News

• Merlin Bird ID is a go-to app for bird identification, with more than 40 million downloads
• It can identify over 2,000 species of birds by sound recognition
• A future update will share sound recordings with eBird, a huge biodiversity database

If you're into birdwatching, you'll need no introduction to the popular Merlin Bird ID app, by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. With over 40 million downloads worldwide, and over two million monthly users in the UK alone, Merlin is the go-to app for bird identification for many.

I'm in my forties, and birding has become one of my recent new hobbies, after years of photographing birds while testing cameras and lenses. And while I'm learning, I simply can't identify all the birds I see or hear, especially in my local nature reserve, which is a migration route for varied and sometimes rare birdlife throughout the year, and a popular birding spot.

The app helps me to identify the birds I'm unfamiliar with by their call / song, using machine learning sound recognition, and gives me lightning-fast and almost always reliable results, with an image for each identified bird. It's super helpful.

I can also feed the app one of my photos for identification, such as those taken during a recent outing with the Sony 400-800mm lens, with the results based on location data and other information from a database of more than 2,000 bird species.

So I was delighted to hear that the app — which is free for iOS and Android, with downloadable offline bird packs by location including US, Canada and Europe — is getting an update which will help users like me give something back: integration with Cornell's own eBird database, as reported by the Guardian.

eBird is a huge citizen-science biodiversity database, with over two billion recordings logged worldwide since its 2002 launch. And it's set for an influx of new data — the Merlin Bird ID app update will in future allow bird identifications to automatically flow directly into the eBird database.

Jessie Barry, of the Merlin project, told the Guardian, "Upcoming feature developments will make an even better link to the eBird systems so that we can use the data from what users ‘hear’ with Merlin to monitor bird populations."

Bird conservation is a hot topic, what with bird numbers declining. The UK, for example, has 70 million fewer birds than it did 50 years ago. So here's the good part: these records could provide vital information to conversation efforts for at-risk birdlife around the world.

Barry added: “This data helps create tools that can be used to further conservation, inspire support and inform ecological management strategies.”

Notwithstanding the cautionary note of the app's outright accuracy, with concern from some about it occasionally misidentifying birds, the Merlin Bird ID app update could be a huge boost for bird conservation efforts.

Being directly connected to the go-to bird identification app, eBird stands to receive more data from millions of users, who don't need to make any special effort to take part; they just need to carry on using the app as before to record and identify birdsong.

I love the idea that I will be one of a new wave of citizen scientists across the world, with the recordings I make playing a small part in monitoring bird populations. And the surge in recording data will likely further improve the app's performance.

Right, I'm off out with my phone, I hear the birds calling...

• Obsession star Inde Navarrette recently met with the director of Marvel's new X-Men film
• It's the only movie that Jake Schreier has publicly confirmed he's working on
• Some fans really don't want to see the award-worthy actor join the MCU

Inde Navarrette has revealed she's open to the possibility of starring in a Marvel movie — and rumors are now circulating online that she could appear in the comic giant's new X-Men film.

The breakout star of 2026 smash hit Obsession, Navarrette was recently asked by Nylon magazine if she'd like to show up in a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) flick. "I would," was the in-demand and award-worthy actor's brief reply.

Interestingly, Navarrette's possible involvement in Marvel's cinematic juggernaut might soon become a reality. Indeed, in the same interview, Navarrette confirmed she'd recently met with Jake Schreier, the director of the Marvel Phase 5 film Thunderbolts.

Currently, the only project Schreier has publicly acknowledged he's working on is the aforementioned X-Men movie. It'll come as no surprise to learn, then, that a rumor regarding Navarrette's potential casting in said film franchise reboot is already spreading like wildfire across the web.

It would be remiss of me not to point out that Navarrette joining the MCU is merely speculation at this point. There are bound to be other projects that Schreier is developing in secret, such as a third season of Netflix's critically acclaimed and award-winning albeit underseen comedy-drama Beef. So, the filmmaker could've sounded out Navarrette for a role in that show rather than a role in his untitled X-Men flick.

