Technology

• Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and Square, launches collaboration app Buzz
• Buzz is an open platform for humans and AI agents to interact and work
• The app welcomes AI agents from any provider, including Anthropic and OpenAI

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has launched a new, free collaboration app designed as a shared space for humans and AI agents to collaborate within the same channels and conversations.

Launched under the Block brand (parent company of popular POS app Square), the Buzz app being positioned as a modern and comprehensive alternative to Slack and GitHub.

On the app, agents will have their own profiles, cryptographic identities, channel memberships and permissions, giving them near-human-like capabilities to review or propose code, complete tasks, create channels and coordinate other agents.

Jack Dorsey's Buzz app is a human-AI collaboration space

Importantly, Buzz is set to be an open space that allows connections to any model, including Claude Code, OpenAI Codex and Block's own open-source framework.

"Every company is going to need a place where humans and agents work together," said Block Head of AI Capabilities Bradley Axen said.

From launch, desktop apps for macOS, Windows and Linux are available for Buzz, which is built on Nostr, a "free and open-source protocol for social media and other things" per Nostr's own terminology. That means a decentralized alternative to the likes of Slack, though those Nostr underpinnings do mean a Buzz identity can theoretically travel across other Nostr-compatible systems.

On the privacy front, messages and media on Block-hosted relays aren't end-to-end encrypted, and agent providers like Anthropic and OpenAI may also receive prompts and related channel content. However, organizations can choose to self-host if they need additional security measures.

While Buzz isn't alone in looking to tap in on agentic communications – Slack sees itself as an agentic operating system through which AI agents can collaborate and coordinate, too – Dorsey's app tries to take this one step further by being a team chat, project context, agent orchestration and code hosting place all under one roof.

Most business leaders are aware that AI adoption in their organizations has moved faster than the governance around it. When we surveyed 250 finance decision makers in mid-market organizations, we found that 83% of teams were already using AI, yet only 53% had a formal framework for its safe use.

If finance - a function with some of the highest standards for data accuracy and compliance - is operating with that kind of governance gap, it is reasonable to ask whether other departments across the business look any different.

That gap represents a risk - and it's a risk that sits squarely with the business and its leadership. So how do you encourage innovation when it comes to AI without losing control of the risks it brings?

There is an international standard designed specifically to address this: ISO/IEC 42001. It is not a compliance exercise to tick a box; it is a practical framework for governing AI responsibly, with direct implications for how business leaders evaluate the software they rely on.

For SaaS businesses, ISO 27001, the standard for information security management systems, has become the norm. It's a key requirement, providing assurance to customers about how the business ensures Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability for the data it hosts and processes on their behalf.

ISO/IEC 42001, published in 2023, is its counterpart for AI: the first international standard governing how organizations develop, deploy and oversee AI systems. Whether or not you pursue certification yourself, it should be a key reference point when evaluating any AI-powered software you use.

Why we need a standard for AI security

It's not even four years since the public launch of ChatGPT heralded the boom in use of generative AI. Not only has the technology moved at an incredible pace since then but so has its adoption in business.

We've all been told that AI will transform productivity and change the world of work forever. So it's not surprising that many organizations have been racing to buy licenses and get people using it. In organizations that haven't done so, it's likely that staff are using it on the side anyway - which creates another problem: "Shadow IT".

"Shadow" AI use seems to be rife. Among the finance decision makers we surveyed, in almost half (46%) of organizations where AI hadn't been officially adopted, people were using AI assistants anyway and 30% were using AI-powered forecasting and analysis. It would be surprising if the picture looked much better elsewhere in the business.

So it's worth asking: where is the data we have spent so much effort protecting, through ISO standards such as ISO 27001, now going - and do I have visibility and control over it?

The scale of ungoverned AI use matters in any organization. ISO 42001 provides a structured way to ask the right questions, whether you are reviewing your own internal AI use or evaluating a software vendor.

How ISO 42001 helps business leaders

Certain parts of an organization have particularly high standards for data accuracy and integrity - finance teams producing regulatory reporting, legal teams managing case records, HR functions handling sensitive employee data. ISO 42001 helps ensure those standards are reflected in the AI tools and processes you use, whatever your context.

Transparency: ISO 42001 requires that AI outputs can be explained and traced. Whether AI is producing a report, performing an automated workflow or flagging an anomaly, you as the human in the loop should be able to explain what the system did and why. That human in the loop is a key component of the standard.

Accountability: ISO 42001 stresses clear ownership of AI systems and their outputs. That means the use of any AI in business-critical workflows should have a defined owner who is responsible for its performance and governance.

Risk management: ISO 42001 requires ongoing risk assessment for AI systems over and above those in place for ISO 27001. This doesn't usurp what you have currently in place. It complements current risk evaluation through a focus on AI and the implementation of controls to help manage that identified risk.

That means identifying what could go wrong, how likely that event is and ensuring the right controls are in place to mitigate it. Those risks might include data accuracy, model performance degrading, security of sensitive business data and the risk of AI acting on outputs that have not been adequately verified.

The questions you should ask

ISO 42001 offers you a useful way into important conversations with software vendors, whether or not they've achieved formal certification. It prompts some important questions.

- How are the vendor's AI systems developed, tested and monitored? The ideal response would show documented processes for keeping things accurate and trustworthy, with the human in the loop clearly built into the processes.

- How does the AI product produce its output? What happens when an output is incorrect or unexpected? It's worth understanding whether the AI outputs come from a layer bolted onto a core system and drawing on verified data from that system - or whether they are generated predictively, the way a large language model would work.

- How does the vendor manage the risk of AI model performance changing over time? One of the frustrations of using AI is that LLMs can become less good at a task they did well before. You need to know your vendor is on top of this issue.

- What accountability exists within the vendor's organization for these AI capabilities? You need a relationship with a vendor that's prepared to take responsibility for its product and the data that flows from it.

- Does the vendor use your data to train or improve its AI models? This is a question that more business leaders are asking, and rightly so. Your data should never be used to improve a third-party model. Look for vendors who operate a zero-retention policy, meaning your data is used only in a live, read-only state and is never fed back into AI training processes.

However capable AI gets, it will not be replacing human decision-making and accountability at the top of organizations in the foreseeable future. That remains the job of leaders who need to know they are putting their names to decisions grounded in complete, accurate and trustworthy data from their own systems.

ISO 42001 is the mechanism by which you can hold AI to the same standards of accuracy, transparency and accountability that rigorous organizations have always required. It will not slow down AI adoption. But it will ensure that adoption does not come at the expense of the controls that protect your organization and your reputation.

