving, who played iconic bad guys in The Matrix and in the MCU, takes on a more serious, dramatic role in The Airport Chaplain, starring opposite up-and-comer Shabana Azeez, who plays his boss as the two clash over their approach to customer service.
There's eight episodes of this gripping drama to dive into, dropping in pairs over four weeks. Or, if you prefer the binge method, you'll have options to take one long-haul flight and watch The Airport Chaplain in one go.
But how can you watch The Airport Chaplain on SBS from anywhere? Can you stream the show in the US, UK and Canada too? And what devices is SBS On Demand available on?
Below, we'll reveal how to watch The Airport Chaplain on SBS for free and on streaming elsewhere.
How to watch The Airport Chaplain on SBSSBS are streaming The Airport Chaplain 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 tried it and the quality was superb)
OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA? ACCESS SBS FROM ANYWHERE WITH NORDVPN
How to watch The Airport Chaplain on SBS from anywhereAlthough SBS is a brilliant streaming platform, it is only available in Australia.
If you're keen to watch The Airport Chaplain but you're traveling or working outside Oz will need to use a VPN to access SBS's free TV stream.
There are lots of VPN's but NordVPN is our pick to unblock SBS and stream The Airport Chaplain like a pro.... and you can save 74% right now.
NordVPN deal: 3 Extra Months Free
Boasting lightning fast speeds, great features, streaming power, and class-leading security, NordVPN is our #1 VPN.
✅ 3 months extra FREE!
✅ 75% off usual price
✅ Unblock global streams
Use Nord to unblock SBS and watch The Airport Chaplain live on SBS with our exclusive deal.View Deal
It's really easy to use a VPN to watch The Airport Chaplain free on SBS.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is the best choice.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're visiting USA and want to watch your free Australian SBS stream - you'd select Australia from the options.
3. Sit back and binge. Head to the SBS website, sign in, and watch The Airport Chaplain for free.
Which devices can I watch The Airport Chaplain 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)
- Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream puck
- Virgin Media (360, Stream, TiVo)
- YouView (BT, Humax, Sony, TalkTalk)
- Xbox (One, Series X, Series S)
If you live outside Australia, you can still watch The Airport Chaplain fairly easily, though it will require you to have a Netflix subscription.
The series is landing on the platform on August 26 globally.
Netflix has varying prices depending where you live and what package you want:
- US: $8.99 per month with ads / $19.99 per month ad-free
- CAN: $7.99 per month with ads / $18.99 per month ad-free
- UK: £5.99 per month with ads / £18.99 per month ad-free
- Hugo Weaving as Tobias Wallace
- Shabana Azeez as Mira
- Claudia Karvan
- Thomas Weatherall
- Arka Das
- Jackson Tozer
- Erroll Shand
- George Mason
- Brenna Harding
- Echo Palo
- How to watch The Five-Star Weekend from anywhere in the world
- How to watch M.I.A. from anywhere in the world
- There's a sneaky way to watch YouTube ad-free without paying for Premium
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.
Logitech is behind some of our favorite productivity peripherals and desk accessories - and right now, the company is running a big office upgrade sale as part of Amazon for Business Brand Week.
Two accessories catching my eye, that pair perfectly, are the Logitech MX Ergo S Advanced Wireless Trackball Mouse for $102 (was $120) and the Logitech Ergo K860 Wireless Ergonomic Split Keyboard for $128 (was $150) at Amazon.
Driving the deals for business users is Logitech's desire to highlight that 'bargain' office equipment comes with hidden costs for corporate buying teams.
Ergo K860 Wireless Ergonomic Split Keyboard: was $149.99 now $127.49
Curved split keyframe, integrated memory-foam wrist rest, adjustable palm lift, full-size layout, quiet scooped keys, Bluetooth and USB receiver connectivity, with customizable function keys.View Deal
MX Ergo S Advanced Wireless Trackball Mouse: was $119.99 now $101.99
Thumb-operated trackball, 20-degree adjustable tilt, six customizable buttons, Bluetooth, Logi Bolt receiver, USB-C charging, up to 120-day battery life and 80% quieter clicks.View Deal
The MX Ergo S mouse and Ergo K860 keyboard make sense together because they're both designed around making long periods at a computer more comfortable, but they approach the problem very differently.
The MX Ergo S keeps your hand largely stationary, with your thumb controlling the trackball instead of moving the mouse around your desk. Its 20-degree tilt, sculpted shape and quieter clicks make it an interesting alternative to a conventional mouse, while six programmable buttons add useful productivity options.
In his 4.5-star review of the older but very similar MX Ergo Wireless trackball, our expert Jon called it: "an exceptionally designed product that’s a joy to use. It might not have re-invented the wheel, but when it works this well it’s hard to ask for much more."