Nonetheless, some fans of Navarrette's works, which include this year's box office belle in Focus Features' Obssession, are dead-set against seeing the 25-year-old become the next big-name actor or rising star to sell their soul to the MCU.

On X/Twitter, bigmonkeong likened her rumored casting as part of the "MCU slop machine" to "seeing an angel get its wings cut off". Elsewhere, The_Epic_Mike accused Marvel of "trying to clout chase an indie horror film and nose-dive another actress' career", while tarmactorque suggested Navarrette should prioritize a role in a forthcoming film from Michael Mann, who she also recently met with. Mann's next project is the highly-anticipated Heat 2, so could Navarrette be set to appear opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale, who officially boarded the prequel-sequel earlier in July?

On the flip side, other cinephiles have already started fan-casting Navarrette in the MCU and, more specifically, in its first X-Men production. Chief among the characters some want her to play are fan-favorite individuals Rogue, X-23, and Mystique, but others are dreaming of seeing her play Magik or Kitty Pryde.

Who would you like to see Navarrette play in the MCU? Let me know by voting in the poll above. Once you're done, find out how to watch the Marvel movies in order and how to watch the X-Men movies in order.

And, if you're one of the few remaining people yet to see Obsession, which is still in theaters, you'll be pleased to know that Obsession is also now available to watch at home.

The competition in artificial intelligence between the United States and China extends beyond a binary race for supremacy. The current landscape is more accurately characterized as "complementary competition."

While the United States and China compete, they occupy distinct positions within the global AI value chain, each possessing unique strengths that do not fully overlap.

This complementary competition is shaping the global AI industry through differentiated yet interconnected advantages.

The United States maintains leadership in foundational aspects of AI, including frontier model development, advanced semiconductors, cloud computing, basic research, and the broader developer ecosystem. Companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Nvidia significantly influence the architecture of the global AI industry.

For example, NVIDIA’s dominance in high-end GPUs provides the United States with a significant advantage in the computing layer. Additionally, leading universities, advanced research laboratories, and robust venture capital networks continue to supply AI development with talent, innovation, and funding.

According to Stanford’s 2025 AI Index Report, the United States attracted 109.1 billion dollars in private AI investment in 2024, and American institutions produced 40 of the world’s 50 most notable AI models.

This concentration of capital, research, and platform-building capacity reinforces the United States' position as a primary provider of the underlying AI architecture.

In contrast, China is increasingly recognized for its strength in large-scale deployment of AI within industrial and commercial contexts. The Chinese industrial system is extensive, encompassing manufacturing, logistics, energy, automotive, electronics, and urban infrastructure. These sectors generate numerous real-world use cases for AI deployment, testing, and iteration.

China further benefits from tightly integrated supply chains and industrial clusters. For instance, in Shenzhen, hardware suppliers, software teams, factories, and logistics networks are highly interconnected, enabling rapid progression from concept to prototype to iteration. This integration allows China to embed AI into economic processes effectively, rather than confining its application to laboratory research or consumer chatbots.

This is why the U.S.-China AI competition is better understood as complementary rather than a zero-sum game. The U.S. provides many of the key enabling technologies, research breakthroughs, and software foundations. China excels at translating AI into industrial systems, business processes, and scaled commercialization. The two sides still compete intensely, especially over chips, standards, talent, and platform influence.

But they also pressure each other in different directions: the U.S. advances raise the technological frontier, while China’s deployment capacity pushes AI toward broader practice. Together, they shape the pace and structure of global AI development. This broader dynamic also elucidates why agentic AI products, such as Atoms, have disruptive potential.

This shift is particularly significant for small businesses and individual founders. For example, a local service company can develop internal booking tools, a startup can rapidly test landing pages and advertising campaigns, and a consumer brand can assess product demand before making substantial investments. In each scenario, the primary value lies not only in automation but also in time savings, cost reduction, and improved coordination.

Within the framework of complementary competition, products such as Atoms occupy the intersection of American and Chinese strengths. These products rely on foundational model capabilities, cloud infrastructure, and agent architectures typically associated with the American AI ecosystem.

