Technology

• 1Password unveils Claude partnership, letting Anthropic’s AI authenticate on users’ behalf via zero‑exposure architecture
• Users approve each login with biometrics
• New Agentic Mode in the browser extension locks down the interface when AI agents take over

Top password manager company 1Password has launched a new tool that allows artificial intelligence assistant Claude to authenticate on behalf of their user, and thus complete assignments that were previously impossible without major security tradeoffs.

1Password for Claude is built on “zero-exposure architecture” - so in practice, it means Claude can essentially ask 1Password to complete the sign-in process, but it will never see the credentials, and they will never be loaded into its memory.

In turn, 1Password will notify the user, and will request biometric approval before proceeding. Once granted, it will autofill the credentials and check to see if they were exposed on the page or not. If submission fails, it will clear the filled values and report back.

Agentic Mode

"We need a new security model that is purpose-built for agents, not just humans,” said Nancy Wang, CTO of 1Password. “The answer isn't handing agents your secrets. It is to let a user give an agent permission to use a credential without letting the agent see it. Claude knows it used your login; it does not need the password or one-time code in its context. That distinction is where trust in agents starts and the foundation we're building with Anthropic."

To further strengthen its security posture, 1Password also announced Agentic Mode, a new feature in the browser extension that gives users visibility and control over browser-based AI agents. When a compatible AI agent takes over, the 1Password extension automatically locks down and hides the interface. The agent can only use the logins and OTPs explicitly approved for the current task.

Even if the integration is not set up, and even if 1Password is not required for the current agentic task, Agentic Mode works, the company stressed. Other agents, besides Claude, are supported, as well.

Currently a major debate is ongoing, about how much permissions AI agents should receive, and under what rules. We’ve already seen horror stories of AI agents deleting people’s entire email inboxes, or otherwise ruining days of hard work. Whether or not this picks up or most people remain skeptical about giving AI access to certain services, remains to be seen.

• Streaming giant Netflix has revealed that 300 movies and shows used generative AI in 2026
• The news was shared in a shareholder letter, obtained by the website Kotaku
• Generative AI was used to “enhance crowds, historical battle sequences, and worldbuilding establishing shots.”

Netflix has recently admitted to using AI tools in a huge number of its movies and shows, with the shocking announcement delivered in its shareholder letter on July 16.

According to Kotaku, which obtained the shareholder letter, Netflix says that AI is now fully integrated into many different projects and is used from the concept stage through pre-visualization, filming, and post-production.

They also revealed that generative AI was mostly used in post-production across the 300 shows and movies using it in 2026.

“We are increasingly leveraging these tools to deliver higher quality output more quickly and at a lower cost than traditional methods,” Netflix said in the shareholder letter. “In some cases, productions would have had to leave out key shots and sequences in the absence of GenAI technology.”

Using The American Experiment as an example, Netflix added that using generative AI tools “enhanced crowds, historical battle sequences, and worldbuilding establishing shots.”

It's not just the best streaming service's shows that are affected either, as AI is also working its way into the app itself, with Netflix explaining that it will use LLMs and AI to “improve title discovery” and “better understand member preferences.”

First they cancel all my favorite shows, now they're using AI

Netflix canceled The Boroughs recently, joining a long line of shows axed by the streaming giant. (Image credit: Netflix)

Netflix has made a lot of poor decisions in recent months. Recently, my colleague Rowan Davies criticized the streamer for chasing YouTube content, saying he was worried they don't actually care about the future of their shows and movies.

I'm inclined to agree, too, as the streaming service has a track record of cancelling its shows. Just recently, The Boroughs was canceled after one season, and it's not the first time they've abandoned shows early on.

They have also used an AI-generated voice of the late actor Gene Wilder in a new reality show, which our editor at large, Lance Ulanoff, said was "too far".

This, teamed with the most recent AI announcement, has filled me with despair, and I'm worried a lot of my favorite Netflix shows aren't getting the love they deserve.

This decision will no doubt divide fans, but this is the kind of thing that's going to make me turn away from Netflix and prioritize other streaming services instead. It feels like Netflix is falling out of love with its shows, and I'm starting to do the same.

Catch up on the week's biggest tech news, including Google's app store shakeup, Apple's AI expansion, OpenAI's hardware plans, and critical security threats.

The post AI Hardware, App Store Shifts, and Security Scares Define This Week in Tech appeared first on TechRepublic.

1Password's new Claude integration lets AI agents sign in to websites without exposing passwords, adding user approval and credential protection.

The post 1Password Lets Claude Sign In Without Revealing Passwords appeared first on TechRepublic.

It's officially summer holiday season in the northern hemisphere (sorry, readers in Australia and New Zealand), and that means it's time to put the TV on for the kids before you go on family vacation.

You won't want to stick any of the following new movies or TV shows on for them, though. None of them are family friendly, so I'd advise you to load up something else on one of the world's best streaming services instead.

However, once they're tucked up in bed, I implore you to throw on one or more of these seven great-looking films and TV series. That said, maybe don't start this week's number one choice before you head off for a good night's rest yourself, because it is terrifying in the best way possible. — Tom Power, senior entertainment reporter

Obsession (Peacock)

I'm not joking when I say Obsession, the breakout movie hit of 2026 so far that's finally landed on Peacock, is frighteningly fun. I spent weeks thinking about this supernatural horror after seeing it, and I'll readily admit that I felt uncomfortable for the first few nights post-watch, too.

For those who don't know: Obsession follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a lovesick loser who has a crushe on one of his besties Nikki (Inde Navarrette). When Bear stumbles upon an item called the One Wish Willow, he buys one and uses it to make Nikki fall in love with him. It's a spur-of-the-moment action that ends up having horrifying and deadly consequences, and will have you constantly repeating Nikki's "No, no, no, no, don't do thaaaaat!" line in your head as the plot progresses.

Before you stream it, check out our review of Obsession to see why everyone's, well, become obsessed with a film that, on a reported budget of just $750,000, has made $400m globally, broken horror film box office records, and turned Navarrette into a serial awards contender. And hey, if Peacock isn't available in your region yet, see where you can rent or but the Curry Barker-directed phenomenon instead. — TP

• Watch Obsession on Peacock

Heartstopper Forever (Netflix)

Guys... the end we've been dreading is here. Nick and Charlie's wholesome relationship has been an IP central to Netflix original content, but now it all ends with Heartstopper Forever.

