Technology

Having been put on Konami’s backburner for over a decade, Silent Hill’s resurgence has been nothing short of extraordinary.

A tepid start with Ascension and The Short Message was counterbalanced by the excellent Silent Hill 2 remake from Bloober Team and the homegrown Japanese horrors of Silent Hill f from NeoBards. The series seems like it’s now heading further in the right direction with the next game, Silent Hill: Townfall.

Early this month I played three hours of Silent Hill: Townfall and spoke with both Screen Burn director Jon McKellan and Konami series producer Motoi Okamoto about the game’s approach to retro tech, the Scottish setting, and cultural authenticity.

Going retro

(Image credit: Konami)

Silent Hill: Townfall follows a man named Simon Ordell in the fictional town of St. Amelia, Scotland. As he wakes up, he finds the entire place shrouded in fog. Slowly walking around, I eventually pick up a pocked CRTV television, which is used for both gameplay and narrative reasons. It's Townfall’s primary mechanic and star of the show. Through it, you can see old static video recordings of Simon’s mysterious partner, Zoe Ellis, who is seemingly his connection to this island.

The radio’s screen also typically shows you the next place to go, which means it’s up to you to search around town until you find the correct spot. Additionally, you can hold up the radio to see through walls to check a monster’s position. It’s a wonderful twist on a common trope. In similar games, protagonists sometimes come with a ‘radar’ sense so that players can stay stealthy and avoid enemy detection. Implementing the radar into the radio itself is not only clever, but reinforces that Simon is, after all, just human, in an unrelenting world filled with monsters.

The time period that Townfall takes place in is paramount to its horror themes. A puzzle hints that the current year is 1996, which is where the mass adoption of technologies like the internet and home dial-up started happening. The transition to an increasingly connected world filled people with anxieties. Simon’s CRTV radio is just advanced enough, but is nowhere near the cutting edge technology we see today.

“The world was on a technological cusp around the mid 90s, where the internet was starting to become a thing. But you were too early to have Google Maps in your pocket and you didn't have this magic bullet for all the problems that might come up,” McKellan explained.

He continued, “So with analog tech, you feel like you can't quite rely on it. It’s a little bit uncertain, and I think that's a great place to be for horror.”

Another theme that was prominently was medicine and healthcare. As I strolled through St. Amecia, I saw protest signs littered around the town square with phrases about “taking this town back”.

I picked up collectibles and notes about St. Amecia’s local hospital, vaguely hinting at some sort of institution providing “protection.” As an American citizen in a country with mainly for-profit healthcare, my mind immediately began trying to connect the dots and figure out the story’s direction. Scotland has a public system, but perhaps some private healthcare provider came in and tried to take over? And what about the “protection” aspect? Did Simon, or someone else, snitch?

The medical symbolism doesn’t end there. Zoe herself is a nurse, and Simon also has an IV bag strapped to his arm. With ingredients found scattered throughout town, he can craft items Resident Evil-style. These include items like blood bags for his IV, which let him resurrect with a sliver of health after being killed by an enemy.

Thankfully, Townfall’s combat feels much smoother compared to Silent Hill f’s. In the latter, there always felt like a second of awkward hit stun when your melee weapons made contact with enemies. Here, smashing planks over their heads feels satisfying. The way their bodies all of sudden go limp simultaneously gives me a feeling of surprise relief every time.

Simon also eventually gets a powerful pistol that one-hit kills many monsters, rivalling even Grace Ashcroft’s Requiem from Resident Evil Requiem. The downside is that it makes a ton of noise when fired, so enemies nearby will zero in on your location. With limited ammo, it’s definitely your last resort weapon, and it’s gratifying every time it goes off.

McKellen ensured that social commentary would be at the heart of the story, similar to how Silent Hill f’s overarching message was around gender expectations. “There are a few different threads in this game that start to coalesce as the game progresses, and I think it takes people in kind of unexpected places,” he explained. McKellen is hoping that people (like me) have an idea of what’s happening, then excitedly twist our expectations.

So why does Simon have a cannula in his hand, and why does it bring him back when he dies? They’re not just gameplay gimmicks—they represent something. McKellen adds, “There's a lot behind it, and we pride ourselves as developers that everything in the game has some relevance. Nothing is there just because or to fill a void.”

Crafting different Silent Hills

(Image credit: Konami)

Over the years, the setting for most of the Silent Hill games were, well, Silent Hill. But recently, Konami has expanded settings for the series to explore other areas. Silent Hill: The Short Message introduced “Silent Hill” as a phenomenon, where similar psychological and experiences occur outside of the titular town in Kettenstadt, Germany. Silent Hill f took the series back to its hometown in the fictional town of Ebisugaoka in 1960s Japan.

“Our current approach in branding is to introduce that concept and show similar types of psychological experiences and narratives that place outside of the boundaries of Silent Hill,” Okamoto said.

Screen Burn, headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, has a wide age range within its developers. Some grew up with the older games, while others recently discovered it through the newer releases. But the big lesson that the team learned about what’s essential to Silent Hill’s DNA is the understated nature of the stories. They’re not explicit, with plenty of room for interpretation but still feeling satisfied after finishing the game.

“You can walk away from a Silent Hill game feeling like you know something, but whether you know everything or need to discuss that with someone else was one of the big things that came out,” McKellan explained. “People were saying that after every game they would end up talking to someone else about it and having different theories.”

(Image credit: Konami)

The studio’s last game was the sci-fi horror adventure Observation (which is also one of my favorites that you should check out), and the team grew from the game before that, Stories Untold. Both of them had technology as a major theme to convey gameplay, with Stories Untold having players interacting with computers and Observation switching between different cameras in a space station.

You can see the theme of technology rearing its head again in Townfall through the analog CRTV, as well as the phone booth players call to manually save their progress.

