Technology

Gerard Butler's action movie Plane is heading for orbit: after just one week, it has racked up 6.3 million views, making it the second most popular movie on Netflix in the US and setting a course for #1 in the global charts (it's currently sitting at number three for the week ending June 15).

It's averaging a decent four out of five stars among the critics, but it's playing particularly well with viewers: at the time of writing it's got a very impressive 94% on Rotten Tomatoes from the streaming public, making it one of the best Netflix movies.

Butler is Brodie Torrance, a pilot forced to make a risky landing on a war-torn island only to discover that surviving the landing was only the beginning. When rebels take his passengers hostage, Torrance and the accused murderer his plane was transporting have to team up and fight back.

What are the critics saying about Plane?

Plane is rather old-school, it's strongly reminiscent of the big-name action movies of the 80's – and that's no bad thing, especially with Butler in the pilot's seat. As Loud and Clear Reviews put it, "Plane makes it clear that it isn’t reaching for new heights but it doesn’t wing it either".

Don't judge the movie on its trailer, says WCSH: it's better than that, calling it "a decent popcorn thriller". And The Screen says that "Plane is a straightforward movie with very few twists to offer, but the trick to making it engaging lies in its execution".

"Nobody’s going to declare Plane a classic," says Decider, "but between [director Jean-Francois] Richet’s visual acumen and Butler doing admirable diligence to a character who’s in over his head... it’s an enjoyable, fast-paced and surprisingly engaging diversion."

But perhaps Zack Pope is the most representative of the streaming audience's views: as he writes, "Butler + Plane = Awesome".

Plane is streaming now on Netflix.

You may also like

• Netflix’s first Korean animated movie is a sci-fi gem that’s different to anything I’ve seen before
• Beef season 2: everything we know so far about the hit Netflix show’s return
• Netflix’s #2 most-watched show is a new crime procedural that I can’t recommend streaming enough By Carrie Marshall published 11 June 2025 If you're looking for incredibly entertaining drama, get in this Q.

• CISA flags security issue affecting multiple TP-Link models
• It allows threat actors to execute arbitrary system-level commands
• Affected models have all reached end of life, so should be replaced anyway

Multiple TP-Link routers, which have long reached end-of-life (EoL) status, are being abused in real-life attacks, the US government is warning.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a command injection vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, signaling abuse in the wild.

A command injection vulnerability allows threat actors to execute arbitrary system-level commands on a server by exploiting improperly sanitized user input.

Save up to 52% off Lifelock Identity Theft Protection!

Your personal info is in endless places. And any one of them could accidentally expose you to identity theft. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for identity theft. LifeLock. For the threats you can't control.

Preferred partner (What does this mean?)View Deal

Popular routers

In this case, the bug is tracked as CVE-2023-33538 and has a severity score of 8.8/10 (high). It affects multiple models, including TP-Link TL-WR940N V2/V4, TL-WR841N V8/V10, and TL-WR740N V1/V2.

All of these models reached their EoL long ago - between 2010 and 2018. That means that they are no longer receiving updates, and that TP-Link will not be addressing the command injection vulnerability mentioned above.

Usually, when a bug is added to KEV, Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies have three weeks to apply the patch. Since in this case, there is no patch, users are urged to replace old hardware with newer versions. The deadline to complete the removal is July 7, 2025.

Most OEMs advise this for all of the equipment that reached end-of-life status, both hardware, and software.

Despite being a decade old, these devices are still quite popular - as ,ost can still be purchased on Amazon, where one of the models has more than 9,000 positive reviews, and another has more than 77,000 reviews and ranks well among other similar routers.

“Users should discontinue product utilization,” CISA warned on its website.

The proof-of-concept exploits are “widely available” online, Cybernews noted, highlighting these types of flaws are most dangerous on publicly exposed routers with remote access features. It doesn’t mean they cannot be exploited within the same local network.

You might also like

• This worrying botnet targets unsecure TP-Link routers - thousands of devices already hacked
• Take a look at our guide to the best authenticator app
• We've rounded up the best password managers

The Xabi Alonso era for Los Blancos gets underway in Miami.

Sensay, a creator of AI-powered digital replicas of people, has established an AI-powered government on a real island it purchased off the coast of the Philippines. Previously known as Cheron Island, it's been renamed Sensay Island.

The Head of State (effectively, the President) of Sensay Island is Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, one of The Five Good Emperors of Rome, who was known for his love of Stoic philosophy and good judgement. Wartime British PM Winston Churchill is the Prime Minister, while Sun Tzu, author of the Chinese strategic classic, The Art of War, takes the reins at Defence. Alexander Hamilton is the new Treasury Secretary.

According to Sensay, “Each AI replica is designed to emulate the personality, values, and decision-making patterns of the historical figure it represents, providing a governance style infused with timeless wisdom and ethical principles.

To truly emulate the character of these historical figures, each recreation is uniquely trained on the literature, teaching, philosophies, and speeches of the real-life counterparts they represent."

How easily AI replicas from such disparate periods and with such strong characters will be able to work together in government remains to be seen, since their contrasting values must surely clash at points, not to mention be at odds with modern-day values.

The full cabinet

Here’s the full list of Sensay Island cabinet members:

Head of State (President): Marcus Aurelius

Prime Minister: Winston Churchill

Foreign Affairs Minister: Eleanor Roosevelt

Defense Minister: Sun Tzu

Treasury Secretary: Alexander Hamilton

Justice Minister: Nelson Mandela

Science & Technology Minister: Ada Lovelace

Education Minister: Confucius

Health Minister: Florence Nightingale

Agriculture Minister: George Washington Carver

Environment Minister: Wangari Maathai

Culture Minister: Leonardo da Vinci

Ethics Advisor: Mahatma Gandhi

Innovation Advisor: Nikola Tesla

Infrastructure Director: Queen Hatshepsut

Chief Strategist: Zhuge Liang

Intelligence Chief: T.E. Lawrence

Personally, I think DaVinci was a wise choice for Culture Minister, and it’s nice to see Nikola Tesla being recognized as Innovation Advisor, but I have to say I’m a little disappointed not to see Queen Cleopatra anywhere in the mix.

