Technology

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 Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, July 3 (game #753).

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 #754) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• DRAB
• BLOW
• MISS
• SPOKE
• TIRE
• DUCT
• WASTE
• FATIGUE
• EXHAUST
• RIM
• KHAKI
• HOSE
• LOSE
• PIPE
• HUB
• CAMO

NYT Connections today (game #754) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Circular car component
• GREEN: Army garments 
• BLUE: Let it flow
• PURPLE: A chance that slipped away

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 #754) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: PARTS OF A WHEEL 
• GREEN: MILITARY CLOTHING DESCRIPTORS 
• BLUE: USED IN VENTILATION 
• PURPLE: FAIL TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF, AS AN OPPORTUNITY 

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

NYT Connections today (game #754) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #754, are…

• YELLOW: PARTS OF A WHEEL HUB, RIM, SPOKE, TIRE
• GREEN: MILITARY CLOTHING DESCRIPTORS CAMO, DRAB, FATIGUE, KHAKI
• BLUE: USED IN VENTILATION DUCT, EXHAUST, HOSE, PIPE
• PURPLE: FAIL TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF, AS AN OPPORTUNITY BLOW, LOSE, MISS, WASTE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

After a terrible streak it felt good to complete a round of Connections without making a mistake. 

I can only conclude that today’s edition was an unusually easy one; even the purple group would be at yellow-level on some days. 

My only pause for thought was over MILITARY CLOTHING DESCRIPTORS; CAMO, FATIGUE, and KHAKI all seemed common enough, but DRAB was a guess based on how dull army clothing is.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Thursday, July 3, game #753)

• YELLOW: CORRESPONDENCE CONTACT, DEALINGS, EXCHANGE, INTERACTION
• GREEN: AIRPORT BOARD INFO ARRIVAL, DESTINATION, FLIGHT, GATE
• BLUE: PRO ATHLETE DATA COLLEGE, NUMBER, POSITION, TEAM
• PURPLE: FARMERS' THINGS ALMANAC, INSURANCE, MARKET, TAN

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 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 Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Thursday, July 3 (game #1256).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 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 #1257) - hint #1 - VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* 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 #1257) - hint #2 - repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.

Quordle today (game #1257) - 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 #1257) - 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 #1257) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• F

• S

• G

• F

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

Quordle today (game #1257) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1257, are…

• FAVOR
• SKUNK
• GAWKY
• FLUFF

Today was a great example of a mistake leading to a tricky answer I might not have solved otherwise. I incorrectly guessed “snuff” instead of SKUNK and the F-F ending opened up FLUFF.

Incidentally, fluff is one of a small number of five-letter words with just three unique letters. Only one English five letter word has two unique letters. Don’t know it? Ask your mamma.

Sorry for the terrible dad joke.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1257) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1257, are…

• THEME
• MULCH
• DEUCE
• OCCUR

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1256, Thursday, 3 July: DANCE, EYING, GLAZE, EGRET
• Quordle #1255, Wednesday, 2 July: INANE, SCOUR, ELITE, ULCER
• Quordle #1254, Tuesday, 1 July: REBAR, YEARN, FORTH, CROWD
• Quordle #1253, Monday, 30 June: INGOT, INFER, TAPIR, CLUED
• Quordle #1252, Sunday, 29 June: MIRTH, APTLY, SCRUB, SMACK
• Quordle #1251, Saturday, 28 June: AWOKE, SMOKY, DEVIL, SWING
• Quordle #1250, Friday, 27 June: SPEAK, EAGLE, AVERT, SUING
• Quordle #1249, Thursday, 26 June: SLUMP, REBUS, GUAVA, MONEY
• Quordle #1248, Wednesday, 25 June: SOGGY, CLASH, MODEM, SQUAD
• Quordle #1247, Tuesday, 24 June: QUALM, SQUIB, AXIAL, FLACK
• Quordle #1246, Monday, 23 June: PIXEL, FJORD, STEAL, EXIST
• Quordle #1245, Sunday, 22 June: WREST, CRAZE, PAPAL, SCION
• Quordle #1244, Saturday, 21 June: BUDDY, GROUT, BEGIN, MADAM
• Quordle #1243, Friday, 20 June: BRAID, DULLY, HASTE, LURID
• Quordle #1242, Thursday, 19 June: BRUSH, ISLET, FRUIT, PRIVY
• Quordle #1241, Wednesday, 18 June: MEDIA, SHARK, GUPPY, MOURN
• Quordle #1240, Tuesday, 17 June: LEAPT, PRISM, ADMIN, WHINE
• Quordle #1239, Monday, 16 June: RETRY, SCALD, DINGO, FEIGN
• Quordle #1238, Sunday, 15 June: SHOCK, STEIN, BROIL, COVEN
• Quordle #1237, Saturday, 14 June: STICK, FERRY, THESE, IONIC