The Ergo K860 uses a curved, split design that places your hands at a more natural angle, backed by a substantial memory-foam wrist rest.
In her 4-star review, our expert Rosario said the "K860 keyboard does its job of providing support, comfort and reducing physical strain." She added it "has great features like its curved, split design, and a double-layered soft foam wrist rest with front end tilt legs. While initially awkward to use, you soon get used to it."
Both devices can connect wirelessly through Bluetooth or their included USB receivers, and Logitech's software provides additional customization.
Price context & historical valueThe Logitech MX Ergo S is currently $101.99 at Amazon, down from $119.99, and the Ergo K860 is $127.49, down from $149.99, a 15% saving on both. We have seen the mouse cheaper in the past — it was briefly $84 earlier in the year — and the keyboard has been as low as $102. It's possible you might be able to pick up either or both devices for less in the future, but this is still a decent offer for office buying teams upgrading business gear for multiple staff.
Should you buy them?✅ Buy the MX Ergo S and Ergo K860 if...
The Logitech MX Ergo S is worth considering if you spend long hours working and want to reduce how much you move your arm. Its thumb-controlled trackball, 20-degree tilt, six customizable buttons and up to 120-day battery life make it particularly well suited to productivity.
The Logitech Ergo K860 is good if typing comfort is your priority. Its curved split layout, pillowed wrist rest and adjustable palm lift are designed to encourage a more natural position.
❌ Skip the MX Ergo S and Ergo K860 if...
Give the MX Ergo S a miss if you've never got along with trackballs or prefer the speed and familiarity of moving a conventional mouse. It's also designed primarily for medium- to large-sized hands.
The Ergo K860 won't suit everyone either. Its split curved layout takes some adjustment. It's also a large keyboard at 17.95 x 9.17 inches so occupies a lot of desk space.
The Catch: What to know before you buyIt's worth noting that you need to be comfortable adapting to this keyboard and mouse set up. The MX Ergo S uses a thumb-operated trackball rather than traditional mouse movement and it's not one for left-handed users. The Ergo K860's curved split layout will initially also feel unusual if you've spent years typing on conventional keyboards.
- Philips Hue could be launching a light module that lets you connect your Nanoleaf Shapes to the Hue app
- You'll be able to integrate Nanoleaf lights into your Hue schedules and automations
- It's not Matter-over-Thread, but you might be able to use a Hue Bridge for third-party connectivity
We’re just one week from IFA 2026, and we already have our ears to the ground for all the pre-event announcements and rumors — and this latest Philips Hue leak is bound to make Nanoleaf users very happy.
As spotted by the outlet Smartlights, Philips is reportedly launching the Hue Wall Light Module next week, meaning that users will be able to integrate their Nanoleaf lights into the Philips Hue ecosystem — which would be a huge win, especially since Nanoleaf is an affordable alternative to the Philips Hue range of best smart lights.
The Hue Wall Light Module is said to support the Nanoleaf Shapes LED panels, including Mini Triangles, Triangles, and Hexagons, while older panels (formerly known as Aurora) won’t be supported. Philips’ new module is also expected to be announced on September 3, and will go on sale for 39.99 euros, with international prices expected to follow.
Essentially, the rumored Hue module is a small white adapter around 8cm that you can plug directly into the connectors in your Nanoleaf panels, allowing you to integrate up to 100 Nanoleaf Shapes panels into your Hue system. That said, the Hue Wall Light Module shouldn’t be confused with the existing Philips Hue Wall Switch Module, which is installed behind a standard wall switch.
Once your Nanoleaf panels are connected via Philips’ new module, you’ll be able to include them in automations, Hue scenes, and schedules in the Hue app — but whether Nanoleaf’s flagship lighting tools will be carried over is unclear.
(Image credit: Smartlight.de)Similar to Philips Hue, Nanoleaf offers customizable color scenes and animations, but as far as the leaks go, the product images show the Nanoleaf integration working primarily with Hue scenes and effects. The leak shows at least five points in the color selection wheel, suggesting that there’ll be some kind of multicolor control function regardless, but we’ll have to see how this will work after the launch.
The other catch is that the Philips Hue Wall Light Module isn’t Matter-over-Thread, which, considering Nanoleaf’s devices are mainly Thread- and Matter-supported, is a bit of a departure. Instead, the module uses Zigbee and Bluetooth, the main connectivity protocols Philips has used for some time.
That said, using a Hue Bridge allows you to connect Philips Hue devices that are non-Matter to hubs such as the Apple HomePod, which is helpful if you use the best smart speakers to control your home lighting system — though we’ll have to wait and see how the new Philips Hue module handles third-party connectivity once it’s launched.