Confucius also presents some challenges as Education Minister, considering his unfamiliarity with modern technology, like AI.

Sensay Island is neighbor to Guinlep Island and Bamboo Private Island. (Image credit: Sensay)A real island

Sensay Island is indeed a real island off the coast of the Philippines. You can find it on Google Maps. It has a surface area of around 3.4 km², comprising beaches, rainforest, and coral lagoons.

From what we can see, there doesn’t seem to be any infrastructure of any kind on the island, so if you’re thinking of a visit, be aware that there’s probably no Wi-Fi.

While an AI government feels like something of a publicity stunt, there are serious reasons why Sensay has created an AI island:

“Sensay is looking to demonstrate that AI can be deployed in national governance to aid policymaking free from political partisanship and bureaucratic delays, and with unprecedented transparency and participation”, it says.

A fly on the wall

According to Marisol Reyes, the (AI-powered) Tourism Manager for Sensay Island, who you can chat with at its website, you can visit the island whenever you like:

“Absolutely, you can visit our beautiful island! We're thrilled to welcome visitors to experience this unique blend of cutting-edge AI governance and traditional Filipino hospitality. Sensay Island is open to tourists who want to explore our pristine beaches, vibrant coral sanctuaries, and witness history in the making with our groundbreaking AI Council.”

For those without the means to visit, the good news is that you can still get involved. You will soon be able to register as an E-resident of Sensay Island, allowing you to propose new policies for its AI-powered administration via an open-access platform:

“This will combine direct democracy with AI-enhanced decision-making”, says Sensay.

Dan Thomson, CEO and founder of Sensay, added, “This project shows Sensay’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI in a responsible direction. I hope our approach will show the public and world leaders that AI is a feasible and efficient way to develop and implement policies."

Despite an AI-controlled civilization leading to (attempted) human extinction in just about every major Sci-Fi movie I’ve watched in the last 40 years, from Logan’s Run to The Terminator, it seems that humans are still determined to give it a go.

But could AI actually provide a more balanced and sane government than our elected officials can? There’s only one way to find out...

You might also like

• I watched some of the viral ASMR videos made with AI and I feel more confused than soothed
• I don't like the idea of my conversations with Meta AI being public – here's how you can opt out
• Google’s Veo 3 is coming to Canva – as the graphic design giant claims ‘AI doesn’t need to mean we have to stop being creative’

Looking for golden internet options in the Golden State? Our broadband experts here at CNET have found the perfect options available.

The Great Cassette Rewind continues, as more affordable tape-playing options capitalize on the love for collectible physical media, which has only grown in the wake of the vinyl revival.

Earlier in 2025, We Are Rewind announced a metal Walkman-like portable player that can play cassettes over Bluetooth or with the best wired headphones, and then followed it up with the We Are Rewind GB-001 boombox reinvention.

And yes, this goes all out at being a boombox just the way you remember it. It's got a front-opening cassette deck, it's got physical dials and buttons, it's got a folding handle, it's got twin VU meters on the front, it's got two-way speakers on each side, and it's slightly heavier than is really convenient.

There are two notable feature swaps from the boombox you had a few decades ago, though: the radio tuner is out and Bluetooth is in for wireless playback, and the battery is a built-in rechargeable option instead of needing a dozen cells each the size of a large hamster.

(Image credit: Future)

It's got a guitar/mic input if you want to play or sing along with the music, and you can use this input to record to the cassette deck. Sadly, you can't record to tape from the Bluetooth connection, and I wish it actually had two cassette decks so you could go really old school and record between them, but what's here is probably the right balance for using it in the real world.

Speaking of which, I did get to test it out, though in a slightly odd situation: I was at a big audio trade show, and we couldn't test it in the side room it was being shown off in, because there was a constant demo of much larger speakers.

So we just took it out into the public area, put it on the ground, and turned up the dial until I could enjoy my music and everyone around me was annoyed – the authentic public boombox experience!

Actually, I suspect that people were more curious than annoyed – they were at an audio trade show, after all, and this thing really stood out among all the more traditional hi-fi that dominated the show.

(Image credit: Future)

There is a deep, fundamental satisfaction that comes from turning up the volume and seeing physical VU meter needles start to jump higher and higher up their range; a reassuring supplement to what your ears are telling you, that rocking is about to happen.

Despite being at a hi-fi show, the GB-001's sound is not exactly audiophile, which will not be a shock to anyone – and is not what we really want from it anyway. Because I was listening to it on a noisy trade-show floor, obviously my assessment of its sound is very much limited, but it is at least representative of using the thing in the real world, where other sounds around you will conflict with it.

It's heavy through the low-end, which is common among outdoor speakers, because bass is easily lost when traveling through open air. It seems to know what it's doing with this bass, which felt fairly controlled and lively – the risk with going strong on bass is that it starts to become flat and lands with a thud, but this felt like it had bounce.

The mids felt a little lost among the sound around me even when I'd turned the volume pretty high, but the treble comes across, and again I feel like this is what you expect from this kind of speaker in this environment – all the movement and conversation around me is heavily in the mid-range and is most likely to overwhelm the audio, but I could still hear all the core essence of songs, and definitely the beat.

I couldn't tell you much about its delivery of detail in that environment, but I genuinely do feel like this asking the wrong question of a boombox.

(Image credit: Future)

One thing to note is that it delivers a notably broader sound over Bluetooth than it does from cassettes. It's one big reason why I don't think the tape revolution will ever take off in the same way as the vinyl revival. I know some people love them, but really cassettes were the best solution to a portability problem at the time, and basically every solution since then has been superior.

But there is a genuine charm to them outside of the sound, which is the same with vinyl. The physical ritual of opening a box, sliding out the cassette, and sliding it into the boombox's caddy is deliberate and satisfying.

The chunk of pressing the mechanical buttons tickles the right part of the brain. The click and silence of a successful rewind delivers anticipation that you're about to dig into something good.

And I've written about this before, but I genuinely miss the creativity of the mixtape era, and both of We Are Rewind's products have that in mind, both including a line-in option to record something personal to tape and share it with your crush/best fried, or sibling, or favorite artist you waited ages at the stage door to see who's definitely going to love your stuff and will be your big break.