If you're bummed out because we're not getting a full fourth season, don't be. As Nick, Charlie, and the gang all brace before going their separate ways to university, a feature film actually reflects their growing maturity and crises of confidence much more fittingly.

Heartstopper Forever really is forever... at least, it is in my house, where I'll be replaying it so much that Netflix might issue a warning. Its spirit and generation-defining impact will live on, and that might be the most special achievement the streamer has ever been responsible for. — Jasmine Valentine, entertainment reporter

• Watch Heartstopper Forever on Netflix

Ride or Die (Prime Video)

Whoever thought to cast Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham together in an Amazon action comedy show needs a raise immediately. Ride or Die gives us the entertainment duo that we didn't know that we needed and plenty of laughs along the way.

The pair play best friends Debbie Claybourne and Judith Burton, who thought they knew everything about each other. But, when Judith (Waddingham) turns out to be an international assassin when a mysterious figure emerges, their worlds are turned upside down.

Tackling everything from menopause to, well, the complexities of life, this Prime Video Original is an incredible amount of fun. And, surely that's the most important thing in life, right? — JV

• Watch Ride or Die on Prime Video

Lucky (Apple TV)

Is there anything Anya Taylor-Joy can't do? Ever since she made her debut in Robert Eggers' The Witch, I've been impressed by just how varied each of her roles are.

In Apple TV's Lucky, she plays a con artist forced to go on the run after a heist goes wrong. Across seven episodes, we follow Luciana 'Lucky' Armstrong as she tries to evade the FBI and a ruthless crime boss, hoping that she'll live up to her nickname and make it out alive. It seems that breaking the law runs in her family, too, as Timothy Olyphant stars as her father who's in prison when the story begins.

The first two episodes are out now, and something tells me this will be another Apple Original for me to get hooked on. — Lucy Buglass, senior entertainment writer

• Watch Lucky on Apple TV

The Hawk (Netflix)

If you ask me, Will Ferrell and golf feels like a natural TV marriage. The Hawk on Netflix is proving me right, with Ferrell playing Lonnie Hawkins, a top golfer in 2004. Two decades on and he's trying to recapture his magic late in his career. However, he refuses to believe he's anything other than one stroke away from golf's greatest comeback.

If you've ever watched Happy Gilmore or The Phantom of the Open, this is for you... even if you're pretending that you actually know the first thing about the sport, which is easily done. — JV

• Watch The Hawk on Netflix

Descendants: Wicked Wonderland (Disney+)

The Descendants franchise continues over on Disney+ with Wicked Wonderland, which marks the fifth installment in the series (even I didn't think that there had been so many).

Picking up shortly after Descendants: The Rise of Red, Red and Chloe return from their time-travelling adventures to find that the Queen of Hearts is trapped. The once notorious villain now has a nice streak, but that gives way to a new evil: Maddox Hatter.

Personally, I still can't believe that a UK 2010s popstar is playing one of the most iconic fictional queens of all time. If you're British, it has to be seen for that reason alone. — JV

• Watch Descendants: Wicked Wonderland on Disney+

Murder 101 (Prime Video)

Prime Video's new three-part docuseries is a fascinating one. Murder 101 is about a high school sociology class based in rural Tennessee who help revive a decades-old case into a shocking present-day hunt for a killer.

It's the sort of thing you'd expect to find in a work of fiction, Netflix's How to Get Away with Murder springs to mind, but this is 100% real. You can also check out the podcast of the same name if you'd like to dive in deeper.

Ultimately, this program showcases the power of a local community as we follow a group of students turned amateur sleuths. I'm already locked in. — LB

• Watch Murder 101 on Prime Video

"We decided not to limit VPNs." These six words from Online Safety Minister Kanishka Narayan ended months of tension on Wednesday, confirming the government's U-turn on age-gating privacy tools.

VPN services are popular software that millions of people in the UK use every day to encrypt their online activities for better privacy and security. Yet, their ability to grant access to geo-blocked content has also been making enemies among democratic countries lately, as age verification laws spread across the world.

This friction has led some British lawmakers to dub VPNs a "loophole that needed to be closed," prompting a national consultation to investigate how kids use this technology.

The announcement of an upcoming UK teen social media ban has made this process even more crucial. Since then, many have speculated that it would have helped to tip the scales towards new VPN restrictions. And yet, that didn't happen.

"This is the right call, and a welcome recognition that VPNs play a crucial role in everyday cybersecurity," Justas Pukys, Senior Product Manager at Surfshark, told TechRadar, adding that protecting children online and preserving strong cybersecurity tools "can, and should, go hand in hand."

But why did the UK government choose to leave VPNs alone after all? And can this bold decision pave the way for a similar response in the rest of Europe?

Why the UK government will not age-gate VPNs

(Image credit: Jose Sarmento Matos/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

As the UK Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary, Liz Kendall, explains in a parliamentary statement, VPNs have legitimate privacy and security uses. The reason why, she explains, "we will therefore not age-gate or ban them."

Independent research conducted by Kendall's department has indeed found that privacy is the top reason UK children use a VPN. Only a small minority of them — between 7% and 10% — do so to bypass mandatory age checks.

The latest Ofcom report on the use of age assurance — which was also published on Wednesday — paints a similar picture. While confirming that VPN usage doubled in the UK following the enforcement of mandatory age verification, only "a relatively small minority of children" use these tools to access restricted content or features.

These findings mirror separate YouGov research commissioned by the VPN Trust Initiative, which revealed that a mere 1.4% of surveyed minors use a VPN specifically to access platforms meant for older demographics. Before that, a May 2026 study conducted by Internet Matters also found that only 7% used a VPN to circumvent age restrictions.

This evidence doesn't necessarily mean that children aren't trying to evade controls. Yet, they show how most young people do so simply by entering a fake birthdate or using a parent's login.

So, the onus to prevent kids from evading controls is now back on the platforms. But the government also shared the intention to "engage with VPN providers on voluntary action and strengthen guidance and support for parents."

NordVPN's Privacy Advocate, Laura Tyrylyte, welcomes the prospect of working with lawmakers to find a balanced solution, praising Kendall's decision.

