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- The Avid EVO TWO is an evolution of the EVO THREE
- Low-end frequency of just 28Hz, with a 3.5-way driver design
- £27,995 / €34,995 / $38,995 (about AU$57,589)
British hi-fi firm Avid has unveiled the new flagship in its EVO speaker range, the EVO TWO, as part of its ongoing 30th anniversary celebrations, which also recently included its first all-new turntable in 12 years.
Avid describes the EVO TWO as an "advancement" of the current EVO THREE speakers, with the new model delivering an enhanced bass response, a wider dynamic range and a more expansive sound stage.
The speakers will be available in the UK, Europe and the US, but they've been made with the US market in mind: according to managing director Conrad Mas, “It is particularly suitable for larger rooms and properties where wall construction may be less rigid, a common scenario in many North American homes."
(Image credit: Avid HiFi)Avid EVO TWO: key specs and pricingThe EVO TWO feature a 28mm (1.1-inch) hand-coated soft dome tweeter, two 160mm (6.3 inch) mid-range drivers and a 250mm (9.84 inch) low-frequency driver with a low end of 28Hz – the addition of the latter means that Avid is referring to this as a 3.5-way speaker system.
That's not something the company has made up – 3.5-way speakers aren't common, but there's a history of great, hefty, floorstanding speakers with hidden bass drivers.
The drive units are mounted on a rigid anodized aluminum baffle and rear plate, and the speakers are available in two finishes: black or gloss white.
As Conrad Mas explains: "The EVO TWO was developed in response to customer feedback requesting a speaker with great presence and low-end articulation, whilst maintaining the clarity and openness characteristic of the EVO series."
The EVO TWO will be available through authorized dealers from September 2025 and the price is £27,995 / €34,995 / $38,995 (about AU$57,589). I'm not sure it'll crash our list of the best stereo speakers at that price, but I'd love to find out with a nice long listening session myself…
You might also likeThe Made By Google event is just around the corner – it’s happening August 20 – but some of the tech launching from it might be further away than we had realized if new leaks are to be believed.
That’s according to WinFuture (machine translated to English from German), which claims that its unnamed sources are telling it that while the Google Pixel 10 lineup will land later this month, the new foldable, earbuds and smartwatch won’t be landing as quickly.
The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold, Pixel Watch 4, and Pixel Buds 2a (which have all previously been teased by leaks) are instead reportedly set to be available from October 9.
Problems with Google’s supply chain are the cited excuse for the delays, though WInFuture says its source didn’t get into specifics.
Google Pixel 10 leak (Image credit: Android Headlines / @OnLeaks)There’s a whiff of irony here if the leak proves correct, as Google just teased Apple for its tech not being ready in a Google Pixel 10 ad, which pokes fun at the delayed launch of the AI-enhanced Siri. At the time of writing, the new Siri still hasn’t launched in its promised full capacity.
If Google’s hardware is delayed, this will cause its own frustrations for many who were desperate to upgrade their tech – especially if it is indeed held up by over a month.
As with all leaks though, we should take these details with a pinch of salt.
Apart from the Google Pixel 10, we haven’t had any direct promise of what hardware we’ll see at Made By Google, and we haven’t heard any official release dates for any devices.
Nevertheless, this leak could be one to keep in mind on August 20 so we aren’t too disappointed if some of Google’s new tech is as delayed as it suggests.
You might also likeCan you believe it? Little Bobby is all grown up in King of the Hill season 14, which takes us back to the beating heart of Middle America. It’s not surprising considering the show had a release date of August 4 – almost exactly 16 years after it initially stopped airing in 2009. Set in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas, we’re picking back up with Hank (Mike Judge) and Peggy (Kathy Najimy) as they move back to town after Hank’s retirement, while Bobby (Pamela Adlon) is making a new life for himself as a fully-fledged adult,
The new Hulu show (which is also available on Disney+ in the UK and Australia) has been praised as being charming and a slow-grower, much like the original series when it debuted in 1997. It’s both ridiculous and familiar all at once, managing to incorporate a brand-new world while keeping tabs on everything that made the comedy the animated success story it was. As we know, the world has changed a great deal since 2009 (let alone 1997), and it’s almost strange to see a version of Middle America largely unaffected by politics.