Even with all that acknowledged, it's the light-up twin VU meters that are my favorite part of the whole thing. They're another element that adds anticipation; when the lights come on and the needle twitches, you're about to kick off a good time.

My next home hi-fi upgrade will be genuinely influenced by the presence of features like this, because now that it's possible to play all the music in the world in high quality with almost no equipment whatsoever (just some of the best earbuds and your phone), if you're going to invest in big physical units to provide pleasing playback, they should make you as happy physically as they do sonically.

I think the GB-001 gets this – it's about the ritual of music, at home or out at the skate park.

You might also like…

• Bluetooth speaker heaven: my top 4 launches of 2025 so far, and what’s coming
• I listened to a $3 million stereo system, and I don’t know if I could hear every penny, but I definitely heard the dollars
• Everyone needs 5 pairs of headphones: my job is testing 'em – here are the ones to buy

Mario Kart World patch notes have arrived, detailing the latest updates to the game. There are bug fixes too, cleaning up some of the rough edges on certain maps, and fixing an issue with items not being used correctly. The latest patch notes are the first in an upcoming schedule of regular updates to Mario Kart World, so you'll want to stay up to date with the state of the game's latest version.

Now that Mario Kart World is here, alongside the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, there's plenty to keep you busy until the next big Switch 2 exclusive arrives. Having now spent 40 hours playing Mario Kart World, I've been impressed by how few bugs I've encountered. Still, Nintendo has recently pushed an update live, detailed in the latest patch notes.

Here's the latest patch notes for Mario Kart World, focusing on bug fixes now that the game is out and in the hands of players. As new updates go live, this page will be updated.

Update (June 18, 2025): Detailed latest patch notes that arrived June 17, 2025.

Mario Kart World latest patch notes

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The latest patch notes for Mario Kart World arrived June 17, 2025. You can read the full list of changes below:

• Fixed an issue where items were no longer able to be used.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes controls were inoperable when selecting a character and trying to start Free Roam from the “Free Roam” map.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes the game shut down when watching replay after a race.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes the game shut down after a race in “Online Play.”
• Fixed an issue where rate fluctuations were sometimes displayed incorrectly in “Knockout Tour” and “Online Play.”
• Fixed an issue where it was easy for a communication error to occur when trying to join Friends playing “VS Race” or “Battle” in “Online Play.”
• Fixed an issue where you sometimes slipped through the wall before the finish line of “DK Spaceport.”
• Fixed an issue where you sometimes couldn’t return to correct position after falling off the course between “Airship Fortress” and “Bowser’s Castle” while gliding.

The changes listed above have now been added to Mario Kart World. To ensure your game is up to date, check the "update" tab from the Mario Kart World game tile on your home screen. There will no doubt be future patches, so stay tuned for updates to this page.

Mario Kart patch notes archive

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Below, you'll find the previous patch notes added to Mario Kart World as part of an update on June 4, 2025. It focused on pushing online play live, adding CameraPlay, and other features ahead of launch the following day.

• Enabled CameraPlay.
  • A compatible USB camera (sold separately) is required for CameraPlay.
  • Players can turn camera ON or OFF in Multiplayer and Online Play modes.
  • When the camera is ON, the player’s face is displayed during the race.
• Enabled Online Play.
• Enabled LAN Play.
  • From the title screen if you press the L Stick and hold both the L Button and R Button, Wireless Play will change to LAN Play.
• Enabled players to upload and download ghost data in Time Trials.
• Enabled display of icons of players in close proximity in Free Roam.
• Increased number of characters you can select from the start.
• Improved operability when 3 or more players are playing in Multiplayer.
• Eliminated time limit for choosing courses when playing Wireless Play or LAN Play.
• Enabled display of update version on title screen.

Mario Kart World FAQ

(Image credit: Nintendo)What is the latest version of Mario Kart World?

The latest version of Mario Kart World is "1.1.1", added as part of an update on June 17, 2025.

How do I update Mario Kart World?

To update Mario Kart World, head to the homepage using the Home button. You then want to scroll over to the Mario Kart World game tile and press the "+" button. From here, you can select "Software Update" and then "Via the Internet". This will tell you whether your version of Mario Kart World needs an update. If it does, you can then set it downloading, and it'll all apply automatically. Note that you will need to be connected to the internet to do so.

You Might Also Like...

• 3 chargers I’ve tested and recommend for giving your Nintendo Switch 2’s battery life a boost
• Missed out on a Nintendo Switch 2? Here's why the original Switch console might still be worth a look instead
• Upcoming Switch 2 games to play in 2025

• An external IT partner to Scania lost its login credentials through an infostealer
• The hackers used the password to access Scania and steal files
• They asked the company for money, and later offered the archive for sale

Swedish automotive manufacturer Scania has confirmed suffering a cyberattack which saw it lose sensitive customer data.

Security researchers Hackmanac found a new thread on a dark web forum, in which a database allegedly stolen from ‘insurance.scania.com’ was being offered for sale to an exclusive buyer for an unknown sum of money.

“hi guys. we hacked new target and selling full attachment of 'insurance.scania.com'. Full attached files is 34,000 and first time hacked + just will 1 hand sell,” the ad, published in both English and Russian, reads. “few pic attached with remarks (for no one cant copy and scam people).”

Save up to 52% off Lifelock Identity Theft Protection!

Your personal info is in endless places. And any one of them could accidentally expose you to identity theft. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for identity theft. LifeLock. For the threats you can't control.

Preferred partner (What does this mean?)View Deal

Supply chain attack

After the thread was posted, Scania confirmed the authenticity of the claims, saying it was breached in late May 2025 as part of a supply chain attack which originated at an external IT partner.

"We can confirm there has been a security related incident in the application "insurance.scania.com", the application is provided by an external IT partner," a Scania spokesperson said.

"On the 28th and 29th of May, a perpetrator used credentials for a legitimate external user to gain access to a system used for insurance purposes; our current assumption is that the credentials used by the perpetrator were leaked by a password stealer malware."

"Using the compromised account, documents related to insurance claims were downloaded."

Although the company did not detail what information was found in the stolen files, it’s safe to assume that it is sensitive, possibly financial, or medical. The number of affected individuals is also unknown for now.