"The Government is right to recognise the important role that VPNs play and to adopt an evidence-led approach," Tyrylyte told TechRadar.

And while arguing that "it should have been obvious from the start," Windscribe's CEO, Yegor Sak, explains that this move reassures VPN users in the UK that they can continue using VPNs. "Without worrying that a legal privacy tool is about to be treated as suspicious by default," he added.

Will other countries follow the UK?

UK wasn't alone in toying with the idea of age-restricting VPN apps.

The EU is also considering something similar following the release of its age verification app. On a national level, France is also evaluating VPN use as it gets ready to enforce its under-15 social media ban.

That's why Mozilla Product Policy Manager, Svea Windwehr, urges European governments to follow the UK's lead.

"We urge policymakers everywhere to address the root causes of online harms, and follow the UK's evidence-based approach in keeping VPNs accessible for everyone," Windwehr told TechRadar.

And while the wider industry is now hopeful that VPN restrictions will ultimately disappear from politicians' agendas, the tensions between children's safety and people's privacy have not been defused yet.

"If an online safety regime only works when everyone's location and identity are easy to verify, the problem is the regime. Not the tool that prevents constant identification," Sak from Windiscribe told TechRadar.

NymVPN's CEO, Harry Halpin, agrees with Sak on this, warning that UK lawmakers' action could still impact VPN users in the country.

"The problem is that the UK government is still pursuing its idea of connecting your passport to your internet usage," Halpin told TechRadar, arguing that this still "hinders free access to the internet even if VPNs are usable."

The road to ensuring age verification systems don't hurt our digital freedoms may still be long. But protecting the integrity of the VPN is certainly a step in the right direction that we hope more politicians will replicate.

The question of where data lives has become considerably more fraught over the past few years.

A mix of regulatory scrutiny, geopolitical tensions across the Atlantic, and the related unease about the concentration of infrastructure power among the hyperscalers have all combined to push data sovereignty up the executive agenda.

The result? A strategic posture that’s increasingly shaped by political anxiety rather than operational logic.

And while both need to be considered by the boardroom, leaning too much on the former leads to very different decisions.

To be clear, there’s no debate that compliance with data residency requirements remains a genuine obligation for organizations in regulated industries, and nobody is suggesting otherwise.

The concern is with what comes next: many organizations are at the "we must manage our data carefully" stage, and are considering a leap to "we should consider exiting hyperscaler infrastructure entirely." While the logic could be understandable, the reality is that full disengagement is neither effective nor necessary for the bulk of organizations.

The hyperscalers earned their position because they offered capabilities that were genuinely difficult to replicate at scale, and the organizations that depend on them most deeply are not in a position to unwind that dependency in any near-term timeframe. A multi-year transformation program with substantial execution risk is rarely the right answer to a political concern that may itself shift within that same period.

Conflating data residency and operational resilience

The focus on sovereignty has meant that ideas about data residency, infrastructure control, and operational resilience are being treated as interchangeable concepts. While connected, these are distinct ideas with distinct impacts on a business’s ability to function effectively and comply with regulation.

Let’s consider the incidents that really bring organizations down, and what makes data recovery harder than it needs to be. It’s system failures, slow incident response, and exploited security vulnerabilities that take customer-facing services offline, erode trust and incur regulatory fines. A platform that fails during peak demand causes the same commercial and reputational damage regardless of where its data is stored.

Similarly, a security breach does not become more or less severe based on whether it occurred on domestic or international infrastructure. The metrics that determine whether an organization functions under pressure are uptime, security posture and the quality of incident response capability. Sovereignty is one input to that picture, not the frame through which the whole picture should be viewed.

Simply put, an organization is not resilient simply because its data sits in the right jurisdiction. Resilience is an architectural and operational property that has to be built deliberately.

Where real control lives

If sovereignty decisions are best understood as one component of broader operational resilience, then the more productive question is where in the stack is control most effectively exercised. The answer, particularly as AI applications proliferate, is primarily at the data layer.

The database has moved beyond its traditional role as a storage mechanism. In modern architectures, it is often the most reliable point of deterministic control in the entire stack: the place where governance is enforced in practice rather than documented in policy.

Data location, encryption, access controls, cross-region movement – all of these are data infrastructure questions at heart. Getting them right is what makes meaningful sovereignty achievable, not as a political statement, but as an operational capability.

So in turn, when an organization has genuine control over governance at the data layer, suddenly the choice between a hyperscaler and a fully domestic alternative becomes less relevant. The question shifts from which provider to use to whether the infrastructure is flexible enough to enforce the appropriate rules for each workload. That reframing tends to produce considerably better outcomes.

In practice, this means building in tiers: cloud-native performance where the business requires speed, scalability and flexibility, on-premise or segmented deployments for regulated workloads, and the architectural flexibility to move between configurations as circumstances change. After all, regulations will continue to evolve.

The geopolitical environment that is currently driving sovereignty conversations will look different in three years. That means infrastructure decisions made under today's conditions need to remain workable under tomorrow's.

Building for change, not for certainty

The practical implication for technology leaders is straightforward: meet your regulatory obligations, exercise genuine control at the data layer, and build the architectural flexibility to adjust as requirements shift.

But after that, it’s important to give equal attention and consideration to the failure modes that are statistically far more likely to cause very tangible and costly problems: outages at peak load, delayed incident responses and vulnerabilities that could be exploited.

At the end of the day, those are far likelier to be discussed in post-mortems – not sovereignty. And while sovereignty deserves its place in the technology strategy conversation, it should sit within a resilience framework, not above it.

We've featured the best cloud databases.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to 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/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

Apple reportedly plans an OLED iPad mini for October, followed by refreshed entry-level, Air, and Pro models through 2027.

The post Apple Reportedly Plans OLED iPad Mini, More iPad Refreshes Through 2027 appeared first on TechRepublic.

If a 32GB DDR5-6000 kit is on your build list, I've just found two good options that are now even cheaper.

First up, you can get V-Color's Manta XSky CL30 kit for $419.99 (usually $449) at Newegg.

Then there's the Corsair Vengeance CL36 kit for $429.37 (usually $476.99) at Amazon — both discounted, with the tighter timings on one and the brand-name safety net on the other.