Townfall is also Screen Burn’s biggest game to date. The most notable departure is the freedom that players have in exploring the town. “Townfall feels like a Screen Burn game unleashed. We’re taking our narrative sensibilities, puzzle design, and attention to detail, and blowing that out to something much larger with the support of Konami and Annapurna,” said McKellan.

“So if you've played our previous games, you'll probably see a lot of common ground there.”

The future of Silent Hill

(Image credit: Konami)

Looking ahead, Bloober Team’s remake of the first Silent Hill is set to come out after Townfall. Okamoto understood the worry players had about the series potentially becoming annualized, perhaps resulting in fatigue or lapse in quality. That's why Konami was open to new takes on the iconic horror franchise. The Short Message focused on social media, Silent Hill f was distinctly Japanese, and now Townfall is in Scotland.

With the rising cost of game development, it’s a wise idea to have other studios take on notable IP rather than just having your internal studios handle them. Not only does this result in more games being released, but outside talent can revitalize interest. I mean, Bloober Team and NeoBards are proof enough.

Okamoto, however, explained that this method was more about portraying cultural authenticity than anything else, and dependent on the kinds of projects Konami is working on.

“For example, the Metal Gear team has their own philosophy and approach for how they develop games,” Okamoto said. “At least from our perspective, with the goal being trying to create a wider, richer, and more culturally varied universe for Silent Hill, we feel that partnering with third-party developers works best.”

Silent Hill: Townfall launches on September 24 for PC and PlayStation 5.

With all the talk of superchips driving AI inference in the data center and the likes of the Spark RTX architecture bringing Windows AI capabilities to unprecedented heights, it’s easy to overlook how much room there is for improvement in some of the most challenging device classes when it comes to power management: IoT and wearables.

For products like environmental sensors that may have to relay information from remote areas, a battery life measured in years can be essential since. On the other hand, small wearables such as rings, watches, and pendants require smaller batteries while their biomarker monitoring functions

Two of the largest SoC vendors, however, have taken aim at one of these markets with major upgrades to their product lines aimed at them.

Genio gears up for physical AI

Mediatek has long targeted the IoT market, which includes a mélange of applications such as digital signage, smart city sensors, retail, and industrial robotics. The last of those is increasingly turning to physical AI, where the intelligence of the machines can match their ability to lift and move items.

The company seeks to accelerate the market with its new Genio Pro 5100 IoT chip, which is built on a state-of-the-art 3 nm process, combines CPU performance that rivals that of Intel’s Core chips, ARM’s Immortalis GPU architecture, and a powerful NPU.

With many IoT applications focused on analyzing images, the chip can support up to 16 full HD camera inputs or or two 4K inputs (both at 30 frames per second) as well as Vision Langauge Models optimized for the platform.

Robotics is one of the fastest growing applications for these kinds of chips. MediaTek is supporting both Linux and the ROS (Robotics Operating System) for applications in factory automation, transportation and logistics, and hospitality and intends to support the line for seven to 12 years.

While the Genio Pro doesn’t integrate wireless connectivity, modules are available for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as well as cellular, including low-power 5G RedCap.

A new breed of wearables

Qualcomm has been active in the wearables market for years (and even once released its own smartwatch called Toq, although that was intended more to highlight its since-abandoned Mirasol display technology).

Variants of its W5 chip have powered the last few generations of Pixel watches. The company’s new Snapdragon Elite represents a significant jump in performance from the previous W5, which, like MediaTek’s current-generation Genio IoT chip, will stay in the market for more cost-sensitive devices.

The new SoC, which like the Genio Pro is based on a 3 nm process node, boasts improvements in four main areas: micropower connectivity, low-power islands, performance, and user experience. With wearables expected to instantly apply AI processing to inputs that surround us, Qualcomm has implemented a dual-NPU architecture.

The main NPU can handle the same level of token processing as a two-year-old smartphone (about 18 to 20 tokens per second for a roughly 1-billion parameter model). However, a new eNPU is designed to take on tasks that require fast responses like voice activation and active noise cancellation while allowing for days of usage between charges.

(Image credit: Future / Cas Kulk)

The new chip also supports Qualcomm’s micropower Wi-Fi (which uses 80% lower power than the previous generation) as well as the low-power 5G RedCap cellular standard and satellite connectivity.

This flexibility is intended to help drive the next wave of wearable applications such as health and fitness coaching, lifeblogging, on-device translation, and USB-based authentication using standards such as Aliro, a sister standard of Matter.

At Mobile World Congress, Samsung, Motorola, and Google announced support for the Snapdragon Wear Elite, with the first noting that the new chip will be used in at least one version of the Galaxy Watch 9.

However, we should see far more devices based on both company’s leaps in 2027 and beyond, bringing new levels of intelligence to products that are constantly with us and many that work invisibly on our behalf.

• Just 27% of Gen Z respondents use antivirus software for mobile devices, and are less likely to regularly change passwords
• 57% of Gen Z spend more time online than offline, Kaspersky finds
• And only 28% regularly backup important personal data stored on their phones

Gen Z has no awareness of cybersecurity, online safety principles, or the risks of not changing your password. With just over half (52%) of respondents admitting they have had devices, data, or online accounts attacked, only 27% actually employ standard countermeasures like mobile antivirus tools.

In a study of 7200 respondents from 18 countries, the company also found only 28% regularly backup important personal data stored on their phones.

An average Gen Z-er appears to rely almost completely on their smartphone, which is where they store the information they value most, apparently without cloud backups or syncing in place. The survey has shown that social media accounts have been hacked (17%) and gaming accounts lost (12%), but smartphones have further risks to personal privacy if the correct precautions are not taken.

Gen Z needs to appreciate the risks

Access to personal photographs, identity documents, email, financial details, and of course social media profiles can be acquired via a compromised smartphone, opening the victim to a host of targeted attacks. Direct financial attacks can be made, identity theft, and more, depending on how successful the attacker is. Keeping the device out of an attackers reach, rather than inadvertently sharing its contents, is the safer course of action.