After stealing the archives, the threat actor tried to extort Scania for money, reaching out on multiple occasions and demanding a ransom. Since it ended up offering the database for sale on the dark web, we can assume that the company declined the generous offer.

Via BleepingComputer

You might also like

• Infostealers on the rise: the latest concern for organizational defenses
• Take a look at our guide to the best authenticator app
• We've rounded up the best password managers

• Privacy experts are raising concerns over Meta's decision to bring ads to WhatsApp
• On Monday, June 16, 2025, WhatsApp announced new ad features are set to land in the Updates tab
• In 2023, Meta denied claims that WhatsApp was planning to add in-feed ads on the platform

After years of rumors, worries, and denials, it's finally happened – WhatsApp is officially getting ads.

On Monday, June 16, 2025, Meta announced that it is rolling out this new feature over the next several months. The Big Tech giant, however, claims ads are built "in the most privacy-oriented way possible," ensuring that your personal messages, calls, and groups won't be used to target these ads to you.

Needless to say, privacy experts aren't buying it and call on worried users to look for alternatives. "The introduction of ads could signal a wider shift away from private messaging toward monetized, monitored communication," warns Chief Technology Officer at NordVPN, Marijus Briedis. "Your messages may not stay as private as you think."

WhatsApp ads – what we know so far

So, WhatsApp is getting new ads, but how does this work in practice?

Contrary to past rumors about potential in-feed ads – a plan that Meta denied in 2023 – WhatsApp ads are now set to be locked within its Updates tab. For now, at least.

The Updates tab, which the company said has 1.5 billion daily users, includes both Channels and Statuses. Channels are a list of dedicated interest groups you can join, while the latter replicates the Stories feature from Instagram. Both Channels and Statuses are going to get the ad feature.

WhatsApp ads come alongside two more features of the app's Updates tab – channel subscriptions and promoted channels. (Image credit: Meta)

A new Promoted Channels feature will soon start to recommend new sponsored channels based on your interests. A new Ads in Status option will also enable businesses to promote their services and products with targeted advertising among WhatsApp users.

WhatsApp is promising that these new features have been built with users' privacy in mind. Therefore, all personal messages, calls, and statuses are set to remain end-to-end encrypted, meaning that not even the provider has access to this sensitive info.

"To show ads in Status or Channels you might care about, we'll use limited info like your country or city, language, the Channels you’re following, and how you interact with the ads you see. For people that have chosen to add WhatsApp to the Accounts Center, we'll also use your ad preferences and info from across your Meta accounts," reads WhatsApp's official announcement, adding the company will "never sell or share your phone number to advertisers."

What the privacy tech industry is saying

Despite these reassurances, the privacy world isn't exactly thrilled by the prospect of bringing data-hungry advertisements to an encrypted messaging app.

Briedis from NordVPN, today's TechRadar's best VPN recommendation, fears that this move could lead to a dangerous shift in the business of private communications.

He said: "When advertising enters a messaging app, it often marks the beginning of deeper data collection. Meta says your chats are private, but its business model relies on data-driven surveillance. This isn’t just about pop-ups; it’s about protecting your privacy."

NordVPN certainly isn't alone in taking a strong stance against WhatsApp's ad features.

Your messages may not stay as private as you think

Marijus Briedis, NordVPN

As AI, tech, and privacy expert Luiza Jarovsky pointed out, personalized ads are unlikely to be a feature WhatsApp users would want or enjoy seeing in a private app.

"Either Meta is desperate for more revenue sources, or they just don't care. It's against common sense to introduce personalized ads in a private messaging environment," she wrote in a tweet, warning that "we'll likely see hundreds of creepy examples."

Austria-based digital group Noyb has then questioned the legality of such a plan in the EU – under the GDPR and DMA's freely given consent provision – and now threatens Meta with a legal complaint.

"Without freely given consent, linking data and showing personalized advertising is clearly illegal. Meta has already introduced a 'Pay or Okay' approach on Instagram and Facebook, without the Irish data protection authority or the EU Commission taking any effective action against it. We suspect that Meta will do the same with WhatsApp," said Noyb's chairman and lawyer, Max Scherm.

Use Signal. We promise, no AI clutter, no surveillance ads—whatever the rest of the industry does. We lead we don’t follow❤️ pic.twitter.com/11naKMBLlwJune 17, 2025

Experts suggest that worried users should start looking for more private alternatives.

"If you’re uncomfortable with being tracked, you do have options," said Briedis. "Privacy shouldn’t be treated as a luxury. It should be the baseline."

If you're looking to ditch WhatsApp, I recommend checking out either Signal, Session, or Threema.

All three messaging apps come with default end-to-end encryption protection across all your messages and calls, without ads. Crucially, contrary to WhatsApp, these services also encrypt metadata, promising a truly track-free and private experience.

You might also like

• ChatGPT on WhatsApp can now see, hear, and remember your conversations from elsewhere
• Telegram rejects allegations over links to Russian Intelligence
• "A war against online anonymity" – why Switzerland wants to change its surveillance law and what's at stake

The financial company is launching its own wireless service, joining the Trump Organization and the SmartLess podcast, other recent entrants to the business space.

The self-driving company plans to welcome public riders later this year. Its 220,000-square-foot production facility will help to meet demand.

• Apple recently announced that its Journal app is coming to iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe for the first time
• There are six new features landing later this year
• Apple Journal's new features are designed for both practical and creative purposes

Following Apple’s recent WWDC event, it’s safe to say that we’re in for a wave of new and exciting features coming to iOS 26 this September, and, as well as new additions like Apple Music’s AutoMix, Apple Journal is another app that’s getting several big upgrades.

After two years of absence, Apple is finally bringing the Journal app to iPad and Mac, which will be available when the new iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe updates are rolled out – which we’re expecting at the same time as iOS 26.

Apple Journal was introduced in 2023 as part of the iOS 17.2 software update, appearing as a pre-installed app native to iPhone. But the launch of iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe will mark the first time that Journal migrates to other Apple products.

(Image credit: Apple)

When it comes to Apple’s native apps I’ve never really felt the urge to experiment, particularly with Apple Journal as I’ve been more than satisfied using the Notes app for things like keeping track of my workout routine, or creating a shopping list. However, with the announcement of Journal’s six new features, Apple is encouraging me to get a little more creative with the way I use its native apps to get me through my daily life.

Apple Journal receives much-need TLC

The six new additions coming to Apple Journal cover both creative and practical functions, so it’s not just about amping your journal’s visual element but optimizing formatting and organization features within the app itself.

The first feature is the option to create multiple journals, so that you can document different types of entries and better organize them. This also allows you to have a clear view of your different journals, and with the help of the handy new map view interface, you can view your entries based on the locations you created them in.

Third, you’ll soon have more control over what entries you want to keep, discard, and revisit. Have you ever deleted an entry and immediately regretted it? Apple is taking that dreaded feeling away by introducing a function that allows you to restore recently deleted journal entries - similar to Photos’ ‘Recently deleted’ folder.

Apple is encouraging you to get more creative with Journal, allowing you to add custom drawings and hand-written text to entries. (Image credit: Apple)

Finally, in addition to its new and improved search function, Apple Journal is introducing new creative features to give you the freedom to create journal entries that scream ‘you’ – starting with inline images.

Instead of being restricted to the designated media section in an entry, you’ll be able to add images to appear inline with bodies of text, adopting the appearance of a physical journal or scrapbook.

Speaking of physical journals, one of the best parts is being able to hand-write your notes, an element that Apple is bringing to Journal. With the rollout of iOS 26, you’ll have the freedom to create your own drawings and hand-written text, which you can add to entries. It even comes with Apple Pencil support.

You might also like

• Google just accused iOS 26 of copying these 3 features on iPhones – and it has a point
• Don't call it a Mac – I went hands-on with iPadOS 26, here's what you need to know
• 5 unsung iOS 26 features that look way more useful than Liquid Glass

There’s a lot of noise in enterprise AI right now. Under mounting pressure to deliver faster, safer digital services, businesses are turning to the next evolution in automation: Agentic AI.

No, this isn’t bolting on a chatbot and calling it digital transformation. AI agents are built to understand your organization, operating within your domain constraints with real autonomy. These agents operate inside your business, using your data to automate decisions, adapt to real-world problems in milliseconds, and embed themselves directly into operational workflows.

They blend the general reasoning power of today’s large language models with domain- specific intelligence grounded in company data. That might be clinical records, compliance frameworks, or engineering logs - whatever your business runs on. The result? Systems that take action: surfacing insights, automating tasks, and adapting based on your company policies and workflows.

Why it matters now

Demand for automation is growing, as are expectations around compliance, transparency, and data governance, especially in Europe. Agentic AI offers a response to both: scalable intelligence, designed to work inside complex regulatory frameworks.

That matters in sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services, where data security, explainability, and reliability aren't negotiable. These aren’t markets where “good enough” is acceptable. Customers simply can not tolerate hallucinated responses or unreliable systems where their data hits the public domain.

Agentic AI is safer. Not because it’s slower or more cautious, but because it’s built for the environment it’s deployed into.

Inside the architecture

Agentic systems rely on a layered approach, with different types of agents operating across an organization:

1. Human assistance agents support real-time decisions, generating summaries, highlighting next steps, and assisting in code review or sales workflows. They keep humans in control while removing friction from day-to-day tasks.
2. Transactional agents manage system-to-system workflows. They handle onboarding, verification, or inventory reconciliation autonomously when appropriate, with escalation when edge cases arise.
3. Autonomous agents identify and solve problems independently. In domains like DevOps, logistics, or diagnostics, they monitor environments, anticipate failures, and act proactively rather than reactively to resolve these types of issues. These agents work in tandem rather than in isolation. Together, they form an intelligent layer across enterprise systems - learning, adapting, and coordinating actions in ways that were previously siloed or manual. True digital transformation across the enterprise.

Vector-based context

Key to all of this is the use of custom vector databases. Vector databases enable AI agents to fetch relevant, security-controlled context from sensitive data without actually exposing that data in its original form to the agent. This is a game-changer for regulated industries. Rather than relying on generic training data from the public internet, this draws directly from the institutional knowledge inside your firewalls.

That means better accuracy, stronger compliance, and fewer surprises. It also means outputs that reflect your standards, rather than what’s statistically likely.

European inferencing

Agentic systems are already transforming highly regulated sectors in Europe. In healthcare, they reduce administrative overheads, improve triage, and accelerate innovation while protecting patient privacy. In manufacturing, they’re powering predictive maintenance, supply chain optimization, and real-time field service. Within finance, these agents enhance fraud detection, refine compliance, and provide hyper- personalized services.

Agentic AI adoption is particularly strong in regions with tighter data controls - namely France, Germany, and the Nordics - because these systems respect the boundaries enterprises are required to operate within.

These systems increasingly rely on serverless inference, which allows businesses to scale their AI infrastructure without wedding themselves to their maximum theoretical usage. That’s critical in Europe, where innovation budgets are often tight, and sovereign infrastructure matters. Agentic AI is being built to meet those regulatory requirements from day one.

Yes, Europe’s regulatory environment slows things down. But that friction forces better thinking. It pushes enterprises to build with trust, accountability, and explainability. Creating market conditions where sustainable AI can thrive.

GDPR, the EU AI Act, NIS2 and other regulatory frameworks define the standards by which responsible AI can scale. As US start-ups chase MVPs and launch before the proper guardrails are in place, European enterprises may end up with AI that’s more compliant and generally more effective in the long term.

The next step

Agentic AI marks a turning point in how businesses interact with their data and workflows. It moves beyond static automation to deliver systems that act, learn, and improve within the constraints enterprises define.

This is not a plug-and-play future. It’s a future that demands thoughtful design, domain- specific strategy, and an unflinching focus on outcomes. The rewards will be sustainable and significant for the organizations that build smart and scale responsibly. The hype in off-the-shelf, plug-and-play solutions will fade. Agentic AI infrastructure is built for the latest ways of working. Enterprises that invest now and build with intent will lead in the next stage for what’s next.

We've featured the best AI writer.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we 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/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

When my AirPods Max broke at the beginning of the year, I was faced with a difficult decision: double down and spend another $549 / £499 / AU$899 on headphones that certainly haven't dropped in price since their December 2020 release (and might let me down again) or find a pair that I could count on.

