Technology

Microplastics are being found everywhere, including in your home.

Apple is restoring card payments for users in India after updating its systems to comply with RBI tokenization rules.

The post Apple Reopens Card Payments in India After Four-Year Halt appeared first on TechRepublic.

Microsoft’s Point-in-Time Restore gives Windows 11 users a built-in way to roll back PCs after failed updates, driver issues, or corruption.

The post Microsoft Makes Windows 11 Point-in-Time Restore Generally Available appeared first on TechRepublic.

The open-source phenomenon OpenClaw kicked off a craze for the "personal agent", in turn sparking a massive ecosystem of specialized "claw" variations across the agentic AI developer landscape.

Questions about whether you should trust an agent with your schedule, personal information and decision making aside, Nvidia's launch of NemoClaw laid out a strong case for a similar shift for the corporate sector.

For organizations cautiously mapping out their AI roadmaps, Nvidia’s insertion into this space purports to deliver a highly credible, production-ready path forward by layering enterprise-grade reliability over raw autonomous power.

Now a few months post-launch, the dust has settled just enough to say what this means for the space, particularly what it means for the future of autonomous workflows.

OpenAI Buys ‘Lightning in a Bottle’

OpenClaw’s journey to enterprise infrastructure was a wild ride. The project originally launched in November 2025 under the moniker "ClawdBot" as a playful side project relying on Anthropic’s Claude model. Following a stern cease-and-desist letter and several quickfire rebrands, the project reemerged as OpenClaw.

It perfectly addressed the unmet market demand for action-oriented AI assistants that could persistently write code, browse the web, and chain complex tasks over days without human intervention.

It quickly became the fastest-growing open-source community in GitHub history. While big players like Meta actively expanded its own footprint by purchasing alternative agent systems like Manus AI, OpenClaw caught lightning in a bottle, culminating in creator Peter Steinberger joining OpenAI to help safely bring autonomous agents to the mainstream public.

Structuring the Enterprise Shield: What is NemoClaw?

As successful as this was for Steinburger, the real changes in the industry followed shortly after. Enter Nvidia, with its sizable chequebook and “NemoClaw,” which functions as an enterprise distribution of, or wrapper built directly on top, OpenClaw.

The stack installs via a single command and answers the important question: “Can I trust this AI agent with the kind of access I am about to give it?” The idea is to deliver the vital security architecture corporate IT departments require before deploying autonomous agents near live production systems.

Its creation and distribution proves that agentic AI needs an enterprise-grade foundation — wrapping agent frameworks with infrastructure, guardrails, and policy enforcement is becoming essential. It signals a move toward “AI operating systems” — platforms that don’t just enable intelligence, but also control how that intelligence behaves.

This is likely to become the standard model: open innovation at the edge, with structured governance layered on top.

Nvidia's Dispersed Strategy for the Agent Mesh

The AI community's reaction to NemoClaw highlights a fascinating shift in how infrastructure leaders approach market dominance. Rather than locking developers into a closed stack, Nvidia is deploying a highly flexible, dispersed strategy as NemoClaw does not require Nvidia silicon to execute.

While it is naturally optimized to leverage Nvidia's robust edge systems (and why wouldn't it be), it plays nice across the broader infrastructure ecosystem. This is exactly the sort of vertical integration play that you would expect from Nvidia with its dominance of the GPU market being so unopposed.

The Peak Appetite for AI Accountability

The corporate appetite for hard guardrails has reached an absolute fever pitch. According to a recent research report, 95% of enterprises are actively holding back from scaling their AI projects purely due to safety anxieties.

These concerns are validated by severe operational risks: unconstrained autonomous agents are notorious for "shadow AI" data exposure, introducing undetected "privilege creep" via SaaS applications, or even completely deleting, contaminating, or compromising vital database instances through unrestricted "God-mode" access.

With horror stories of loosely governed AI agents wiping out entire companies databases, guardrails arriving with the sheer commercial heft and legitimacy of Nvidia are uniquely positioned to give CISOs the peace of mind they need to finally greenlight production.

The Path Forward: Collaboration Over Conflict

Ultimately, the trajectory of OpenClaw proves that independent, boundary-pushing software can still fundamentally rewrite the computing landscape overnight. Yet, Nvidia's subsequent rollout of NemoClaw emphasizes that the industry can no longer focus purely on raw intelligence or reasoning capability.

Without rigid, predictable boundaries, autonomous agency is simply an unmanageable corporate liability.

The true agentic renaissance depends entirely on collaborative, cross-industry guardrails. By actively fostering initiatives like the Nemotron Coalition — which unites rivals like Mistral AI and Perplexity to co-develop secure base models — the tech sector is showing it can build a future where AI capability and AI accountability finally move in perfect lockstep.

We list the best small business 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 is cutting thousands of jobs in a major Xbox restructuring as the company narrows its gaming strategy and continues heavy AI spending.

The post Microsoft Guts Xbox in Biggest Shake-Up Yet, Cuts 4,800 Jobs Companywide appeared first on TechRepublic.

We're halfway though 2026, and this year has already delivered some of the best soundbars we've seen — or rather, heard. The standout amongst the models we've tested is the "phenomenal" Samsung HW-Q990H — one of a select group of 5-star products, thanks to its "powerful, engaging and detailed sound profile", straightforward setup and strong connectivity options. Another winner was the LG Sound Suite Immersive Suite 7 Pro. If you're yearning for some "phenomenal rumbling bass", this is the soundbar for you.

Those are both premium picks, but we also reviewed a couple of brilliant budget options. The Klipsch Flexus Core 100 comes in at a fraction of the price of that Samsung model, and while its soundscape is understandably less expansive, it still impressed us by delivering clear dialogue, strong bass, and a useful, responsive display.

The rather utilitarian-looking Zvox AccuVoice AV855 also stood out from the pack; this bar is especially designed to make dialogue easier to hear. It's built especially for those with hearing impairments, but will appeal to anyone who's sick of having to turn on the subtitles on just to understand what's happening.

Scroll down to see all my picks. Hit the 'View details' button for a summary of what we thought about each one, plus a link to our full review.

Super soundbars

Samsung HW-Q990H

Read our full review

LG Sound Suite Immersive Suite 7 Pro

Read our full review

ZVOX AccuVoice AV855

Read our full review

Pros

• Extreme dialog boosting
• Plenty of fine-tuning via the remote
• Good port selection
• Can get loud

Cons

• Default audio sounds a bit mid-rangey / boxy
• Spatial Audio is too subtle
• No Bluetooth or Wi-Fi music streaming

Bluesound Pulse Cinema Mini

Read our full review

Klipsch Flexus Core 100

Read our full review

LG Sound Suite H7

Read our full review

Yamaha True X Surround 90A

Read our full review

Portable power stations have become one of the smartest purchases for campers, road trippers, and anyone wanting reliable backup power at home.