Irina Ermilova, Vice President for Consumer Product Management at Kaspersky, looked to address the apparent disconnect between a generation that has grown up with internet access and portable digital tech, and its lack of cybersecurity nous.

“Gen Z has grown up online, so digital services often feel intuitive and familiar to them. However, familiarity should not be confused with security expertise," she noted. "Being able to navigate apps, platforms and devices confidently does not necessarily mean being able to identify scams, manage passwords securely or protect personal data.”

“The findings show that cybersecurity tools and habits need to become as natural part of everyday digital life as messaging, gaming or using social media.”

Training Gen Z to find digital threats

(Image credit: Kaspersky)

Looking for a solution to this lack of cyber-risk awareness, Kaspersky has launched an interactive online game aimed at Gen Z users. Case 404 is a "cyber-detective adventure" in the point-and-click mold, set in the future with fictional cases that have been inspired by actual digital threats.

In playing the game, Kaspersky hopes that Gen Z users will spot the scams and phishing attempts, and take that knowledge with them into the real world and stay safe and secure online.

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 29.

• AMD and Cerebras will split inference across two machines, with Helios racks handling prompt processing and the Wafer-Scale Engine generating tokens, available through Cerebras Cloud in H2 2026
• Nvidia is also doing something similar by licensing AI chip startup Groq's SRAM decode technology for $20 billion
• The move sees AMD and Cerebras claim 5x higher tokens per watt versus a standalone Cerebras WSE configuration

AMD and Cerebras Systems have announced a technical partnership which pairs the former's Helios rackscale system with the latter's Wafer-Scale Engine in what both companies call a disaggregated inference solution.

The move has enabled a combined AMD Helios and Cerebras WSE configuration to deliver up to five times the tokens per second per watt (TPS/W) in internal testing by both chip designers.

The move aims to address a Cerebras WSE efficiency challenge by offloading prompt processing to AMD's rackscale offering.

An efficiency gains-centric play?

Both AMD and Cerebras Systems are painting the news as a win, and it very well might be, given the latter's efficiency gains in play and the former's ability to get access to SRAM decode technology without spending the $20 billion Nvidia shelled out at the end of last year for a non-exclusive deal.

It must, however, be noted that the efficiency claims of 5 tokens per second per watt are compared against an existing Cerebras WSE (Wafer-Scale Engine) as the baseline, while running the open-source Kimi 2.6 1T model, making them impressive, but without a direct comparison to figures for an Nvidia rackscale offering, one that lacks context, especially when efficiency is the metric.

The idea itself is sound and well established in the industry, with WSE known to struggle with the 'prefill' part of the equation while handling the 'decode' segment relatively well, essentially substituting AMD's hardware where Cerebras' equipment falls short.

The choice of Kimi 2.6, however, deserves a second look. Moonshot AI's model, released on 20 April 2026, is a mixture-of-experts design with one trillion total parameters but only 32 billion active per token, and it ships natively in INT4. At INT4, the full weight set runs to roughly 500 GB. A single Cerebras wafer holds 44 GB. Even before KV cache, a Cerebras-only deployment needs somewhere north of a dozen wafers just to hold the model, while one Helios rack could hold it around sixty times over.

That asymmetry means the five-times figure is measured on a model that is close to the least favorable for a WSE-only configuration. A dense model small enough to sit resident on a handful of wafers could flatter Cerebras considerably more. None of this makes the number wrong, but it does make the case for additional testing to demonstrate both its strengths and weaknesses for different models.

A partnership without numbers, for now

More importantly, the absence of any financial information might very well be a future story, especially at a time when there are increasing concerns about 'circular financing' in an industry where Nvidia's recent move to backstop OpenAI's data center purchases was seen as a net negative by Wall St, which is already concerned about AI spend and the sustainability of such transactions.

AMD has also, in the past (and more recently with Anthropic), linked purchases of its own hardware to investments or stakes it would take in AI companies, moves that the market welcomed earlier but might view with a bit more hostility lately.

The announcement comes at a time when Cerebras might need it more than AMD: Cerebras listed on Nasdaq in May, priced at $185, opened at $350, and closed its first day at $311.07 before falling back to around $227 by late June 2026.

AMD stock, on the other hand, is up 121.48% year-to-date (YTD) as investors continue to bet heavily on its new Instinct AI processors, and the Cerebras partnership allows it to further consolidate its gains, as this might be seen as another vote of confidence in its current direction by one of its prospective customers.

A new estimate suggests reported losses reveal only a fraction of the damage, as crypto, AI and social media make fraud easier to spread.

• IVCM petition asked Imperial County judge to overturn IID's refusal to sell it roughly 287 million gallons to cool a proposed 330 MW data center
• The company pledged in writing as recently as February that the project would not touch Colorado River water
• The case turns on whether fallowed farmland water can be reassigned to industry, a precedent worth far more than the volume in dispute

A recent petition filed in Imperial County Superior Court has asked a judge to order a public utility to start selling water to the largest data center project in the state of California.

The volume at issue is modest by the standards of the Colorado River: 880 acre-feet a year, which the petition itself calculates at ~0.03 percent of the Imperial Irrigation District's 3.1 million acre-foot entitlement.

The legal precedent that it would set if such a motion was to be granted might however have far-reaching implications beyond the relatively minuscule requirement that Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing (IVCM) is currently gunning for.

A prolonged dispute over water that is exacerbated by who the customer is

The Imperial Irrigation District, a local agency that supplies water from the Colorado River in Imperial Valley, has declined IVCM's request to provide approximately 287 million gallons of water for its upcoming 330MW data center, the largest in the state.

The developer, Sebastian Rucci, spoke to Business Insider, stating that the project would not add to demands on the Colorado River as it would effectively stop irrigating nearby farmland to balance its consumption, calling it a "zero impact" situation.