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A new acronym is starting to appear in boardrooms, investor conversations and executive debates: MANGOS - Meta, Anthropic, NVIDIA, Google, OpenAI and SpaceX.

It is being used as shorthand for the new power cluster of the AI era, and perhaps as the successor to FAANG as a symbol of where technological gravity now lives.

Here is my take: MANGOS is not the destination. It is the opening move.

Over the next five years, some companies that dominate their markets today, icons of an era, businesses that once seemed structurally unassailable, may lose relevance, decline, or be replaced by new leaders. At the same time, new companies will emerge from places nobody is currently watching.

This has happened before. It will happen again. What is different this time is the speed and the depth of structural change required to survive it.

The world is being reshaped by AI. But the companies that will win are not the ones that simply add AI to what they already do. They are the ones who rebuild themselves around it entirely.

The tool-adoption trap

There is a seductive but dangerous interpretation of AI transformation that goes something like this: deploy a copilot here, add a chatbot there, automate a few workflows, report efficiency gains to the board, and move on.

That approach may create efficiency gains, but it does not create an AI-native company.

The companies building genuine competitive advantage right now are not asking, “Where can we use AI?” They are asking a harder question: “If we were starting this company today, with AI as a native capability rather than a retrofit, what would we look like?”

The answer, almost always, is dramatically different from what they look like now.

This is not a technology shift. It is a company redesign. And the gap between those two ways of thinking is where many organizations are currently losing.

What AI-native actually means

The term AI-native is used loosely, so let me be precise about what I mean by an AI-native mindset. It has concrete, structural implications that go far beyond which tools a company deploys.

The first is re-engineering the org chart to unlock AI outcomes, not to preserve legacy structures.

Most organizational hierarchies were designed for a world of information scarcity, where value came from controlling access to data, expertise and decision-making authority. AI inverts that logic. Information is becoming abundant. The constraint is now judgment, creativity and the ability to act on signals faster than competitors.

An org chart built for the old world can suppress the outcomes the new world makes possible. Redesigning for AI is not about simply cutting headcount. It is about rethinking where human judgment actually adds value, and structuring the organization so that AI amplifies it rather than working around it.

The second is increasing talent density with genuine intentionality.

AI adoption does not happen organically at the pace this moment demands. When transformation requires a cultural shift as fundamental as this one, where every employee’s relationship with their work is changing, organic adoption is too slow.

It has to be a CEO mandate, driven from the top, resourced seriously and measured against real outcomes. The companies that treat AI training as an optional benefit will be outrun by the companies that treat it as a core operating requirement.

The third, and the one I find most underappreciated, is eliminating before automating.

There is a reflexive impulse in most organizations to reach for automation as the response to inefficiency. But the highest-value process is often the one that should no longer exist.

Before you make something faster, you need to ask whether it needs to happen at all. Automating a broken process at scale just produces broken outcomes faster. The discipline of elimination, of genuinely questioning whether a workflow, a layer of approval, a reporting structure or a product feature actually needs to exist, is harder than automation, and more valuable.

The fourth is relentless commercial focus.

AI investments must drive measurable revenue growth or profitability. This sounds obvious, but in practice, it is where many transformation programs lose their way. The excitement of the technology can become its own justification. It cannot be.

Every significant AI investment should have a clear line of sight to a commercial outcome, not eventually, not in theory, but in a timeframe that the business can actually hold itself accountable to.

In commerce, this distinction is already becoming visible. The winners will not simply add AI tools to search, customer service, merchandising or operations. They will rethink how decisions are made across the entire business, from product discovery to fulfilment, customer experience, media and profitability.

The hidden risk for today’s market leaders

If you are a market leader today, you face a specific and uncomfortable dynamic.

The capabilities that got you to dominance, your processes, your organisational structure, your institutional knowledge, your partner ecosystem, are also the things that can make transformation hardest. They are not only assets. If left unquestioned, they can become anchors.

New entrants do not have this problem in the same way. They are building AI-native from day one, without legacy infrastructure to protect or organizational politics to navigate. They will not necessarily announce themselves before they are ready. By the time many incumbents recognize the threat, the gap may already be significant.

This is not a reason to panic. It is a reason to move with urgency that many large organizations are not currently demonstrating.

MANGOS is the beginning, not the ceiling

The MANGOS companies are defining much of the infrastructure of the AI era, and their influence on how the next decade of business is conducted will be profound.

But the history of technology tells us something important: infrastructure enablers and application-layer winners are usually not the same companies.

The railroads did not own all the businesses that the railroads made possible. The internet infrastructure companies of the 1990s did not capture most of the value that the internet created. MANGOS is building the rails. The question for every enterprise leader is what they are going to build on them.

The winners of the next era will be the companies that take AI infrastructure as a given, build organizational and commercial models designed specifically for an AI-native world, and execute with relentless focus.

They will come from industries nobody is currently betting on. They will emerge from markets that look mature or even declining. They will be led by people who understood earlier than everyone else that this is not an upgrade cycle. It is a redesign.

The game is on. Execution based on experimentation driving bold outcomes is what will make the difference.

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Samsung’s new Galaxy Z-series foldables have been officially unveiled, and pre-orders have also kicked off in Australia.

We’ve covered Samsung’s pre-order offers through its Australian eStore here, but retailers and telcos across the country are jostling for your attention with their own pre-order deals.

The best outright pre-order deals are direct from Samsung with up to AU$650 in savings, while the best telco deal is from Vodafone, with savings of up to AU$1,000.

In case you missed the Galaxy Unpacked last night, you can check out our live coverage of the launch. As for the handsets themselves, you can also read our first impressions of the newly redesigned Z Fold 8, Z Fold Ultra and the Z Flip 8.

