Technology

• Google Cloud's API service ere to blame for widespread outage
• Most regions were back online in 40 minutes, but some took even longer
• The company has promised to protect against future outages and improve communication

Following Google Cloud's recent widespread outage, which took sites like Spotify, Cloudflare and Discord offline, the company released its detailed report sharing exactly why it failed customers.

The company says the root cause was a code issue in Service Control – part of the company's API management and policy checking system.

Specifically, invalid automated quota update and a lack of proper error handling triggered a global crash loop, with 503 errors seen across not only Google Cloud services, but services using its APIs.

Google Cloud outage caused by API issue

The outage affected the Google Cloud infrastructure, as well as other popular Google Workspace apps like Drive, Docs, Gmail and Calendar. However, third-party sites accessing Google Cloud's API, including popular music streaming platform Spotify which boasts of 678 users, as well as some Cloudflare services, were also affected.

"On May 29, 2025, a new feature was added to Service Control for additional quota policy checks," the company wrote in its incident report. "The issue with this change was that it did not have appropriate error handling nor was it feature flag protected."

Google Cloud boasted that its Site Reliability Engineering team had started triaging the incident within two minutes, having identified the root cause within 10 minutes. "The red-button [to disable the serving path] was ready to roll out ~25 minutes from the start of the incident," Google said, with the rollout complete within 40 minutes.

Although smaller regions recovered relatively quickly, larger regions like us-central-1 took longer to come back online – around two hours and 40 minutes in the case of this particular region.

In its mini incident report issues on the day of the outage, Google Cloud promised to "do better." Its more detailed report promises the usual responses going forward, such as improving static analysis and testing practices, auditing and modularizing Service Control’s architecture to contain future incidents, but the company has also pledged to "improve [its] external communications" to better inform customers, ensuring that its communications infrastructure remains online even during such outages in the future.

You might also like

• These are the best cloud hosting providers
• We've rounded up all of the best web hosting providers
• Google Cloud has big plans to take the pain out of adopting AI agents in your business

• Apple isn’t merging iPadOS and macOS, says the company’s Craig Federighi
• Doing so would “lose what makes iPad iPad,” Federighi explained
• iPadOS 26 tries to balance simplicity and power-user features

Spend enough time in the Apple ecosystem and you’ll hear one question pop up again and again: “will Apple ever merge its iPads and Macs?” Whether the question is being asked by a seasoned journalist or your uncle when you come to visit, plenty of people want to know the answer.

After a WWDC 2025 where iPadOS 26 was outfitted with a bunch of Mac-like features – from improved window management to an on-screen menu bar – that question has reared its head again. Yet it’s something that Apple has just come out and addressed head-on.

In an interview with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier (via MacRumors), Apple’s software chief Craig Federighi put it this way: “With macOS, you’d lose what makes iPad iPad, which is the ultimate touch device. But there are lots of things the two platforms can learn from one another, and that’s where we’ve adapted our best ideas to each.”

In other words, macOS Tahoe simply isn’t designed for tablets. But while putting the full-blown macOS on an iPad might not make sense right now, Apple is still happy to borrow ideas from each platform and spread them around its products – as we saw at WWDC.

Will iPadOS and macOS ever merge?

(Image credit: Apple)

So why not just leave iPadOS and macOS completely separate? Why share features among the platforms, which inevitably leads to questions about merging iPads and Macs?

According to Federighi, “We want to retain all the simplicity of the iPad but still allow iPad users who want to go deeper and further to push it at their own pace to doing more.” That means adding features that can enhance the experience for more demanding users, without adding needless complexity.

To that end, Apple has designed its new iPadOS features so that you can essentially toggle the multi-window mode on and off. If you prefer the old way of working, with fullscreen apps that don’t overlap, you can use that. If you want to use multiple windows as you can in macOS, you can switch to that mode.

Yet there’s one more consideration: the rumor that Apple is planning to launch a 19-inch foldable device that blurs the line between the iPad and the Mac. This is apparently due to launch around 2028, and it will be fascinating to see how Apple’s software handles such a product. Perhaps then we’ll finally know if Apple ever plans to merge iPadOS and macOS.

You might also like

• Apple's rumored foldable iPad tipped to launch sooner than expected with an exciting software twist
• Don't call it a Mac – I went hands-on with iPadOS 26, here's what you need to know
• 'Our biggest iPadOS release ever' – iPadOS 26 has landed, here are the 10 biggest upgrades

ChatGPT Plus has evolved over the last year, bringing with it "reasoning" models, better image generation and more studio tools. It's worth your money.

There's rumors of a new color for the iPhone 17, but it's a familiar one.

The free version of ChatGPT now uses the more advanced 4o model. But token limits will keep you waiting if you go heavy on images.

Both providers are a lifeline for households, especially in rural communities. But here’s why we recommend T-Mobile's 5G Home Internet.

Nearly one in four use the same password for multiple accounts. If you are, CNET experts have a few recommendations that can help break that habit.