• Hackers are actively targeting a messaging app used by federal agencies
• The app was also involved in the Signalgate scandal
• Hackers have already stolen chats and metadata from 60 government officials

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has warned a popular Signal messaging app clone being used by federal agencies is under attack.

The clone, TeleMessage, was found to have some serious issues, including a lack of proper end-to-end encryption.

Hackers have been exploiting two flaws, CVE-2025-48927 and CVE-2025-48928, to access federal chat logs and metadata. CISA has given federal agencies until July 22 to apply patches.

Federal chat app hacked

The new comes months after then-US national security advisor Mike Waltz accidentally added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief at The Atlantic, to a secret Signal chat discussing ongoing US strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Waltz was then removed from his position as a result.

Following investigations into the fiasco, it emerged that Waltz and others weren’t using Signal, but a clone of the app called TM SGNL, which was developed by TeleMessage.

The app was then subsequently targeted in an attack that saw the chat logs and metadata of around 60 government officials including Secret Service members and a White House official leaked online.

The first flaw listed by CISA, CVE-2025-48927, has a CVSS score of 5.3, and allows hackers to extract sensitive data from memory dumps exposed by a Spring Boot Actuator misconfiguration in the TeleMessage app that exposes the /heapdump endpoint.

The second flaw, CVE-2025-48928, has a CVSS score of 4.0, and allows an attacker to access exposed passwords sent over HTTP by stealing a memory-dump file through local access to the TeleMessage server.

No other details on the flaws have been released by CISA, but the agency has said that federal agencies must patch the app by July 22 or stop using it altogether.

Via The Register

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• AMD's RX 9070 XT is now considerably faster than it was at launch
• It's 9% quicker, in fact, with the latest graphics driver compared to the initial release
• That's based on benchmarking across a suite of games conducted by Hardware Unboxed, and those results are broadly reflected elsewhere, too

AMD's RX 9070 XT graphics card is considerably faster than it was when the GPU first launched thanks to improvements in Team Red's drivers, going by some new testing.

This comes from Hardware Unboxed on YouTube (as highlighted by VideoCardz), which had seen reports of performance boosts and wanted to verify those claims.

And they turned out to be correct, because based on benchmarks conducted across a suite of 16 games (at 1440p resolution) by Hardware Unboxed, the RX 9070 XT was 9% faster than with its launch graphics drivers (from back in March 2025).

This game benchmarking used the latest AMD Adrenalin graphics driver (version 25.6.3), but also included Nvidia's RTX 5070 Ti not just for perspective, but also to ensure that these gains were achieved due to the drivers.

This was to eliminate the possibility that the near-10% boost witnessed by the RX 9070 XT might have been the result of patches applied to the games. So, if the RTX 5070 Ti had shown similar gains, the conclusion would be that this was down to game, not driver, optimizations – but that isn't the case.

Granted, with some games, the RTX 5070 Ti witnessed similar frame-rate gains to AMD's graphics card, which could indicate that those improvements were indeed down to an update for the game (or multiple updates over time). Or indeed that Nvidia's drivers have improved, too, by a similar amount, which is of course perfectly possible. There were some victories for the RTX 5070 Ti, as well, though they were more outliers, like a 36% gain in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (which was due to a bug fix).

The broad thrust of Hardware Unboxed's findings, though, is that the RX 9070 XT does considerably better, with the mentioned 9% boost (going from 116 frames per second to 126 on average) compared to a gain of 2.5% (119 frames per second to 122) for Nvidia's upper-mid-range GPU. That include a 27% speed gain for the AMD graphics card in Spider-Man Remastered.