I’ve collected the best outright and telco deals for the 2026 Samsung foldable range below, with links taking you straight to the pre-order pages:

Best Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 pre-order deals

Trade in any qualifying device (with a value of at least AU$1) and you can get an extra AU$150 credit off the Fold 8 with this exclusive pre-order offer. If you bundle the Fold 8 with a Galaxy Tablet, Watch, Buds, Ring or other accessories, use the code UNFOLD2026 to take $150 off your entire cart (until July 25, which then drops down to AU$50 off until August 14). You can also redeem Rewards Points to save more, and check out with PayPal for an extra AU$150 off. But that’s not all — if you want more storage, our exclusive code TR-FOLD8 will take another AU$200 off the 1TB model.View Deal

While Amazon isn't discounting the device per se, you’ll receive a AU$300 Amazon credit and 20% off selected Samsung accessories.View Deal

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 | Vodafone Small Promo Plan | 80GB | 24 months | AU$128.28p/m

Vodafone is offering a AU$700 handset discount and discounting its Small Plan by AU$13p/m off (plus mobile data boosted to 80GB), but what makes it the best telco deal is the addition of a AU$300 credit when you trade in an old device. View Deal

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 | Optus Small Choice Plus Plan | 60GB | 24 months | AU$126.18p/m

If you’re not looking to trade in your old phone, Optus slightly beats Vodafone’s offers with a AU$750 handset discount for the Galaxy Z Fold 8, as well as a AU$15p/m off plan fees for the first 12 months.View Deal

Best Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra pre-order deals

Like the Z Fold 8 above, the bonus trade-in credit here is also AU$150 on qualifying devices, and the Unpacked Eco-Voucher and PayPal savings also apply, and using the TR-FOLD8 exclusive code will take AU$200 off the 1TB model.View Deal

Like the Z Fold 8 above, pre-ordering from Amazon will net you a AU$300 credit and 20% off selected Samsung accessories.View Deal

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra | Vodafone Small Promo Plan | 80GB | 24 months | AU$140.78p/m

The AU$700 handset discount and AU$300 trade-in bonus credit from the Z Fold 8 above also apply here, with the monthly cost at AU$140.78p/m with Vodafone's cheapest plan.View Deal

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra | Optus Small Choice Plus Plan | 60GB | 24 months | AU$138.69p/m

Like the Z Fold 8 above, Optus is offering a $750 discount on its Ultra sibling, as well as a AU$15p/m off plan fees for the first 12 months.View Deal

Best Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 pre-order deals

The trade-in credit for the Z Flip 8 is lower at AU$100 during the pre-order period, and the potential savings from the UNFOLD2026 Unpacked Eco-Voucher (AU$150 off during the first 72 hours) and checking out with PayPal (a further AU$150 off) apply here, too.View Deal

Just like its more premium siblings above, pre-ordering the Galaxy Z Flip 8 from Amazon will give you a AU$300 credit and 20% off selected Samsung accessories.View Deal

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 Ultra | Optus Small Choice Plus Plan | 60GB | 24 months | AU$94.92p/m

Optus is also giving the Z Flip 8 a $750 discount like the two more premium handsets above, as well as a AU$15p/m off plan fees for the first 12 months.View Deal

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 | Vodafone Small Promo Plan | 80GB | 24 months | AU$105.36p/m

The Z Flip 8 gets a smaller AU$500 handset discount at Vodafone, but the trade-in credit is the same at AU$300 like the Z Fold 8 and Ultra. The monthly cost of AU$105.36p/m with Vodafone's cheapest plan makes it more expensive than Optus' offer above.View Deal

Other retailer pre-order deals

Want to check out what else is out there? These other retailer offers are also available:

• JB Hi-Fi: Get a AU$300 JB Hi-Fi gift card if you pre-order any of the 2026 Samsung Galaxy Z-series phones
• The Good Guys: Get a AU$300 The Good Guys eGift Card and free delivery if you pre-order any of the 2026 Samsung Galaxy Z-series phones

Don't ask me what happened in any single episode of The Big Bang Theory, because I honestly can't remember.

Across 12 seasons, a myriad of in-jokes, long-standing gags and endless scientific lore were created, and you can bet your bottom dollar that hardcore fans won't have forgotten a single thing.

This level of detail initially made me nervous to try watching new HBO Max spinoff, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.

Our titular heroic lead, on-off girlfriend Denise (Lauren Lapkus), as well as friends Kripke (John Ross Bowie) and Bert (Brian Posehn), are brought back together when Stuart (Kevin Sussman) triggers a multiverse armageddon by accidentally breaking a device built by Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki).

Clearly, the spinoff is its own thing, but there's enough of a TBBT connection to assume that you'll need to know the ins and outs of the main season in order to enjoy it.

That's not the case, though. Not only can you be a Big Bang dunce and still have a whale of a time watching — and perhaps more importantly, always understand what's going on — Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is actually designed to contradict the existing IP lore, according to creators Zak Penn and Bill Prady.

'You're not obligated to be consistent'

"One of the wonderful things about moving from universe to universe is you're not obligated to be consistent," Prady tells me.

"We're in a different universe. When we were doing this, I was always reminded of an episode of Doctor Who where the Doctor is confronted with the with the inconsistency in the episode that they're in. He points out that time is more of a vague 'timey-wimey' kind of thing, and I think we had a lot of that going on to say, 'This is a different universe, and that's how it is in this universe.'"

Even from episode 1, which drops on HBO Max on July 23, you can see how it would break your brain to try and conform to the rules and regulations of TBBT.

Stuart and the gang are frequently confronted with alternative versions of themselves and others are each aware of completely different things... and that's before we consider that there's always an overarching physical difference to each universe visited.

"We kind of approached it like we're not trying to construct this perfectly organized science fiction idea," Penn adds. "In fact, we want to both violate the ideas that we set up and then have the characters acknowledge that that's what we've done. We do that quite a bit.

"There's characters all over the season mentioning that things don't really make sense... nobody can follow it. That was a deliberate choice because. The show isn't designed to be something that's a puzzle to figure out perfectly."

As the saying goes, if you can't beat them... be bewildered by the choices being made around you. Trust me: part of the fun is trying to keep up with the multiverse madness and second-guessing what comes next — and you'll never, ever be right.

• Report finds 80% of Gen Z investors now rely on AI for guidance, 58% would let it advise more actively
• AI tools are democratizing investing because they’re free/cheap and convenient
• Transparency, citations, and clear safeguards are still in demand

New data from Opinium has revealed 80% Gen Z investors now use AI for investment-related guidance, putting them far ahead of Baby Boomers (17%) and Gen X (47%).

But younger investors seem to be using it much more than just educational reasons, such as explaining terminology or researching investments – they’re even using it in actual decision-making.

The report added nearly three in five (58%) of Gen Z investors would be likely to use AI to decide where to invest their money. While this is still lower than the total number of younger investors who would use AI, it still means more than half are trusting tools like ChatGPT and Gemini with how they allocate their money.

Is AI democratizing investing for everybody?

The report also quantifies the generational gap in trust, with only 29% of Gen Z investors not trusting AI-generated information compared with 49% across all age brackets. But trust actually rises after users have experienced artificial intelligence, with 72% of users noting they trust it.

What the data also implies is that artificial intelligence has made investing more accessible to more people – 43% say they started using AI tools because it was free, and 41% valued its speed and convenience.

More than a third (38%) of female investors said they felt more comfortable asking AI than a person compared with 27% of male investors, highlighting the technology’s impacts in democratizing investing.

Opinium notes that AI chatbots could be helping to reduce the embarrassment associated with beginners asking basic questions.