Today's top DDR5 RAM deals

32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 (PC5-48000) kit with SK Hynix ICs, CL30 timing (30-38-38-96) at 1.35V, AMD EXPO profile support, and RGB lighting in a black heatspreader. Backed by a limited lifetime warranty.View Deal

32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 (PC5-48000) kit with CL36 timing (36-44-44-96) at 1.35V, dual AMD EXPO and Intel XMP 3.0 support, and a low-profile grey aluminum heatspreader with no RGB. Backed by Corsair's limited lifetime warranty.View Deal

Both of these kits run at the same 6000MHz headline speed, but the timings tell a different story. The V-Color kit's CL30 rating is meaningfully tighter than the Corsair kit's CL36, and in real terms that means lower memory latency — the kind of difference that shows up in CPU-bound games and latency-sensitive workloads, even if the two kits post similar raw bandwidth numbers on paper.

Corsair's Vengeance line, on the other hand, is one of the most established names in desktop memory, with dual AMD EXPO and Intel XMP 3.0 profiles baked in — useful if you're not committed to a platform yet, or if you're building a system for someone else and want the broadest possible compatibility without needing to hunt down a platform-specific SKU.

Aesthetically, the two kits split down the middle too. The V-COLOR Manta XSky ships with RGB lighting in a taller black heatspreader, which matters if this is going in a windowed case you actually look at. The Corsair Vengeance kit skips the RGB entirely for a lower-profile grey heatspreader, which can be the safer pick if you're running a large air cooler and need to double-check RAM clearance.

A couple of honest notes: neither kit's rated 6000MHz speed and timings are guaranteed on every motherboard — actually hitting CL30 or CL36 at 6000MHz depends on your board's memory controller and BIOS support for AMD EXPO or Intel XMP, so it's worth checking your motherboard's supported memory list (QVL) before buying either.

And while V-COLOR is a well-regarded enthusiast memory brand, it doesn't carry the same broad name recognition or retail support network as Corsair, which is worth weighing if brand support history matters to your purchase.

If tighter timings and RGB matter more to you, go with the V-Color Manta XSky at $419.99. If you'd rather stick with an established name and broader platform support, the Corsair Vengeance kit at $429.37 is the safer call.

• See all memory deals at Newegg and Amazon.

Apple has reportedly delayed its Baltra AI server chip as it explores chip startup acquisitions to strengthen the infrastructure behind its AI ambitions.

The post Apple Reportedly Delays ‘Baltra’ AI Server Chip Amid Infrastructure Challenges appeared first on TechRepublic.

Hugging Face says an autonomous AI agent carried out a cyberattack against its production systems, highlighting the growing role of AI in offensive and defensive cybersecurity.

The post Hugging Face Says Autonomous AI System Executed Multi-Stage Cyberattack appeared first on TechRepublic.

Last week, as European lawmakers packed their bags for the summer recess, a controversial surveillance law was quietly brought back to life. It's the latest plot twist in the struggle to find a balance between digital privacy and children's safety.

Through an unusual procedural loophole, the European Parliament revived what’s been dubbed "Chat Control 1.0." It's a temporary rule that allows tech giants like Meta, Google, and Microsoft to voluntarily scan citizens' unencrypted private messages in search of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

While the law — which is expected to officially pass once MEPs return from summer recess — excludes end-to-end encrypted apps like Signal and WhatsApp, its resurrection has sent shockwaves through the digital rights community.

Critics have not only slammed the revival procedure as "undemocratic," but also warned that it could mean mass scanning becomes permanent.

Central to the debate is whether Big Tech should use mass scanning (where everybody's data is checked) or targeted scanning (where only people identified as potential suspects are affected).

And while the European Parliament decided to reject mass scanning in March in favor of a "proportional and targeted" approach, last week’s vote represents a major U-turn that brings it back to the table.

But how did a law voted down over three months ago end up on the fast track to be enforced? And what will be the lasting impact on our privacy?

How Chat Control 1.0 was revived

(Image credit: Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images)

Due to the "rarely used" legal procedure adopted last week, an absolute majority was required to reject the proposal.

This meant at least 361 MEPs were required to vote against it — something critics say was difficult to achieve as many of them were already on holiday.

So, despite the majority of MEPs rejecting it (314 against, 276 in favor), the motion was sent to the Council for final approval, which is expected in September.

Initially intended as a stopgap while lawmakers debated the permanent Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR) bill — aka Chat Control 2.0 — the interim framework was in place from 2021 until it terminated in April of this year.

Since then, child safety groups and some MEPs have argued that the legal vacuum this caused required urgent action — a gap addressed by last week's vote.

However, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Snapchat issued a joint statement in April pledging to "continue to take voluntary action" to execute CSAM scans — regardless of whether the interim scanning law was enacted.

The privacy backlash

Many critics didn’t like how the Chat Control gambit unfolded, calling EP President Roberta Metsola's actions a political stunt. They allege she used a legal loophole strategically to schedule a vote during the final meeting of the legislative season to maximize its chances of passing.

A long-standing critic of the CSAM scanning law, former MEP for the German Pirate Party and digital rights jurist Patrick Breyer didn’t mince words, slamming Metsola's move as a "farce" that "damages democracy."

Robin Wilton, the Internet Society's Senior Director for Internet Trust, also told TechRadar that the "extraordinary bending of parliamentary procedure" required to pass the bill should concern everyone.

In a written statement to TechRadar, Roberta Metsola’s press office said, "it was not the President who brought this up or pushed for it" but that the issue was raised by other political groups during a meeting in June.

The lasting impact of Chat Control 1.0

While the temporary legal framework is expected to be reinstated soon, the more significant battle over CSAM scanning and digital privacy continues in the background.

Lawmakers are still discussing the terms of the permanent CSAR law, with negotiations reportedly stalling over the issue of targeted or mass scanning.

Critics are now concerned that last week's vote could steer the direction of the debates regarding the permanent law. And not in ways that would protect people's digital privacy.

Rand Hammoud, Director of the Security, Surveillance and Human Rights Programme and Regional Encryption Lead at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), fears that passing the temporary law risks legitimizing mass scanning and says that opposition may become "more difficult" to sustain.

Put simply, because the temporary law allows for mass scanning, the permanent legislation may be more likely to include the same provision.

Did you know?