Analysis: AMD's increasingly tempting value proposition

Of course, there are a lot of moving parts here in terms of the games chosen to be tested and graphics settings applied (and the test PC configuration). There wasn't much difference at 4K resolution, it's worth noting, with a 4% gain for the 9070 XT versus 3% for the 5070 Ti.

So, this is hardly a definitive result, and we should exercise some caution around it. Still, the difference at 1440p appears to be large enough to warrant some raised eyebrows, and these kinds of gains have been observed elsewhere, too, as noted.

It appears, then, that AMD has made considerable progress in honing its Adrenalin graphics drivers – much more so than Nvidia – since the RDNA 4 range of graphics cards was launched. Or, to a certain extent, this could reflect Team Red smoothing out wonkiness with performance at lower resolutions (given that the boost at 4K is much less, and barely any different to what Nvidia has managed with the RTX 5070 Ti).

This is great news for those who bought an RX 9070 XT already, of course, and effectively a substantial free speed boost, as it were. It's also evidence of the 'fine wine' effect that's commonly associated with AMD drivers, meaning they age very well as time goes on.

What about the situation for those who are looking at buying either an RTX 5070 Ti or RX 9070 XT? For starters, they can check out our head-to-head comparison of those GPUs, but performance-wise in this Hardware Unboxed test, there's not much between them.

At 1440p – the resolution these graphics cards will mostly be used at – AMD has pulled its socks up a good deal as noted, and the 9070 XT is now the faster board, but only by 3%. There are other arguments in favor of Nvidia, too, around the benefits of DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation, so it's a very close battle here.

That means, then, that pricing is absolutely key – and of course regional price tags, too – and this is where AMD scores the win, certainly in the US, UK and Australia. At Newegg US currently, the Nvidia GPU is 20% more expensive (it's normally more, though), and in Australia the gulf is more like 30%. Wherever you live, the story is likely to be very similar, unless you can find a really good outlier of a deal on the RTX 5070 Ti (like this one in the UK currently).

And given that, unless you're really hungry for DLSS 4, the RX 9070 XT is now looking very much the stronger of these GPUs in terms of that all-important overall price/performance ratio.

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• Microsoft reportedly set for another round of job cuts
• Next move could see 6,000 cut from the company's Gaming division
• The cuts make up less than 4% of Microsoft's global headcount

Microsoft is cutting 9,000 jobs with most of those facing the ax being employed in the Gaming division.

“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson said (via CNBC).

The job cuts seek to reduce the layers of managers standing between individual contributors and top executives, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Microsoft reveals another round of cuts

Cutting jobs seems to be the growing trend for many large companies, with Microsoft cutting just under 1% of its workforce in January 2025.

Another 6,000 workers, mostly programmers, were cut in May and a further 300 jobs cut in June.

Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s CEO of gaming, wrote in a Wednesday memo, “To position Gaming for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness.”

Amazon has also gone through several waves of layoffs this year, with CEO Andy Jassy repeatedly saying that AI could replace some of its workers.

For Microsoft though, the layoffs are more to do with improving business performance and reducing internal friction.

Intel has also lined up a significant wave of layoffs, with the company looking to cut 15-20% of its factory workforce.

Intel already laid off 15,000 people in August 2024. But while Intel has been struggling with declining revenues and market performance, Microsoft reported nearly $26 billion in net income on $70 billion in revenue for the March quarter.

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Presumed Innocent season 2: key information

- Renewed in July 2024
- Rachel Brosnahan cast as lead star
- Jake Gyllenhaal to return as executive producer
- Release date currently unknown
- Plot to follow Jo Murray's Dissection of a Murder
- No official trailer yet

Presumed Innocent season 2 is on the way, which is not surprising given the prodigious success of Apple TV+'s dark and twisting adaptation of the Scott Turow novel of the same name.

And while viewers had yet to find out whether Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal) did or didn’t murder his mistress, it seems they never will. A new lead star has been cast with a whole new plot to follow. So, there's plenty to talk about that doesn't concern Rusty at all.

It's one of the best Apple TV+ shows and as we look ahead to what season 2 has to offer for this gripping procedural drama before it returns to one of the best streaming services. Here's what we can expect from release date, plot details, confirmed cast, trailer speculation and more.