But that’s not the change I think we need to keep an eye on. Cultural, societal and political shifts while King of the Hill has been off air go without saying, yet the biggest change affecting the show itself is the rise of streaming services. It’s not something the comedy has ever had to deal with before, and according to its creators, the viewing landscape has undoubtedly changed what we’re watching in season 14.
King of the Hill season 14’s switch to streaming has undeniably changed what we’re watching, say creators“Everybody’s trying to figure out how to match audience viewing behavior to the way business models used to work,” showrunner Saladin K. Patterson told The Hollywood Reporter. “So, a microcosm of that is this whole thing that a season is 10 episodes now, and that certainly affects the stories we can tell, but not all in a bad way. In some ways, 10 episodes is creatively more refreshing than having to do 22 episodes. Trust me, the unspoken secret that we always had was it’s hard doing 22 episodes, and by time you get to episode 17, you’re starting to repeat yourself probably. But monetarily speaking, that was a great model. Now for streamers like Hulu and Disney+, it’s a little different.”
He continued, “When we were breaking out the season arc, it certainly made us skip ahead, I think, in a way that we wouldn’t necessarily have skipped ahead in the first 10 episodes under the broadcast model. Think about the Connie ( Lauren Tom) and Bobby relationship. We wanted the season to end with them getting together, so that meant, along the way, we had to jump that relationship ahead faster than we would have had we had 22 episodes to get them together. That fit to how we brought the stories and what we had to pick and choose in terms of what we showed.
“The word that comes to the top of my head is it makes you be more ‘efficient.’ It also makes you figure out, assuming I want to get from A to B, what in between has to be shown to make it make sense when we get to B. Versus if I had to get to A to H, I have B, C, D, E, F and G to hit along the way. It makes us have to be a little more selective with what we have our characters experience if we’re trying to get them to the same place by the end of a season.”
Of course, the fact the King of the Hill reboot is streaming on Disney+ and Hulu rather than one of the other best streaming services around also changes what we’re seeing. In Patterson’s own words, the comedy never hugely pushed the boundaries of speaking out, but now season 14 is so heavily tied to family-friendly brands, that’s even more constricted.
“On the one hand, the Hulu execs for the show were fans of the original, so we all were on the same page in terms of wanting to recapture what made the original special,” he explained. “But there were situations where the Disney of it all put some limiters on us that I know Fox would not have, even though we were on Hulu and streaming, which theoretically has broader S&P [standards and practices] than Fox. But for us, staying true to the show meant we weren’t ever going to be too gratuitous with the curse words and things, but we do take some liberties. The characters do curse in ways they can’t curse on broadcast.
“That being said, Hulu still made us go through and pull out all the F-bombs because they don’t want the TV-MA label, and it’s fine.”
You might also like- A new overview trailer for Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World has been released
- The trailer offers a new look at Switch 2 enhancements, new stages, Mouth Mode Transformations, and more
- A new boss rush challenge called The Ultimate Cup Z EX has also been revealed
Nintendo has released a new overview trailer for Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World ahead of the game's release later this month.
The Switch 2 version was first revealed during the console's reveal, which confirmed enhancements, additional features, and the announcement of the Star-Crossed World downloadable content (DLC)
In this new trailer, we got a fresh look at brand new Starry Stages, which will be added alongside the story DLC. After a meteor crashed into the Forgotten Land, aspects of the world and familiar locations have been altered, creating new paths and areas to discover.
During the Switch 2 Edition reveal, the first look at Spring Mouth was shared, but the latest trailer has also confirmed that two additional Mouth Mode Transformations will also be featured: Gear Mouth and Sign Mouth.
With Gear Mouth, players can latch onto walls and roll vertically. Sign Mouth allows players to slide along slopes, jump in the air to reach things, and execute a spin attack on enemies, while Spring Mouth lets Kirby "Smash Down" on enemies.
New activities are also on the way. Players will be able to collect Starry Coins in each stage and spend them on the Gotcha Machine EX from Astronomer Waddle Deeto to unlock new figures.
A new challenge at the Colosseum called The Ultimate Cup Z EX will also be available, where players can "test your mettle and might in an even tougher boss rush".
The Switch 2 Edition also arrives with all-new improvements, including improved graphics and faster frame rates for both the base game and the DLC.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World launches on August 28.