IID rejected the application on May 1, 2026, nine days after it was submitted. The stated ground was Regulation 21, which governs small-parcel service and bars new connections within 300 feet of an accessible potable water supply; the district redirected IVCM to the City of Imperial.

With the City of Imperial already locked in a legal battle with IVCM over the very existence of the $10 billion project, citing inadequate public notice and lack of compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), it is unlikely to be a place where the data center builder is going to find any relief, and it has turned to courts of law to get what it feels is its fair share.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

The subsequent legal action by IVCM might be a litmus test for how such interactions could unfold in the future, at a time when there is considerable blowback from communities living near such data centers, who see them as resource-greedy and driving up water and power prices, especially in drought-stricken regions.

The developer's plan to "buy and dry", as per Michael Cohen, a senior fellow at the Pacific Institute focusing on Colorado River Basin water use, might actually have made matters worse, with it being seen as detrimental to jobs in the area even as individual landowners profit from the exercise.

The water suit is one of at least three fronts, and arguably the least immediately consequential.

The City of Imperial's CEQA challenge to the project's exemption is pending. On June 16 2026, the county imposed a 45-day moratorium on data center approvals; on July 14 it extended that to a full year, blocking permits until June 2027 while an advisory committee rewrites zoning rules.

Rucci called the first moratorium defective and sought a restraining order against it, and has said he will challenge the second. Even a clean win on the water petition would result in supply permission for a facility the county currently cannot permit.

What is being litigated is whether an irrigation district chartered to serve farms can lawfully decline to serve an industry, and whether fallowing counts as conservation when the county is the buyer but not when a data center is.

One thing is for certain: the ruling will be read closely by every developer eyeing the West's agricultural water, which is roughly what the valley is afraid of. The gallons are a rounding error on the Colorado, but the precedent it sets here may determine everything for the region.

The FAA issued a ground stop advisory, keeping the airline’s fleet on the ground.

Researchers believe they’ve created the first smart ring to monitor biochemical health measurements like glucose, vitamin C and alcohol levels.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Tuesday, July 28 (game #1646).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1647) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1647) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1647) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1647) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1647) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• G

• A

• A

• L

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1647) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1647, are…

• GAWKY
• ALLOY
• AUDIT
• LATCH

Another game where I came close to losing.

As it is common with words ending in Y I was convinced that i was looking for a word with a double letter, but after trying the unlikely “gammy” and “gappy”, I fortunately ran out of options and arrived at the correct answer.

Daily Sequence today (game #1647) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1647, are…

• PRIOR
• WHINE
• VENOM
• MEATY

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1646, Tuesday, 28 July: SMITE, ROACH, RUDDY, GLOBE
• Quordle #1645, Monday, 27 July: TAFFY, FIGHT, GUILD, WAGER
• Quordle #1644, Sunday, 26 July: STOMP, LIMIT, FUNKY, STEAD
• Quordle #1643, Saturday, 25 July: SALON, SHEEN, BURST, GOURD
• Quordle #1642, Friday, 24 July: DOLLY, EDIFY, LAGER, PRANK
• Quordle #1641, Thursday, 23 July: LADEN, EVICT, WOVEN, SHIRE
• Quordle #1640, Wednesday, 22 July: COYLY, SINGE, AWASH, AWOKE
• Quordle #1639, Tuesday, 21 July: TRUSS, AXIAL, SWINE, THING
• Quordle #1638, Monday, 20 July: ICING, SLICK, GAILY, RISEN
• Quordle #1637, Sunday, 19 July: SPURT, ACRID, THRUM, BLEEP
• Quordle #1636, Saturday, 18 July: KNAVE, TIGHT, BLEAT, CHAOS
• Quordle #1635, Friday, 17 July: CUMIN, PALER, GRASS, INBOX
• Quordle #1634, Thursday, 16 July: IGLOO, PLAIT, YEAST, AROMA
• Quordle #1633, Wednesday, 15 July: PROXY, BRICK, BROTH, SURGE
• Quordle #1632, Tuesday, 14 July: EBONY, AVOID, RODEO, CUTIE
• Quordle #1631, Monday, 13 July: VOICE, BISON, BURNT, BUILT
• Quordle #1630, Sunday, 12 July: STAIN, BINGO, LARVA, DICEY
• Quordle #1629, Saturday, 11 July: WORTH, PRONG, DINGO, DRUID
• Quordle #1628, Friday, 10 July: GREET, STEAK, DUSKY, HAUTE
• Quordle #1627, Thursday, 9 July: CRUMP, PHONE, SHINY, STONY

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, July 28 (game #1143).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1144) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• CORK
• PEARL
• BASIC
• STAPLE
• MID
• WORD
• CHALK
• WHITE
• BLACK
• VANILLA
• GEM
• NAIL
• RIVET
• NUGGET
• SCREW
• PLAIN

NYT Connections today (game #1144) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Attach to a wall with these
• GREEN: Same old, same old
• BLUE: Deliverance of insight
• PURPLE: Teachers use these

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1144) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: FASTENERS
• GREEN: NONDESCRIPT
• BLUE: UNITS OF WISDOM
• PURPLE: ____BOARDS IN A CLASSROOM

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1144) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1144, are…

• YELLOW: FASTENERS: NAIL, RIVET, SCREW, STAPLE
• GREEN: NONDESCRIPT: BASIC, MID, PLAIN, VANILLA
• BLUE: UNITS OF WISDOM: GEM, NUGGET, PEARL, WORD
• PURPLE: ____BOARDS IN A CLASSROOM: BLACK, CHALK, CORK, WHITE

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 3 mistakes

I made hard work of a relatively simple, trap-free game.

My first two errors came in collecting the group of NONDESCRIPT words first, including STAPLE instead of MID — which is understandable, as STAPLE describes something regular and average, and then WHITE which is not understandable, although whiteness does imply boring, which is where I think my brain went.