Presumed Innocent season 2 release date

New season. New case.Presumed Innocent has been renewed for season 2. pic.twitter.com/FeKFmAWueiJuly 12, 2024

There's no Presumed Innocent season 2 release date just yet, but with the official renewal from Apple TV+ happening back in July 2024, it doesn't feel too far away.

I'd predict we'll be seeing season 2 around early 2026, but I'll be sure to update here as soon as I hear any news.

Presumed Innocent season 2 trailer

New season. New case.Presumed Innocent has been renewed for season 2. pic.twitter.com/FeKFmAWueiJuly 12, 2024

Unfortunately, it's not going to take a district attorney to work out that a Presumed Innocent season 2 trailer won’t be expected until a few weeks before the show drops on Apple TV+. But, I'll post it here when it does.

Presumed Innocent season 2 cast

A post shared by Apple TV (@appletv)

A photo posted by on

Full spoilers to follow for Presumed Innocent season 1.

The only confirmed Presumed Innocent cast member so far is Rachel Brosnahan as Leila Reynolds. In June, it was officially revealed by Apple TV that she would be taking on the lead role for season 2.

Despite Gyllenhaal playing the lead in this series, it seems very unlikely that he'll return as Rusty for season 2 given there will be an entirely new storyline (more on this below).

But, he will be staying on as an executive producer alongside David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams and Scott Turrow.

And while Peter Sarsgaard played Tommy Molto in season 1, he was very clear about his position on returning for season 2, as reported by IndieWire: “I’m not really that interested in sequels. I think I’ve only ever done one season of anything… I think I’m a one-season person.”

That doesn't mean there can't be any crossover though, as Deadline revealed: "There had been an idea for a character or two from Season 1 to carry over for continuity in the vein of HBO's The White Lotus; it is unclear whether that is still a possibility". Though reps from Apple TV+ and WBTV declined to comment.

Presumed Innocent season 2 plot details & rumors

A new season and a new courtroom (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

As discussed in the cast section, Presumed Innocent season 2 will be based on an entirely new source material. While Scott Turrow is on board as co-executive producer, it won't be another of his books that season 2 will follow.

Instead, it has been confirmed that it will be based on the debut legal thriller Dissection of a Murder by Jo Murray. And that is, in part, due to the fact there was no clear path for season 2.

As per the Pan Macmillan's official synopsis, we have a great insight into the plot: "When Leila Reynolds is handed her first murder case, she's shocked at how high-profile it is: the murder of a well-respected, well-known judge.

"This shouldn't be the kind of case she's leading; it's way beyond her expertise. But the defendant, Jack Millman, is clear. He wants her, and only her.

"To make things worse, he's refusing to talk. How is she supposed to prove herself on what appears to be an unwinnable case?"

Oh, and Deadline also revealed that the prosecutor in Leila's case is also her husband. Adding: "Things are still in flux but Dissection of a Murder is expected to serve as inspiration for the second season of what is shaping up to be a true anthology series."

Will there be more seasons of Presumed Innocent?

Presumed Innocent season 2 paves the way for an anthology (Image credit: Apple TV+)

There's no news of any future seasons of Presumed Innocent, but that shouldn't come as a shock since there's not even a season 2 release date yet.

What we do know is that the popular Apple TV+ drama is shaping up to become an anthology series, which does create a much wider scope for any future seasons and their subsequent plots.

As always, I imagine it'll depend on the success of season 2 before a decision is made around more. But, since season 2 was renewed two weeks before season 1 concluded, there's every hope that there'll be more to come.

For more Apple TV+ coverage, read our guides on Severance season 3, Ted Lasso season 4, Silo season 3, and Slow Horses season 5.

• Catwatchful data leak affects 62,000 victims, including 26,000 victims' phone data
• The dodgy developer outed himself by reusing an email address
• Google has committed to warning users about the app

Security researcher Eric Daigle has revealed information about a serious data breach affecting Catwatchful, an Android spyware app disguised as a child monitoring tool.

A full user database with plaintext passwords and email addresses affecting over 62,000 users has been leaked as a result, with phone data like messages, photos, location, mic and camera feeds also putting 26,000 victims at risk.

According to the report, the spyware app runs in stealth mode hidden from users, collecting and uploading information.

Catwatchful app is full of spyware

As is typical from stalkerware like this, Catwatchful is an app that operates outside of the Play Store, requiring physical installation via a process known as sideloading.