The Anker Solix C300X Portable Power Station is currently on sale for $330 (was $390) at Best Buy. It comes with a foldable 60W solar panel, giving you everything you need to recharge away from the grid.

And when I say portable, I really mean it. I think of this as the middle-ground between a heavy-duty power bank and a full-sized power station. Its compact size and impressive feature set make it an excellent choice for the summer.

Today's top portable power station deal

This compact portable power station combines a 288Wh lithium iron phosphate battery with a foldable 60W solar panel, multiple charging ports, 300W output, and lightweight portability for camping, travel, and emergency backup power.View Deal

The built-in 288Wh lithium iron phosphate battery delivers 300W of continuous power, with Anker's SurgePad technology supporting peaks of up to 600W for devices that need extra power when starting up.

That's enough to keep phones, laptops, cameras, drones, lights, portable coolers, and many other everyday essentials running when you're away from mains electricity.

One of the biggest advantages of this bundle is the included 60W solar panel. Its foldable, book-style design makes it easy to carry, while solar charging lets you top up the battery wherever the sun is shining.

Anker says the bundle can recharge to 80% in around 2.5 hours under suitable solar conditions.

The power station offers eight output ports, including three AC outlets, three USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and a 12V DC output, making it easy to charge several devices at the same time without needing extra adapters.

Despite everything packed inside, the unit weighs just 9.1 pounds, so it's easy to carry between your car, campsite, cabin, or home. The lithium iron phosphate battery is rated for 3,000 charge cycles, offering years of dependable use.

Backed by a generous five-year warranty, the Anker Solix C300X is a practical portable power solution for outdoor adventures and emergency backup alike.

While you're here, take a look at our roundup of the best portable power stations.

• See all power stations and power banks at Best Buy

Chinese robotics firm Agibot has launched a range of humanoid robots designed to look, move, and sound like human beings in the UK business-to-business (B2B) market.

The Shanghai-based company, founded in 2023 by two former Huawei engineers, hosted a launch event in London on June 30, 2026, with several of its A3 full-sized humanoid and X2 half-size humanoid robots in attendance, as well as current and prospective business partners.

An Agibot X3 cutting some serious shapes (it doesn't do 'the robot' though) (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)

The robots — all controlled by humans with smartphones and DualSense controllers — were deployed at several demo stations in the event space.

One X2 humanoid robot was set up to dance to peppy music, cutting some serious shapes for a constant crowd, while another in a Harry Kane shirt kicked a football into a net. A third wore a suit of (admittedly very cool) Gundam-style armor, demonstrating the robots’ potential for customization.

This Gundam-style armor was designed to show the X2 robot's customization potential (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)

As for the full-sized A3 humanoid — less expressive than its smaller sibling, with sharper angles and a rather blank circle in place of the X2’s animated ‘eyes’ — a unit was made available to greet guests and for photo opportunities.

In a presentation at the UK launch event, Agibot co-founder and COO Daniel Jiang said: “The robot business is the AI business. Robots should understand you, know what you say, talk to you, and work for you.”

Indeed, at the launch event, the word ‘robot’ was as common as the phrase ‘embodied AI’, as Agibot representatives attempted to position the firm’s product range as a signifier of a new technological era: the ‘fourth industrial revolution.’

The Agibot X2 was the clear star of the show, and by far the firm's best-represented product (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)

In a later talk, co-founder and R&D president Yan Xiong said: “Of the products I’ve worked on, embodied AI is the most exciting and inspiring. Through three intelligences in one body, robots can become human-like.”

The three intelligences in question control interaction, locomotion, and manipulation, powered by on-device AI models that communicate with cloud servers. It seems that Agibot sees itself as an AI company first and foremost, and is allocating its resources in kind: “Our main focus is the research and development of the three intelligences, taking up 75% of our R&D staff, and 80 per cent of our R&D budget.”

The Agibot A3 was demoed on-stage as the firm's flagship product (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)

That’s not to say that the firm's humanoid robots aren’t profoundly impressive. The units are made mainly of magnesium alloy, with titanium reinforcements at pressure points to ensure rigidity. The A3 weighs 55kg, which is pretty reasonable when you consider its 5-foot-8-inch (173cm) height, and lasts up to 10 hours on a single charge of its 1152W battery.

In comparison, the 4-foot-3-inch (131cm) X2 weighs 39kg and lasts for two hours. The units communicate with the internet via dual-module, dual-SIM 5G.

Also present were units from Agibot's D1 quadruped range, inexplicably programmed to do backflips on command, as well as G2-series industrial robots and C5 cleaning robots. The top-tier D1 model, the D1 MaxPro, has a carrying capacity of 50kg, while only weighing 68kg itself.

Don't call them dogs: Agibot never described its D1-series robots in canine terms (Image credit: Jamie Richards Future)

Agibot is young but quickly increasing its production capacity. It recently rolled out its 15,000th unit, having passed 10,000 units just three months earlier, and has already deployed its G2 industrial robots in China’s Longcheer electronics factory. Indeed, much of the event was dedicated to promoting possible use cases for each model in industries like construction, live entertainment, and the corporate world.

Having shaken hands with the X2 and watched the D1 wave its ‘paw’ and, again, perform several perfect backflips, I have to admit that I’m still stunned by Agibot's range of robots. The firm’s launch has done nothing to allay my many concerns about AI, but it’s still almost unbelievable to see actual droids walking around.

It’s clear that Agibot wants its robots to be relatable — the dance moves, handshakes, and free kicks are obviously an effort to instill some kind of affection in a crowd of possible customers. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find the X2 wildly entertaining, even though I know it's just metal and plastic — but that’s the power of pattern recognition.

The Agibot X2 has nothing of its own to say yet, but with further development towards autonomy, that could soon change (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)

If Agibot can make strides towards its professed goal of autonomous operation, then we really aren’t too far away from having a real-life C3PO on our hands.

It’s early days, but the firm’s leadership sounds committed. In his presentation, Yan Xiong said: “Scaling to mass production is the first hurdle to mature the embodied AI industry. After we achieve mass production, the next step is to bring our portfolio to commercial availability."

“AI should not be confined behind screens,” he later added, “it must be brought into the physical world.”

If you're heading to college this fall, don't make the mistake of buying a laptop that's only good for taking notes and browsing the web. Courses increasingly rely on AI tools, creative software, and demanding applications, so you should invest in something far more powerful than a Chromebook.

Right now, the MSI Katana 15 HX is down to $1134 (was $1319) at Amazon, saving you $185. That's an excellent price for a laptop featuring an Intel Core i7-14650HX processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 graphics, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and a spacious 1TB NVMe SSD.