• The Nubia Pad Pro is launching outside of China
• The tablet comes with impressive specs for the price
• The starting configuration will set you back $420 / £360

We may well have just got a new contender for our comprehensive best tablets guide, because the Nubia Pad Pro is launching globally. It's the first Android tablet from the Chinese company, and it has specs to compete with the best iPads.

Head over to the official Nubia Pad Pro listing (via GSMArena), and you'll see the device comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, with 8GB, 12GB or 16GB of RAM, and either 256GB or 512GB of storage on board.

That chipset isn't the newest, but it's only a couple of years old, and still has plenty of power for day-to-day tablet tasks. Factor in the starting price of $420 / £360 (a launch in Australia hasn't been mentioned), and this seems like a pretty sweet deal.

The Nubia Pad Pro looks the part as well, nicely curved and finished based on the marketing images published so far: the tablet is a mere 7.3 mm thick, tips the scales at 523 grams, and boasts a 10.9-inch, 2880 x 1800 pixel, 144 Hz display.

Nubia vs Apple

The 11th-gen Apple iPad (Image credit: Apple)

While we haven't had a chance to review or even hold the Nubia Pad Pro yet, based on the specs and images it would appear to be a serious contender to Apple's entry-level iPad, which was refreshed again back in March.

That Apple tablet has a starting price of $349 / £329 / AU$599, so it's cheaper than the Nubia offering. However, the iPad also has a lower resolution screen and less RAM, and starts with less storage (128GB).

Fit out the iPad with 256GB of storage for all your photos, movies, and other files – which is what the Nubia Pad Pro starts with – and you're up to $449 / £429 / AU$799. That makes the Android option look very appealing indeed.

Of course you need to weigh up various other factors, including the other devices you have and the ecosystems you're already invested in, but this is a welcome new addition to the best Android tablets market – and you can currently grab some preorder deals as well.

You might also like

• Google just showed us the new look of Android 16
• Some Pixel owners are reporting serious phone issues
• OnePlus has been talking up its latest tablet

• Security researchers find threat actor advertising a major database
• The archive allegedly belongs to VirtualMacOSX.com
• It contains passwords, bank data, and other sensitive information

Thousands of records belonging to VirtualMacOSX users, including banking information, have been leaked on a popular hacking forum recently, experts have claimed.

Cybersecurity researchers Safety Detectives say they found a new thread on a popular clearweb hacking forum (a forum hosted on the mainstream internet), in which the poster offered a database to anyone who would comment, or otherwise interact with the thread, for free.

Allegedly, the database belongs to the customers of VirtualMacOSX.com, a cloud-based service that provides virtual Mac OS X servers and desktops, and contains 176,000 lines, split across three separate .txt files. In these files were contained people’s user IDs, full names, company names, email addresses, postal addresses, phone numbers, passwords, password reset keys, bank names, bank types, bank codes, bank accounts, and various support tickets.

Reader offer: Get 60% off RoboForm password manager

New users can take advantage of RoboForm’s exclusive deal and get 60% off the Premium Plan. With this deal, you can get unlimited password storage, one-click login & autofill, password sharing, two-factor authentication for added protection, cloud backup, and emergency access for trusted contacts. To claim this deal, visit this link and sign up for the Premium Plan to lock in this huge discount.View Deal

Operations stable

The threat also contained a 34-line sample of the database, Safety Detectives said, adding that their superficial analysis confirmed the data’s authenticity.

“Although the data appeared genuine and we saw indicatives in invoices sent to VirtualMacOSX, we could not definitively confirm that the data belonged to VirtualMacOSX’s customers as, due to ethical considerations, we refrained from testing the exposed credentials,” the researchers said.

We would argue that it is unusual for cybercriminals to give away a brand new database containing both banking data and passwords for free, so it could also be that the database is either fake, or recycled from a previous breach. A quick Google search showed no previously reported breaches at VirtualMacOSX.com.

In any case, users should definitely reset their passwords, including on any other platforms where they might have used the same set of credentials.

Furthermore, they should closely monitor their bank accounts for any suspicious transactions. Finally, they should be on the lookout for well-crafted phishing emails impersonating VirtualMacOSX.com.

You might also like

• Over a billion credentials stolen were stolen in malware attacks in 2024
• Take a look at our guide to the best authenticator app
• We've rounded up the best password managers

Fifteen years ago, I was no stranger to a moshpit. I was eighteen, and without the responsibilities nor the creeping aches of a mostly desk-bound thirty-three-year-old journalist, I could throw myself into these mock-brawls at rock concerts with reckless abandon.

Clad in my best (or tattiest) black, baggy Iron Maiden T-shirt, I moshed at any gig I could, from obscure hardcore garage bands in tiny metal-music pubs, all the way to huge festival concerts for the likes of Metallica, entering moshes with hundreds of participants.