The app's admin, Uruguay-based developer Omar Soca Charcov, has been exposed because the email he used for Catwatchful had been reused on LinkedIn.

Daigle also noted that Charcov's admin account was the first record in the breached database, with password recovery linked to his personal email address.

The data was stored on Google Firebase, sent via a custom API that was unauthenticated, resulting in open access to user and victim data. The report also confirms that, although hosting had initially been suspended by HostGator, it had been restored via another temporary domain.

Most affected devices affect users in Mexico, Colombia, India, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia.

Daigle was able to exploit a SQL injection vulnerability to get access to the database, leading him to conclude that Firebase was not the source of the vulnerability, but rather the API.

Google has been notified, and although the app isn't distributed on the Play Store, the company has added Google Play Protect alerts for Catwatchful.

To stay protected from threats like this, it’s important to use the best antivirus software, reliable malware removal tools, and strong endpoint protection.

Even well-known apps and tools can have flaws, so running trusted security software and keeping all apps current helps reduce the risk of malware slipping through unnoticed.

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• Nvidia and AMD 8GB GPUs sales numbers are low at a German retailer
• The Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti and AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB models have sold significantly higher
• It's a strong indication that gamers prefer GPUs with more VRAM

We're now deep into Nvidia and AMD's new GPU launches, with the former recently releasing the new low-end RTX 5050 8GB GPU. However, one retailer has made it alarmingly clear that consumers are looking elsewhere for gaming GPUs.

As reported by Wccftech, a German retailer, Mindfactory, has a low number of units sold on Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti (8GB) and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT (8GB), noticeably less than their 16GB counterparts – this is thanks to the retailer showing how many units have been sold on each product.

Essentially, it's an indication that PC gamers don't want 8GB GPUs, or at least a large majority prefer GPUs with more VRAM capacities. While it could also be a suggestion of low availability, that's not been an issue for these lower-end GPUs in most regions recently, with inflated prices throwing consumers off.

It's not a secret that games are becoming more VRAM-hungry, and while 8GB isn't completely useless (it's still relevant for 1080p gaming), it's not the best option for games today. Frame Generation, which would significantly help performance with 8GB GPUs where necessary, increases VRAM consumption – and that's the last thing these GPUs need.

Analysis: Hopefully, this is the last generation of 8GB GPUs...Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: Mindfactory)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Mindfactory)

So far, Intel appears to be the only one among the three major tech giants to abandon 8GB GPUs. AMD and Nvidia have stuck with 8GB configurations for their new GPUs, and if I'm honest, I don't see any benefit to it.

Again, I'm not suggesting 8GB GPUs are pointless; there's certainly a significant number of PC gamers on a budget who don't need mid to high-tier hardware, which is where an 8GB card would make sense. However, the current trend of poor performance in PC games, combined with inflated prices of GPUs above their retail price, makes these graphics cards a hard sell.

The only place I would tolerate 8GB GPUs being used is in low-end and affordable gaming laptops. Laptop GPUs don't match up to discrete desktop GPUs performance-wise, so expectations of decent frame rates are expected. But it's not the same case when you build a desktop rig, where you expect a bang for your buck – and I don't think 8GB of VRAM can achieve that.

It's all besides the point, though, as the simple case of more VRAM-hungry games should be enough to put an end to 8GB cards. I'm just hopeful this generation will be the last we see of them...

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Commentary: The iPhone 17 will likely launch in September, and there's one upgrade that's long overdue. (No, it's not the cameras, design or battery).

Your phone's hotspot feature can help you get your laptop or tablet online, but sometimes it takes some settings fixes to make it work.

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• An unannounced MMO from The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Game Studios has been canceled
• The project is just one of many that have been canceled amid mass layoffs at Microsoft
• ZeniMax Game Studios head Matt Firor has also stepped down

Microsoft has canceled an unannounced massively multiplayer game (MMO) from The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Game Studios.

This comes amid mass layoffs at Microsoft that have seen 9,000 staff members affected, as well as multiple other games to be canceled, including Perfect Dark and Everwild.

The project, code-named Blackbird, was said to be an MMO and a brand new IP unrelated to The Elder Scrolls or Fallout. Development began in 2018 and has been in the works for seven years. It appears that the team has also been cut as part of the layoffs.