The MSI Katana 15 HX laptop combines workstation-class hardware with a high-resolution display, making it an excellent choice for students who want a laptop capable of handling demanding workloads alongside everyday coursework.

Today's top laptop deal

Powered by an Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 graphics, this laptop pairs a color-accurate 15.6-inch QHD 165Hz display with 16GB DDR5 memory and a 1TB SSD for demanding creative workloads.View Deal

A portable powerhouse

In our review we said the laptop was a "great option" that "balances design and performance with a relatively affordable price."

At the heart of the system is Intel's 14th Gen Core i7-14650HX processor, paired with Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPU based on the Blackwell architecture.

Together they deliver the performance needed for AI workloads, video editing, 3D rendering, CAD software, photography, and other demanding creative applications.

The 16GB of DDR5 memory keeps multitasking smooth, while the 1TB NVMe SSD provides plenty of room for large projects, applications, and media libraries.

Support for ray tracing and DLSS 4 also helps boost supported professional workflows and GPU-intensive tasks.

The 15.6-inch QHD display offers a sharp 2560 x 1440 resolution with a fast 165Hz refresh rate, making scrolling, animation, and video playback feel silky smooth.

With 100% DCI-P3 color coverage, it's also well suited to photo editing, video production, and other color-sensitive work.

Keeping everything running efficiently is MSI's Cooler Boost 5 cooling system, which combines dual fans with multiple heat pipes to help maintain stable performance during extended workloads.

A customizable four-zone RGB keyboard, highlighted WASD keys, and a full numeric keypad make it equally comfortable for productivity and creative work.

It comes with Wi-Fi 6E, USB-C with DisplayPort and Power Delivery, HDMI output supporting up to 8K displays, USB-A ports, and Gigabit Ethernet, making it easy to connect high-resolution monitors, fast external storage, and other peripherals.

MSI AI Engine and Windows Copilot also help optimize performance for different workloads.

With a powerful processor, one of Nvidia's newest laptop GPUs, a color-accurate QHD display, plenty of fast memory, and a spacious SSD, this is an excellent laptop deal for students, creative professionals, and anyone looking for desktop-class performance in a portable package.

For further choices, look at our round up of the best student laptops and best business laptops you can buy.

Also consider: More RTX laptops for students

Available at Walmart, this 18-inch Asus powerhouse combines an AMD Ryzen 9 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 graphics, 32GB DDR5 memory, a 1TB SSD, and a stunning 240Hz Nebula display for demanding creative and professional workloads.View Deal

Also available at Walmart, this Lenovo laptop pairs an Intel Core i7-14700HX processor with Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 graphics, 16GB RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a color-rich 165Hz OLED display.View Deal

Available at Best Buy, HP's 16-inch laptop combines an AMD Ryzen 9 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 graphics, 16GB of memory, a 1TB SSD, and a vibrant 2.5K 165Hz OLED display for demanding creative workloads.View Deal

• See all student laptops at Amazon

• A Reddit user manually upgraded their MacBook’s storage chips
• The process involved soldering, 12 hours and ‘some nerves’
• The move saved them $2,200 after Apple recently increased its prices

How much is too much to pay for laptop storage? After Apple’s shocking price rises, things might feel so bad that you’re tempted to roll up your sleeves and perform an emergency DIY upgrade job on your MacBook. That’s exactly what one Apple fan did — and they saved themselves a cool $2,200 in the process.

Posting on Reddit, user arduinoRPi4 explained how they took their MacBook Pro with 2TB of storage and boosted it all the way to 8TB, quadrupling their available storage with a serious improvement that means they can “store anything I want.” They spent “around $800” on parts, which saved them $2,200 (around £1,650 / AU$3,170) compared the exorbitant $3,000 (about £2,240 / AU$4,320) it would have cost to pay Apple for a similar upgrade.

Of course, this being Apple, opening a MacBook Pro and increasing its storage yourself is far from straightforward. The post revealed that it took them 12 hours “and some nerves” to make the change — and no wonder, as doing so requires removing the existing storage modules from the MacBook Pro’s mainboard and soldering alternative chips in their place.

As well as that, the poster indicated that they had to “fill in the power components on the other side as well” in order to complete the upgrade. “That was really hell,” they admitted, adding that these parts “are TINY packages.”

All the work was done while they were on vacation in Shenzhen, China, where they “borrowed a lab from a friend who does component level repair.” They used a hot air station and microscope soldering and stencils to do the work, which involved soldering power management integrated circuits into place, followed by 4TB of NAND storage chips on each side of the laptop for a total of 8TB.

‘It looks like excellent work’arduinoRPi4 on RedditarduinoRPi4 on Reddit

If you’ve got the resolve, patience and skill for a spot of laptop surgery like this, the savings can be enormous. A 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Max chip and 2TB of storage will set you back $4,099 / £4,099 / AU$6,399 at Apple’s increased prices. Change the storage to 8TB and that tweak will add a hefty $3,000 to your bill, bringing the total to an eye-watering $7,099 / £7,099 / AU$10,899.

The difference is even starker when you apply this change to Apple’s entry-level MacBook Pro. A 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 chip and 2TB of storage currently costs $2,499 / £2,499 / AU$3,949. Add 8TB of storage and the total shoots up by a colossal $4,600. That’s partly due to the expensive storage addition and partly because it requires changing the M5 chip to an M5 Max, which is the only chip that can be configured with 8TB of storage.

A $3,000 upgrade is well out of reach for most MacBook buyers (much less a $4,600 one), so it should perhaps be unsurprising that an enterprising user with plenty of experience and a little time on their hands felt motivated to manually upgrade their storage.

Most posters in the thread were highly impressed with their work, with comments like “very impressive, I could never” being typical. One user was especially effusive in their praise, saying “This kind of work blows my mind.”

That said, other users weren’t happy that a task like this is even needed at all. “Crazy that you have to go this level of modifying just to upgrade your storage,” said one, indicating that Apple’s increased storage prices are not exactly the most popular move it’s ever made.

But with the artificial intelligence (AI) goldrush pushing up component prices worldwide and Apple unwilling to compromise its famously high margins, increased costs are here to stay, at least for the time being. And while that’s still the case, there will probably be plenty more people willing to take on the considerable task of upgrading their laptop’s storage with a few off-the-shelf components and a soldering iron to hand.

• Marshall unveils Acton IV and Stanmore IV speakers
• Redesigned bass port, repositioned cables and tweaked speaker array
• Sadly, there's no Woburn IV in sight yet

It's been four years since Marshall revamped its home speaker line-up, and so fourth-generation models of the Marshall Stanmore, Marshall Acton and Marshall Woburn are certainly due.