Players who already own Kirby and the Forgotten Land on Nintendo Switch can purchase a digital upgrade pack to access Star-Crossed World and the new enhancements on Switch 2.
You might also like...- The Nintendo Switch 2 is the company’s least ambitious console to date, but its improvements are astronomical
- I’ve spent 150 hours with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and the Switch 2 Edition is an incredible upgrade
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- Consumers given until January 2026 to update Office to retain support for voice tools
- A backend update means older versions will no longer be supported
- A broader Office/Windows update push is ongoing
Microsoft is warning users of older versions of Office that they will soon be losing access to certain voice tools, including transcription, dictation and read aloud, as of January 2026.
The dropped features include systems to read documents and emails aloud, speech-to-text conversions and voice-to-text input, but those who fail to update to Office version 16.0.18827.20202 or newer will lose out.
This is for most casual users, however Government Cloud users including GCC, GCC High and DoD environments will have an additional two months to apply the change.
Older Microsoft Office versions losing voice tools soon"To ensure continued high-quality performance of the Read Aloud, Transcription, and Dictation features in Microsoft 365 Office apps, we're upgrading the backend service that powers these capabilities," the notice warned.
Microsoft justified the change by adding it is upgrading the backend service which powers these voice features, therefore older versions must lose support to ensure ongoing compatibility with newer versions.
Word, Outlook, OneNote and PowerPoint are among the most commonly used apps to lose support for voice tools, and there will be no local fallback once the deadline is passed. Perpetual license holders will already be used to limited functionality, lacking most cloud-powered voice tools already.
This isn't the only change that Office users are facing in the coming months – by October 14, 2025, Office 2016 and 2019 will reach end of extended support. Office apps on Windows 10 also lose support later this year, with Windows 10 itself going out of date in October too.
With numerous Microsoft-related deadlines all approaching at rapid speed, the company is finally seeing an uptick in adoption of its latest software. Windows 11 installs finally overtook Windows 10 installs for the first time in July 2025, after a moment of crossover in June.
You might also like- We've listed the best free office software around today
- Why not help your employees with the best productivity apps
- Microsoft is officially cutting support for Office apps on Windows 10, so update now
- The 6600 ION delivers up to 88PB per rack, and at 122TB, Micron is scaling SSDs far beyond typical limits
- With 36 SSDs in 2U, Micron enables 4.42PB in a compact server configuration
- Micron projects daily energy savings equivalent to powering 124 U.S. homes with 2EB installations
Micron has announced a major expansion of its storage lineup with a new entry in the high-capacity SSD space, the 6600 ION.
The company says this PCIe Gen5-based SSD is now available in a 122TB configuration and is expected to scale up to 245TB in early 2026.
The company is positioning its new model as a direct challenge to hard disk drives in hyperscale and enterprise data centers, aiming to offer greater efficiency in terms of power consumption, physical space, and storage density.
Hard drive alternative for data-heavy environmentsThe 6600 ION is part of a broader portfolio that also includes the 9650 PCIe Gen6 and the 7600 SSD for low-latency tasks.
All three products are built on Micron's G9 NAND, which the company claims enable significant performance and capacity gains.
“With the industry’s first PCIe Gen6 SSD, industry-leading capacities and the lowest latency mainstream SSD—all powered by our first-to-market G9 NAND—Micron is not just setting the pace; we are redefining the frontier of data center innovation,” said Jeremy Werner, senior vice president and general manager of Micron’s Core Data Center Business Unit
Micron claims the 6600 ION can deliver up to 88PB per rack which is huge considering that many of its rivals are still below 40PB per rack.
With support for up to 36 E3.S SSDs in a 2U server, the design enables up to 4.42PB per server.
“With Supermicro’s broadest selection of Petascale storage optimized servers supporting up to 36 E3.S SSDs, the Micron 6600 ION enables up to 4.42PB per 2U server delivering the highest density and power efficiency for large capacity AI workloads,” said Michael McNerney, senior vice president, Marketing and Network Security at Supermicro.
The 6600 ION reportedly delivers a 67% density improvement over previous alternatives.
Micron suggests this could become the largest SSD available commercially, allowing data centers to store exabytes of information with improved energy efficiency.
However, its role in actually replacing hard drives will depend on long-term endurance, cost-per-terabyte economics, and compatibility across platforms.