Trust is more important than ever where finances are invovled

But when it comes to trusting machines with financial decisions, users still demand high levels of trust. The most frequently cited trust-building measures include seeking evidence that the information is both accurate and current (28%), cross-checking it against data elsewhere (25%) and transparency about the sources used (23%).

“Trust still depends on transparency,” Opinium Associate Director James Nicandrou wrote. “Investors want to know that information is accurate and easy to verify.”

“As AI becomes more widely used in financial decision-making, clear safeguards and signposting will be crucial to helping people use these tools confidently and responsibly.”

All in all, the study shows how younger people are increasingly beginning their investment journeys by asking AI assistants to explain concepts and compare options, but the same trust and accountability that enterprises are battling when trying to implement organization-wide AI is also proving to be just as important for the end user.

While the precise figures differ, Yonder research with the FCA also found that consumers are increasingly using AI for personal finances – 72% said they use it to summarize and explain information, while 61% ask it to suggest actions on their behalves.

Earlier Freetrade research also sets the foundations, noting how 91% of its respondents lacked confidence in investing. One of its suggestions was to improve education for younger adults, with senior analyst Dan Lane noting that “the greatest advantage you can give your investments is time.” With the latest trends revealing that younger adults are getting to grips with investing thanks to AI, accessibility certainly looks to be improving.

The company will need to issue a fix for nearly 20,000 vehicles.

The publishing platform has integrated Pangram to look for AI.

• Egyptian developer demonstrates how to block ads with an ESP32-C3 "SuperMini" board
• ESP32 ad-blocking dongle costs just $5 to build
• 537,000 blacklisted domains are stored in the device’s 4MB of flash memory

When online ads become a problem, ad-blocking software is a good idea, used in conjunction with dedicated hardware like a Raspberry Pi running Pi-Hole. But what if the device is rebooting or otherwise out of action? Egyptian developer ZedAxis claims to have developed a solution that might inspire a rethink on how online whitelisting and blacklisting is processed.

Relying on a sub-$5 ESP32-based mini board, the device somehow squeezes over 500,000 domains into paltry 4MB of onboard flash storage.

The build has been demonstrated on YouTube, with the video of the “DNS sinkhole” apparently providing how simple it is to set up. All the hard work has been done by ZedAxis, with the code available via GitHub.

What is an ESP32-C3?

ZedAxis has built the compact Pi-Hole substitute from a $5 ESP32-C3 “SuperMini” board, easily available from online stores (currently £3.50 on the UK Amazon). These devices feature USB-C for power, Bluetooth 5.0, and crucially for a project like this, Wi-Fi.

The board has been paired with a USB adapter and a 3D-printed case to enable it to be plugged into a power source – in this case, the back of a router, but it could be a TV, console, or any other always-on device with an unused USB port. Direct access to the device is available through a web dashboard, it supports mDNS for easy discovery, and can download over-the-air (OTA) updates.

Code for the project is available on the developer’s GitHub, where the unusual compression that shrinks over 500,000 domains into 4MB of flash storage is explained.

Isn’t that a lot of domains for 4MB?

Strictly speaking, 4MB should not be able to hold 500,000 domains. As described on the project’s GitHub, the actual figure is around half that (141,000 taking up “~2.5 MB of RAM”). So how are the 537,000 domains squeezed into 4MB of RAM?

The board chosen is specifically free of PSRAM (so it just has the flash) and rather than 32-bit or 64-bit, hashes the domains into 40-bit FNV-1a, an algorithm designed for speed and low-collision rates. So, 141,000 domains can be squeezed into 0.7MB of flash, with under 50 KB of RAM apportioned for matching the blacklisted ad domains.

In most cases, the blacklist is limited to around 250,000 domains as OTA firmware updates need around 1.3MB of the flash. But this can be determined when the device is set up and the first blacklist pull is made. Other features are set to be added to this project, including set up as a DHCP server.

The big question is, could this be adopted by, say, small businesses looking for a reduction in broadband bandwidth being eaten by ad networks?

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 Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, July 22 (game #1640).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 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 #1641) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* 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 #1641) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 0.

Quordle today (game #1641) — 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 #1641) — 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 0.

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 #1641) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• L

• E

• W

• S

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

Quordle today (game #1641) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1641, are…

• LADEN
• EVICT
• WOVEN
• SHIRE

The phrase I’d use to describe this game would be “no drama”.

With some different starter words I may have struggled to get EVICT, but eliminating the letter D meant I could rule out “edict” and get to the correct word quickly.

Meanwhile, everything fell into place for me playing today’s Daily Sequence as I managed to complete the game in six guesses. Quite a shock, seeing as I often take nine or 10.

Daily Sequence today (game #1641) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1641, are…

• MERRY
• SADLY
• ADMIN
• DRAPE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1640, Wednesday, 22 July: COYLY, SINGE, AWASH, AWOKE
• Quordle #1639, Tuesday, 21 July: TRUSS, AXIAL, SWINE, THING
• Quordle #1638, Monday, 20 July: ICING, SLICK, GAILY, RISEN
• Quordle #1637, Sunday, 19 July: SPURT, ACRID, THRUM, BLEEP
• Quordle #1636, Saturday, 18 July: KNAVE, TIGHT, BLEAT, CHAOS
• Quordle #1635, Friday, 17 July: CUMIN, PALER, GRASS, INBOX
• Quordle #1634, Thursday, 16 July: IGLOO, PLAIT, YEAST, AROMA
• Quordle #1633, Wednesday, 15 July: PROXY, BRICK, BROTH, SURGE
• Quordle #1632, Tuesday, 14 July: EBONY, AVOID, RODEO, CUTIE
• Quordle #1631, Monday, 13 July: VOICE, BISON, BURNT, BUILT
• Quordle #1630, Sunday, 12 July: STAIN, BINGO, LARVA, DICEY
• Quordle #1629, Saturday, 11 July: WORTH, PRONG, DINGO, DRUID
• Quordle #1628, Friday, 10 July: GREET, STEAK, DUSKY, HAUTE
• Quordle #1627, Thursday, 9 July: CRUMP, PHONE, SHINY, STONY
• Quordle #1626, Wednesday, 8 July: GHOST, TREND, EXALT, ALONG
• Quordle #1625, Tuesday, 7 July: ARRAY, SUITE, KIOSK, BOULE
• Quordle #1624, Monday, 6 July: TRAWL, SPICE, PIANO, SHARK
• Quordle #1623, Sunday, 5 July: PINEY, SWOON, TITLE, PINTO
• Quordle #1622, Saturday, 4 July: ARGUE, MOTEL, OPERA, TRUCE
• Quordle #1621, Friday, 3 July: AVERT, MOTOR, MANIC, WORDY

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 Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, July 22 (game #1137).