They might look scary on the outside, but even if you've never been in one before, most moshpits are friendly affairs: no-one's out to (seriously) hurt anyone else, and if anyone falls down, they get hauled up straight away. On many occasions, I'd see a hand holding a shoe, phone, or hoodie stick straight into the air in the middle of the pit, signaling to the owner that they've lost something. Moshpits everywhere, no matter the size of the crowd, share an unwritten code of conduct.

Unfortunately, your technology can't understand that this is all fun and games. All the best Apple watches, and most of the best Android smartwatches, offer features designed to detect falls and collisions, notifying either a designated contact or placing a call to emergency services, but these features can be accidentally triggered too. The Guardian reports that during the annual Download Festival, a three-day event in the UK that's considered by many to be a Mecca for metal fans, around 700 accidental emergency calls get made on average as a result of moshing.

The festival took place last weekend, from 13-15 June, and the wasted time for emergency services is presumably still being assessed.

Posted by leicspolice on 

Before Download began in earnest last weekend, the local Leicestershire Police force took to social media to remind rock fans to either take off their smartwatches or turn off the feature. On Facebook, the police force wrote:

"The tech assumed that people in mosh pits had been in a collision, causing 999 contacts and abandoned 999 calls.

"All those calls had to be assessed, with three outbound call attempts completed to ensure there is no threat, risk or harm, taking our contact handlers away from answering true emergency calls.

"#HelpUsHelpYou by answering our callbacks from hidden numbers to let us know you are safe. We also recommend switching on ‘airplane mode’ or disabling emergency alerts on your wearable tech."

When Crash Detection features were first introduced by Apple in 2022, headlines abounded about accidental callouts to theme parks: one BBC article highlighted Apple Watches as responsible for six different emergency callouts to a single theme park in Cincinatti, Ohio.

However, it's not all bad; for every headline about accidental triggers or false callouts, there's also been one about how someone's benefited from a smartwatch's emergency features. We'd call that a net positive overall.

If you're about to rock, we don't just salute you: we also encourage you to turn off Crash Detection or similar features on your devices. For Wear OS, you'll find these features under the Personal Safety tab, while Apple Watch users will need to go to Settings > SOS > Crash Detection.

You might also like...

• How one simple Apple Watch feature actually saved my partner’s life
• Two months on, OnePlus has fixed my biggest problem with the OnePlus Watch 3
• Your Wear OS smartwatch can now warn you about imminent earthquakes

• Studio-quality audio recording and camera remote will be in public beta
• The public beta will be available in July 2025
• Apple doesn’t recommend installing betas on devices you rely upon

Since the early days of iOS, there's been a frustrating delay between the big reveal at WWDC and the final version arriving in September (usually): we get to see fun new things and then have to wait for what feels like forever to actually get them – including on upgrades promised to AirPods.

Good news! Apple has promised to let you play with the new AirPods features in July 2025 for the first time. There is a catch, though: it'll be part of the iOS/iPadOS/macOS public beta, so you shouldn't expect the fully polished final versions, and it's not a wise idea to install the beta software on your devices you rely on every day. So while you can get early access, you probably shouldn't.

The new features are studio-quality audio recording and camera remote. Apple says the former is for singers, podcasters, interviewers and other content creators and will deliver much better sound quality in recordings, in phone calls, in FaceTime and in third-party apps that use Apple's CallKit framework. It should also improve dictation accuracy, especially in noisier environments.

Camera remote is exactly what it sounds like: it enables you to trigger the Camera app's (or compatible third-party app's) shutter by squeezing the AirPods stem to take a photo or start a video recording.

(Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff)Public betas are better

The new features are for AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with ANC and AirPods Pro 2, and require an iPhone capable of running iOS 26 – which is most of the relatively recent ones, as iOS 26 will be available for phones going back to the iPhone 11.

If you're really keen to experiment with the new features, you can get the developer beta of iOS 26 right now at developer.apple.com; all you need is a developer account. The public beta will follow in July, which doesn't require a developer account.

But both options aren't a good idea for most of us, I think. From the feedback I'm seeing online from early adopters, iOS 26 is still quite far from being finished, and Apple very specifically urges people not to install developer betas on their main devices.

The public beta is a safer option, but there are still the usual caveats about beta software being unfinished – so there may be app incompatibilities, weird bugs, display glitches and other frustrations.

In a worse-case scenario, they can even brick your devices, making them completely unusable – but these are risks you'll agree to take when you sign the agreement to try the beta software. It's probably not worth the risk to get clearer calls a few months early.

You might also like

• The best AirPods 2025 tested by Techradar
• Our Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation review
• Apple may not get around to launching the AirPods Pro 3 until 2026

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 could be the next two major smartphone launches (all signs point to a July announcement), and at this point, we have a good idea of what to expect from both new devices.

Leaks and rumors have detailed many of their possible specs and upgrades, and now, leaker @PandaFlashPro has even gone so far as to detail the specific features Samsung will supposedly highlight at the phones' July launch.

So, below, you’ll find the five things Samsung might focus on during its upcoming Galaxy Unpacked showcase – from camera tech to screen sizes.

