Technology

I spoke with the creative director of the upcoming action RPG game, which is based on the beloved book and TV series.

Choosing a top pick was no easy task.

I get it. Parents confronted with the exorbitant cost of a college education and the possibility that their progeny will also need a new laptop are disinclined to spend $1,000 or more on a Mac when a Windows machine could be had for hundreds less.

I also know that the decision is not that obvious or straightforward. A Windows computer that costs $450 is in no way comparable to, say, a $999 MacBook Air. That, I think, was the point of the nearly 8-minute-long YouTube ad Apple launched and then apparently made private within 24 hours (but other copies of it still exist – see below).

Titled "Convince Your Parents to Get You a Mac", the ad is set in a college pep assembly with an audience full of disinterested teens (or actors, it's hard to tell) and SNL's Please Don't Destroy's Martin Herlihy as presenter.

It's not what I'd call a clever ad. The premise...well, I'm not sure there is one. Herlihy is mostly just presenting Apple's "The Parent Presentation" Keynote template, which anyone can download and, ostensibly, modify to convince their parents why it's a good idea to invest in a Mac for their child's college experience.

Taken at face value, Apple's presentation is spot on. Yes, a Mac is more expensive, but still an excellent value because of things you don't need to invest in or worry about, like backup software, blue screens, and antivirus software. The best MacBooks are well-built and lightweight.

Like I said, solid argument.

I do not understand why Apple chose to promote it with an overly long video featuring jokes and bits that didn't land with me or the college prep audience, which sits in uncomfortable silence for most of the video. This may have been part of the joke, but I didn't see the humor in it.

Hard to watch

Herlihy gives it his all. The cringe humor fits in nicely with some of the work he's done on SNL with Please Don't Destroy castmates Ben Marshall and John Higgins. Without them to play off of, however, each joke floats lifelessly out over the audience before cashing in the aisles.

I wonder if someone at Apple, maybe CEO Tim Cook, happened to check out the "ad/infomercial" after it launched and immediately knew this was a misfire.

Essentially, Apple managed to take its most salient points and make them hard to listen to or sit through.

Obviously, Apple considers this a critical moment in the pre-back-to-school buying period. It's hoping with this ad or maybe others like it, to plant a seed, and preferably one in the heads of those who can make the laptop purchase. Enlisting teens who want new laptops in the efforts is smart, but this was not the way.

The video is too long, too weird, and too oddly earnest to be a shareable bit of content. If this were on TikTok, I would've swiped up within 12 seconds.

There may be some salvageable parts from this marketing misstep, but I kind of doubt it. Don't worry, though, Apple is good at this stuff and I'm sure they'll be back soon enough with a TikTok-length ad that all your friends will want to share with each other and, eventually, their parents.

If there's a lesson in this, it's that Apple might just want to leave the whole effort to teens who, it seems, are already earnestly sharing their presentations on TikTok.

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• Klarna wants to be your bank, your store, and now your phone network too
• It’s new mobile plan offers unlimited 5G, but it's unclear how support will work
• Unlimited data sounds great, but what happens when you need help or travel abroad?

Klarna, the fintech company known for reshaping the buy-now-pay-later space and once using an AI bot to do the job of 700 staff, is moving into a very different line of business: mobile connectivity.

The company is launching a mobile network that promises unlimited 5G data, talk, and text for $40 per month in the United States.

Klarna’s new service is being rolled out in partnership with Gigs, a company that describes itself as the “operating system for mobile services.”

Klarna moves beyond banking

“Klarna’s push into the mobile space marks the beginning of a new era for connectivity. Now, consumers can expect a seamlessly integrated mobile experience that bundles premium connectivity with financial tools, all through the apps they already know and love,” said Gigs CEO, Hermann Frank.

The plan includes unlimited 5G data that reportedly won’t be throttled, with coverage on AT&T’s nationwide network.

Klarna claims there are no hidden fees, no contract lock-ins, and a setup process that happens in minutes through the Klarna app.

But questions remain about long-term service reliability, especially when services like customer support and international roaming haven’t yet launched.