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 #1138) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• JANGLE
• INTENSE
• ORANGE
• FELINE
• FEBRILE
• BASEBALL
• MARBLE
• APRON
• APPOINT
• TERMINAL
• EXCITED
• RUNWAY
• FRENETIC
• HANGAR
• DEPLANE
• GLOBE

NYT Connections today (game #1138) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Round stuff
• GREEN:On edge
• BLUE: Elements of an airline’s hub
• PURPLE: Math final

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 #1138) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: SPHERICAL THINGS
• GREEN: IN AN ANXIOUS STATE
• BLUE: PARTS OF AN AIRPORT
• PURPLE: ENDING IN GEOMETRY TERMS

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

NYT Connections today (game #1138) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1138, are…

• YELLOW: SPHERICAL THINGS: BASEBALL, GLOBE, MARBLE, ORANGE
• GREEN: IN AN ANXIOUS STATE: EXCITED, FEBRILE, FRENETIC, INTENSE
• BLUE: PARTS OF AN AIRPORT: APRON, HANGAR, RUNWAY, TERMINAL
• PURPLE: ENDING IN GEOMETRY TERMS: APPOINT, DEPLANE, FELINE, JANGLE

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 mistakes

I made two, what I will call, good mistakes today. 'Good', as in I was on the right track and the errors helped me hone in on the correct quartet.

The first was picking JANGLE instead of EXCITED. I correctly thought the group was about anxiety and picked JANGLE because that's how I feel when I’m nervous or on edge.

Then, after successfully spotting PARTS OF AN AIRPORT, I decided to collect the math words hidden in some tiles and picked ORANGE, because of range, over DEPLANE. Meanwhile, how I completely overlooked SPHERICAL THINGS is uncertain.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, July 22, 2026, game #1137)

• YELLOW: SYMPTOMS OF AN ALLERGIC REACTION: HIVES, ITCHING, RASH, REDNESS
• GREEN: ON A GOLF SCORECARD: HOLE, PAR, SCORE, STROKES
• BLUE: PLATFORM-SPECIFIC POSTS: PINS, SNAPS, TWEETS, VINES
• PURPLE: FEATURES OF A ZEBRA: HOOVES, MANE, TAIL, WHITE STRIPES

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 NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, July 22 (game #871).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #872) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Hail to the chief petty officer

NYT Strands today (game #872) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• LANTERN
• VINE
• TRAIN
• SNAG
• DUNE
• RAVER

NYT Strands today (game #872) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 9 letters

NYT Strands today (game #872) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: top, 3rd column

• Last side: bottom, 4th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #872) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #872, are…

• ADMIRAL
• LIEUTENANT
• COMMANDER
• ENSIGN
• RECRUIT
• SPANGRAM: NAVYRANKS

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I don’t know much about the military, but I do know that a chief petty officer is something to do with ships.

Armed with this small piece of common knowledge I was able to land a spangram first, seeing NAVYRANKS running down the center of the board.

After this I went for the only ranks I was confident of and found ADMIRAL and the infuriatingly hard to spell and cunningly hidden LIEUTENANT. Landing these two helped ease out the rest of the board as I navigated without any hints — plain sailing, you might say.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, July 22, game #871)

• QUESTION
• BUZZER
• ANSWER
• BOARD
• WAGER
• CATEGORY
• SPANGRAM: INJEOPARDY

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

• Satellite imagery independently confirms a Russian Tu-95MS strategic bomber was destroyed in Ukraine SBU drone strike on Engels-2 air base
• The Tu-95 is essentially an impossible-to-replace Cold War-era asset with approximately only 60 in service and at least 10 photo-confirmed losses since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began in 2022
• The loss is damning for Russian armed forces, which have deployed new hardened shelters and painted decoy bombers in a bid to trick drone operators who successfully destroyed the aircraft from an 800 km range

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the country's Security Service had recently destroyed a Tu-95 strategic bomber at Russia's Engels-2 air base, but the missing piece was a lack of independent proof confirming the strike.

With the Ukrainian side claiming an 800 km deep strike at one of Russia's most important airfields, many often ask for proof in a war that sees both sides exaggerate kills and attempt to hide losses to further their own narratives.

This time, however, receipts did come in the form of satellite imagery published by the open-source intelligence group AviVector and corroborated by Planet Labs satellite images obtained by Schemes, the investigative project of Radio Free Europe & Radio Liberty, showing a destroyed TU-95MS on the tarmac at Engels-2 Air Base.

An expensive loss for Russia and why it matters

The Tu-95 is a machine from another age: a swept-wing turboprop that first flew in 1952, powered by NK-12 engines that remain the most powerful turboprops ever built and make it one of the loudest aircraft in the sky.

The Tu-95MS variant, adapted from the Tu-142 maritime patrol airframe, is Russia's primary carrier of the Kh-101 cruise missiles that have battered Ukrainian cities throughout the war, hauling up to six missiles on an internal rotary launcher, with the modernized Tu-95MSM adding new engines, avionics, and pylons for up to eight externally mounted Kh-101s or nuclear-tipped Kh-102s.

While the Kh-102s have never actually been used in war, given their non-conventional capabilities, the fact that the Tu-95MS is capable of essentially conducting a nuclear war from an airborne position highlights how central it is to Russia's overall deterrence, even as it can no longer replace its losses: the production infrastructure that created them is gone, while the promised replacement, the PAK DA stealth bomber program exists only on paper for now.

The move is important in a war that is psychological as much as it is asymmetric between the two foes: it demonstrates that Ukraine can strike deep into Russian territory and target even its most remote airfields. In addition, the Tu-95MS is one of the more important workhorses of Russia's strike campaign against Ukraine, often used to lob missiles at the latter's cities and positions alike; the attack essentially neuters Russian capabilities, with only ~60 of them currently in operation.

The Ukrainians have wasted no time highlighting both the financial aspect of the hit as well as its psychological impact, stating on Telegram (translated):

"The SBU systematically destroys important elements of the Russian military machine. Each liquidated strategic bomber means dozens of unlaunched missiles over Ukrainian cities, saved Ukrainian lives, and tens of millions of dollars in irretrievable losses for the enemy. Russian strategic aviation can no longer feel safe even at its most remote military airfields."

On the flipside, a single bomber being taken out does not change the war; Russia launched cruise missile salvos before July 16 and will probably launch them after despite the small loss in capability. It will also continue hardening its air defenses and hangars alike while painting decoys to mislead drone operators who manage to make it through, even as its jammers grow increasingly sophisticated.

But a fleet capped by a 34-year-old production shutdown, already down double digits thanks to successful strikes such as Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb, losing airframes at a base it has spent months fortifying, is a fleet whose every remaining mission carries a quietly rising price. Ukraine cannot build Tu-95s either. The difference is that a drone-touting Ukraine on the defensive doesn't need to.

The short-spined critter also has a bobblehead, art contest, police sketch and recently won a race at a Seattle Mariners game.

8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition: One-minute review

The 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition takes the brand’s existing wireless mobile controller grip and makes a couple of surface-level changes.

The overall shape, style, and functions remain, but official Xbox licensing sees the Turbo button swapped for a dedicated Xbox button. It retains the $49.99 / £43.99 / AU$89 price tag of the original, meaning it's significantly cheaper than alternatives like the Backbone One or GameSir G8.

The Hall effect joysticks and triggers from the original are still here too, with clicky bumpers and what 8BitDo describes as a refined D-pad, though it felt pretty standard to me. For Xbox Cloud Gaming specifically, which is what I imagine most gamers would turn to this option for, it’s excellent on the whole. Cruising the streets of Japan in Forza Horizon 6 across iOS, Android, and Mac was smooth and responsive, with no perceptible latency over its wireless Bluetooth connection. The telescopic grip is the most secure I've seen in this category, confidently holding an iPhone 17 Pro with a case without any flex or creaking, and it’s comfortable enough for longer sessions.

The problems start when you step outside cloud gaming and into native mobile titles. Call of Duty Mobile refused to recognize the controller on both iOS and Android, and games that do work natively, like Fortnite, display PlayStation button prompts on screen despite the controller's physical ABXY layout and Xbox branding. The two back paddle buttons, a feature prominently listed on the spec sheet, also weren't recognized in any game or cloud gaming scenario I tested.

The core experience, however, is a pleasant one. If Xbox Cloud Gaming is your primary use case, the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition is close to a bargain. For native mobile gaming, the experience is a harder sell, and you’d be better off exploring other options on our list of the best mobile controllers.

(Image credit: Future)8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition: Price and availability

• List price: $49.99 / ~£43.99 / AU$89
• Retains the same price as the original and undercuts similar competitors
• Available in white or black from 8BitDo and retailers

The 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition launched in July 2025, half a year after the non-branded version, keeping the same $49.99 / £43.99 / AU$89 price. You’ll find it at a range of retailers, though 8BitDo is keen to push you towards Amazon, as well as from its own online store.

It’s worth checking out different options because at the time of writing, 8BitDo's store has it on sale for $38.99 in the US, making an already competitive price even more attractive.

For context, the Backbone One 2nd Gen runs $99.99, and the GameSir G8 Wireless sits at $79.99, so even at full price, the 8BitDo undercuts its closest competitors by a comfortable margin.

If you’re not too fussed about that Xbox tie-in, it’s worth noting that the original version of this controller now shares the same iOS and Android compatibility and has been spotted as low as $25 on sale. The day-to-day differences are extremely minor, so if budget is a concern, it’s worth keeping an eye on both.

(Image credit: Future)8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition: Specs

8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller Xbox Edition

Price

$49.99 / £43.99 / AU$89

Dimensions

7.8 x 4.1 x 2.1in / 198 x 103 x 53.5mm

Weight

8.32oz / 236g

Connection

Bluetooth LE 5.0, USB-C (Windows only)

Compatibility

iOS, Android, PC, macOS

Software

8BitDo Ultimate Software V2 (iOS, Android)

8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition: Design and features

• The most secure phone grip I've tested in a mobile controller
• Hall effect sticks and triggers are impressive at this price
• Quite a small overall profile

The 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition carries that familiar 8BitDo styling with rounded edges everywhere that almost look like they’re gently melting. It’s not, thankfully, and build quality is good across the board.

The textured rubber surface on the back of the phone deck is a highlight with a fun input-themed pattern, and the small amount of texture on the back of the main grips feels nice under your fingers. It’s available in your choice of black or white. I’ve been testing the former, and it’s a magnet for greasy marks, and I can see it getting shiny over time. Keep a microfibre cloth handy.

I don’t have massive hands, but the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition feels slightly small to hold, and it’s the length of the main grips that is the culprit. The left stick falls in a natural position, but the right one ends up nearly at the base of my thumb, and I essentially had to claw-grip the right side to reach it. It's not a dealbreaker, though coming from the stock Xbox Wireless Controller or even another mobile grip like the GameSir G8, it’s certainly a downgrade in comfort.

Where this controller definitely impresses is the phone deck. The telescopic action extends smoothly, and in testing, it held both my phones in a reassuringly sturdy way. This is the first mobile controller grip I've tested that confidently holds both a super slim POCO X5 Pro 5G and a chunky iPhone 17 Pro with a case still on without any sense that the phone might pop loose. There are no replaceable pads or removable elements to fiddle with; it’s just a good base design that’s wonderfully fit for purpose.

Feedback from the bumpers is sharp and clicky, with a responsiveness that feels better than you'd expect at this price point. The face buttons are a more standard fare, neither exceptional nor disappointing, though they are a little rattly. The D-pad has a noticeable wobble before the input registers, though the actual click is short and responsive once it fires.

There are Hall effect sticks and triggers on offer here, which is impressive for the price, and the sticks feel great with just the right amount of resistance. The triggers have a good level of detail but have a quirk: both left and right complete their full input range before the trigger is physically all the way down, leaving roughly 5% of dead travel at the bottom of the press. They don’t have the longest travel to begin with, so it’s a shame not to be using all of it.

(Image credit: Future)8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition: Performance

• Xbox Cloud Gaming works excellently across iOS, Android, and Mac
• Native mobile game compatibility is highly inconsistent
• Back buttons weren't recognized in any scenario I tested

Given its name, it should be no surprise that the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition is at its best when playing games via Xbox Cloud Gaming. I’d even go so far as to say that if you’re not a Game Pass subscriber, you can probably stop reading now and look to another mobile grip instead.

Initial pairing to devices is straightforward, and thankfully, there are no multiple connectivity modes to fumble with like on the GameSir G8 Bluetooth. The whole experience works smoothly out of the box, and I didn’t even need to consult the user guide for pairing mode instructions. I took a punt on holding a button until a light flashed, and I was right.

Switching the controller between devices wasn’t quite so simple, though admittedly my testing environment is a real stress test for this kind of thing. I attempted to jump around between my iPhone, MacBook Air, and Android phone, and things got rather temperamental.