(Image credit: Colin Andreson Productions pty ltd/via Getty Images)

Some technology researchers have warned that mass scanning may lead to a surge in false positives. While some groups may view these errors as an inevitable part of any technology that can be fixed, Belgian cryptographer Bart Preneel — the author of multiple research papers on this matter — warns it could take at least two years to develop a better solution.

Digital rights advocates have long argued that mass scanning is a privacy "disaster waiting to happen," calling for more targeted solutions. They believe that even when the scanning is "voluntary" — meaning when tech companies can choose whether to perform the scanning or not — it remains problematic.

For child safety groups, however, voluntary scanning is non-negotiable. According to Hannah Swirsky, the Internet Watch Foundation's (IWF) Head of Policy and Public Affairs, it would be a mistake to limit detection only to individual suspects.

"The scale of the issue with CSAM requires technology to be used widely across platform systems," Swirsky told TechRadar.

Either way, Hammoud from CDT Europe says finding the right balance between privacy and children's safety "demands careful, evidence-based lawmaking" — a standard she argues was lacking in the fast-tracked procedure last week.

What’s next for the privacy of chats?

Despite the temporary law expected to officially pass in autumn, some opponents of Chat Control are still hopeful.

Crucially, the vote showed that most MEPs remain unconvinced about the current legal framework being developed. And while there is deep disagreement on how to do so effectively, it is worth noting that people on all sides want to find solutions that keep children safe online.

As the EU institutions pull down the shutters for the summer, we can only hope that politicians are able to reach a compromise that upholds democratic principles while keeping children safe and defending citizens' digital privacy.

• Coca‑Cola confirmed a ransomware attack on its dairy subsidiary Fairlife, forcing suspension of US production operations while Canada sites remain unaffected
• Incident response protocols were activated, with third‑party experts and authorities engaged; product quality and safety were not impacted
• Analysts warn the financial impact could be significant given Fairlife’s importance, with losses compounding the longer production remains offline

Coca Cola was forced to shut down parts of its operations to tackle an ongoing ransomware infection.

In an 8-K form recently filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company said the attackers struck Fairlife, its dairy company.

“On July 16, 2026, The Coca-Cola Company announced that fairlife, a dairy company owned by the company, identified unauthorized access by a third party to a portion of its systems, including its production-related systems, in connection with a ransomware event,” the filing reads.

Compounding impact

Coca Cola then explained that it kicked off its incident response and business continuity protocols, bringing in third-party cybersecurity experts to help investigate the attack and assess the damages. It also notified relevant authorities.

However, the production in the US has been affected, since parts of the operation had to be suspended: “Product quality and safety have not been impacted. However, as a result of the incident, production operations at fairlife in the United States are temporarily suspended. fairlife’s Canada production operations are not currently impacted,” Coca Cola explained.

It said it was now working to bring the systems back up, and that it has “not yet determined whether the incident is reasonably likely to materially affect the company.”

In a statement shared with TechRadar Pro, Cybersecurity Researcher and Advanced Services Lead at Arcova, Joseph Perry, stressed that the material impact is likely to be great. How great - depends on how fast Coca Cola moves.

“Fairlife is not a minor business buried inside Coca-Cola’s portfolio. Coca-Cola generated nearly $48 billion in net revenue last year and made a $6.1 billion contingent payment tied to its acquisition of fairlife, which provides important context for the value of the operation now sitting idle,” Perry explains.

“With production suspended across fairlife’s US facilities, every hour can compound the financial impact through lost output, delayed shipments, recovery costs, inventory exposure and potential disruption for retailers. Coca-Cola has not yet quantified the loss, but the longer production remains offline, the more quickly a cyber incident becomes a material business event.”

Via BleepingComputer

House of the Dragon season 3 will officially enter its back half later this week. Indeed, with four episodes down and just as many left to be released before this season's final end-credits sequence rolls, the high-fantasy show's latest multi-part installment will be over before we know it.

Regardless, plenty of melodrama, fiery action, and shock moments await us over the next few episodes. So when will House of the Dragon's next entry present itself to the world? You know the drill by now: read on to find out more!

What is the launch time for House of the Dragon season 3 episode 5?

House of the Dragon season 3 episode 5 will premiere at 6pm PT / 9pm ET on Sunday, July 19 in the US and Canada. Fans who live elsewhere will have to wait until Monday, July 20 to check it out.

As for the time that the Game of Thrones prequel's next installment will internationally, the below list will tell you:

• US — Sunday, July 12 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• Canada — Sunday, July 12 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• UK — Monday, July13 at 2am BST
• India — Monday, July 13 at 6:30am IST
• Singapore — Monday, July 13 at 9am SGT
• Australia — Monday, July 13 at 11am AEST
• New Zealand — Monday, July 13 at 1pm NZST

How do I watch House of the Dragon season 3 episode 5?

No factions here. pic.twitter.com/hCGFFHiAdoJuly 12, 2026

By loading up one of the best streaming services in your region of the world, of course.

For the vast majority of you, HBO Max is the platform you'll need to head to — as long as you have an active account, anyway — to catch the HBO TV Original's next entry. However, if you haven't signed up to the Warner Bros-owned streamer, or if it hasn't launched where you live, don't fret. Scroll on to see which other TV networks and streamers it'll be available on in your neck of the woods:

• US — HBO and HBO Max
• Canada — Crave
• UK — HBO Max, Sky Atlantic, and Now TV
• India — JioHotstar
• Singapore — HBO Max
• Australia — HBO Max
• New Zealand — HBO Max

When will House of the Dragon's next episode come out?

You've earned a seat on Rhaenyra's small council. What's your dream role?July 14, 2026

If it wasn't obvious by now, new chapters will drop every Sunday in North and South America, and every Monday on other continents.

For the third and final time in this article, read the list below to see when the remaining three episodes will be released near you:

• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 1 — out now
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 2 — out now
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 3 — out now
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 4— out now
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 5 — July 19/20
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 6 — July 26/27
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 7 — August 2/3
• House of the Dragon season 3 episode 8 — August 9/10

We’re in what’s being dubbed the ‘year of AI ROI’. Four years on from the AI boom - ignited by the launch of ChatGPT - many businesses now believe that they’re AI-ready, using successful early-stage chatbot and copilot rollouts as evidence.

Yet there is a significant difference between experimenting with AI and embedding it across complex business processes and operations.

The real barrier to this transformation sits beneath the models themselves. While most AI outcomes-related conversations focus on model performance, GPUs, and compute capacity, organisations are increasingly realising that it’s their data infrastructure holding AI projects back.

Up until now, businesses have got away with operating successfully despite their disconnected file environments, inconsistent data governance, and information spread across multiple repositories.

This is because historically, data has been accessed sporadically, mostly by human employees who could compensate for shortcomings when data lacked context or wasn’t where it should be.

Simply put, data infrastructure didn’t need to be perfect, so it wasn’t. However, these fragmented file environments are now impossible to ignore as AI demands 24/7 consistent access to information, strong governance, and trusted data.

This puts enterprises in an uncomfortable situation: under pressure to deploy AI, but missing the foundations needed to be truly successful with AI projects at scale.

AI makes the data puzzle more complicated

Traditional file environments were built for a world where information lived in separate locations, individual teams managed access, and gaps in governance or data availability could be worked around.

This means that enterprises are now operating with fragmented information spread across multiple locations, with inconsistent governance and varying levels of accessibility. When data is accessed primarily by human employees, these inefficiencies are a source of frustration rather than a barrier.

This is where AI changes things. Models depend on fast, reliable access to information. If data is difficult to find, lacks context or cannot be accessed consistently, its value diminishes rapidly. In this instance, enterprises have data, but it’s completely unusable.

Overconfidence is coming at the expense of real success

Most organizations realize that their data infrastructure is far from perfect. Yet, the pressure to demonstrate progress on AI is intense. If businesses aren’t investing in and experimenting with AI, they’re seen as behind the curve. This is creating a strong incentive to deploy new tools as quickly as possible.

The problem is that organizations' early-stage AI learnings, if not outright success, are creating an overconfidence in their wider AI readiness and ability to scale up. Chatbots and copilots, which provide a lower barrier to entry to AI, are enabling organizations to demonstrate early, tangible AI outcomes.

When these projects deliver value, enterprises start to think that perhaps their infrastructure is future-proofed after all, despite a lack of sustained attempts to address and resolve deeper structural issues around their data accessibility, governance and infrastructure. These same businesses are also struggling with data recovery after cyber incidents - the warning signs are there, but current overconfidence is blurring reality.

As a result, businesses are moving rapidly onto major agentic projects, only to face delays, questions over ROI, and often, an implementation that fails. The irony is that an urgency to deploy AI is actually slowing long-term progress.

Organizations hellbent on deploying AI are risking overlooking the deeper risk management and data management work required to support it, while those that invest in strong data foundations are more likely to achieve sustainable success as their AI ambitions grow.

Shifting data from a cost to an asset

Most businesses don’t suffer from a lack of data; if anything, they have the opposite problem. Unfortunately, this is still viewed as an operational cycle driven by capacity planning, refresh cycles and expansion requirements, rather than a strategic asset. Industry research consistently shows IT teams still struggle to get a grip on their unstructured data - where most of their data assets reside - despite most of them believing their file data setup is robust.

The difference now is that AI systems operate continuously, drawing on information created today, yesterday, and sometimes decades ago. To deliver meaningful outcomes, they require consistent access to trusted data, rich context, and clear governance.

This means that organizations need to rethink their approach to enterprise information. When data is treated purely as a storage refresh challenge, AI quickly exposes the limitations of that approach. However, when it’s treated as a strategic asset, organizations can create environments where information is accessible, governed and ready to behave in the way that AI expects.

C-Suites’ goal should be to move from steady-state storage capacity to data utility, creating centralized environments with fewer systems, where data can be used no matter where it is located. This shift reduces fragmentation, simplifies data management and creates a unified view of the enterprise’s information, and with it the path to competitive edge.

The fewer barriers that exist between AI and the data it needs, the easier it becomes to move from isolated AI successes to meaningful deployment at scale for productivity and efficiency benefits.

Fix the foundations before scaling AI

The success of chatbot or copilot rollouts does not indicate AI readiness. It is instead measured by data utility: whether the data underpinning AI tools is accessible, secure, and fit for purpose at scale.

The organizations that succeed with AI in the coming years will not be those deploying the most advanced models or the biggest number of agents, but those who can provide AI with consistent access to trusted, well-governed data.

Those boards that keep investing in sophisticated AI tools without upgrading their data layer and governance will find their operations shackled for years to come by the same underlying data access and governance limitations.

It’s time to stop viewing data as an operational burden and start treating it as a strategic asset, helping unleash organizations' true IP and powering their ability to innovate. Building strong data foundations today will set organizations on the path to realizing long-term AI value, instead of discovering down the line that AI ambitions outpace their ability to support them.

We've featured the best data removal service.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to 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/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

• Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced director Richard Knight says staff have "DLC ideas"
• He explains that the main game is the team's focus right now and doesn't know whether the Freedom Cry DLC will get a remake
• Knight also revealed that New Game Plus is in development

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced game director Richard Knight has revealed that staff on the development team have downloadable content (DLC) ideas, but is uncertain whether the Freedom Cry expansion will get a remake.

In an interview with YouTuber JorRaptor, Knight was asked if the team is actively exploring additional post-launch content, such as a remake of the DLC Freedom Cry, which is set 15 years after the main game and stars Edward Kenway's friend and quartermaster, Adéwalé.

While Knight acknowledged that the 13-year-old DLC is beloved not just by fans but by the team, plans for the game's future are uncertain. He explained that it's focused on updating the base game for now, but revealed that team members do have "DLC ideas."

"The reception has been amazing, but it's still so early right now," Knight said. "I know some folks on the team have DLC ideas. We need to balance those out with our future and then updating the core game."

"But beyond that, I just want to say our focus with Black Flag remake has always been Edward," he added. "He's the kind of heart soul of the original game, and so you know maybe there could be more to tell there too."

The director couldn't comment further on plans or on a potential DLC, only that the team has its hands full right now.

In the same interview, Knight also confirmed New Game Plus is in the works, but couldn't offer a release date.

"This is the one thing I can say: Yes, we're working on that right now," Knight told JorRaptor. "For sure. It's one of the first things. Partly because Shadows has already built their version, so it's considered a low-risk feature for us. We're still doing the work, so I can't promise exactly a day or anything, but we're definitely working on this one. It's just such a natural thing."

When asked if the Shadows' New Game Plus made it easier for the Black Flag Resynced team to add the feature to the game, he joked that Simon Lemay-Comtois, associate game director of Shadows, "did the hard work" of introducing it in the first place, and it gives the Black Flag Resynced team "something to look at."

"We have different challenges in terms of how that works," he said. "We can't skip to the hideout, necessarily. But we're looking into it."

On the possibility of the game having extra rewards for New Game Plus, like in Shadows, Knight suggested the game is still in early development, but, "If it's up to me, yes."

"There's still production discussions about what we can do and how much time it takes," he said. "Every item we make needs a model. Sometimes it needs cloth sim. All sorts of things."

In terms of a release date for the mode, he added, "I really can't promise anything – just to say it's at the top of the list of things. There's a lot of things. Some are harder than others, but it's something we definitely want to get done."

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.

ClickLock can shut down Mac apps for more than three days while pressuring users to enter a password and stealing sensitive account data in the background.

The post ClickLock Mac Malware Traps Users in a Three-Day Password Loop appeared first on TechRepublic.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: One-Minute Review

The Mission 1 Pro is as rugged as you’d expect any GoPro action camera to be, with a highly water-resistant design — even without an additional casing — and a shock-resistant body that can survive tumble after tumble, but with 8K recording quality it enables you to capture footage with a real cinematic feel.

Thanks to impressive subject tracking and GoPro’s HyperSmooth stabilization tech, the Mission 1 Pro can capture the action smoothly whether you’re wearing it yourself, or following your subject along a trail or down a piste.

Plus, thanks to the new larger 1-inch sensor, low-light video quality is better than ever for a GoPro — letting you take advantage of the roughly two hours of 4K 60p recording time available to you on a single charge even as the sun starts to set.

(Image credit: Future)

Meanwhile, HLG HDR format and GP-Log2 support, control over ISO, EV, white balance and shutter speed, and the freedom to record in 8K/30p open gate — the full height and width of the versatile 4:3 aspect ratio sensor — will give you more artistic and post-processing options that make this action camera feel more like a professional piece of kit.

The downside of all this is that the Mission 1 Pro doesn’t come cheap. It’ll set you back $699 / £599.99 / AU$1,099.95 if you aren’t already a GoPro member, while members can take advantage of a healthy discount, with prices starting at $599 / £509.99 / AU$949.95. This sure is pricey even for one of the best action cameras when DJI rivals cost substantially less, but if you’re going to take full advantage of its cinematic capabilities, it’s certainly one to consider.

The only real disappointment is that its photography capabilities left me wanting. With its optional point-and-shoot camera-style grip I had hoped that the GoPro Mission 1 Pro might perform well as a stills snapper, but it did struggle at times. Hopefully, the ILS model with its Micro Four Thirds lens mount will deliver a more all-round performance when it debuts later this year.

The grip does at least help make the Mission 1 Pro much easier to handle when shooting video, and it feels like a useful upgrade for anyone who plans to use this GoPro as their new vacation camera, and take advantage of its improved video and audio quality, and durable design.

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Price and release date

• $699 / £599.99 / AU$1,099.95 (non-member price)
• $599 / £509.99 / AU$949.95 (member price)
• Other models in the series are the Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro ILS

The GoPro Mission 1 Pro is available to buy now for $699 / £599.99 / AU$1,099.95 (non-member price, or $599 / £509.99 / AU$949.95 for members), while the more basic Mission 1 will cost you $599 / £529 /AU$949.95 (non-member price, or $499 / £439.99 / AU$799.95). The Mission 1 Pro ILS costs the same as the Pro, but it won’t launch until later in 2026.

Other bundles include one with a point-and-shoot camera-style grip, which I had for my review. This bundle feels quite pricey at $779.99 / £679.99 / AU$1,229.95, seemingly with no member discount at the time of writing.

The Mission 1 Pro and Mission 1 share a lot of the same features and hardware, but the Pro version unlocks 8K 60fps footage and 8K Open Gate 4:3 filming for greater editing flexibility. You’ll also unlock slow-mo 4K video at 240fps, and 1080p up to 960fps for more extreme slow-mo shots.

(Image credit: Future)

Meanwhile the ILS model is interesting as it takes away some features — such as built-in autofocus and the ultra-wide lens of the regular Pro — to give you more control, with manual focus control and a Micro Four Thirds (MFT) mount, enabling you to attach a wide variety of lenses for different cinematic effects. If you’re more of a cinematographer than a casual user, the ILS model could be what you’re after.

That said, even the base-model Mission 1 is a fair bit pricier than the GoPro Hero 13 Black — our current pick for the best overall action camera. If you care about low-light shots the Mission 1 could be worth the price premium, but for a lot of people who are just looking to capture fun clips of their action sports escapades even the basic model may be overkill.

• Value score: 3/5

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Specs

Type:

Action camera

Sensor:

50MP 1-inch type CMOS

Displays:

Front: 1.4-inch LCD

Rear: 2.59-inch OLED touchscreen

Memory:

None; supports V30 and Class A2 rated microSD cards

Video:

8K up to 30fps (no crop) / 8K/60p (cropped)

ISO range:

Video: 25-6400

Photo: 100-3200

Burst shooting

60fps

Processor:

GP3 SoC

Connectivity:

BlueTooth, USB-C, 5GHz Wi-Fi 6

Dimensions:

80.1 x 52.1 x 44.3mm (including buttons and lens without hood)

Weight:

207g

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Design

The ideal action camera is one that can handle just about anything you throw at it, and the GoPro Mission 1 Pro GoPro is a camera that’s designed to be pushed to its limits.

If you’re a fan of underwater video, the Mission 1 Pro boasts a design that’s waterproof to 66ft / 20m without the need for a housing — plus the hydrophobic lens cover should help keep water splashes and droplets from obstructing your view massively when you’re using the camera above the waves.

It’s also rated to work in temperatures between -20C and 45C, with its power and shoot buttons designed to make them easier to press while wearing the kind of thick gloves that are necessary in frigid climates.

(Image credit: Future)

The Mission 1 Pro’s shock-resistant body can also survive tumbles and drops, giving it an almost indestructible feel. While I never pushed the Mission 1 Pro too far, I never felt like I needed to be careful with it.