For now, only a basic unlimited plan is available, with premium options expected later.

“Klarna has saved consumers time and money, and reduced financial worry for over 20 years. With mobile plans we’re taking that one step further, as we continue to build our neobank offering,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and co-founder of Klarna.

“Consumers already know and love Klarna’s super smooth services and now, with one tap in the Klarna app, they’ll be up and running with their new phone plan, no hassle, no hidden fees, just great value.”

The offer seems to address common frustrations among US mobile users. Klarna’s internal research suggests half of Americans "believe switching phone plans is too difficult.”

The company touts its 25 million active users and high Net Promoter Score as reasons why it could disrupt telecom just as it did digital payments.

With N26 and Revolut already venturing into telecom, Klarna’s entry is part of a larger trend where neobanks try to wrap financial and connectivity tools into one platform. Surely it's only a matter of time before PayPal joins the fold.

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• Asus ProArt P16 beats most laptops in its price and size class
• You get RTX 5070 graphics and OLED visuals in a surprisingly slim 4-pound frame
• Bundled AI apps like StoryCube and MuseTree boost productivity for visual creators and editors

Asus has introduced the ProArt P16 (H7606), a laptop which pairs AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, targeting content creators and professional users.

The new addition joins the wave of Copilot+ PCs built to support advanced local AI tasks and aims to rival some of the most premium creative laptops on the market.

At $2,499.99, the ProArt P16 also undercuts competitors like the Razer Blade 16, which retails for $2,799.99 but offers a similar target user experience.

Asus ProArt P16 bundles AI tools and software for creatives

The ProArt P16 features a 16-inch OLED display, a premium visual specification often reserved for machines priced higher.

It also supports up to 64GB of RAM, which is nearly unheard of in this segment, and up to 2TB of internal storage.

These specifications position it as a contender for the best laptop for graphic design, especially those working with high-resolution files and complex color spaces.

At just 0.59 inches thick and weighing 4.08 pounds, the Nano Black chassis keeps things portable despite the raw horsepower inside.

Asus bundles in additional creative features through its exclusive apps: StoryCube and MuseTree. The former is pitched as a digital asset management tool that utilizes AI to automatically categorize and generate clips from user content, while the latter turns graphical prompts into images while intelligently organizing creative inspiration.

At just 0.59 inches thick and weighing 4.08 pounds, the Nano Black chassis keeps things portable despite the raw horsepower inside.

This pairing of hardware and software seems designed to capture those looking for the best laptop for video editing without committing to a desktop setup.

Asus has also partnered with CapCut, giving new users an exclusive six-month membership that includes access to premium features and AI-driven editing tools.

In addition, the laptop comes with a three-month Adobe Creative Suite subscription, further appealing to professionals working across photography, video, and design workflows.

These bundled tools offer value for those searching for the best laptop for photo editing, as they come integrated into the buying experience.

That said, Asus will release a more powerful model featuring the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 in late 2025, which will likely push the price higher. This model will be available for purchase at the ASUS official store after launch.

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• Tesla unveiled its “public-facing” Robotaxi service this weekend
• The service is currently an invite-only affair
• Reports suggest it is still behind Waymo and other rivals

In a surprising turn of events, Tesla has stuck to its recent timelines and actually kick-started a “public-facing” autonomous ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas this weekend.

Despite Texas lawmakers asking Musk to postpone proceedings until it had finalized and introduced new laws surrounding fully autonomous taxis, the controversial CEO has ploughed ahead anyway.

As a result, reports are surfacing on various social media networks that show the first few VIP invitees enjoying their debut Robotaxi experience.

However, this is a far cry from the futuristic Cybercab scenario that Tesla showcased at its Hollywood-spec 'We, Robot' event in October of last year, where bespoke Cybercabs ferried folks around a film set and the company’s Optimus humanoid robots served drinks to party-goers, only for the world to find out they were actually tele-operated.

It is a similar story with Tesla's recent robotaxi endeavor, as the “fleet” of 10-20 Model Y vehicles (sporting some Robotaxi branding) are strictly limited to a small and relatively uncomplicated area of Austin, Texas.