1. Gemini Live

Gemini Live on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge (Image credit: Google)

While Gemini and Gemini Live are Google features rather than Samsung ones, the latter company will apparently talk a lot about these tools during the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Galaxy Z Flip 7.

Gemini is Google’s AI chatbot, and Gemini Live is a feature that lets you engage in spoken conversations with said chatbot. You can also show Gemini what your camera can see, or other images or files, and ask it questions about them.

None of this is new, but perhaps we’ll see new Gemini features baked into the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Fold 7, or perhaps Samsung will simply highlight how well Gemini Live works with a foldable form factor.

According to this leak, Samsung will also highlight other existing AI features like Generative Edits for photos and Now Brief (a tool that delivers personalized briefings throughout the day).

2. A new camera with a new visual engine

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Samsung will also apparently highlight the camera capabilities of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in particular, including its widely rumored new 200MP primary snapper, which will reportedly replace the 50MP one on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.

As well as new camera hardware, the company will apparently highlight new software, too, in the form of an improved version of its ProVisual Engine, which runs behind the scenes to optimize photo quality.

3. A thin and durable design

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

Samsung will supposedly highlight the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7’s thin and durable design at Galaxy Unpacked, including the “all-new” ultra-thin glass on its screen. The aforementioned leaker doesn't say exactly how this glass will be improved over the Z Fold 6’s, but presumably it will either be thinner or more durable, or both.

And we’ve previously heard from various sources that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 could be much slimmer than its predecessor, with one source suggesting the Z Fold 7 will be just 3.9mm thick when unfolded and 8.9mm thick when folded. That’s down from 5.6mm and 12.1mm on the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

As for durability, we’ve previously heard that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 might have improved water and dust resistance, and that it could have a tough titanium backplate.

In fact, Samsung itself has even said the Galaxy Z Fold 7 will be slimmer and more durable than the Z Fold 6.

It’s worth noting that some leaks suggest the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 could also be more durable than the previous model, but seemingly, Samsung won’t focus on that if this latest claim is accurate.

4. Improved photo quality

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Samsung reportedly won’t focus as much on the Galaxy Z Flip 7, which makes sense, since leaks suggest this device won’t be getting as many upgrades as the Z Fold 7. But according to this latest rumor, one thing Samsung will highlight is the phone’s improved photo quality.

They don’t specify here what the cause of that improved photo quality will be, but this is likely a reference to a new version of Samsung’s ProVisual Engine, which is reportedly coming to both upcoming foldables and works behind the scenes to improve images using AI.

From what we’ve heard so far, though, the actual camera hardware on the Galaxy Z Flip 7 might be unchanged from the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, so there might not be too much for the company to talk about here.

5. A better cover screen

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The other Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 feature that Samsung will apparently focus on is its cover screen. The source here doesn’t detail what this specific display upgrade might be, but we’ve previously heard that the Galaxy Z Flip 7 may have a larger cover screen of around 4 inches (up from 3.4 inches on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6), so it’s likely to be the size that’s the focus.

That increase should make the Galaxy Z Flip 7's display a lot more usable, and according to previous reports, the main display might also be larger this year, at around 6.85 inches (up from 6.7), but that’s not mentioned here.

You might also like

• The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 will be the thinnest and lightest model yet
• The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 could have a huge screen with tiny bezels
• The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Fold 7 will launch with Android 16

In these pessimistic times where dystopian angst is often seen as a supreme virtue, it's remarkably refreshing to discover a new Netflix movie that can properly deliver a good old-fashioned love story… and especially one revolving around space exploration.

Debuting on Netflix back on May 30, Lost in Starlight is peppered with a soothing and emotional selection of original K-pop tunes courtesy of artists like CIFIKA, Meego, John Park and Wave to Earth's Kim Daniel.

The sci-fi anime film, which is one of the best Netflix movies with its 88% and 91% Rotten Tomatoes scores from the critics and audiences respectively, confidently carries a distinctive air of romanticism in a star-crossed lovers tale of scientist astronaut Nan-young and a struggling musician named Jay.

The pair become estranged when one of them ventures into the cosmos on a mission to Mars, but the connection they've forged on Earth carries across million of miles as she endeavors to perform her astronaut duties to the best of her abilities and return to Seoul safely.

This is Netflix's first feature-length Korean animated movie and it's a fantastic beginning to that relationship of working on the best anime with the film’s heartbreaking core of emotionality, immediate resonance, and irresistible charm.

Directed by South Korean filmmaker Han Ji-Won and produced by Climax Studios, Lost in Starlight offers something different with its beautifully rendered backgrounds, crisp and appealing character designs, and a color palette reminiscent of vivid spring bouquets.

The futuristic love story begins in 2026 when a devastating Mars quake causes the collapse of an underground research base, Nan-young's mother was one of the casualties. Now 25 years later in the year 2051 she’s an astronaut candidate in Seoul, South Korea hoping to be chosen for a fourth expedition to Mars to investigate an immense impact crater.

Nan-young en route to Mars in "Lost in Starlight" (Image credit: Netflix)

As she's waiting to be evaluated and cleared for flight she bumps into Jay, an electronics expert and songwriter who's capable of fixing her broken record player. The two bond over one of his songs and the transportive power of music just as her Life Form Detector is going to be employed by the Korean Aerospace Administration on the next NASA mission to the Red Planet, and she'll be accompanying the equipment.

"Usually in animated films, the characters just exist to drive the plot," Han told Forbes in a recent interview. "I didn't want that. I really wanted to have characters that you would see in everyday life, who you could really relate to. With animation, you can control all the details of expression and movement, so you can actually get more personal, more character-specific, and really dive into the feeling of it."

A touching scene from Netflix's "Lost in Starlight" (Image credit: Netflix)

Still dealing with psychological after-effects of her mother's death on Mars two decades earlier, Nan-young accepts the mission assignment and lifts off on a 6-month journey to Earth's mysterious neighbor. Once on planet, she explores a subterranean lava cave created by the meteorite crash where life forms have been detected. While on this perilous hunt, Nan-young becomes cut off from her colleagues as a dust storm descends. Will she get rescued and make it out alive from the Red Planet and return to her beloved Jay waiting back on Earth?

Currently streaming exclusively on Netflix, Lost in Starlight is only Han Ji-Won’s second feature film, but it's a stunning followup for this rising cinematic star and we can’t wait to see what project she becomes attached to next. Until then, let's relish the romance of her sci-fi gem.

You might also like

• I’ve finally found a good Uzumaki adaptation of my favorite manga
• I’m a huge anime fan – here’s why you should ditch Netflix for Crunchyroll
• Star Wars anime anthology series producer delves into lightsaber mythology

Have questions about satellite internet? We have answers. Here's what you need to know.

• German state Schleswig-Holstein wants to remove all traces of Microsoft, including Windows
• Transition started in 2023, and should be complete by the end of 2025
• Digitalization minister says, "We're done with Teams"

Schleswig-Holstein, Germany's northernmost state, has confirmed it will be phasing out Microsoft office software tools (including Teams, Word, Excel and Outlook) in its public offices in a bid to reduce its reliance on US tech giants.

The region is now seeking open source alternatives, with the likes of LibreOffice, Open-Xchange and Linux being broadly adopted.

To date, an estimated 30,000 public employees have already turned their backs on Microsoft's products, with a further 30,000 teachers set to follow suit.

German state pulls the plug on Microsoft software

The move means Schleswig-Holstein has become the first German state, and one of the first in Europe, to fully phase out Microsoft products in public administration, however it marks a growing trend across the continent as administrations seek to support local and sovereign options, gain digital independence and tackle the dominance of US tech giants – a topic that has been central to numerous EU antitrust investigations in recent years.

Set to affect almost all government departments in the state, the transition started in 2023. A full switch for civil servants, police and judges is expected by the end of this year.

Possibly one of the biggest changeovers to have happened, the transition extends far beyond switching Microsoft Office for LibreOffice.

Outlook is to be replaced by Open-Xchange, Microsoft Teams will be phased out for an open source German platform, and even the entire operating system – Windows – will be switched out for Linux-based OSs.

Besides seeking geographical independence, Schleswig-Holstein's approach can also be seen as a reaction to geopolitical instability, such as President Trump's return to office and subsequent EU-US tensions.

By betting on open source software (OSS), the German state could avoid expensive licensing fees tied to Microsoft's products (one of the pertinent antitrust cases to have been led by the European Commission), potentially saving tens of millions of euros in the long term.

Neighbouring Danish cities, like Copenhagen and Aarhus, are also reportedly exploring Microsoft alternatives, however such a change could come at a cost.

For example, the state risks running into potential interoperability issues by adopting solutions from a range of providers, while workers could need full retraining and support during the transition.

However, desires to cut ties are evident. Speaking with AFP (via France24), digitalization minister Dirk Schroedter concluded: "We're done with Teams!"

"The geopolitical developments of the past few months have strengthened interest in the path that we've taken," Schroedter added.

You might also like

• EU tech companies push for digital sovereignty, reducing reliance on US and others
• Want to make the switch? These are the best Teams alternatives
• We've also rounded up the best online collaboration tools around

• A Minecraft Movie will be available to stream on Max very soon
• Warner Bros. has confirmed it'll arrive on June 20
• The biggest film of 2025 has almost reached the $1 billion mark globally

Get ready to shout "chicken jockey!" at your screens, everyone, because A Minecraft Movie has finally dug up a streaming release date.

Well, that is in countries where Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) super streamer Max, i.e., one of the world's best streaming services, is available.

The Jason Momoa and Jack Black-starring film will launch on the service this Friday (June 20), so you don't have long to wait to check out one of the highest-grossing new movies of the year at home in nations including the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.

Craft at your own pace. #MinecraftMovie begins streaming June 20 exclusively on Max. pic.twitter.com/lHH18JD6fbJune 13, 2025

Viewers in places where Max isn't available, such as the UK, Canada, and India, can still watch Minecraft's movie adaptation at home. However, you'll have to rent or buy it from Amazon, Apple TV, the Microsoft Store, and other online stores. Hopefully, it won't be long until deals are struck with Max's distribution partners in these nations, so that viewers can watch on services like Sky, Crave, and JioHotstar.

Debuting in theaters on March 4, A Minecraft Movie stars Momoa, Black, Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers, and Sebastien Hansen as five humans transported to the Overworld, aka Minecraft's cube-based dimension where the only limit to creativity is your imagination. There, they must help to defeat the nefarious Malgosha, who wants to rule the Overworld using a magical artifact known as the Orb of Dominance.

A movie worth its weight in gold (or diamonds)

A Minecraft Movie was propelled to its near-billion dollar mark by viral videos of chaos-filled screenings (Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures/Mojang Studios)

Not many people expected A Minecraft Movie to be such a huge hit. Despite the enduring popularity of Mojang's hugely successful video-game namesake, I was one of those who expected its film reimagining to fall flat on its face. And my belief didn't waver after watching it – indeed, as part of my A Minecraft Movie review, I said it wasn't the wildly creative blockbuster video-game film adaptation I was hoping for.

I'm not afraid to admit that I underestimated how wildly successful it would be, though. Per BoxOfficeMojo, A Minecraft Movie has raked in over $951.51 million worldwide since it debuted in theaters. That makes it the biggest money-spinner of the year in the western world (China's animated fantasy flick Ne Zha 2 has reportedly made an eye-popping $1.89 billion, with $1.82 billion made domestically in that nation).

Disney's Lilo & Stitch remake could surpass A Minecraft Movie before the former's theatrical run ends – at the time of writing, Lilo & Stitch has amassed $858.3 million globally. However, thanks to its game namesake's worldwide fanbase and those viral TikTok videos of chaotic A Minecraft Movie screenings, Warner Bros' film remake may yet hold onto its box office crown – at least until Superman and/or The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrive and potentially earn more money.

You might also like

• 'They were taken out of context': A Minecraft Movie director responds to fan backlash over the film adaptation's visuals
• 'We weren't able to do it': A Minecraft Movie's Jared Hess explains why one of its funniest scenes isn't in the final cut
• 'We had to have the same approach': A Minecraft Movie's simple title was chosen for one very big reason, director says

AI may be redefining cyberattacks and defenses, but the real security battleground is data. In an environment where information flows freely between SaaS platforms, personal devices, and remote endpoints, preventing data leakage is a strategic imperative critical to company performance.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) has become the cornerstone of digital trust, especially as organizations automate more of their operations and employees leverage AI platforms in their day-to-day work. Modern DLP tools need to support expanded functionality and new layers of context to truly integrate into broader access and identity policies in the quest to safeguard and futureproof business.

Inside your business, the need for DLP continues to evolve

Employees do things they aren’t supposed to. That isn’t a new phenomenon, but it presents big challenges for DLP efforts. The rise of content-hungry tools such as ChatGPT and increased reliance on shared data repositories in the cloud – Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. – create more opportunities for workers to move or exfiltrate sensitive customer data in ways they shouldn’t.

Alongside company-provided solutions, the 2025 Netskope Cloud and Threat Report found that 88% of people use personal cloud apps at work. Shadow IT, where users quietly implement SaaS apps without IT’s knowledge, means your business may have numerous undiscovered apps floating around that put your data at risk.

Even the sanctioned use of large language models (LLMs) is frequently hampered by insufficient governance and oversight to ensure employees don’t run afoul of data boundaries. Companies struggle to identify and stop data leakage because there’s scant visibility into what the LLM is ingesting, what data it’s storing, where its outputs go, who’s using those outputs, and how. Unfortunately, legacy DLP platforms often can’t monitor and control AI-powered SaaS apps, leaving sensitive data potentially unprotected.

External threats amp up the value of DLP

When threat actors get onto a network, they’re typically looking to steal sensitive data or encrypt files for a future ransom. Those two risks have enterprises on high alert, and while robust ransomware prevention tools can help with the latter, DLP is key to protecting against the former.

The right DLP platform can prevent sensitive data from leaving your network, no matter how the attacker entered or where their search for content takes them. Anytime somebody tries to touch, access, or move data you’ve earmarked as sensitive, you’re going to know who’s trying to access it and what they’re trying to do with it.

Used in conjunction with a capable ransomware protection service to manage against attacks, DLP can stop external threat actors from accessing and moving your sensitive data.

Integrations solve DLP challenges in modern architectures

There are a few core capabilities to consider that make a big difference in a DLP solution’s effectiveness and usability. Historically, some primary complaints have been the lack of integrations and limited ability to stop employees from getting around established parameters.

Modern DLP tools can integrate with tens of thousands of web applications used by employees, from email to Slack, Salesforce, Teams, and others. A DLP solution designed for today’s infrastructure can also keep an eye on what users are submitting to LLMs.

Custom rules enable you to scan LLM inputs for discrete data types, such as credit card numbers, customer records, valuable source code, and even confidential keywords that may denote a highly sensitive project or pending business deal. If you can define it, an integrated DLP can watch for it and prevent unauthorized actions.

Context and customizations are key to quick response and efficient alert triage

Every threat is not created equal. Leading DLP tools offer flexibility in customizing rules and responses to suit nearly every scenario. To achieve the best results, your security team must begin by finding and defining your sensitive data, which may be different from one company to the next. CRM lists, source code, customer data—it’s up to you to decide what you want to monitor.

An advanced DLP can then use your unique content definitions to drive tailored response actions. What if a user tries to exfiltrate sensitive customer data? Your DLP may automatically block the action and immediately notify your security team. Alternatively, a less risky action might trigger a pop-up window that provides active coaching and policy reminders to help change user behavior. The DLP could allow an action after confirming the user’s identity through an additional authentication prompt, or allow an action but automatically redact sensitive data, such as patient names or payment card numbers.

The ability to customize your DLP strategy by choosing the automated response based on the severity of the threat enables a faster and more effective response to every event. By adding context to surface the most pressing risks, you also reduce the non-critical alerts sent to your security and IT teams and preserve their time for high-priority situations that require their attention.

Data loss prevention is a priority for enterprises navigating the AI age. Managing and protecting data moving through the organization requires integrated tools that can act as a traffic light to stop risky actions, encourage users to adopt preferred behaviors, and apply automated rules to free your security and IT teams to focus on critical threats. Innovative solutions empower security and IT teams to effectively prevent data leakage even in highly fluid environments.

We list the best data recovery service.

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

• BT could save £3 billion by cutting up to 55,000 workers, AI could end even more contracts
• If share prices don't rise, BT might have to spin off Openreach
• Group revenue was down 2% year-over-year

BT CEO Allison Kirkby has indicated the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence could lead to even deeper cuts beyond current plans to trim the company's workforce.

Kirkby confirmed plans, which are hoped to save £3 billion by 2030, to cut 40,000-55,000 jobs by the end of the decade.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Kirkby stated: "Depending on what we learn from AI... there may be an opportunity for BT to be even smaller by the end of the decade."

BT CEO blames AI for further job cuts

Kirkby took over BT in 2024, replacing former CEO Philip Jansen, and has led several saving exercises, including selling off non-core assets like the company's Italian and Irish units.

The FT also noted that BT had spun off its international business last month, citing sources familiar with the matter, suggesting that it could be open to offers on it.

However, the CEO believes that BT's current share price (£186.45) does not reflect the true value of Openreach – its broadband network arm. If this perceived undervaluation continues, BT could consider spinning off Openreach after the fibre rollout is complete, however Kirkby said she would prefer the share price to improve rather than having to resort to yet another spinoff.

Speaking about BT's latest full fiscal year, which ended on March 31, Kirkby said the company had realized "over £900m of annualized cost savings." She blamed "lower international sales and handsets" on the 2% dip in revenue, to £20.4 billion.

BT's reach across the UK could be about to get even stronger, with The Guardian revealing that the company could have entered initial discussions to buy out TalkTalk, a smaller broadband provider that has struggled financially.

However, such an acquisition, together with BT's ownership of mobile network provider EE, could spell out great domination over UK networks, potentially sparking an antitrust investigation.

The recently-completed merger of Three and Vodafone was subject to an in-depth investigation before eventually approved by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

You might also like

• Openreach declares aim to accelerate UK high-speed broadband rollout
• Want to maximize your signal? These are the best mesh Wi-Fi systems
• We've listed the best eSIMs for international travel

• We have a release date for the smaller 43mm OnePlus Watch 3
• It will begin rolling out on July 8
• It's said to be "packed with specs that rival the full-sized version"

When I reviewed the OnePlus Watch 3 two months ago (at the time of writing), I said it was already a contender for the best Android smartwatch of 2025. I loved the stainless steel, classic aesthetic and excellent battery life, but my biggest gripe was a style one: it was a big, heavy metal watch, and only came in one size.

As a sports watch, that's a major downside. One of the reasons the best Apple Watches are so popular is that they offer watch faces of different sizes, allowing people with smaller and larger wrists to find a watch that feels like it belongs on their arm.

Having reviewed fitness tech for many years, I know search terms like 'smallest Apple Watch' and 'best smartwatch for women' are popular on Google. Customers who don't want to wear big, chunky timepieces, whether that's due to aesthetics or comfort, are sadly limited in choice.

Thankfully, OnePlus listened to our complaints. In my OnePlus Watch 3 review, I wrote: "My main gripe is the watch’s size: at the time of writing the initial early review, I said I would have loved to see OnePlus bring out a second, smaller model for those with smaller wrists. Many people, including a lot of women, will find it’s just too big and heavy for daily wear.

"However, during my testing, OnePlus published the news there would be a second, smaller size along with LTE capabilities for future models, and my fears were dispelled."