In the words of Meat Loaf, two out of three ain't bad, because the former amp company (which now seems to focus solely on consumer tech) has just unveiled the brand-new Acton IV and Stanmore IV speakers.

These two new speakers are on sale now, and because we're keen we've already got a Marshall Acton IV review hot off the press for you — ie. the slightly smaller and cheaper of the two. It costs $299.99 / £259.99 (AU$430), while the Stanmore IV is a little more expensive at $399.99 / £349.99 (about AU$700).

And what about the top-end member of the family, the Woburn? There doesn't seem to be a new-generation version of this model. Perhaps it was stuck in traffic on the M1?

(To explain that joke for those outside the UK, Stanmore and Acton are both boroughs in London, while Woburn is a town outside of it. The M1 is the freeway passing it, and congestion jokes are a stalwart part of British humor. Feel free to trot this one out down at the local bar/ watering hole; I don't need any credit).

Fourth-gen upgrades abound

(Image credit: Future)

The Acton and Stanmore IV both bring a few improvements over the third-gen models.

These include support for Auracast, upgraded tweeters for a sparkling high-end, a redesigned bass port for increased airflow, and cables which plug into the bottom of the speaker instead of the side.

This latter was an interesting move, and it was done to allow the speakers to be backed right up against the wall. In theory, then, they'll fit into a cabinet or cupboard much better.

Beyond that, you're largely getting a package that'll be familiar to Marshall fans, especially with the amp-esque design and style. They're both still compatible with the brand's control app, as well as the M-button for controls, and retain the various connection options including Bluetooth, RCA and aux.

In previous reviews of Marshall's home speakers, we praised the bass performance and audio detail (thanks to a previous bass port redesign), but wished they could stream music over Wi-Fi, or offered voice assistance. Sadly, these particular perks have not been added for the new models — but we can still hope that they might arrive with the Woburn, right?

Say goodbye to recurring fees and complicated systems with FileJump’s straightforward and secure cloud storage platform — with lifetime access to your files.

The post Your Data, Always Within Reach – 2TB of Lifetime Cloud Storage Is $59 appeared first on TechRepublic.

Marshall Acton IV review

Marshall has refreshed its mid-sized home speaker, which promises enhanced bass, dynamic loudness tech and improved tweeters, among other things. Yes, the Marshall Acton IV looks to be quite the improvement over its predecessor, and after testing it for myself, I have to say, it certainly makes good on its promises.

Let’s start by taking a look at the tech specs. The Acton IV features a single 60W woofer alongside two 25W tweeters, helping it to produce powerful and energetic audio. It also has a frequency response of 37Hz-38kHz, meaning it can extend down seriously deep for such a compact speaker — and you can really feel the bass… more on that later.

One standout difference between the Acton IV and its predecessor is its inclusion of RCA connectivity. This makes it a great option for hooking it up to turntables, for instance, and it’s easy to switch between Bluetooth and RCA mode with the built-in source controls. 3.5mm connectivity is back too, if you want to access lossless audio — something I always look out for when testing the best Bluetooth speakers.

Although these connectivity options are all very welcome, it would have been great to see Wi-Fi playback, given that this is a speaker most people will likely keep at home. Streaming using your home's Wi-Fi network is ideal for such speakers because it provides an even more stable, higher-resoltuion quality than Bluetooth can offer, and means that notification sounds on your source device don’t play through your speaker. Still, there is LDAC this time out — something that Marshall has been keen to integrate into its consumer audio products recently, as we saw with the Marshall Milton ANC. This opens up higher-res wireless playback over Bluetooth (provided you've got a source device that supports it), and it works great if you’re streaming on platforms such as Tidal, for instance.

Despite the omission of Wi-Fi, the Acton IV does include Auracast, enabling you to create a multi-room setup with other products from the brand, such as the Marshall Heston 120 soundbar and Marshall Stanmore IV. Some older models, like the Marshall Acton III can also join the Auracast multi-room setup with the Marshall Heddon streaming hub.

I was also interested to find that the Acton IV connects to the newer ‘Marshall’ app, which has so far been restricted to the brand’s TV audio gear. It feels more intuitive and detailed than the standard app, and features a five-band equalizer, which enables you to set three presets of your liking. You can also customize the speaker’s M button to cycle between these. The app also enables you to cycle between different sources, optimize audio with a placement compensation tool, set a standby timer, and adjust the brightness of the speaker’s LED indicators. Good stuff.

One thing that may dissuade some from picking up the Acton IV is that it lacks baked-in voice assistant support. This means that it can’t act like a smart home speaker in the way that a Sonos model would, say.

(Image credit: Future)

But, by now, you must be wondering: just how good does the Marshall Acton IV sound? Well it’s good news, because it sounds pretty great. Something that instantly struck me, is that the speaker has a very exciting sound signature, with attention-grabbing and relatively prominent bass, as well as energetic, forward-sounding treble.

This was great for livelier genres like dance tracks. For instance, in Get It On by Jansons, higher-pitched drums came through with serious bite, hitting with speed and precision. Meanwhile, pumping bass came through with great impact without ever overshadowing vocal chops and synths in the mid-range. Even with some deeper house tracks, I was truly wowed by the Acton IV’s bass extension. It can reach down into deep dark depths with great confidence, and even the sub-bass was full-sounding and seismic.

Luckily, the Acton IV continued to perform well with more laid-back tracks. In Ned Doheny’s Sing To Me, soulful vocals were nicely weighted, and came through with solid clarity. They weren’t separated to the point that they occupied a unique pocket in the mix, although when I bumped things up in the mid-range, they had a little more space to express themselves. Bass definitely remained fairly weighty, and although this gave the tune a pleasantly funky edge, some may prefer to mess around with different EQ settings.

It’s also worth noting that the Acton IV has a stereo sound configuration, rather than the basic mono that a lot of Bluetooth speakers use. While it doesn’t produce the most amazing stereo imaging I’ve ever experienced, this is understandable for a smaller-sized speaker. In All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix, vocals were well-defined in the left channel, and percussion expanded well beyond the Acton IV’s limited confines. With LDAC on, I also appreciated the speakers attention to detail, with small vocal quirks and subtle percussive elements illuminated to impressive effect.

My main critique of the Acton IV’s audio output relates to its control at higher volumes. Despite including the dynamic loudness tech seen on the Marshall Kilburn III, for instance, I found that the speaker could sound a tad harsh at high volumes. At 90% and above, compression was more noticeable, with highs turning slightly shrill and bass lacking the control I’d experienced at mid-volumes. It's pretty standard for speakers to compress towards maximum loudness, though, and if you’re looking for meatier sound, the mightier Stanmore IV is available.