They also only operate between 6am and 12am and have a remote operator in the passenger seat to manually verify riders' ID and take control should a problem arise.

The Verge reported that some of Tesla’s driverless vehicles are also followed by 'chase' vehicles, presumably packed with engineers ready to jump in should there be an issue that both the in-car and remote operators can’t handle.

So far, only a select number of invites have gone out to predominantly “pro-Tesla” influencers, according to The Verge, with the initial invite list of test pilots reading like a who’s-who of the Musk sycophant contingent – renowned Tesla stock hype-man Sawyer Merritt being among those names.

Just like the 'We, Robot' event, this initial launch phase feels very much like a massive PR stunt, with the company essentially inviting the “general public” (read Tesla content creators) along for a ride during the very early testing phase, rather than during the widespread deployment of a legitimate, paid-for service.

Why Waymo is way ahead

(Image credit: Waymo)

It’s impossible to talk about Tesla’s robotaxi service without mentioning its closest competitor Waymo, particularly when Musk reportedly said after this successful initial launch phase that there could up to a thousand robotaxis on the road in a few months.

As a reminder, Waymo currently has a fully operational fleet of 1,500 vehicles on the road in four major cities in the US, with the areas in which it operates constantly expanding inside those cities. Anyone can summon a driverless cab with a simple app interface and they won't see a human inside the vehicle.

By the end of 2026, it hopes to have added another 2,000 vehicles according to a blog post by the Alphabet-owned company released in May this year, as it continues to ready a fleet of Jaguar i-Pace cars for autonomous driving.

Waymo also announced that it will be the first major client of Hyundai’s mass-produced Ioniq 5 robotaxi, which will help it scale even faster.

To think Musk will be able to reach this stage a couple of months after what is basically an initial testing phase is pure fantasy, especially as he insists on using a camera-only Full Self-Driving system that lacks the radars, Lidar and myriad other sensors that its rivals say is mandatory for a reliable and safe service.

Scaling up is the true test

(Image credit: Hyundai)

Already, a number of videos have already surfaced on Reddit that appear to show Tesla Robotaxis behaving erratically, swerving at busy intersections and slamming on the brakes for parked police cars that aren’t even stopped in the road.

Granted, it’s impossible to verify the authenticity of a Reddit video, but there is a growing list of very public cases where Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system has been active during an accident.

The first few reviews of the experience seem largely positive, with most riders describing the drive as “smooth” or “human-like”, but these are still very early days.

Things will get far more complicated if and when Tesla legitimately has thousands of vehicles on the road, it removes the operator sat in the passenger seat, and it builds out its app so the general public can genuinely use it. I predict that being at least two years away.

Alongside Waymo, there are companies in China that are also racing ahead with active fully autonomous ride-hailing services. Baidu, WeRide and Pony.ai are already racking up hundreds and thousands of miles.

Just last year, Baidu reportedly sparked anxiety among taxi drivers, automotive brands and the working public after it launched a driverless service in Wuhan that offered rides of around six miles (much further than the reported four or so miles Tesla can currently travel) for around 50 cents.

It undercut journeys with a human driver at the wheel by around two bucks and naturally proved very popular, according to CNN, leading to panic that many jobs could soon to be at risk.

Once the legal framework is in place for the widespread rollout of autonomous vehicles, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think that the Chinese could swoop in and dominate the market... just like they have done with EVs.

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• Tronsmart Fiitune X30 is out now for $179.99 (about £154 / AU$322)
• 80W output with built-in subwoofer and up-firing "sky driver"
• IPX6 water resistance and 14 hour battery life

The Tronsmart Fiitune X30 is a direct rival to the Sonos Era 300, and it has one particularly appealing quality: it's less than half the price of the Sonos.

Where the Sonos Era 300 has a list price of $449 / £449 / AU$749, the Fiitune X30 is launching with a price tag of $179.99 / €179.99 (about £154 / AU$322).

As you'd expect, there are a few differences in spec to achieve that much lower price. And if you're serious about spatial sound, one of those differences may be a deal breaker.

(Image credit: Tronsmart)Fiitune X30: key features

The Fiitune X30 has six driver units, including an upward-firing illuminated "sky driver" to throw some audio towards the ceiling, a down-firing active subwoofer, dual tweeters, and dual mid-range drivers. There are four passive bass radiators and total power output is 80W. Frequency range isn't specified beyond "an ultra-wide 40kHz bandwidth".

It's a portable design with an integrated handle, dual-device connection, and IPX6 water resistance, and it promises 14 hours of playback between charges – that's fairly low compared to the best portable speakers, though there are lots of speakers to handle here, to be fair.

You can tune the audio with the companion smartphone app for iOS and Android, and Android users can stream audio to the speaker in LDAC for the highest possible sound quality. The speaker can be used solo or as half of a stereo pair.

It's not a bad spec for the money, but there's one important caveat: the spatial audio here isn't native, because the speaker doesn't support Dolby Atmos (or rival spatial audio formats, but Atmos is the crucial one for music right now).

Any spatial effect will be from 'upscaling' the music to have virtual extra height using that top-mounted speaker, and any 3D placement beyond stereo will also be added by the speaker.

That means it's targeting a very different market than the Sonos, and I suspect its real rival isn't the Era 300 but the Sonos Roam 2. The littlest Sonos is nowhere near as loud as the Fiitune X30 – it's 10W rather than 80W and has far fewer speakers – but it's priced identically at $179 / £179 / AU$299.

The Tronsmart could be a juicy set of speakers anyway, with lots of power for a low price, but this might be a case where there's no point putting the extra effort of spatial speakers in unless you're going to go the whole way and include Atmos.

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• Most people are polite to AI even when they’re frustrated, Tidio survey finds
• Cursing at chatbots doesn’t stop people from saying thank you
• Politeness toward AI feels normal even when the tech fails often

Are you someone who always says “please” and “thank you” to AI tools, or do you let rip when it doesn’t get what you mean or give you what you want?

New research has suggested users of AI chatbots can be both polite and rude, often in the same conversation.

A new report from Tidio found most people have cursed at a chatbot at least once, but that hasn’t stopped them from saying “thank you” afterward, highlighting the contradiction in how people interact with AI.

Avoiding AI chatbots

Nearly 70% of users admitted to swearing at chatbots out of frustration, but the service we’re getting from our future AI overlords can’t be that bad since 75% said they were satisfied with their most recent interaction.

Although people can be quick to vent when things don’t go their way (something human customer service workers know all too well), politeness still seems to be a habit people carry into conversations with AI, even when the experience isn’t totally smooth.

A previous Future study found 67% of Americans and 71% of Brits are nice to AI. That includes saying “please,” “thank you,” and even apologizing to digital assistants like ChatGPT or smart speakers.

It may sound silly, but some people say being respectful helps them get better answers. TechRadar’s Becca Caddy tested this by removing polite words from her prompts to ChatGPT and said the quality of responses dropped.

Even OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, weighed in on the cost of politeness. When asked how much it costs to power responses to polite prompts, he replied, “Tens of millions of dollars well spent.”

Although AI is now part of our daily lives, a good portion of people aren’t wholly convinced by it.

Around 30% of respondents to Tidio’s survey said they’d prefer to wait for a human even if a chatbot is ready to respond. And 26% said they’d rather trust a Magic 8-Ball than AI support.

Some users are even willing to pay to avoid it. About 11% would spend extra just to talk to a human.

Yet in practice, most people are prepared to use AI for help with basic tasks. The most common purposes include technical support, general questions, billing issues, and product information.

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There's a new show at the top of the Netflix streaming charts, and whether you'll love it or not depends very much on whether you like shows such as Virgin River, Yellowstone or Dawson's Creek.

The Waterfront – Kevin Williamson's (Scream) new family crime drama – is according to The Guardian "Dawson's Creek for grown-ups". The Hollywood Reporter has described it as "Ozark meets Bloodline (with a bit of Virgin River)", while The Daily Beast says that "perhaps Yellowstone fans will be excited to watch that show’s vibe CW-ified and ported over to Netflix. Everyone else can just keep fishing for something better".