The controller seemed to want to cling on to a previously paired device, even if Bluetooth was now switched off on it, so moving between a phone and a laptop usually required repairing from scratch rather than reconnecting to a previously paired device. If you’re not hopping back and forth as I have been, this won’t be an issue, though after a few days of testing I’ve ended up with four separate "Ultimate MGX" entries in my Android Bluetooth list.

No matter which of those devices I was connected to, the Xbox Cloud Gaming experience was excellent. I drove around Japan in Forza Horizon 6 without a hitch; the controls were responsive, and there was no noticeable Bluetooth latency.

The triggers offer plenty of granular control for working the throttle, though that dead zone at the end I mentioned earlier took some getting used to when it came to small throttle lifts around high-speed corners. There's no rumble or vibration support, but I’ll happily admit I didn't miss it. Cloud gaming and mobile titles rarely lean heavily on haptic feedback anyway.

FutureFuture

Steam had a love-hate relationship with the controller, depending on the platform. Connecting to my MacBook Air over Bluetooth had Steam recognizing it as a different, previously paired controller, which then failed to work in-game. Plugging it in via USB-C looked promising at first with macOS referencing it by name, but it was never seen by Steam or Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Windows fared much better across both Steam and cloud; over USB-C, it was instantly set up as a general XInput device, fully mapped and compatible with both.

8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition gains a dedicated Xbox home button on the front, replacing the turbo button from the standard version. When in the cloud gaming app, this button opens the guide just like it would on console; outside cloud gaming, it’ll open either the Apple Gaming app or act as a home button on Android. It’s a nice-to-have sort of feature rather than a game-changing one, but I’ll admit I did use it a few times in testing and wouldn’t have looked twice at a turbo button.

The moment you step into native mobile games, however, things start to get messier, and you’re at the mercy of individual developers. Fortnite recognized the controller immediately on both iOS and Android, and the gameplay experience was responsive and reliable. But the on-screen button labels display PlayStation symbols (Circle, Cross, Square, Triangle) despite the controller's physical ABXY layout and Xbox branding.

That’s a little awkward. This usually happens because the controller identifies itself as a generic gamepad rather than as an actual Xbox controller, which means the Xbox licensing doesn't extend to how games see it. Call of Duty Mobile, one of the biggest mobile shooters on the planet, simply doesn't recognize the controller at all. Not on iOS, not on Android, and there’s no hardware mapping workaround either.

Depending on your play style, the back paddle buttons are perhaps the most frustrating limitation. They're physically well-designed, nicely positioned, and require just the right amount of force to trigger, but they weren't recognized in any scenario I tested. Not in Fortnite, not in cloud gaming, not anywhere. Even after binding them to specific inputs through the 8BitDo Ultimate Software V2 app, games simply didn't see them.

Speaking of the app, it’s incredibly basic and falls far behind competitors in this space. Firstly, there are confusingly two versions on the App Store; V1 doesn't recognize the controller at all, and V2 requires you to manually select and pair your controller model during setup despite the device already being Bluetooth-paired to your phone.

Once you're in, the customization options are barebones: button remapping, dead zone adjustments, and trigger tuning. It worked on both iOS and Android, though anything you configure is device-specific and doesn’t save on the controller itself.

Shoudl you buy the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition?Buy it if...

You’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber who plays on mobile
This is the controller's strongest use case by a wide, wide margin. Cloud gaming works flawlessly on iOS, Android, and Mac; the build quality is excellent for the price, and the phone grip is the most secure I've tested.

You value portability or have smaller hands
While it doesn’t fold down completely, the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller Xbox Edition is more compact than competitors, with shorter grips that are well suited to smaller hands.

Don't buy it if...

You play a lot of native mobile games
The Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller is inconsistent when it comes to native game recognition. Some titles play fine but with the wrong labels, while others simply don’t work at all. If onboard titles are your main focus, look elsewhere.

You use rear buttons a lot
The two rear paddle buttons are physically well-placed but functionally useless in every scenario I tested. Even cloud gaming, which works so well in general, fails to recognize them or allow their use in games.

Also consider...

Here are two strong alternatives to weigh up.

8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller Xbox Edition

GameSir G8+ Bluetooth

Backbone One 2nd Gen

Price

$49.99 / £43.99 / AU$89

$79.99 / £79.99 / AU$129.99

$99.99 / £99.99 / AU$179.99

Dimensions

7.8 x 4.1 x 2.1in / 198 x 103 x 53.5mm

9.06 x 4.21 x 2.17in / 230 x 107 x 55mm

6.93 x 3.70 x 1.34in / 176 x 93.98 x 34.03mm

Weight

8.32oz / 236g

10.72oz / 314g

4.86oz / 138g

Connection

Bluetooth LE 5.0, USB-C (Windows only)

Bluetooth 5.3, Wired (USB-C), Dongle (sold separately)

Wired (USB-C / Lightning)

Compatibility

iOS, Android, PC, macOS

Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, macOS

Android, iOS

Software

8BitDo Ultimate Software V2 (iOS, Android)

GameSir App (Android only)

Backbone App

GameSir G8+ Galileo Wireless
This is your closest direct competitor, offering Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, Hall effect sticks and triggers, back buttons, and broader platform support including Nintendo Switch. It costs more at $79.99, but the larger grips, additional connectivity options, and stronger local game compatibility make it a more versatile wireless mobile controller.

For more information, check out our full GameSir G8+ Galileo Wireless review

Backbone One (2nd Gen)
The Backbone One remains our top pick for portable mobile controllers thanks to its compact form factor, reliable USB-C passthrough connection, and broad game compatibility. It's basically double the price and lacks Hall effect sticks, but if native game support and portability matter more than cloud gaming value, it's the safer bet.

For more information, check out our full Backbone One 2nd Gen review

How I tested the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition

• Spent several days testing across multiple devices and platforms
• I tested native mobile games, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Steam on Mac and Windows
• Tried the companion app on both iOS and Android

I tested the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller Xbox Edition with an iPhone 17 Pro and a POCO X5 Pro 5G for mobile gaming, as well as a Mac and Windows PC for cloud gaming and Steam. I tested native mobile games, including Fortnite (on both iOS and Android), and attempted Call of Duty Mobile on both platforms. Cloud gaming testing focused on Forza Horizon 6 via Xbox Cloud Gaming on all devices.

I evaluated the companion app experience on both iOS and Android, including firmware checking, profile setup, and button remapping. I tested the back paddle buttons across multiple scenarios, including native games, cloud gaming, and through the 8BitDo Ultimate Software V2 app. I also tested the controller's behavior on Steam, including calibration and in-game recognition.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed July 2026

• Someone used an AirPod to record flying disc throw statistics
• Tested with throws of up to 45mph and no damage
• Strava-friendly export for dedicated disc throwers

One of Apple's most famous adverts opened with "Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently." The text didn't explicitly say "here's to the ones sticking AirPods on frisbees", but I think Steve Jobs would have approved of the Redditor who's done exactly that.

Paul Tracer, aka Disastrous-Body-297, has invented a use for AirPods that I'm pretty sure nobody at Apple ever considered. He used them to upgrade a standard frisbee and to stream real-time data. It can even export sessions to the Strava app.

Airpods can track frisbee throws from r/airpodsWhy upgrading a frisbee with AirPods isn't completely crazy

As the intrepid inventor explains: "The AirPod streams motion data to the phone and detects/analyses throws in real time. With optional voice feedback into the second AirPod. It measures speed, revolutions, airborne time, throw count. It also measures heartrate (either with latest AirPods or external HR)."

You can try it for yourself: the app is the sports metrics app Kinapod, which the creator says is currently going through Apple's approval process. The AirPod is literally just put through a hole created in the dead center of the disc. Tracer says "Just punch a hole in the center of the disc and that’s it! You’ll be surprised how reliable it is. The AirPod stem is not entirely cylindrical, it doesn’t slide out."

The result is a lot of data: average speed, maximum spin, total airborne time, and more.

There's a market for that kind of information: as one Redditor, lenfantsuave, joke posts, "Tech disc: I will never financially recover from this." Tech Disc is a company that makes a range of launch monitors for disc golf priced at $299.99, which track multiple metrics and flight paths in order to help players improve their game, and someone from the firm joined in the online conversation to praise Tracer's ingenuity.

Tracer's tracker is very much a "fun thing" rather than a serious setup, not least because expensive earbuds aren't the most cost-effective gyro sensors to attach to a frisbee; the risk of damage or destruction is clearly pretty high, although the AirPods have survived so far according to Tracer.

Tracer is currently chatting with Redditors on forums such as r/discgolf about alternative and more affordable ways of collating data. And in the meantime, the AirPod/Frisbee combination made me and other Redditors happy: "This is very rad," says claybythebay9, while GrandMasterFlex reckons, and I'm including to agree, that "this is sick as hell".

As Apple's ad put it, "while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius." Or as SilverMelodyPrincess says in the Reddit thread: "Apple accidentally made the most over-engineered frisbee stat tracker and I'm here for it."

Computing is so ubiquitous that we often see more than one in most households, including laptops, desktops, all-in-ones, smartphones, tablets, and so on. But there was once a time when that certainly wasn't the case. In that context, some comments made by industry stalwarts of the past may appear like massive miscalculations.

Ethics in AI

The late Ken Olsen was the co-founder and CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), a major company in the mid-20th century that produced a series of minicomputers over the decades in which it operated until its decline in 1998.

Quote of the day

This article is part of TechRadar Pro's QOTD project to provide an insight into the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. Read the full series here.

Despite being a key part of the computer industry, Olsen was adamant that the computer was something isolated to the enterprise — delivering his infamous comments in 1977 at a convention of the World Future Society. There are, however, two very important caveats.

Firstly, computers at the time were either gigantic mainframes or minicomputers that needed specialized staff to manage. Secondly, Olsen later claimed his words were taken completely out of context.

Smart living

Olsen claimed he wasn't referring to the sort of computers we see today in homes like desktop PCs or laptops, but actually the then-futuristic proposal of a master computer that would automate different functions around the house.

What the executive was referring to was what we now understand as the smart home. However, regardless of the context, his comments still missed the mark — as the rise of smart home technology has been a very exciting development during the 21st century.

That said, the vision of a fully automated and intelligent home has proven massively prohibitive, partially due to cost, partially due to hardware, and finally due to slow interoperability and integration. That latter element, however, is finally something that's been changing thanks to the Matter smart home standard.

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 872 for Thursday, July 23

• White Eagle knocked Matador's head off with a precise high kick during combat
• Matador continued fighting after losing its head and head-mounted sensors during battle
• EngineAI's humanoid robot can perform uppercuts, spinning kicks, and rapid recovery after falls

A white T800 humanoid robot named White Eagle stunned spectators in China after landing a precision kick that dislodged its rival's head.

The bout was part of the opening contest of the Ultimate Robot Knock-out Legend (URKL) tournament, the world's first full-scale humanoid robot fighting event.

Held at the Shenzhen Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center, the event drew 32 teams from around the world.

A robot that kept fighting

The most striking moment came when White Eagle's opponent, a black-clad robot called Matador, lost its head to a precise high kick.

Despite losing its head-mounted sensors, the machine kept throwing punches and absorbing strikes, finishing the match through its torso-based core systems alone.

Organizers said the sequence shows the robot's durability and its resistance to sustained physical impact, according to the Guangzhou Daily.

According to EngineAI, the T800 stands 1.73 meters tall and can perform uppercuts, spinning kicks and rapid recoveries after falls.

The company said each unit costs roughly $50,000 and features strong posture control, dynamic perception and shock-absorbing capabilities for combat.

All 32 competing teams used the EngineAI T800 as a standardized platform, ensuring every fighter entered the ring with identical hardware.

Selection for the inaugural tournament reportedly involved rigorous testing of each robot's stability and combat responsiveness before the event officially began.

The Shenzhen Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center provided the backdrop for a tournament organizers hope will grow into a recognized global sporting franchise.

Tournament tests more than robot strength

The URKL format assesses robots through effective strikes, body stability, defensive and evasive abilities, and overall durability in combat.

That structure means victory depends on more than simply delivering the hardest punch or kick.

EngineAI founder and CEO Zhao Tongyang said the tournament aims to develop a globally influential commercial humanoid robotics fighting franchise.

He also said competition could support research and industrial development by exposing machines to demanding physical conditions.

"We want to use competition to drive research and industry development," Zhao said. "Let the event feed back into technology, and let technology drive the industry."

Real combat could help assess mechanical balance, millisecond-level decision-making and coordination between multiple sensor systems.

Feedback from such conditions could accelerate the movement of intelligent robots from laboratory development toward commercial use.

Actor Donnie Yen attended the event and compared the experience favourably with staged combat scenes from films.

"Honestly, I used to see robot fighting only in science fiction movies. But today, for the first time, I got to watch real robots fighting up close,” Yen said during the opening ceremony.

The event's unusual head-loss incident reveals the durability of the T800, while also showing the limits and risks of using complex humanoid machines in physical combat.

Future contests will likely determine whether such events can produce useful engineering data beyond entertainment.

Via Global Times

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