According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier on Bluesky, "some employees at ZeniMax Online Studios are now watching their Slack accounts abruptly get locked out," and they've received no word from HR or been informed about the status of their employment, "just an ominous Slack deactivation."

In addition, ZeniMax Game Studios' head Matt Firor has stepped down from his position and been replaced by Joseph Burba.

"After more than 18 years leading ZeniMax Online Studios, I'll be stepping away later this month," Firor said on X / Twitter.

"While I won't be working on the game anymore, I will be cheering you on and adding to the thousands of hours I've already spent in-game. There are many more stories to be told, adventures to be had, and I know this amazing community will carry that shared legacy and success forwards."

Please read this update from ZOS President, Matt Firor. pic.twitter.com/M00G1QZZrHJuly 2, 2025

Jill Braff, head of studio for Bethesda and ZeniMax, also shared a staff memo announcing the leadership changes while also commenting on the latest job cuts (via IGN).

"Dear Team. Building on Matt’s note below, I first want to take a moment to acknowledge the changes happening today across Microsoft Gaming, including Bethesda/ZeniMax," Braff wrote.

"Saying goodbye to talented colleagues and friends is painful. These individuals have contributed meaningfully to our studios, our games, and our culture. I want to thank them for the contributions they have made that shaped our journey as a team and as a company.

"I also want to share today that Matt Firor has decided to step down from his role as the head of ZeniMax Online Studios, effective July 14. I want to offer heartfelt thanks to Matt for his incredible leadership of ZOS over the last 18 years. As a driving force behind the success of The Elder Scrolls Online, Matt has grown the game into one of the most enduring and beloved MMOs in the industry."

He continues, writing, "I’m pleased to announce that Joseph ('Jo') Burba will be taking over for Matt Firor as the new Studio Director for ZOS. With over 20 years in the industry, his extensive experience in live service multiplayer titles, and a strong background in various roles across ZOS the past thirteen years, Jo is well-prepared to lead the team into its next chapter.

"Matt, Jo, and I will work together to finalize our transition plan – more to come soon. In the meantime, please join me in wishing Matt all the best and congratulating Jo on his new role. Thank you to all of you for your dedication to Bethesda/ZeniMax, our community, and to each other."

Braff references a prior memo from the head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, in which he confirmed the many game cancellations, the closure of developer The Initiative, and the cancellation of "several unannounced projects".

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• Oracle will more than double its cloud revenue in FY2028 with a $30 billion deal
• OpenAI's Project Stargate will see $500 billion invested across the US
• The AI firm is set to lease an additional 4.5GW from Oracle

OpenAI has said it is set to lease an additional 4.5 gigawatts of data center power on top of its current portfolio from Oracle to fuel its upcoming Project Stargate – a major initiative to expand its AI data center infrastructure across the United States.

The huge deal is part of OpenAI's $500 billion plan announced in January 2025 alongside major partners including Oracle and SoftBank.

With Oracle CEO Safra Catz recently revealing the company has secured a major contract worth $30 billion in annual revenue, many are beginning to speculate whether OpenAI could be the cloud giant's biggest client.

OpenAI to rent even more data center power from Oracle

Although OpenAI failed to share specific details about Project Stargate, we do know that it centers around a $500 billion investment spanning four years, beginning with an initial $100 billion investment.

We also know that Oracle has plans to build new data centers in Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin and Wyoming, with further sites in New Mexico, Georgia, Ohio and Pennsylvania also potentially on the cards (via Bloomberg), which broadly aligns with Project Stargate's plans to "secure American leadership in AI" and "support the re-industrialization of the United States."

Commenting during the company's fiscal 2025 earnings release – a period when total company revenue rose 8% – Catz wrote: "FY25 was a very good year—but we believe FY26 will be even better as our revenue growth rates will be dramatically higher."

"Oracle is well on its way to being not only the world’s largest cloud application company—but also one of the world’s largest cloud infrastructure companies," Catz added. Oracle has a market cap of $645.98 billion, putting it several paces behind its key multi trillion-dollar hyperscaler rivals.

Oracle did not respond to TechRadar Pro's request for a comment on the mystery $30 billion deal, which is set to come into play in fiscal 2028.

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