Swapping them for a pair of headphones that cost half as much has made me realize there’s something better out there for me. And I’d argue there’s something better out there for you, too.

It’s hard to overstate how much I loved my AirPods Max when I first got them and they still absolutely merit a mention as some of the best headphones out there. Their sound is exquisite, both dynamic and detailed yet bassy and zealous. And spatial audio was still a bit of a rarity back then, making them a real game-changer for watching movies and TV on the go. Even their noise cancelling – oft placed in a distant third place after that of Bose and Sony – was a revelation, still offering blissful silence on busy streets and public transport.

Sure, they’re a bit on the old side now and despite adding wired USB-C lossless audio earlier this year have been been sorely in need of some quality-of-life updates for a while. Their cheaper stablemates, the AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro, include a bunch of features they don’t, such as Conversation Awareness, more powerful chips and weatherproofing, despite their much cheaper price. But I was willing to put up with their occasional quirks, given that they were always so dependable – it was easy to fool myself into believing they’d always be there for me.

Until they weren’t. After just over two years of use, my AirPods Max started to act up. In contrast to their previous rock solid connectivity, they developed the Memento-esque habit of forgetting their connection every time they slept, even though my Macbook and iPhone’s OS still showed them as paired. Attempting to reconnect would fail; performing a soft reset did nothing. Worse, whenever I pressed their pairing button, I was greeted with a slow blinking orange light, a distress signal I’d never witnessed before.

The only solution I eventually did hit on was to perform a full restore to factory settings and set them up from scratch. They would then stay connected until the next time they were switched off or left idle for 15 minutes, at which point they’d lose the connection again.

(Image credit: Future)

I dealt with this the same way I diagnose any mystery malady – I turned to Dr Google, which helped me diagnose the likely culprit as a faulty Bluetooth module. Unfortunately, as Apple Care+ only lasts two years, the cost of repair was likely to be expensive; Apple’s repair prices are frustratingly opaque but users online who’ve undergone similar repairs have said they’ve been billed up to half the cost of the device.

This left me with a bit of a dilemma. Paying the repair cost would have undoubtedly given my headphones more life. But how long would it be before the next issue arose, like the battery reaching the end of its lifespan? Even if Apple replaced the whole unit – as it’s often wont to do, to save on the hassle of repair – where was the guarantee I wouldn’t just get a further two years of life, followed by another hardware fault?

Mentally totting up the cost of several hundreds pounds of repairs or buying a whole new pair every two years, I started to wonder if I was really willing to burn potentially thousands of pounds to feed my headphone habit for the next decade.

Typically, I’m not one to make a decision today that I can instead procrastinate over tomorrow, so I wanted to pick up a stopgap pair of cans I could use until I’d made my mind up. As TechRadar’s review editor, I’m lucky enough to have access to a library of the best noise cancelling headphones for testing, so I borrowed a loaner pair for using in the office: the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100. And, boy, was this an eye-opener (read: ear-opener) and a half.

Starting with audio quality, the P100 sounded way better than I’d expected for a mid-range pair of noise cancelling headphones – they lack the whomp of some of their bassier rivals but they’re also seriously expressive and don’t neglect certain frequencies just to artificially boost the low end. I can’t work without music playing so I wear headphones for easily eight hours straight, yet at no point did they start to feel uncomfortable. And at a list price of $239 / £199, I wouldn’t find it quite so galling even if they gave up the ghost in just a couple of years. And that won't happen, since Cambridge Audio tells us the battery module can be replaced (although for how much, I'm not sure).

For me, that really drove home something that often gets overlooked with modern wireless headphones – we’re increasingly paying more for lower longevity. And maybe you’d actually be better off spending a bit less.

(Image credit: Future)Most headphones aren't built to last

Look, I appreciate in some ways two years is quite a long time. Twenty-four months ago, I didn’t even write for TechRadar. Elon Musk was in charge of the dumpster fire that was Twitter rather than the dumpster inferno that is X. And the phrase ‘Brat summer’ would have attracted mystified looks, rather than weary eyerolls.

But in the world of audio equipment, two years is not a long time. Most audio equipment doesn’t tend to be a biennial purchase; instead it’s built to last. I bought my budget pair of KEF Cresta 3 floorstanding speakers and Cambridge Audio A5 amplifier when I was 20 years old. Terrifyingly, I’m almost double that now and yet both gadgets work as well as the day I bought them. Even wired headphones, properly taken care of, can last years – especially given they’re often repairable and have replaceable parts.

I don’t need to be a soothsayer of snark to know that some will likely write off this whole episode as being unique to Apple products, given they’re notoriously hard to repair and often tied to short product cycles. But I’d argue the issue runs far deeper than that: across many of the major headphone brands, premium prices have become a guarantee of fancier features, not necessarily increased reliability. And part of that is down to their evolution from a predominantly analog product to what amounts to a sophisticated computer in their own right.

(Image credit: Future)

As wireless headphones have become smarter, they’re increasingly reliant on chipsets and firmware that aren’t necessarily designed with longevity in mind. The CPUs and modules required to apply sophisticated audio processing or drive connectivity are incredibly sophisticated components and each introduces an extra point of failure. Meanwhile, firmware updates can be abandoned at a brand’s discretion when shinier products become their new priority. Just like our smartphones, which many of us throw out on a three-year upgrade cycle, we’re increasingly sacrificing audio gadgets’ Methuselah-like longevity and sustainability for something that burns much brighter but for a fraction as long.

Clearly we shouldn’t abandon all the great features offered by noise cancelling headphones just because they have the life expectancy of a butterfly entering a jet engine's air intake. I’m not going back to the dark days of having to untangle a bramble of wires every morning or hear other human beings’ conversations on the subway. But it has all made me wonder whether I’m willing to commit myself to spending $549 / £499 / AU$899 every two or three years, just to gain relatively modest improvements in terms of features and sound quality.

This feeling has been compounded the more I’ve tried out some of the excellent competitors available at the lower end of the market. For example, the aforementioned Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 have expressive spacious sound, decent – if not exactly silent – noise cancelling and a battery life that puts most rivals to shame, lasting a ludicrous 60 hours with ANC on and up to 100 hours without.