Despite these gray areas, the Nanoleaf-Hue integration is an unexpected yet possibly beneficial upgrade. When it comes to smart lighting brands, their respective devices tend to keep you locked into one ecosystem or the other, so having a simple but effective connectivity tool would give users much more flexibility.
There is a point in many endpoint projects when the new environment appears to be ready.
Devices are enrolled, policies are in place and physical endpoints and virtual desktops—including Cloud PCs—can be provisioned.
From an infrastructure perspective, most of the difficult work seems to have been done.
The applications often tell a different story.
Moving an older application onto a new platform does not alter its underlying behavior.
It may still rely on ageing components and expect administrator access to write files and registry entries across the device. Its update process may also be largely manual or poorly documented.
A well-managed endpoint is valuable, but it cannot make a difficult application easier to maintain simply by hosting it.
A successful deployment can hide the real workModern management platforms have made it much quicker to enroll devices, assign software and apply policies across an organization.
Cloud services and virtual desktops have also taken much of the effort out of provisioning the underlying environment. These are genuine advances, but they can create a false sense of completion. An application may open in the new environment and appear ready for production.
The problems tend to emerge later. An update arrives and the packaging process has to be recreated. An operating system change exposes a dependency that was never recorded. A certificate expires, or a new release behaves differently from the version originally tested.
None of these issues are solved by the fact that the application was delivered through a modern platform. Deployment gets an application to the user; modernization determines whether IT can continue to manage it once the project team has moved on.
Old assumptions follow applications into new environmentsEnterprise application estates tend to grow gradually. Software is added over many years, often under different teams and different versions of Windows. Some applications expect access to folders or registry locations that would not be considered appropriate today. Others rely on old runtimes, fixed paths or components installed so long ago that nobody is entirely sure why they are there. Accompanying IT documentation is rarely complete.
The original installer may have disappeared and the person who understood the application may no longer work for the organization, yet the software itself may remain essential to a finance team, production line or clinical process.
Moving to modern endpoint management such as Intune, a Cloud PC or a new virtual desktop environment does not remove those assumptions. In some cases, it exposes them because modern environments place tighter limits on what software is allowed to change. A launch test will reveal only part of the picture.
IT management also needs to know how the application installs, what it depends on, which parts of the system it expects to access and how it is updated and removed. Age alone is not a reason to replace an application. Many older line-of-business tools remain useful and business-critical. The aim should be to understand the software well enough to manage it properly, rather than carrying its old behavior into a new environment without examining it.
Modernization does not have to mean rewriting softwareRewriting every legacy application would be impractical for most businesses and may deliver little value where the existing software still performs its function well. A better test is whether the application can be supported throughout the rest of its working life. That requires a clear view of its files, services, dependencies and interaction with Windows. Once those details are known, compatibility problems can be addressed deliberately rather than discovered by users after deployment.
Packaging is part of that work, although it is not the whole answer. On Windows, formats such as MSIX can give an application a clearer identity, require digital signing and separate more of its activity from the underlying operating system. They can also support cleaner removal and more controlled updates. MSIX can provide a more secure and manageable foundation, although applications with legacy middleware, undocumented dependencies or highly specialized configurations may still require additional work.
This is why organizations need to identify complex applications early. Testing must also reflect real use: opening the main window does not show whether employees can complete the tasks they rely on, whether the next update will install successfully or whether the application will continue working when another part of the environment changes.
The scope becomes clearer when organizations view the modern endpoint as a set of interconnected components. A desktop comprises three core elements: the operating system, the user profile, and applications. Hardware is the fourth component, but the same principles apply whether the machine is physical or virtual.
The applications work is therefore a project in its own right. Applications must be brought under control, secured, and kept up to date and delivered to the right users, with the control and compliance an organization requires.
Bring applications into the project soonerApplications are often treated as the last stage of an endpoint program. The platform is selected, the environment is built and only then does the organization begin working through the software estate. By that point, timelines have been agreed and assumptions about compatibility may already be built into the plan. Difficult applications emerge as late exceptions, when there is the least room to deal with them.
Bringing application assessment forward gives IT a clearer view of what it is migrating. Teams can establish which applications are in use, which are business-critical and which depend on technology that may not be available in the new environment. They can also separate routine applications from those requiring deeper technical or business knowledge.
I have worked in this industry since the late 1990s and have seen enterprise desktops move from early thin-client systems to virtual desktops and, more recently, cloud-hosted PCs. The infrastructure has improved enormously, but the questions around applications have barely changed.
A modern endpoint is an important step, but the real measure of modernization is whether the organization can understand, update and support the applications running on it.
We've rounded up the best endpoint protection software suites.
This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.
The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit