As we reported last year, the first season of Citadel struggled to achieve a 50% Rotten Tomatoes rating. It's currently sitting at a rather sad 51%, but its spin-offs Citadel: Diana and Citadel: Honey Bunny are much higher rated, with 82% and 75% respectively.
So of course Prime Video has canned both spin-offs after just one season apiece.
The reason's simple enough: the reviews were often rank: "As generic as they come"; "style over substance"; "what you'd get if a child tried to draw an action blockbuster from memory"; "so frustratingly low-effort it's honestly kind of offensive"), but lots and lots of people streamed it anyway.
It's not all bad news for fans of the now cancelled shows, however. Amazon MGM TV boss Vernon Sanders says the tales will continue as part of the mothership show.
What's happening with Citadel?Here's Sanders: "Having successfully traversed India and Italy, storylines from both Citadel: Honey Bunny and Citadel: Diana will be woven into the upcoming second season of the mothership series Citadel."
He continues: "While these successful and widely enjoyed international chapters will not continue as individual series, Season 2 of Citadel will be our most exhilarating yet. With high-stakes storytelling, new additions to our amazing cast and bold, cinematic ambition, the new season will deepen the emotional journeys of Nadia, Mason and Orlick against the relentless force that is Manticore."
He also shared a premiere date, or at least a premiere window: Q2 of 2026.
The writing was on the wall for the spin-offs because, as Deadline reports, they "have not been global breakouts". The two shows "have been waiting for word on their fates since launching their first seasons in September and December, respectively."
That also means the end of what I slightly sarcastically described as a Citadel Cinematic Universe of multiple connected shows set in different countries. It's all about the single show now, and hopefully it'll raise its game for season 2.
You may also enjoySamsung has launched a new rugged tablet featuring a 10.1-inch WUXGA TFT LCD display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz, and touch sensitivity for gloves under 2mm thick and wet screen use - though not underwater.
There aren’t many rugged tablets from major brands, so it’s great to see the Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro built specifically for tough environments. It boasts an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, MIL-STD-810H certification for durability in extreme conditions, and Gorilla Glass Victus+ to protect the screen against scratches and disinfectants like ethanol and bleach-based cleaners.
Power shouldn’t be an issue, as the tablet includes a 10,100mAh user-replaceable battery that supports dual hot-swap, allowing one battery to be changed without powering down the device. A POGO pin interface supports dock-based charging, although the dock is sold separately.
3.5mm headphone jackThis isn’t a device aiming to compete with mainstream tablets in raw performance. It’s powered by a 4nm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip, paired with 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 2TB. This chip delivers mid-range performance and sits below the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8 series in Qualcomm’s lineup.
For connectivity, the tablet supports 5G (Sub-6), LTE, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4, and NFC with front tagging. It also supports both physical SIM and eSIM, though eSIM availability may vary by region. Navigation is covered by GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, and QZSS, although satellite coverage may differ based on location.
The Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, a feature increasingly rare in modern devices. Samsung retained the port specifically for frontline workers who rely on wired headsets where Bluetooth may be unreliable or restricted.
Don’t expect flagship-level photography from the Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro. This productivity-focused tablet includes a 12MP rear camera and an 8MP front-facing sensor. It does come bundled with an IP68-rated S Pen for added functionality, however.
Weighing about 680g, the tablet also supports a USB 3.2 Type-C port, Samsung Knox and Knox Vault for enhanced security, an RGB light sensor, and a programmable Active Key for quick access to user-defined functions.
“At Samsung, we understand that frontline professionals need technology that adapts to their fast-paced and demanding work environments,” said Jerry Park, EVP and Head of Global Mobile B2B Team, MX Business at Samsung Electronics.
He added the Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro combines "ruggedised durability, enterprise-grade security, seamless connectivity and intuitive AI-driven features to help businesses operate efficiently in harsh conditions while maximizing productivity and minimizing downtime.”
The Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro will be available starting April 2025, with a recommended retail price of £769 in the UK. US pricing has yet to be confirmed.
You may also likeWell then, Spotify still down? Parisian rival Deezer picked a cute moment to unveil a quartet of new features coming to its music streaming platform, didn't it?
Deezer is clearly on a mission, not just to provide a Wrapped and Replay answer in the shape of My Deezer Month, coming in May, but to enable its users to express themselves and connect with others through music – whichever of the best music streaming services they're pinging you a track from.
Always subscribe to Spotify because it's the one your friends use? You're about to get another option.
Alexis Lanternier, CEO of Deezer, said: "At Deezer, we are constantly innovating to offer the most personalized and customizable music experience on the market. The new features we’re introducing today give users more control over their algorithm, greater flexibility to personalize their experience, and easy ways to share content with their friends, even beyond Deezer. We want to keep surprising fans with new and engaging ways to experience music."
What of the four brand-new features? Let's get into it…
Deezer's new features: let's get granular (Image credit: Future)The four-pronged suite of updates Deezer is bringing is as follows:
More control over the algorithm
Deezer tells me 40% of music streamers are either 34 or younger (well don't I feel old?) and the message is clear: they want better control over the algorithm. Deezer has already evolved its Flow feature to let users influence their algorithm-delivered recommendations over the years (including 'like' buttons), but starting in April, Deezer is launching an algorithm customization feature that it claims puts users "fully in control" of their music discovery. For the first time in music streaming, Deezer tells me users get to tweak their recommendations algorithm without restriction.
During an online briefing, Lanternier showed off what he jokingly calls Deezer's new personalized "nightmare section" within every user's personal account: all of the bands you have disliked and a timeline of what you shunned, and when. Don't like it? You'll no longer be sent tracks from those artists, or similar tracks to the one you listened to and hated. Apple Music offers vaguely similar 'favorite' (star) and 'suggest less' (thumbs-down) buttons for tracks, but it's nothing like this.
Enhanced personalization of the interface
The Deezer app is becoming even more customizable. Starting in May, users will be able to organize the Favorites tab for quick access to their preferred content, creating a truly personalized space. They'll also have the option to customize their playlist covers by adding photos, shapes, and stickers – remodeling the app to fit their personality. During the demo we were shown how to create a cover – think emoji stickers like suns, sunglasses and maybe a drink, a colorful background and a title like 'Summer 2025 Ibiza' maybe. (Lucky you, by the way…)
New stats to discover and share your musical identity
Building on its annual recap, My Deezer Year, Deezer is launching My Deezer Month. And let's not mince words: this builds on the mixed successes of Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay (which was vastly better than Wrapped late last year). Starting in early May, users will receive fresh stats – including most listened-to songs, artists, genres – and a detailed breakdown of their activity, all presented in a "unique and engaging way" every month. Yes, we have heard of this before, but just wait…
Share your music beyond Deezer
Coming late April, Deezer is introducing a next-level approach to music sharing, and one that transcends your streaming platform. With a universal sharing link, Deezer tells me users will be able to send their favorite tracks to friends and family who are using other streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music). The launch builds on Shaker, another unique Deezer feature that allows subscribers to create playlists with their community, even with friends who are not on Deezer – but come on! It's huge, no?
At a time when there's still no official sign of Spotify HiFi, Apple Music, Tidal and Qobuz's hi-resolution streams have become ever-more tempting options. Deezer's audio file resolution still tops out at CD-quality, aka 16-bit/44.1kHz, (better than Spotify, not as good as the best offerings from Tidal, Qobuz and Apple Music) but music I can send to a friend, safe in the knowledge that they'll be able to open and enjoy it, even if they're used to lowly Spotify streams? That is huge – and a big reason to switch.
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