Inevitably, the P100 lack certain features: you don’t get proprietary spatial audio (Cambridge Audio doesn't dig that kind of thing), nor the sumptuous bass of Apple’s cans but, even if they did die after a couple of years, their $239 / £199 price means I could get 2.5 times as long a period of use before I’d spent as much as I would on another pair of AirPods Max. And the fact that elements like the battery are user-replaceable with standard tools means that they shouldn’t cost anywhere near as much if you’d rather opt for the sustainable option of repairing them, rather than handing them in at my local recycling center.

So while I’ve loved all the premium, audiophile-grade noise cancelling headphones I’ve owned in the past, I think those days are behind me. Sorry, AirPods Max: I’m not coming back.

You might also like

• Hungry for info on next-gen Apple cans? See our AirPods Max Gen 2 rumors hub
• Not sure either pair is for you? Check our guide to the best over-ear headphones

• Wix announced buying Base44
• Base44 is a popular low code/no code platform powered by AI
• It will remain a separate entity

Wix.com, one of the best website builders in the world, is jumping on the vibe coding bandwagon with the acquisition of Base44.

This morning, the company shared a press release with TechRadar Pro, in which it announced its purchase of the AI-powered platform that “enables anyone to create fully functional, custom software solutions and applications using natural language, without the need for traditional coding.”

Wix bought Base44 for $80 million, and agreed to possibly pay even more through 2029, depending on how well Base44 performs. It did not detail which metrics it will be tracking in that respect.

Base44 will not be merged into Wix but will instead remain a distinct product and business, the company confirmed. It doesn’t expect the acquisition to be felt in its 2025 bookings and revenue, too. “We expect to incur approximately $25 million in retention bonus payments paid to Base44 employees in 2025 as part of the above initial consideration paid on the transaction, which will be excluded from non-GAAP and free cash flow (FCF) results,” the press release reads.

According to Similarlabs, Base44 has more than 40,000 users, making it a rather popular solution among web app builders, particularly those looking to bypass conventional development hurdles. It comes with built-in services like database management, user authentication, email, analytics, storage, hosting, and even domain/DNS setup. It has a drag-and-drop interface, as of recently also supported by a conversational AI chatbot.

AI galore

In recent times, Wix has been aggressively adding Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) across its suite of products and solutions. In December 2024, it demonstrated AI Site-Chat, a feature designed to serve as a virtual agent for customers. In January 2025, it released Business Launcher, an AI-powered tool designed to help entrepreneurs create new business initiatives, from concept to execution, and a few months later, in May, it introduced the Wix Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, which enables users to generate code through AI assistants such as Claude, Cursor, and Windsurf.

“This acquisition marks a pivotal milestone in Wix’s commitment to transforming creation online,” said Avishai Abrahami, CEO and Co-founder of Wix. “Maor and his team at Base44 bring cutting-edge technology, strong market penetration, and visionary leadership that seamlessly align with Wix’s dedication to enabling users at all levels of expertise to express their intent while intelligent agents manage execution. "

For Maor Shlomo, CEO of Base44, there isn’t a better fit than Wix.

“Wix is probably the only company that can help Base44 achieve the scale and distribution it needs while maintaining, if not accelerating, our product velocity," he said. “Our market is massive. It has the potential to replace entire software categories by enabling people to create software instead of buying it. Wix’s DNA – its customer obsession, innovation, and speed – perfectly aligns with ours, and its scale will catapult Base44 forward at exactly the right time.”

You can read this insightful blog post from Avishai Abrahami to learn more about the acquisition and Wix's AI vision.

Comment from the expert

Given all the buzz around vibe coding, I was expecting Wix to jump into the space in some way, shape, or form in the coming months.

Although the world's biggest website builder isn't the first through the 'vibe' party door, Hostinger launched its own vibe coding platform called 'Horizons' back in February of this year, that doesn't mean it is behind. By acquiring Base44, Wix has skipped a stage of major development, helping it unlock an industry leading product without having to go through the often problematic early iterations.

Given Wix's commitment to becoming an all-in-one platform for businesses, I am surprised by the decision not to integrate Base44 into the Wix platform. I asked Wix if you would need a separate membership for Base44 - you will - although there is currently a free plan available so you can give it a go without having to pay for yet another subscription.

The press release didn't mention any plans to add the Base44 platform to Wix, I suspect that may be in the pipeline, but when that might be is unclear.

More from TechRadar Pro

• Wix just opened the door to quicker and easier coding with new AI tool
• Learn more with our full Wix review
• Wix teams up with ActiveCampaign to help customers grow

TikTok is back on the chopping block this week, along with its sister app Lemon8. Here's what you need to know about the two services.

LLMs have been plagued by hallucinations from the very start. Developers are investing huge amounts of money and time into improving these models, yet the problem remains: hallucinations are rife. And in fact, some of the newest models – as OpenAI confessed to on its recent launch of o3 and o4-mini – hallucinate even more than previous ones.

Not only do these programs hallucinate, but they also essentially remain ‘black boxes’. Hallucinations are hard to defend against, because they are the result of random chance. The answers simply seem plausible, serving some basic use cases, but requiring extensive human oversight. Their hallucinations remain imperceptible to non-subject matter experts.

These two problems present major barriers to AI’s widespread adoption, especially in regulated industries like law and healthcare where accuracy and explainability are paramount. It’s ironic, since these industries are at the same time often the most likely to benefit from software that can automate information processing at scale. So if current models are failing to overcome these barriers, where can we go from here?

Why most AI is fundamentally untrustworthy, and getting worse

Large Language Models, or LLMs, have taken the world by storm over the past few years. This type of software uses predictive algorithms to produce outputs in response to inputs in the form of text. They’re incredible pieces of technology, but nobody knows exactly how they produce specific outputs. The answers they produce simply happen to satisfy our requests… until they don’t.

Since LLMs use statistics to determine their outputs, they occasionally come up with answers or responses that are incorrect. Just as when somebody bets on a horse in a race, even if they were to account for all the variables that could affect all of the competitors’ performances, they’ll occasionally be wrong. When LLMs do this, we refer to it as a ‘hallucination’.