Sadly, my errors didn’t end there as I initially thought UNITS OF WISDOM was a collection of valuable things, so after connecting GEM, NUGGET and PEARL I added CORK as it is a fairly expensive material.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, July 28, 2026, game #1143)

• YELLOW: COMMAND: CAPTAIN, DIRECT, HEAD, LEAD
• GREEN: HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES: EMPIRE, FUJI, GALA, HONEYCRISP
• BLUE: SHOE BRANDS STARTING WITH "C": CAMPER, CLARKS, CONVERSE, CROCS
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH PALINDROMIC NAMES: ANNAPOLIS, BOBSLED, EVEREST, OTTOMAN

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Tuesday, July 28 (game #877).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #878) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… A made man

NYT Strands today (game #878) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• QUEST
• NEST
• BRAT
• MANIC
• STIR
• FETA

NYT Strands today (game #878) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #878) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: left, 5th row

• Last side: right, 5th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #878) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #878, are…

• DOLL
• PUPPET
• DUMMY
• MANNEQUIN
• FIGURINE
• STATUE
• SPANGRAM: FABRICATED

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

A made man could mean a titan of industry, a mobster or if taken literally a scarecrow or indeed a PUPPET.

My first two words had double letters, a pattern that continued with DUMMY and the slightly more challenging MANNEQUIN — a word that I would have struggled to spell without the helper.

With the search virtually cracked I saw FABRICATED — although for full disclosure I should reveal that I missed it completely while collecting “fabric” as a non-game word.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, July 28, game #877)

• COMPLETE
• UNDEVIDED
• FULL
• TOTAL
• WHOLE
• ENTIRE
• SPANGRAM: ITSALLTHERE

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Google may be discontinuing the 128GB storage option for future Pixel devices.

HBO Max Shorts is one of two new mobile features coming to iOS users in the US.

For a long period during the early 21st century, Apple was the envy of the technology industry – pumping out a series of excellent products and seemingly unable to put a foot wrong. When the iPad came along, it had many detractors, chief among them the former CEO of its industry rival, Microsoft.

Pegged back

Bill Gates was a huge advocate for the tablet computer and had long attempted to thrust this form factor into the mainstream.

Quote of the day

This article is part of TechRadar Pro's QOTD project to provide an insight into the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. Read the full series here.

However, in comments to the now-defunct web magazine BNET, the Microsoft co-founder played down the impact he felt that Apple's first edition of the iPad would have. One month after its launch, he suggested it wouldn't catch on because many users would long for physical elements in such a device.

The iPad, however, proved a stellar success in the months and years that followed, so much so that Microsoft followed this trend in 2012 with the first edition of its now popular Surface device, called Surface with Windows RT.

A man ahead of his time

Although Microsoft's attempt to compete with Apple in the tablet market felt reactive at the time, the company, under Gates' leadership, played a big role in first introducing this strange form factor to the world.

The origins of the tablet are disputed, with Steve Jobs even envisioning such a device in 1983 – and even earlier examples in papers, proposals and blueprints. The first tablet with pen input and handwriting recognition, however, was the 1987 Linus Technologies Write-Top. But this type of device didn't catch on.

More than 10 years later, Microsoft attempted to reinvigorate interest in the tablet with its Microsoft Tablet PC, with the first device launching in 2003. Again, the devices were a commercial failure. Although Apple was the first to bring this concept back from the dead, today's Microsoft Surface Pro devices are outstanding in their own right and have earned a place in a very competitive market.

Amazon reportedly plans to consolidate several Nova AI models. Here’s what the strategy shift could mean for AWS and enterprise AI customers.

The post Amazon Reportedly Plans to Consolidate Nova AI Models appeared first on TechRepublic.

• The BRRRRT Act seeks to keep at least 126 A-10s operational
• Iran operations revive debate over the A-10's military future
• Future A-10 retirements face stricter certification requirements under new legislation

A proposed House bill requires the US Air Force to retain at least 126 A-10 Thunderbolt II Warthogs, reversing plans to retire much of the nearly 50-year-old attack aircraft fleet.

The legislation follows renewed attention on the aircraft after its reported involvement in operations linked to the recent Iran confrontation, including combat search-and-rescue missions supporting downed F-15E aircrew.

Lawmakers backing the proposal argue the aircraft should remain in service until a fully operational replacement has been certified for every mission it currently performs.

Lawmakers push to preserve the A-10 fleet

Officially named the Bolstering Recognition, Resurgence, Retention, and Remembrance of the Thunderbolt Act, the legislation uses the acronym BRRRRT.

Introduced as H.R. 9780 by Rep. Abe Hamadeh, the Act takes its name from the distinctive sound produced by the A-10's 30mm Gatling gun during firing.

“The A-10 has repeatedly proven itself on the battlefield, saving American lives and delivering unmatched close air support when our troops need it most,” said Hamadeh.

“The BRRRRT Act ensures we do not retire a proven weapons system before a certified replacement exists.”

The proposal marks another chapter in a longstanding disagreement between Congress and the Air Force over the future of the Warthog fleet and its specialized missions.

The Air Force entered fiscal 2026 with 162 A-10 aircraft and sought authority to retire the entire fleet.

However, Congress rejected that proposal and instead required the service to retain at least 103 aircraft.

The BRRRRT Act would raise that minimum inventory to 126 aircraft, requiring the Air Force to halt scheduled retirements and recover additional Warthogs from storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

Following recent operational use, the Air Force announced that A-10 squadrons at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia would remain active through 2029.

The service also plans to keep Warthogs flying from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri through 2030, leaving approximately 54 aircraft assigned to three operational squadrons.

Bill sets tougher conditions for future A-10 retirements

The legislation would give the Air Force 90 days after enactment to explain how maintenance, sustainment, pilot training, flight testing, and depot operations would be restored.

Earlier retirement preparations already included closing the depot maintenance line at Hill Air Force Base in February and ending the final training class for new A-10 pilots in April.