(Image credit: Future)

Moving on to an area where Marshall speakers always excel now: design. The Acton IV looks very similar to its predecessor, but that’s no bad thing. It has enticing faux leather casing, a neat speaker grille, and a gorgeous golden control panel. Its amp-inspired aesthetic makes it feel like just as much of a statement piece as it is a great-sounding speaker.

The buttons and control knobs are also highly responsive and satisfying to use, and there are even onboard EQ controls for the bass and treble if you want to make some changes on the fly.

But it’s time to address the most crucial question of all: is the Marshall Acton IV worth the money? Let’s start by looking at its price. The Acton IV comes in at $299.99 / £259.99 (AU$430). That’s by no means cheap, and puts the speaker in competition with the Wi-Fi equipped Sonos Play and home speakers like the JBL Authentics 200.

I’d argue that the Acton IV certainly sounds up to scratch for this money. It offers mighty yet refined bass, clean and detailed mids, and vivid highs. It's also decently powerful, and would make a great fit for a small or medium-sized space. However, the lack of Wi-Fi playback may prove to be a deal-breaker for some — it’s the connectivity method many will favor for home speaker use, and again offers better quality and seamlessness than Bluetooth.

Still, its brilliant design, solid set of features and, of course, impressive audio capabilities, means this is still a great home speaker. All in all, I’d recommend the Acton IV if you want a powerful and stylish speaker, even if you’re a little limited on space. If you want something more portable, the Marshall Kilburn III is a great alternative, though, coming with a handle, 50-hour battery life, and waterproofing at a very similar cost.

(Image credit: Future)Marshall Acton IV review: price & release date

• $299.99 / £259.99 (AU$430)
• First released July 2026

The Marshall Acton IV was released in July 2026, just short of four years after its predecessor came to market. It launched alongside the Marshall Stanmore IV, which is essentially just a larger variant of the Acton. It comes in at $299.99 / £259.99 (AU$430), representing a slight price bump in the US, but continuity in the UK, if we’re comparing it against the Acton III.

Marshall Acton IV review: specs

Weight

5.8lbs / 2.6kg

Dimensions

10.24 x 6.73 x 5.91 inches / 260 x 171 x 150 mm

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.3, 3.5mm, RCA

Speaker drivers

1x 4-inch 60W woofer, 2x 0.75-inch 25W tweeters

Waterproofing

Not stated

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Marshall Acton IV?

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Nifty app and RCA is a welcome addition, but lacks Wi-Fi playback.

4/5

Performance

Fantastic bass extension and vivid highs with clean mids, some compression at top volumes though.

4.5/5

Design

Brilliant looking speaker with retro, amp-inspired aesthetic.

4.5/5

Value

Not the cheapest, but performance and build help it to earn price.

4/5

Buy it if…

You want a stylish home speaker
Something that stands out with Marshall speakers every time is their design. And the Acton IV is no exception. Its faux leather outer casing, its golden details, its eye-catching grille… it all comes together to make a truly stellar-looking speaker.

You want great sound in a (relatively) compact model
Although the Acton IV is hardly the largest home speaker out there, it really does sound great. It has fantastic bass extension, with clean and hard-hitting low end. Highs are articulate and vibrant too, although mids still get plenty of space to shine. The LDAC codec also helps you access a more detailed listen.

Don’t buy it if…

You want a speaker to take on the road
The Marshall Acton IV is designed for home use. Therefore, it needs to be plugged into the mains to be used, and its lack of a handle, rechargeable battery, or waterproofing, means you’re better off with a model like the Marshall Kilburn III for on-the-go audio.

You want a smart speaker with Wi-Fi
Although the Acton IV is designed for home use, it misses out on some of the properties of a smart speaker, like voice-assistant compatibility and Wi-Fi connectivity for the most seamless playback around.

Marshall Acton IV review: also consider

Marshall Acton IV

Sonos Era 100 SL

WiiM Sound

Price

$299.99 / £259.99 (AU$430)

$189 / £169 / AU$289

$299 / £299 / AU$499

Weight

5.8lbs / 2.6kg

4.3lbs / 2kg

5.5lbs / 2.5kg

Dimensions

10.24 x 6.73 x 5.91 inches / 260 x 171 x 150mm

7.2 x 4.7 x 5.1 inches / 182.5 x 120 x 130.5mm

5.7 x 5.7 x 7.5 inches / 146 x 146 x 193mm

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.3, 3.5mm, RCA

Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C

Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, 3.5mm

Speaker drivers

1x 4-inch 60W woofer, 2x 0.75-inch 25W tweeters

2 x angled tweeters, 1 x mid-woofer

2x tweeters, 1x woofer

Sonos Era 100 SL
Want a Sonos home speaker at an easy-to-stomach price? Then the Era 100 SL is an ideal option. It has Wi-Fi playback, precise and detailed sound, and a gorgeous look, making it well worth its modest price tag. Read our full Sonos Era 100 SL review.

WiiM Sound
Another great Wi-Fi equipped speaker is the WiiM sound, and it sits at a very similar price as the Acton IV. The WiiM sound supplies fantastic sound quality, has a unique and intuitive touchscreen, and voice assistant support. Read our full WiiM Sound review.

How I tested the Marshall Acton IV

(Image credit: Future)

• Tested across multiple days
• Used at our dedicated music testing space at Future Labs
• Mainly streamed music over Tidal

I spent days testing the Marshall Acton IV, listening to hours worth of music, testing its various features, and exhausting every option available in its companion app.

For the most part, I tested the Acton IV in our dedicated music testing room at Future Labs, where I mainly streamed tunes via Tidal on my Xiaomi 17. I started by playing tracks in our TechRadar reference playlist — which features songs from a wide variety of genres — but I also bumped a bunch of tunes from my personal library.

More generally, I’ve spent years testing audio gear here at TechRadar. I’ve reviewed all sorts of tech, from premium wireless headphones like the Sony 1000X The Collexion through to Dolby Atmos soundbars such as the JBL Bar 1300MK2. I’ve also tested more than 50 Bluetooth speakers, including lots of Marshall models, such as the Marshall Middleton II and Kilburn III.

• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
• First reviewed: July 2026

These powerful, connected locks are useful every day. We've tested the latest to find the best.

The recent Apple price hike has sent the cost of the latest iPads spiralling in recent weeks. For the foreseeable future, it's looking like iPad deals may be tougher to come by for Apple fans on a budget.

Not all is lost, however, as I've just spotted a fantastic deal on a slightly older iPad Air model at Best Buy. Right now, you can get the still-great iPad Air 11 with the M3 chipset for $499 (was $749) thanks to a $250 price cut at the retailer.

While it's no longer the latest model, the M3 iteration is just one generation behind. It's still an excellent tablet by almost any metric I can think of — performance, design, display, and even battery life.