That said, the 6600 ION reportedly uses only 1 watt per 4.9TB, a figure that undercuts the power draw of traditional HDD arrays.
Micron projects that installations scaling to 2 exabytes could result in daily energy savings equivalent to powering 124 U.S. homes.
These claims point to significant operational savings, but large-scale deployment will depend on more than just power metrics.
As Micron eyes leadership in fastest SSD and largest SSD categories, the actual shift from HDDs will rely on sustained performance under pressure and meaningful cost advantages across the board.
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It's that time again: each of the best streaming services have a limited-time that you can watch some films, and that means every licensed movie will eventually face the final curtain – or at least, the final one until the rights are renewed and it reappears in a new catalog.
Some of this month's movie exits from HBO Max will be missed more than others – for me, it's a sad goodbye to Detective Pikachu and a 'don't let the door hit your ass on the way out' to Ted 2 – but some of this month's departures include films that are as watchable as any of the best Max movies.
I've chosen three very different movies for you to catch while you can. One's a family-friendly animation, one's a surprisingly dark 80s actioner with a Shane Black script and one is a drama featuring one of the world's biggest movie stars in front of and behind the camera. But while all three are different kinds of movie I think there's something in all of them that makes them worth watching.
Two of the movies here are also interesting because of their influences and influence: while Lethal Weapon wasn't the first buddy-cop movie it set the template for the decade and beyond, and without the clearly Hitchcock-inspired Play Misty For Me there would be no Fatal Attraction. To the movies!
Lethal WeaponMultiple Lethal Weapon movies are on their way out from Max this month, but if you're tight for time then only the first two are must-watch action flicks: after that the quality nosedives, with Lethal Weapon 3 struggling to get a 60% rating and the utterly inessential fourth movie garnering a frankly rotten 52% from the critics.
There's some argument over which of the first two Lethal Weapons are superior. Many people plump for the sequel, but for me the first movie is the best. In this film Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) isn't movie-crazy; he's crazy-crazy, Mel-Gibson-stopped-by-a-cop scary: he's going out of his mind with grief and that makes him incredibly dangerous to others and to himself. That gives the first movie a weight that the more conventional buddy sequels don't carry.
"Lethal Weapon is a film teetering on the brink of absurdity when it gets serious," Variety wrote, but "thanks to its unrelenting energy and insistent drive, it never quite falls." Reviewing the 4K re-release, Starburst said that it "stands out as the epitome of 1980s shoot-'em-ups, set in a bygone Hollywood fantasy world where cops and guns are great and an action star like Gibson flexing his pecs and martial arts skills would fill up cinemas. It’s not difficult to see why it’s considered a classic – the action is bloody fun and the buddy cop chemistry strong."
Cloudy With a Chance of MeatballsOne of the things I really love about animation is that it makes the impossible possible, and this cute kids' film – which is fun for adults too – is a great example of that: you'll believe a man can fry (sorry).
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs has a great premise and a great cast too: "Where else can you find the varied likes of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, and – yes – Mr. T together and all on their A game?" says The Movie Report. It's about an eccentric inventor (Hader) whose machine makes it rain all kinds of food, saving a struggling fishing town from its sardine-based sadness. But then the machine goes out of control with often hilarious consequences.
Reviews were mixed, and it's definitely not up there with the likes of DreamWorks' or Pixar's best. But as Empire put it, it's "no Pixar, but a lot of fun." The film is "bright, silly and a good shout to entertain the whole family."
Play Misty For MeLet's deal with the elephant in the room first: this film was made in 1971 and that means its sexual politics, its understanding of mental illness and director and lead actor Clint Eastwood's sideburns and flares have all aged terribly. But it's an effective potboiler about a late-night DJ whose one night stand with a troubled woman (Jessica Walter) turns into something sinister.
"Eastwood... has obviously seen Psycho and Repulsion more than once," TIME Magazine said, "but those are excellent texts and he has learned his lessons passing well." The Chicago Reader agreed: "Clint Eastwood wisely chose a strong, simple thriller for his first film as a director, and the project is remarkable in its self-effacing dedication to getting the craft right."
The film enabled Eastwood, by then a huge movie star, "to be unsympathetic, selfish and – in the words of the title song – as helpless as a kitten up a tree," Empire wrote, describing it as "thrilling" and giving the film four out of five stars.
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