The Weapons School course at Nellis Air Force Base has also been winding down as the service continued preparing for the aircraft's planned retirement.

The proposal would also make additional retirements harder by requiring the defense secretary to certify that a replacement aircraft has entered full operational service.

That certification would also require written approval from the Army secretary, the Marine Corps commandant, and the head of U.S. Special Operations Command.

The bill also states that assigning another aircraft the close air support mission as a secondary responsibility would not qualify as a replacement.

If the BRRRRT Act does not become law, similar language could still appear in the annual defense authorization legislation that previously established the 103-aircraft minimum.

The Air Force maintains that the F-35A, F-15E, and F-16 will eventually assume the A-10's close air support and combat search-and-rescue missions.

Supporters of the BRRRRT Act argue those aircraft have not yet replaced every specialized capability performed by the Warthog.

Via Military Times

Get ready for cosmic dread, zombies and one Big Walk on PlayStation Plus.

The CIA has never confirmed or denied the following story.

The only evidence we have that it happened at all is a 1997 article in Popular Science Vol. 250, Issue 1, where journalist Dawn Stover spoke to the mastermind behind one of the best-kept secrets of the Cold War.

The year is 1963. Kennedy still sits in the White House. Khrushchev holds the Kremlin. The Cuban Missile Crisis is still fresh in everyone’s mind. Paranoia runs high on both sides of the Iron Curtain.

And a repairman strolls unnoticed through the halls of a mansion in the capital. He steps into a busy administrative office used by Russian diplomats and the KGB. His bag of tools clunks with every swing. The man pauses at a large, boxy machine in the corner of the room. It hums and whirs.

The Mrs George Pullman House where the Soviet Union Embassy was located in 1963, pictured in 2010 (Image credit: Getty Images // Coast-to-Coast)

Launched just three years prior, the Xerox 914 was the company’s first successful photocopier - with a troubling tendency to catch on fire. But that’s not why the repairman is here today.

He drops his bag to the floor. The diplomats and KGB agents ignore him, the clerical staff barely see him, the hawkish security guards notice nothing out of the ordinary. The repairman diligently begins, as he always did, his routine maintenance work.

When he’s finished the job, he slips away as quietly as he came. He leaves behind a single trace of his presence.

The repairman has just become one of the CIA’s best assets.

The bowling alley plot

But the real story begins the year before in New York, at a disused bowling alley so anonymous you wouldn’t give it a single glance, let alone two. It’s far away from prying eyes.

Inside, Xerox’s head of government programs Donald Cary meets with four engineers. They’re not there to bowl. The Xerox men selected for the mission are Douglas Webb, Kent Hemphill, James Young, and thirty-six-year-old Ray Zoppoth, who knows the Xerox 914 inside out. He should do. He helped create the photocopier in the first place.

It’s exactly the expertise the CIA needs if the agency’s plan is to work.

Because the plan is to heist as many files as they can from the Soviet Union embassy, located within the Mrs. George Pullman House in downtown DC. With security so tight, not even a repairman, however inconspicuous, could hope to walk out unfrisked with stolen files stuffed down his pants.

So, the secret service has to get creative.

For days, the engineers discuss potential ways to capture images of the files being photocopied on the Xerox 914. Finally, Zoppoth hits upon an answer. Like all great ideas, it’s as maddeningly simple as it is cunning.

Mount a battery-powered home-movie camera with a zoom lens inside the copier. Aim the lens at the mirror used to reflect images onto the drum. And start taking pictures.

According to Stover’s piece, Zoppoth suggests the team “Mount a battery-powered home-movie camera with a zoom lens inside the copier. Aim the lens at the mirror used to reflect images onto the drum. Add a photocell that would prompt the camera to snap still frames whenever the photocopier lit up. And start taking pictures.”

Every time someone lays a document on the bed and presses 'Copy', the photocopier lights up, triggering the camera.

Easier said than done, but the Xerox engineers are excited by the breakthrough. They set to work installing a Bell & Howell 8mm movie camera inside a copier located in Xerox’s New York campus.

A vintage 8mm likely similar to one allegedly fitted inside the Xerox 914 (Image credit: Getty Images // Celine Lyneborg)

The noisy, bulky 914 is, it turns out, perfectly tailored to the role of spying device. It’s so impossibly large, it conceals the camera even when the maintenance panels are removed, and the operational sound as staff make copies masks the whir of the camera. No-one has any idea they’re being covertly watched.

The test run proves a success. Ray Zoppoth and the rest of the research team can see everything passing through the photocopier. “When we developed the pictures, we found recipes and copies of music and cartoons and jokes and all kinds of things,” he later tells Popular Science.

Code-name: Disneyland East

Weeks later, Ray Zoppoth finds himself deep inside a building used by the CIA. He's led into a basement room allegedly code-named ‘Disneyland East’. Zoppoth shows the spooks the Xerox invention. He teaches them how to fit the camera inside the 914. They, in turn, train the embassy’s regular repairman to install the camera and extract the film each time he returns.

Then, one day, in 1963, a familiar face arrives at the Soviet Embassy to carry out routine maintenance work. He holds a bag containing tools and, in its depths, an innocent 8mm home-movie camera. He’s waved through the gates without a thought.

The rest is history.

With lips tightly sealed and files classified, we’ll never know what was learned. The Cold War dragged on for another 27 long years.

But shortly after the project ended, Zoppoth confessed that the secret service again tapped up Xerox. This time, they want cameras hidden inside the more streamlined Xerox 813 desktop photocopier, used by ministries, agencies, and diplomatic offices around the world.

If the story is true - and only Zoppoth admitted it, with his colleague confirming but refusing to go on record - it suggests the joint operation was a success.

It remains a reminder that even the unsexiest machine in the office can be a security risk. We think of digital surveillance as a relatively modern fear. We worry that our phones are spying on us. That CCTV watches our every move. Even laptops have physical privacy covers to mitigate security risks. But it turns out, this goes back at least 60 years - right to the heart of the Soviet embassy in Washington DC.