I haven't seen the latest Apple iPad Air M4 drop below $749 since the price hikes were announced a few weeks ago. Subsequently, deals on the last-gen devices are looking increasingly attractive. If you can snatch a decent clearance deal (like this Best Buy listing), then it's definitely worth considering.

Today's best Apple iPad Air deal

Best Buy's latest deal on the Apple iPad 11 M3 offers a significant price cut on this still-great tablet. While it's no longer the latest generation, the iPad Air M3 still holds up well in 2026, with a design and display that are functionally identical to the latest model. The chipset is a little slower, but it's still more than enough for even relatively intensive applications. Today's discount at Best Buy offers an impressive $250 off this device, with the option to trade in for even greater savings.View Deal

• See more: check out all of today's tablet deals at Best Buy

Is the iPad Air M3 still worth buying?

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

The M3 is an older model now, but it's still an excellent tablet by any metric in 2026. The latest model features a quicker chipset (up to 30%) and more RAM, but in terms of display and overall design, it's virtually identical to the M3 version.

Both feature standard 60Hz Liquid Retina LED displays with 500-600 nits of max brightness. That's perfect for everyday browsing, streaming, or taking notes and doodling with the Apple Pencil. If you're just doing the basics, then there's really no reason to stretch for the latest model — the M3 is more than capable and will save you significantly.

Where the latest M4 chipset model pulls ahead is in things like heavy video rendering tasks, high-end gaming, or AI integration. As a newer model, it should also get one more year of guaranteed software updates over the M3 iteration. Apple typically supports iPads for five to seven years with major iOS updates, for the record.

Pony.ai and ComfortDelGro opened public Zig app booking for an autonomous mobility service in Singapore’s Punggol district, giving APAC transport and enterprise technology leaders a closer look at regulated robotaxi deployment.

The post Pony.ai Opens Singapore Robotaxi Service to Zig App Booking appeared first on TechRepublic.

Those four Bs presumably stand for big battery, blue and budget.

• Google is adding more toggles to Android backups, so you can control exactly what gets backed up
• However, the company is also now counting everything in the backup towards your Google account storage
• This change is rolling out now, starting with new Google accounts

Android backups are changing in two small but significant ways starting from today (July 7) — and one of these changes will be more appreciated than the other.

Let's start with the good news: you can now take more granular control over what actually gets backed up, with individual on/off toggles being added for ‘SMS & MMS messages’, ‘Call history’, and ‘Device settings’.

So, you can choose whether you actually care about saving each of those things, so that you can restore them if you ever set up a new phone.

More control is nice, but presumably, the reason Google has made this change is that all of these things will now also count towards your Google account storage.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Stealing your storage

Previously, when you backed up an Android phone, Google would only count the images and videos in Google Photos and MMS messages towards your account storage. Now, SMS messages, call history, and device settings are also being counted, meaning your backups will take up more of your valuable cloud storage data.

And that’s unfortunate, since for free, Google only gives users 15GB — or as little as 5GB for new accounts that don’t register a phone number. And that free allowance isn’t just for Android backups, it’s also shared with Gmail and Google Drive, so it’s easy to eat through even without SMS messages and the like counting towards it.

So, where before you could back up SMS messages, call history, and device settings without giving it a second thought, you might now want to be a bit more selective about what’s backed up — hence why these new toggles have been added (or at least we think that's the reason).

The good news is that this change shouldn’t make a big difference to how much storage your Android backups use, with a Google spokesperson telling 9to5Google that “we expect this to only add 40MB on average.” Still, it all adds up, and could mean users have to move to paid storage plans sooner than they might otherwise.

If you’re an existing Android owner, you might not see these changes yet, with Google said to be rolling them out over the coming months. But new accounts should be subject to these restrictions — and benefit from the new toggles — immediately.

Geekom GeekBook M16: 30-second review

Geekom's GeekBook M16 is a business laptop designed for - as the company states, "enterprise pro, a developer, or an AI enthusiast." You can add general content creators (but not creative professionals) into that mix.

I mostly agree with that, although it's not the AI machine it could've been due to the limitations of the Core Ultra 9 chip it's using.

It's an interesting budget machine in the space. A nicely built, machined chassis that handles general computing tasks well.

Given the $899 price point, there is only one USB4 port, the webcam is only 2MP, and the keyboard and touchpad aren’t the best quality.

That said, the underlying platform is solid, even if you can’t expand the memory, and with a USB 4.0 port, it can be attached to a Dock if you need more ports or more than two displays.

Geekom includes a basic USB-C Dock in the box, so those who need a wired LAN port won’t need a full Dock or adapter.

This isn’t the best business laptop I’ve tested, but it's far from the worst, and demonstrates that you can get relatively recent platforms in these form factors if you are prepared to compromise on some aspects.

Geekom GeekBook M16: Price and availability

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• How much does it cost? From $899
• When is it out? Available now in the USA
• Where can you get it? Direct from Geekom or online retailers

The Geekom GeekBook M16 can be bought directly from Geekom or via online retailers like Amazon.com and Best Buy. Prices start at $899.

TechRadar Pro readers can save an extra 8% when purchasing direct from Geekom or on Amazon when using the code TRGBM168.

The laptop pairs the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.

• Value: 4 / 5

Geekom GeekBook M16: Specs

Item

Spec

Hardware:

Geekom GeekBook M16

CPU:

Intel Core Ultra 9 Processor 185H (16 Cores, 22 Threads, 5.1 GHz)

GPU:

Intel Arc GPU

NPU:

Intel AI Boost (35 TOPS CPU+NPU+GPU)

RAM:

16GB LPDDR5 (no upgrades)

Storage:

512GB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD + M.2 2230 free slot

Screen:

16.0-inch IPS LCD, 2560 × 1600 (16:10)

Ports:

1x USB4, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) , 2 × USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps), 1x HDMI 2.0, Audio Combo Jack

Camera:

2MP (1080p) Windows Hello compliant

Networking:

Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4

Dimensions:

14.0 x 9.8 x 0.66in (355 x 250 x 16.7mm)

Weight:

3.8 lbs (1.73 kg)

OS:

Windows 11 Pro (pre-installed)

Battery:

99.99Wh Battery

Power supply:

100W (20V 5A)

Geekom GeekBook M16: Design

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• Magnesium-aluminium chassis
• Diverges from the retail model
• Ports aren't labelled

The M16 is essentially the same machine as the GeekBook X16 Pro, but it comes with only a single SKU that offers less memory and storage. There may be some minor cosmetic differences, like the M16 doesn’t have a MicroSD card slot, but the core components are common, I suspect.

Geekom has machined the GeekBook M16 from a single piece of magnesium alloy, and that heritage shows in the finish.