However, their greatest commercial impact may occur in contexts characterized by rapid deployment, cost-effective experimentation, and industry-specific integration, domains in which China holds considerable advantages. Thus, the future of global AI will likely be determined not solely by leadership in research or deployment speed, but by the ability to connect advanced intelligence with practical economic workflows effectively.

This is where complementary competition is most evident.

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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

Answer me honestly: do you actually understand what is going on in From season 4? I'm the first to admit that I have no idea, and it feels like the amount of lore I need to keep up with is spiralling out of control.

So it doesn't help, then, when the internet decides to add its own non-canonical lore that doesn't even exist. I'm talking about the Reddit rumors that From season 4 episode 11 exists, explaining all the plot holes that episode 10 (the actual season finale) left unanswered.

"Episode 11 is the best one yet," the thread begins. "They answered everything... every question."

A second fan added, "The pacing was insane. Answers actually landed instead of just more riddles."

But it should go without saying that From season 4 episode 11 doesn't exist, despite an alarming number of people searching for it.

Instead, we've got to wait for the already-renewed season 5, which is rumored to air at some point in 2027.

However, now is not the time to let our MGM+ subscriptions go to waste. From season 4 might be over, but get ready for your latest bingeable obsession: The Westies.

With a cast led by JK Simmons, The Westies follows a fictional version of the real-life Irish crime gang in New York of the same name.

As MGM explains, "The series is set in the early 1980s when the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Center on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen promises a financial windfall. Despite being outnumbered fifty-to-one by the Five Families of the Italian Mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente.

"But internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set a match to this powder keg, which will sweep the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian mafia."

If that hasn't sold you already, The Westies is getting an epic police procedural crossover in the form of Bosch star Titus Welliver, who is playing the lead FBI agent tasked with tracking the mobsters down.

Don't be fooled by the above trailer, either — new episodes are about as gory, gruesome and disturbing as TV can get. Episodes premiere on July 12th and are released on a weekly basis (just like From).

Sure, it's a completely different kind of mystery... but you're welcome, in advance.

• Oura is bringing key features from its Ring 5 wearable to older models
• The features include Health Radar, live activity tracking, and more
• They’re now available on the Oura Ring 4 and Ring 3

Oura has just released its Ring 5 wearable, and we were pretty impressed with what was on show when we reviewed it. But if you haven’t been tempted to upgrade and are instead rocking an Oura Ring 4 or Ring 3, you might wonder if you’ll miss out on the new features packed into the latest model.

Well, the good news is that plenty of the new features have just been rolled out to those older products. Specifically, Oura is bringing Health Radar, live activity tracking, numerous Oura Labs tools, lost device locating, and a lot more.

Live activity tracking is a notable addition, as it adds real-time workout metrics to the Oura app, allowing you to monitor your progress as you’re keeping fit and active. It turns the Oura Ring into much more of a workout partner than before.

Health Radar, too, is a sizable update. With it on board, your Oura Ring can assess your long-term health signals in the background, including changes to your heart and breathing rates, to spot any emerging patterns in your health and wellbeing.

You’ll be able to find the full list of updates in Oura’s blog post. If you’ve been mulling over whether to upgrade, it could prove to be an insightful read.

Changes like this are very welcome, especially since the Oura Ring 4 is less than two years old at this point. It’s never nice to see relatively recent tech missing out on key software features that could feasibly be backported to it, so the fact that this has happened will be great news for owners of the Oura Ring 4 and Oura Ring 3.

The update seems to have gone down well with customers, too. Posting on Reddit, user beanizzle noted that their Oura Ring can now recognize long-haul travel without any status needing to be manually entered. Speaking of the change, the user said: “This is definitely a great new feature as I sometimes struggle to remember to give my body more grace after traveling through time zones.”

They weren’t alone. Further down the thread, other commenters remarked how their readiness scores went haywire after taking red-eye flights, while another Redditor declared that the feature is “long overdue but so glad to have it!”

If these are the sorts of features you’re looking for in a wearable, Oura’s latest update means you might not need to upgrade to an Oura Ring 5 if you already have a Ring 4 or Ring 3. And anything that can eke extra life out of your existing wearables is good with us.