(Image credit: OnePlus)

OnePlus had already revealed a smaller size was coming, but not when, nor did we have any other details about it. Would it have the same specs as the larger model? What about battery life? Would it still be a OnePLus Watch 3, or something closer to an Apple-style 'SE' model? For months, we had no answers to these burning questions.

Published today in an exclusive interview with TechRadar, Celina Shi – Chief Marketing Officer at OnePlus Europe – finally spilled the beans on the new watch's release date, and even provided an image – the picture above. At first glance, the 43mm looks a lot more Pixel Watch-y than the full-size 47mm Watch 3.

"In February this year, we launched our latest flagship wearable, the OnePlus Watch 3. It was highly popular due to its huge battery life, accurate GPS and health and wellbeing metrics," said Celina. "We're bringing a smaller iteration of this device that's perfect for those with smaller wrists – but don't underestimate it.

"It's packed with specs that rival the full-sized version, as well as exclusive monitoring features not found on any other device – and will be available in sleek Silver Steel!"

It sounds like it's getting at least one exclusive feature, although we don't know any more details on it. It'll also pack specifications that match the 47mm version of the watch.

The best part? It's launching on July 8, mere weeks away, along with a bevy of other OnePlus devices such as the OnePlus Nord 5, the OnePlus Buds 4 and the OnePlus Pad Lite.

You might also like...

• Your Wear OS smartwatch can now warn you about imminent earthquakes
• Garmin Venu X1 revealed – meet the surprise new Apple Watch Ultra 2 rival with Garmin’s biggest display yet
• I wore the Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 for 2 weeks, and it's impressively cheap for the sheer amount of features it packs

• OnePlus revealed the OnePlus Buds 4 exclusively to TechRadar
• Landing July 8, alongside Nord 5 Series phones, Pad Lite and Watch 3 43mm
• LHDC 5.0 support listed and given price of the older Buds 3, I'm stoked

OnePlus is a formidable name in portable tech, although not necessarily one celebrated for its crystal-clear naming strategies.

It's hardly alone in that respect, given Apple's decision to skip straight to iOS 26 (from iOS 18) and Samsung seemingly set to bypass the Buds 2 FE to go straight to the Buds 3 FE, but anyway, 2025 is not looking any different for the Chinese tech giant.

Today (Monday, June 16) the company has exclusively revealed to TechRadar its five newest products: the OnePlus Nord 5 Series (comprising two smartphones: the OnePlus Nord 5 and OnePlus CE5), the OnePlus Buds 4, the OnePlus Pad Lite and a new, smaller OnePlus Watch 3 – it's got a 43mm dial.

Important things to note on the Buds 4? Firstly, there's no 'Nord' prefix, which typically denotes OnePlus' mid-range propositions. So while the incoming phones might sit within the brand's more affordable handsets, it's flagship territory where its earbuds are concerned.

All of the OnePlus newness…  (Image credit: OnePlus)OnePlus Buds 4: specs and everything we know so far

You'd be forgiven for experiencing a modicum of confusion when gazing upon OnePlus' current earbuds lineup – so allow me.

A quick look on the OnePlus website reveals a trio consisting of the newest OnePlus Buds Pro 3 (which launched in August 2024), the OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro (which arrived in July 2024 and despite our best efforts, we never managed to source a set for review) and the January 2024-issue OnePlus Buds 3.

If you really want to get granular on their respective spec sheets or you're thinking of snapping up a deal on the outgoing model when the Buds 4 hit shelves (clever), our OnePlus Buds Pro 3 vs OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro explainer can help.

But this changes everything! OnePlus Buds 4 – so simple. So stylish. I don't have too much information on the design or colorway options, but the case echoes the design language of the Buds 3 Pro, rather than the Buds 3, which is a good thing since I found it much more secure.

OnePlus tells me the Buds 4 feature dual drivers and dual DACs (read: the kind of audio architecture that ought to promote much-better-than-average audio quality), LHDC 5.0 (a higher-resolution audio codec similar to LDAC in that it supports up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution) and OnePlus' 3D Audio software, which we really liked in the OnePlus Buds 3 because it'll even level up Spotify's lossy files, making them more immersive.

For gamers, the OnePlus Buds 4 also offer 47ms ultra-low latency in Game Mode and while I'm no avid gamer, the Buds Pro 3 included the perk and we liked it a lot, so it's good to see it included in non-Pro Buds.

(Image credit: OnePlus)

Anything missing here? Well, there's no mention yet of noise cancellation which, if that plays out, might be a deal-breaker for some buyers. Again, this is an early exclusive (we've no concrete information on pricing either) so there are plenty of details still to come, but it's worth mentioning.

Thus far, OnePlus has yet to really make a dent in our roundup of the best earbuds – but perhaps that's set to change. We'll be giving them a full-fat review, so watch this space…

You may also like

• Need audiophile-grade sound? Check out our pick of the best wired earbuds
• …and also the best wired headphones
• Want to stay wire-free? See our feature on hi-res audio and how to get it