The Titanium Gray coating feels warm rather than cold to the touch, and there is no flex anywhere across the lid or the keyboard deck. While not the highest quality finish, it doesn’t feel cheap either.

Where the design pitch starts to wobble is the weight. The review unit weighs a whopping 1.73kg on the scales, nearly half a kilogram heavier than the X16 Pro, and that difference is obvious the moment you lift it one-handed. A laptop sold on featherweight portability should not feel like this in the hand.

This weight discrepancy between this and the X16 Pro, I’m confident, is down to the battery that Geekom used in the review hardware, since very little else has changed.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Port selection is generous for something this slim, with two USB-C connections, two USB-A, a full-size HDMI, and a headphone jack.

The frustration is that none of them is labelled with a speed. One USB-C runs at USB4 and the other only at USB 3.2, and there is no visual way to tell which is which, short of plugging something in and checking. For a laptop aimed at people who might use a fast external drive or a high-bandwidth dock, that is a genuine oversight from Geekom, and worth calling out plainly rather than glossing over.

The keyboard includes a full number pad, which is a genuine convenience on a 16-inch chassis and something plenty of rivals leave out. Typing feel is a little on the spongy side rather than crisp, so anyone coming from a firmer keyboard may need a short adjustment period.

The keyboard is workable, but I’m less convinced by the trackpad. It does the job for general navigation and gestures, but it does not feel as refined as the rest of the machine, and precision clicking is not its strong suit.

Those buying a 16-inch laptop clearly want a good display, and the IPS panel on this machine offers 2.5K resolution, a 16:10 aspect ratio, and a 120Hz refresh rate. That extra vertical space suits spreadsheets, documents and code far better than a standard 16:9 screen, and scrolling feels smooth thanks to the higher refresh rate.

Geekom quotes 100 per cent sRGB coverage, which is close enough for everyday creative work without needing a color-calibrated reference screen.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Since many business machines get small upgrades during their working life, I like to take the backs off laptops to see what is possible on that front.

Removing the underside requires removing nine screws with a T5 screwdriver, but once they’re out, it's relatively easy to detach. Inside, the battery can be replaced, and there is an unoccupied M.2 2230 slot.

While the 2230 drive is an easy upgrade, the primary slot is 2280, so I’d probably recommend cloning the supplied drive to a larger one using that slot first.

The capacities of M.2 2230 aren’t great right now.

Also, these days, all memory comes pre-soldered, so the RAM in this system is the maximum it will ever have, even if the processors used on it can address 96GB.

Overall, this is one of those designs that is somewhat bland and lacks any sort of signature feature, but for many customers, that’s exactly what they want.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• Design: 3.5 / 5

Geekom GeekBook M16: Hardware

• Intel Core Ultra 9 185H
• Modest AI capability
• Wasted PCIe lanes

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is the flagship chip from Intel's first Core Ultra family, known internally as Meteor Lake. It packs sixteen cores across three types: six performance cores, eight efficiency cores and two low-power efficiency cores, giving it real flexibility between raw speed and battery-sensitive multitasking.

Turbo clocks reach 5.1 GHz, and in daily use, that translates into a chip that handles heavy browser sessions, office work, and moderate creative tasks without complaint. Cinebench multicore scores sit comfortably above a thousand points, proof that the hybrid layout genuinely pays off rather than existing purely as a marketing slide.

Graphics duties fall to an integrated Arc GPU built from eight Xe cores, clocked up to 2.35GHz. This was the point where Meteor Lake felt like a proper step forward. Games at modest settings run smoothly, video timelines scrub without stutter, and general graphical work feels far removed from the older Iris chips it replaced. It will never trouble a discrete GPU, but for a laptop chip doing double duty as a workstation and a light gaming machine, it earns its keep.

Then there is the NPU, which Intel calls AI Boost on this silicon. On its own, the dedicated neural engine delivers around 11 TOPS. Add contributions from the CPU and GPU, and Intel quotes a platform total of 35 TOPS. That was a genuinely new capability when Meteor Lake launched, letting local AI tasks like background blur, transcription and some generative features run without leaning on the cloud.

The trouble is that time moves fast in Silicon. Microsoft set the bar for its Copilot Plus program at 40 TOPS from the NPU alone, and the 185H simply does not reach it.

Intel's 200 series chips, split between Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake depending on the segment, push NPU performance well past 40 TOPS on the Lunar Lake side. The newer 300 series, built on Panther Lake, goes further still, pairing a stronger NPU with a genuine jump in graphics performance too.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

So is the 185H still worth having? Yes, with a clear head about what it is.

It remains a strong general-purpose chip for everyday work, and its Arc graphics still beat plenty of rivals from its own generation. What it is not is a true Copilot Plus chip, and anyone chasing the latest on device AI features should look at the newer series instead. Judged simply as a capable, well-rounded laptop processor for typical work, there is still very little to complain about here. It has aged into a dependable middle child rather than a has-been, useful for exactly the sort of laptop you might have in front of you now.

Where this design isn’t well-served is that the Core Ultra 9 supports 28 PCI lanes (PCI 5.0 and 4.0), and the ports provided use hardly any of them. Given how much unused PCIe bandwidth was available, why is only one USB-C port USB4 spec? This chipset does support Thunderbolt, and if this were a Mini PC at this price point, I’d be expecting that, but only one USB4 port is poor considering the small army of unused PCIe lanes.

When I look at the number of mini PCs and laptops using this Meteor Lake silicon, I’m inclined to conclude that Intel made far too many of these wafers and now has unused bins clogging the channel they use to move 200- and 300-series chips.

If that’s an accurate analysis, then we’re likely to see more machines like the M16, where Intel attempts to off-load them before they’re four generations back.

• Hardware: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Geekom GeekBook M16: Performance

Laptops

 

Geekom GeekBook M16

Acer Swift Edge 14 AI

CPU

 

Intel Core Ultra 9 185H

Intel Core Ultra 7 258V

Cores/Threads

 

16C 22T

8C 8T

TPD

 

45W

17W-37W

RAM

 

16GB LPDDR5

32GB LPDDR5X

SSD

 

512 GB KINGSTON OM8TAP4512K1

1TB Kingston OM8PGP4102Q

Graphics

 

Intel Arc Graphics

Intel Arc 140V

NPU

 

Intel AI Boost (11 TOPS)

Intel NPU (47 TOPS)

3DMark

WildLife

18,030

20,983

 

FireStrike

7177

8003

 

TimeSpy

3815

4065

 

Steel Nomad.L

2638

2989

CineBench24

Single

94

120

 

Multi

631

389

 

Ratio

6.70

3.24

GeekBench 6

Single

2337

2757

 

Multi

12104

11148

 

OpenCL

33402

29692

 

Vulkan

35602

33890

CrystalDIsk

Read MB/s

5979

4805

 

Write  MB/s

3756

3905

PCMark 10

Office

8133

8206

 

Battery

23h 21m

18h 28m

Battery

Whr

77

65

 

PSU

100W

100W

WEI

Score

8.2

8.8

My comparison machine, the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI, is a smaller display option, but it uses a newer 200 series processor, the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V.