The world of robot vacuums has come a long way. I've been testing and writing about these puck-shaped home helpers for over two years, and during that time I've watched suction specs skyrocket, bots sprout legs and pincer arms, and docks transform into formidable, self-sufficient cleaning stations. Robot vacuums are looking cleverer and more useful than ever.

I wanted to get an idea of where the industry is headed, and what the next generation of robovacs might look like. So I rounded up representatives from some of the best robot vacuum brands to get their insights — and it's clear from what they told me that this smart-home segment is going to get even bigger… and even weirder.

Complete cleaners

The obvious place to start is with the cleaning itself, and there's one point that my interviewees all agreed on: it's no longer all about the suction specs. "Customers are looking beyond headline suction figures and realizing the performance of robot vacuums is the combination of a lot of features," says Michael Meng, President of Dreame's robot vacuum division.

Nowadays, customers are looking for better cleaning, rather than just outright power, and robovac brands have been happy to oblige, with all manner of inventive solutions.

Customers are looking beyond headline suction figures and realizing performance is the combination of a lot of features

Michael Meng, Dreame

Roborock, for example, has been working hard to make sure no corner goes uncleaned. "We see a massive push for ultra-slim designs that don't sacrifice power," says Ricky Ma, general manager for Europe and America. "People want a device that can finally clean the forgotten spaces under low-profile furniture — couches, beds, and cabinets — where dust and allergens traditionally accumulate and remain out of reach for bulkier robots."

The brand's newest bots use an innovative navigation system that doesn't require a raised puck to sit on the top surface. Roborock — alongside Dreame — has also experimented with pucks that can extend or retract, periscope-style, depending on the vertical height available.

This navigation puck, on the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Pro, can retract when the bot needs to squeeze into a tight spot (Image credit: Future)

Mopping functions have been the subject of much attention, too. Wet cleaning is nothing new — in fact, these days you might struggle to find a model that can't mop — but I've been seeing an increasing preference for roller mops rather than flat mop pads (either of the D-shaped or disc-shaped variety). The benefit of a cylindrical mop is that the dirty water can be scraped off, and clean water added in, as the robovac goes about its mopping business.

"One development that particularly excites me is the introduction of roller mop technology, which helps ensure floors are continuously cleaned with a fresh mop surface," says Reena Patel,

Floorcare Category Manager at iRobot, the brand behind Roomba.

Faraz Mehdi, managing director at Eufy, agrees. "Users increasingly care about whether the robot is actually cleaning with a clean mop and truly removing dirty water, rather than just spreading mess around," he says. "Real-time self-cleaning mopping makes a meaningful difference."

Roller mops — like the one on the SwitchBot S20 here — can scrape the dirty water off as they roll around, to prevent spreading spillages (Image credit: Future)

Eufy is also looking into improving filtration. In manual vacuums, Dyson has popularized multi-step filtration systems, which make use of cyclones to separate waste particles of different sizes. However, that hasn't really carried over into robot vacuums, which typically have a much more basic setup.

Eufy's AeroTurbo filter setup is significantly more complex. "We’re interested in airflow and dust-separation systems that help deliver more sustained suction performance, especially in homes with carpets and hair," explains Faraz. "One of the biggest pain points in the category is that cleaning performance can fall over time as filters clog, so technologies like multi-cyclone separation matter because they improve long-term consistency."

Our robotic arm design folds and unfolds in a way that mimics natural arm movement

Michael Meng, Dreame

Dreame has made particular strides in innovations focused on getting right into edges and corners. "No matter how powerful a robot vacuum is, dust and debris collect in corners and along edges where brushes simply can't reach. It's one of those problems that sounds minor until you actually look at how dirty those corners get," says Michael Meng.

Its newest bot — the X60 Pro Ultra Complete — has 'UltraExtend technology', which enables the mop pad to kick out up to 7 inches / 18cm from the robot body, and the side sweeper brush to unfurl, E.T.-style, to reach up to 4.7 inches / 12cm.

The design is inspired by human limbs. "When you extend your forearm, your reach increases significantly," Meng explains. "We applied that same principle to our robotic arm design — engineering it to fold and unfold in a way that mimics natural arm movement."

A number of brands have introduced sweepers and mop pads that can kick out to get closer to the edges of rooms — as seen here on the Dreame Matrix10 Ultra (Image credit: Future)

Intertwined with cleaning performance is battery function. "A robot vacuum that runs out of power mid-clean is more frustration than solution," says Meng. "Consumers with larger homes or open-plan layouts need a robot that can complete a full clean in a single charge — or intelligently return to dock, recharge and resume exactly where it left off. Battery efficiency, combined with smart charging and resume functionality, has become a key purchasing consideration for households of all sizes."

Mind the (performance) gap

Even with all the performance advancements, it's still the case that a robot vacuum-mop won't clean as well as a manual vacuum could. Robovacs are winning on convenience, but not on cleaning power. The long-term aim is to catch up. "The first step is to close the cleaning performance gap — reaching, and eventually surpassing, handheld devices," says Faraz from Eufy.

The first step is to close the cleaning performance gap — reaching, and eventually surpassing, handheld devices

Faraz Mehdi, Eufy

Longer-term, he sees things progressing to a point where robot vacuums can tackle not just vacuuming and straightforward mopping, but a wider range of cleaning demands.

"Technologies like roller mopping, steam cleaning, and multi-cyclone systems are maturing," he points out. "In the next five to 10 years, robot vacuums will take on true deep-cleaning capabilities — thorough carpet washing, high-temperature steam disinfection and floor sanitization. The kinds of tasks that currently require dedicated equipment or professional services will gradually fall within the robot vacuum remit."