So we're clearly in love it or hate it territory – it's 64% score from the critics and 71% rating (at the time of writing) from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes confirms that. But for those who love it, The Waterfront is lots of fun.

What are the critics saying about The Waterfront?

The show centers the Buckley family – Holt McCallany and Maria Bello – who've built a fishing empire in their home town, only to have it taken away from them piece by piece as patriarch Harlan (McCallany) recovers from two heart attacks.

According to TIME: "it’s a slow-burn Southern gothic tale rich with betrayal and moral ambiguity, but beneath the genre trappings lies a deeper current of meaning... the series stands as a meditation on loyalty, legacy, and the weight of unfinished business."

The aforementioned Guardian review begs to differ, saying happily that: "It is escapist summer nonsense with – God, I hope – no pretensions to being otherwise. Dive into the adult creek and wallow in nostalgia as the waves of absurdity sweep towards shore."

Variety agrees – it's "the Netflix equivalent of a beach read, but it’s highly entertaining" – and The San Jose Mercury News reckons that the show "is a keeper because of the outrageous behavior of its morally compromised characters." Meanwhile, New York magazine says "there’s nothing quite like sensational, just-this-side-of-campy organized crime to buoy you through the sticky, grimy days of summer."

So, it's big daft summer fun? Not so fast! The haters are here and they've got some hating to do about why it's not one of the best Netflix shows, starting with IndieWire who says that "Netflix's sludgy family crime drama is a shallow reflection of better shows".

The grade here is a grudging D+ because, IndieWire's Ben Travers says, "it's all vibes and no soul... Nothing that’s heard has to mean anything, it just has to sound like it does. Nothing that happens has to evoke any real emotions, it just has to remind you of shows that did. Even if you haven’t seen Ozark or Yellowstone – heck, even if The Waterfront is the first series you’ve ever seen – there’s no mistaking a sinking ship."

The Independent wasn't exactly raving either. "It is hard to imagine that anyone at Netflix thinks The Waterfront is going to be a classic, or even a particular hit. Instead, it is television played about as safe as it comes."

It's "unconvincing", says The Hollywood Reporter. "This isn’t necessarily a good show, but it’s a serviceable attempt to reproduce the sort of accessible, young-skewing soap opera The CW and The WB used to make, with a solidly above-average cast."

The Waterfront is streaming now on Netflix.

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Whether it's during my time testing TVs at TechRadar or back in my AV retail days, one aspect of TVs I like to explore thoroughly is the smart TV platform, also known as the Operating System (OS).

The best TVs not only deliver great picture and sound quality (although great TV sound is a bit rarer), but they also make the viewing experience smooth, responsive and user-friendly.

Over the past few years, LG’s webOS smart TV platform has delivered the best user experience. In comparison, other smart TV platforms such as Google TV, Roku, and Fire TV all come up short, and the same has been true of Samsung’s own Tizen smart TV platform – until now.

In our recent reviews of the Samsung S95F and 65-inch Samsung S90F OLED TVs, and the Samsung QN90F mini-LED TV, the Tizen smart TV platform scored four and a half out of five stars in the smart TV category. Previously, the maximum I would give Tizen was four stars.

What has changed in the latest version that makes it so much better?

The best features

The Samsung Gaming Hub (pictured on the Samsung S95F) is one of Tizen's best features (Image credit: Future)

One of the best features in Samsung’s Tizen interface is the Gaming Hub. A portal dedicated to all things gaming, the Gaming Hub features a wide range of cloud-based apps such as Xbox, Nvidia GeForce Now and Luna. It also has access to recommended Twitch streams and can detect your console when it's connected, working as a launch page. Gaming Hub is one of the major reasons why Samsung TVs always feature in our list of the best gaming TVs.

A more recent Tizen addition that seems to be inspired by LG’s webOS is the quick menu. Previously, accessing the settings on Samsung TVs was a long-winded process, but with the new quick menu overlay, accessing picture and sound modes, and the brightness setting is incredibly easy. Tizen 9.0 (the 2025 version) also remembers your most recent and frequently accessed settings and puts them at the top of the quick menu – useful if you regularly change one setting (I found I changed Dynamic Tone Mapping often while in Filmmaker Mode).