As is evident, the improvements Intel made between Meteor Lake and Luna Lake weren’t subtle, and the Core i7 on the Acer performs better pretty much across the board. It’s dramatically better on single-core exercise, even if in some situations the GPU utilisation is slightly better on the older chip.

And, for those wondering about 300 series silicon, like the Intel Core Ultra 7 355 on the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Enterprise Edition, I recently covered, it performs even better.

There is no ‘golden age’ of mobile processors to discover, and the newest ones are genuinely better in almost every respect.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

In testing, this machine lasted 23 hours and 21 minutes, and that’s better than the extra 12Whr of battery capacity the M16 has over the Swift Edge 14 AI might suggest.

I think a factor in this is the amount of RAM, since keeping 32GB of RAM alive for the life of the battery probably uses more power than the 16GB on the M16 consumes. It’s one of the few ways that having less RAM is actually an advantage.

What isn’t covered in these benchmarks is AI, and that’s lucky for the GeekBook, because it would get slapped by any 200 or 300 series processor, even a Core Ultra 5.

Overall, if you are looking for a workman-like system that has decent battery life and performs adequately on office tasks, the GeekBook M16 ticks enough boxes. But it’s not a machine for power users or creatives, unsurprisingly.

For those interested in the screen, I gave it a full analysis using the Datacolor Spyder X2 Ultra, and it was better than I’d anticipated for a side-lit IPS screen.

The gamut representation was 98% sRGB and 78% AdobeRGB and P3, which is fine. The brightness is capped at just over 300 nits, and the contrast is at about 1060:1.

The weaknesses of this panel are a mediocre tone response and poor white point accuracy.

But the usual challenges of luminance and colour uniformity aren’t a big issue here.

Overall, the screen is better than I’ve seen on some big-name brands, even if it can’t compete with the AMLOED displays that some products rock.

• Performance: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)Geekom GeekBook M16: Final verdict

Customers of Geekom getting the M16 are getting a much cheaper machine than the spec might suggest. It is roughly the same chassis, screen and platform as the X16 Pro, but with less memory and storage, but 23% more battery.

This is an interesting option for those wanting a reasonably punchy machine but without burning the budget down entirely with the latest processor platforms.

The only thing I’d like to see from this brand is more attention to detail, especially in respect of labelling ports. This would have been less of an issue if both USB-C ports had been USB4, and there are few valid excuses I’d take for why they aren't.

Those points aside, and a trackpad that might have been better, there are many positive things about this design that only a few years ago might have been described as a flagship model.

It isn’t super-cheap, but with rising memory and storage costs, hardware under this lid might look like more of a bargain as time goes by. And, compared with 200 and 300 series machines, it's definitely on the budget-friendly side of the line.

Where I’d be careful with this hardware is deploying it to a student, because it's difficult to assess how much abuse it can take, and carrying this all day might prove tiring.

Should you buy a Geekom GeekBook M16?

Value

Competitively priced for the specification

4/5

Design

Lightweight magnesium chassis, but it needed more USB4

3.5/5

Hardware

Intel Core Ultra 100 Series CPU, and a massive battery for long runtime.

3.5/5

Performance

Not cutting-edge Intel tech, but good enough for many tasks

4/5

Overall

A practical system with enough battery for a long working day that’s less than $900

4/5

Buy it if...

Battery life is important for your workflow
With nearly 100Whr of battery, this machine runs for an inordinately long time on a full charge, and it’s much more than the typical 60-80Whr that most machines using the same Intel platform get given. Having a battery capacity that can run this machine actively for nearly a day is impressive.

You're on a budget
While alternatives typically go for a Core Ultra 5 or 7, this one has the full Core Ultra 9 processor, and that adds cores and performance. The only caveat is that these 100 series chips aren’t great for local AI, and the 16GB RAM capacity is also an LLM limitation.

Don't buy it if...

You need a highly portable machine
If you travel regularly and are sensitive to weight, a laptop that weighs 3.8 lbs or 1.73kg is excessive. Its associated charger doesn’t add much extra, considering it outputs 100W, but that’s the only light at the end of this tunnel.

You like to upgrade

The 16GB LPDDR5 memory is soldered onto the mainboard and cannot be upgraded. Users looking for long-term flexibility or future-proofing may find this limiting, especially if workloads grow more demanding over time.View Deal

Titus Welliver is a busy man these days. The actor is about to star in new MGM+ series The Westies, which is a fictional take on the misadventures of the real-life Irish-American crime family of the same name.

Welliver plays the FBI agent responsible for tracking the gang down. For the hardcore fans among us, it's fitting casting, as the role isn't that far removed from the character we know him best for: Detective Hieronymus 'Harry' Bosch.

Since 2014, Welliver has played the role across the main Bosch series, spinoff Bosch: Legacy, and spinoff of a spinoff, Ballard.

Here's where things get really exciting for crime drama fans. Not only is Welliver confirmed to return for new episodes of Ballard season 2, which is rumored to release later in the year, but Bosch creators are currently planning for a "standalone movie."

'We've got some ideas'

"I do three episodes of Ballard per season, so I've just finished doing that," Welliver tells me ahead of The Westies' debut on July 12. "And MGM+ is doing the Bosch prequel, Start of Watch. Cameron Monaghan is playing young Harry at the very beginning of his career as a uniform cop... but I have nothing to do with that."

This isn't too surprising, with developments on Start of Watch already being widely reported. The series doesn't have a release date as of yet, but we can expect it sometime between late 2026 and early 2027.

Welliver continued: "Michael Connelly (Bosch author), Henrik Bastin (executive producer), other people and I have some ideas about a possible standalone film. We've not seen the end of Harry Bosch, that's for sure... I will say that much."

If a standalone movie is only an idea at this point, it makes sense that we don't have any further details yet (for one, it hasn't even been greenlit).

If it does go ahead, we can perhaps expect it to look like action movies featuring the two famous fictional Jacks: the Jack Ryan movies, starring John Krasinski, and the Jack Reacher movies, which starred Tom Cruise.

At this point, it's all speculation. But I trust that Welliver's parting words about us not having seen the last of Bosch are referring to something other than his appearances in Ballard... call it a hunch.

In the meantime, you can stream Bosch, Bosch: Legacy and Ballard on Prime Video.