Docks — like this one for the Roborock Saros 10 — can increasingly take care of all kinds of maintenance tasks (Image credit: Future)

The trump card robot vacuums already hold over manual cleaning appliances is that they take care of the job on their own. It makes sense, then, that continuing to improve automation is a key focus for all the brands I spoke to.

"In the 12 years we have existed as a company, trends have shifted constantly," says Roborock's Ricky Ma. "Currently, the primary trend is 'zero-maintenance and zero human intervention', where users expect a robot to not only vacuum and mop but also self-clean, self-dry, and navigate complex environments without human intervention."

"The biggest challenge is making advanced automation feel completely effortless," adds SwitchBot's co-founder Richard Mou. "Our goal is to reduce the number of times users need to think about their robot."

We've seen consumers become more willing to purchase premium robot vacuums to deliver a genuinely hands-off experience

Reena Patel, iRobot

iRobot's Reena Patel points out that this focus on autonomy is reflected in iRobot's sales patterns. "We've seen consumers become more willing to purchase premium robot vacuums to deliver a genuinely hands-off experience," she tells me. "Consumers are increasingly prioritizing features that save time, such as self-emptying and self-cleaning docks, advanced mopping systems, and intelligent obstacle avoidance."

A big part of the equation when it comes to true autonomy is maintenance. "People increasingly expect higher automation," says Eufy's Faraz Mehdi. "Features like auto-emptying, mop washing, drying, and anti-tangle systems are becoming much more important because users want a robot that genuinely reduces housework, rather than creating a new maintenance routine."

The ultimate aim is robovacs that don't require you to get involved at all — as Mehdi puts it, "zero manual intervention, end to end", including "full-chain self-maintenance, so the user never needs to maintain the machine itself."

Robovacs are arriving with increasingly formidable clean stations that take care of the bulk of the maintenance work (Image credit: Future)

Self-maintenance is one thing, but for a robot to operate without a human chaperone present, it also needs reliable navigation and object avoidance skills. These are essential if it's not going to get lost, stuck or tangled in something.

"Accurate navigation is the foundation of an effective robot vacuum," says Dreame's Michael Meng. "Advanced LiDAR and AI-powered object recognition allow modern robots to avoid obstacles in real time.... Smart robots should not be trapped or stuck easily, so they can work on their own without users to rescue them."

I've never met a robot vacuum that's not desperate to jam itself up by chowing down on any charge cable it can get its wheels on, so here I'd like to put in a personal appeal for more focus on low-level object avoidance.

Time to step up

When it comes to robot vacuums making their way around unassisted, the ultimate hurdle to overcome is stairs. The more premium of the current fleet of bots tend to come kitted out with something akin to small stilts, which raise up the body of the vacuum and enable it to maneuver over tall room thresholds.

However, traversing an actual flight of stairs requires an altogether more involved approach. "It sounds like a simple problem, but for anyone living in a multi-story home, it's one of the biggest limitations of robot vacuums today," Meng notes.

The Eufy MarsWalker is a transporter for moving robot vacuums up or down stairs (Image credit: Future)

As far as I'm aware, there are just three brands who have offered some kind of stair climbing solution, and they're all represented in my pack of interviewees. For Dreame, it's the Cyber X — essentially a stair-climbing pocket into which a robot vacuum can dock when it needs to change floors. Think of it like a stairlift for robovacs. Eufy's MarsWalker takes a similar approach.

Roborock's Saros Rover is rather different, with its two long, spindly legs that enable it to scale not just steps but all kinds of uneven terrain. Ricky Ma sees it as a major breakthrough in bots that don't require human intervention. "The future of this category is exciting and we can't wait to show everyone what we have to offer," he enthuses. I saw the Rover in action at CES 2026, and it was a complete departure from any robot vacuum I've seen before. At that point, it was still at prototype stage — I'll be watching with interest to see how things develop.

Future-gazing

So far, I've been focusing on developments that have already started to take root. But what about the longer term? I asked my interviewees their predictions for what the robovac market might look like in five to 10 years' time, and they had some intriguing answers.

Eufy believes autonomous decision-making is going to change the game. "Robot vacuums will reach a level of intelligence where they can genuinely understand the home environment, identify different types of dirt, and autonomously choose the optimal cleaning strategy," Faraz Mehdi predicts.

Is Roborock's Saros Rover a vision of what robot vacuums might look like in the future? (Image credit: Future)

Roborock is planning along similar lines. "Robovacs are rapidly shifting from an appliance to a smart cleaning partner. The most important shift will be greater physical intelligence," says Ricky Ma. "The ultimate goal is to build an intelligent cleaning partner that can spot the need to clean even before the user has time to ask the product to do so."

Further to this, a few of the execs I interviewed envision about a future where robot vacuums are no longer lone rangers, but work seamlessly alongside other smart appliances.

"Rather than operating as standalone devices, they will become increasingly connected with the wider smart home ecosystem, working more intelligently with other devices," says Dreame's Michael Meng.

Meng also sees a future where robovacs are far from the only autonomous helpers in the home. "While the familiar robot vacuum will remain an important form factor, its capabilities will extend well beyond floor cleaning," he says. "Advances in technologies such as robotic manipulation and embodied AI will enable these robots to interact more naturally with their surroundings and take on a broader range of household tasks."

Robovacs are rapidly shifting from an appliance to a smart cleaning partner

Ricky Ma, Roborock

SwitchBot's Richard Mou has an even more fully formed vision for the future: "I think we'll stop thinking about robovacs as a standalone category and instead see them as part of a broader family of home robots," he tells me.

"As embodied AI and humanoid robotics continue to mature, robot vacuums will contribute proven capabilities like autonomous navigation, environmental perception, and home mapping, while future humanoid robots build on those foundations to take on a much wider range of household tasks. At SwitchBot, that's exactly how we see the future — creating intelligent home robots that work together as one ecosystem rather than isolated devices."

Prepare yourself for the home robot takeover — and for an even cleaner home.