Samsung's new quick menu screen overlay gives you easy access to some settings (Image credit: Future)

The Tizen homescreen is split into three sections: For You, Live and Apps. For You now hosts more AI-based recommendations based on your viewing history, and I found these to be largely accurate. Samsung has also introduced profiles, where individual recommendations can be made for each user – another feature found in LG’s webOS platform that was first introduced in 2024.

Samsung TVs have a mode (called Art on LED, QLED and mini-LED sets, Ambient on OLED sets) where pictures can be displayed instead of showing a blank screen when in standby mode. There’s also a new subscription-based Art Store option that lets you “stream” paintings from famous museums, a feature that was previously limited to Samsung The Frame TVs.

Finally, Tizen provides access to not only the best streaming services but also thousands of hours of free TV shows and movies via its Samsung TV Plus hub, which is similar to the LG Channels feature on LG TVs.

Searching for settings

Some more advanced settings are unfortunately hidden away and can be tricky to find (Image credit: Future)

Tizen 9.0 may be the best version of Samsung’s smart TV platform I’ve used so far, but it’s still not perfect. One common criticism in TechRadar’s recent Samsung TV reviews involves the difficulty in accessing certain settings.

Although the quick menu mentioned above is a welcome feature, some settings are buried under a layer of menus, making them hard to find. For example, something as basic as Noise Reduction is found by going to Settings>All Settings> Picture Settings>Picture Clarity Settings>Noise Reduction, and this process involves scrolling down through multiple menus.

This deep nesting of settings makes life difficult for those who like to experiment with their TVs. And while Samsung provides a wide range of picture settings for viewers to customize the picture, Samsung could have made these easier to access.

Final thoughts

(Image credit: Future)

Tizen may not be a perfect smart TV platform, but for years, it was trailing behind LG’s webOS. Although webOS is still my top pick for a smart TV platform, it’s great to see just how much Tizen has improved in this latest version.

For Samsung TV owners with an older version of Tizen, fear not: Samsung’s commitment to seven years of software updates for older models gives your old TV extended life. And having tested this latest version, I can say that Tizen 9.0 is the best one yet.

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• Insurance giant AFLAC confirms it has been hit with a cyberattack
• The attack looks to have been by notorious Scattered Spider group
• Increasingly infamous group targeted multiple UK retailers earlier in 2025

AFLAC (American Family Life Assurance Company), has confirmed in a statement it has suffered a cyber ‘incident’ in which hackers intruded into its network.

AFLAC, the largest supplemental insurance provider in the US, says it was able to stop the intrusion ‘within hours’ and systems were not affected by ransomware.

Whilst AFLAC hasn’t confirmed the source of the breach or who was behind it, the breach exhibits all the signs of a Scattered Spider attack.

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A wider campaign

The name Scattered Spider will sound familiar to lots of readers, especially given that the group is allegedly behind major and disruptive breaches of UK retailers Marks and Spencer and Co-op, as well as luxury department store Harrods.

Google recently warned the group was aiming its sights on US firms, and urged the US insurance sector to be on high alert for social engineering and credential stuffing attacks.

Insurance companies are particularly at risk as they hold vast amounts of personal data and turn huge profits which can be exploited for ransom.

“This attack, like many insurance companies are currently experiencing, was caused by a sophisticated cybercrime group. This was part of a cybercrime campaign against the insurance industry,” AFLAC’s statement stated.

“The potentially impacted files contain claims information, health information, social security numbers, and/or other personal information, related to customers, beneficiaries, employees, agents, and other individuals in our U.S. business. We remain committed to caring for and supporting our customers.”

Anyone who uses any services hit by this group (or affected by any data breach) should be very wary of any unexpected communications, looking out for social engineering attacks, and should check out the best identity theft protection software to keep safe.

AFLAC is also offering 24 months of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services for customers who contact their hotline following the breach.

Via BleepingComputer

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