Hallucinations are inherent to LLMs; one cannot have an LLM without them, since they’re statistically prone to them. And because LLMs do not truly understand the information they receive and produce, they’re unable to notify users when they do it. That’s problematic for everyone, but especially so in applications where the stakes are much higher: in law or healthcare, for example.

What symbolic reasoning is, and why it's key to reliable AI

As OpenAI has essentially just confessed, nobody knows how to solve this problem using current generative AI models. There is, however, a way to solve it using another model: a type of AI that uses ‘symbolic reasoning’ to address the faults inherent to LLMs.

Symbolic reasoning is an old, well-established method for encoding knowledge using clear, logical rules. It represents facts as static pieces of knowledge, meaning that it’s not possible for software to manipulate or interpret them incorrectly.

It’s the same kind of technology that allows us to perform calculations and run formulae on spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel (people don’t check twice to see if the calculation is correct or not). Symbolic systems prove their trustworthiness through determinism – the same inputs to a symbolic system should always produce the same outcome; this is something an LLM could never guarantee.

Unlike LLMs, symbolic AI allows users to see exactly how it has made a decision, step by step, without hallucinating the explanations. When it doesn’t understand the input, or can’t calculate the answer, it can tell the user so: just as when we receive error messages on Excel if a formula is input incorrectly. This means that symbolic systems are truly transparent and traceable.

How neurosymbolic models could be the future of enterprise-grade, auditable AI

The reason why we don’t just use symbolic models for generative AI programs is because they’re not particularly good at processing language. They lack the flexibility of LLMs. Each model has its own strengths and weaknesses.

The solution to this, then, is to combine the strengths of both to create a new category of AI: ‘neurosymbolic AI’. Neurosymbolic AI benefits from both the rules-based features of symbolic AI and the flexibility of the neural networks that underpin LLMs. This allows users to perform functions that process unstructured information in documents, while following a formula that provides structured answers the software is able to explain.

This development is crucial to the adoption of effective AI within business, but especially in heavily-regulated industries. In those contexts, it’s not good enough to say that a certain outcome has been generated and we don’t know how the program has come to that answer, but it looks about right. It’s imperative, above all, to understand how the program has come to its decision. That’s where neurosymbolic AI comes in.

What’s special about doing things this way is that neurosymbolic AI will admit when it cannot produce an accurate response. LLMs don’t, and will often produce convincing answers anyway. It’s easy to see how this can be hugely useful in insurance, for example, where a neurosymbolic AI program could automatically process claims, flagging cases to trained humans when it’s unsure of the suitable outcome. LLMs would just make something up.

It’s time for us to recognize that, while they’ve certainly pushed the technology forward, our current models of AI have reached an insurmountable wall. We need to take the lessons from the progress we’ve made and seek other solutions that will allow us to approach from a different angle. The most promising of these solutions is neurosymbolic AI. With it, we’ll be able to foster trust in a technology that, in its current format, has none.

We've featured the best AI website builder.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we 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/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

• Asana AI-powered tool had a bug which exposed user data to other users
• It was fixed after a month, but users should be on their guard

Popular project management platform Asana is warning users a newly-introduced tool may have leaked their data to others on the service

Research from security experts UpGuard noted in early May 2025, Asana introduced Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, a tool that lets AI products such as ChatGPT or Copilot interact with Asana’s Work Graph.

This allows users to query for information using natural language, manage their tasks and projects with the help of AI, and get real-time updates using the MCP standard.

Save up to 52% off Lifelock Identity Theft Protection!

Your personal info is in endless places. And any one of them could accidentally expose you to identity theft. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for identity theft. LifeLock. For the threats you can't control.

Preferred partner (What does this mean?)View Deal

A month of leaks

However, the tool was implemented with a bug that exposed data from Asana instances to other MCP users.

Not all data was exposed, though, as it was limited to each user’s access scope.

Still, given that many enterprises rely on Asana when managing important tasks and large projects, it could mean sensitive information was leaked (such as project metadata, team details, discussions, uploaded files, and similar).

Asana apparently discovered the bug on June 4, meaning the platform was leaking data for a month - the company is sending out notices with links to communication forms to impacted organizations, but apart from that it’s staying relatively silent on the matter.

We don’t know if any users suffered any meaningful damage as a result of this flaw, but the company did tell BleepingComputer that it impacted roughly 1,000 customers. It has more than 130,000 paying customers all over the world including, according to some sources, heavy hitters such as Spotify, Uber, or Airbnb.

In any case, users should review Asana logs for MCP access, review generated AI summaries, and report to Asana if they see information seemingly coming in from a separate organization.

Furthermore, users are advised to set LLM integration to restricted access and pause auto-reconnections and bot pipelines for the time being.

You might also like

• One of Google's "big AI" projects uncovered some serious security threats seemingly all on its own
• Take a look at our guide to the best authenticator app
• We've rounded up the best password managers

AVG performed well in my test, but poor customer service and some privacy concerns dragged down its score.

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 Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, June 18 (game #472).

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Life is a highway

NYT Strands today (game #473) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• MOLE
• ROLE
• MORAL
• SCENE
• COAT
• HOOT

NYT Strands today (game #473) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 8 letters

NYT Strands today (game #473) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: bottom, 4th column

Last side: top, 3rd column

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

NYT Strands today (game #473) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #473, are…

• SCENERY
• GAMES
• PLAYLIST
• MOTEL
• PHOTOS
• AUDIOBOOK
• SPANGRAM: ROAD TRIP

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

The theme clue rather gave this one away, so it wasn't a particularly tough strands to complete, but it did make me think about planning my own next ROAD TRIP.

I do love a nice road trip, although the ones you do in the UK are not really on a par with those in the US, given that you could drive from the far north to the far south in a day, albeit a long one. In the States, of course, you could drive for a week and not get across the country (unless you didn't stop to sleep).

All the more reason why you might need a good PLAYLIST, plenty of AUDIOBOOKs, some GAMES for the kids in the back and lots of breaks to take PHOTOS of the SCENERY.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, June 18, game #472)

• BLUE
• GLOOMY
• TEARY
• DOLEFUL
• WOEBEGONE
• MELANCHOLY
• SPANGRAM: SADNESS

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.