Moving on from the action-focused aspects, the 2.59-inch OLED rear touchscreen display offers enough real estate for you to easily manage and track your settings while also leaving plenty of room to clearly see your compositions.

Meanwhile, the 1.4-inch front LCD is a good size for vloggers to track what is/isn’t in frame as they talk to camera, with a convenient and concise readout of your shot settings letting you know that you haven’t, for example, accidentally swiped to a different mode while turning the camera 180 degrees.

Included in the box are a lens hood to help reduce glare — just note that it can fall off easily, so keep an eye on it, or be prepared to pick up replacements — a 2150mAh Enduro 2 battery, an adhesive mount, mounting buckle and a thumb screw.

You’ll need to provide your own microSD card, as there’s no internal storage. The Mission 1 Pro relies on V30 and Class A2-rated microSDs for the best performance; A1 cards will work, but will encode more slowly.

You can pick up a series of attachments for this camera, including ND filters; however, the bigger sensor size of this camera means the Hero 13 Black’s suite of lens attachments can’t be used here, and sadly there aren’t, as yet, equivalent accessories for the Mission Pro 1.

Other GoPro attachments, such as harnesses or helmet/bike mounts, should be compatible, as the Mission 1 Pro relies on the same bracket as models that came before.

(Image credit: Future)

Lastly I’ll mention the point-and-shoot camera-style grip attachment, which was supplied to me for testing alongside the Mission 1 Pro and can be purchased separately ($99.99 / £89.99 / AU$154.95) or as part of a bundle. The grip is incredibly simple, yet effective at transforming the Mission 1 into something that feels more like a regular point-and-shoot compact.

When it comes to capturing quick videos, such as clips at the beach or at a festival, the grip makes it easy to hold the camera without the risk that your hand will get in the way of the lens, although as mentioned, the Mission 1 Pro doesn’t perform as well as a stills camera — more on that below.

• Design score: 5/5

GoPro Mission 1 Pro: Performance

To make video capture easier than ever the Mission 1 Pro features a slew of preset capture modes that adjust settings based on your needs, with modes for Vlogging, SportPOV, TimeLapse, Open Gate, SlowMo, Low Light, Dive and plenty more.

You can tweak the settings for each mode to fine-tune your image quality needs, and also manage modes by hiding ones you never use, or adding custom settings that are your go-tos.

For most scenarios, I found the 4K open gate option to be the most versatile. The image quality is solid, and you have the option to reframe the footage to 16:9 or 9:16 later based on your needs — plus it’s less of a drain on the battery than shooting in 8K.

Vlog-style recording is made easy thanks to the front screen, and automatic subject tracking that centers you in the frame — ideal for casual vloggers who constantly find they steadily drift out of shot unless they pay close attention to the camera they’re holding.

The audio quality is decent too, picking up voices and essential sounds, but cutting out wind noise.

Slow mo is also a lot of fun, though as you’ll see in my example video above, raw untuned footage at resolutions lower than 4K can start to look grainier than is ideal — upscaling and/or sharpening the image with editing software is essential to get things to look better.

The larger sensor also helps in low-light conditions, especially with the new Low Light shooting mode. Unsurprisingly, in proper darkness the camera still struggles, but with some illumination remaining the camera performs well in this mode.

(Image credit: Future)

Where I’m less convinced of the Mission 1 Pro’s abilities is when it comes to stills photography, which is a massive shame considering you have the option to add the point-and-shoot grip.

Whenever I tried to take photos I found myself fighting against its lack of autofocus — or even manual focus — and the less-than-ideal zoom quality. The camera has a fixed focus with a minimum focus distance around 60cm — which counts out close-up photography — and an optimal focal distance of about 1.5m. This also means it isn’t focused to infinity, so landscapes will appear a little soft in your shots, especially since the larger sensor has a shallower depth of field than previous GoPros.

In addition, as soon as you zoom in you’ll find the image quality drops a fair amount, although this is to be expected from the digital zoom this camera uses.

The overall quality isn’t terrible, though, and the point-and-shoot grip does offer some useful versatility for video recording beyond the more traditional action camera use-cases.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

FutureFutureFutureFutureTesting Scorecard

Attribute

Notes

Score

Design

With its rugged build and larger display you couldn’t realistically want more from the design of the Mission 1 Pro. My only gripe would be that longtime GoPro fans may be frustrated that they can’t, for now at least, bring all of their lens attachments over to this new camera.

5/5

Performance

The Mission 1 Pro delivers some great-looking video with great audio even without external accessories, and even in low light. I’m skeptical of the camera’s photography credentials, though.

4.5/5

Value

The GoPro Mission 1 boasts a slew of pro-level enhancements, although these do come with a higher price tag.

3/5

Should I buy the GoPro Mission 1 Pro?Buy it if…

You want a professional-quality action camera
With 8K recording and a full suite of settings that you can adjust, the Mission 1 Pro delivers as professional-grade camera more so than its predecessors.

You don’t want to think too much
Like its predecessors, the Mission 1 Pro boasts a selection of preset recording modes that you can fine-tune to suit your video needs. If you want good shots without putting in a lot of thought and effort, the Mission 1 Pro will still help you capture great shots.

You want a small camera that’ll last
With a hardy exterior that can survive high heat, freezing cold, and excursions deep below the water, and roughly two-hour battery life when shooting 4K/30p, the GoPro Mission 1 Pro will be ready when you need it.

Don’t buy it if…

You want to capture high-quality stills
As an action camera the Mission 1 Pro is great, but as a stills camera I found it wanting, even if there is a dedicated point-and-shoot grip accessory.

You’re on a budget
The GoPro Mission 1 Pro is a lot pricier than other action cameras out there, and if you’re a more casual and budget-conscious user the upgrades might not be worth the outlay.View Deal

You want lens options
The Mission 1 Pro doesn’t support the lenses GoPro has previously offered with its action cameras like the Hero 13 Black. For lens variety you’ll want to check out the Mission 1 Pro ILS model when that launches later this year.View Deal

Also consider

GoPro Hero 13 Black
A more budget-friendly option, and, even years after launch, still a solid action camera performer, the GoPro Hero 13 Black doesn’t boast the 8K quality of the Mission 1. However if you’re after something smaller and lighter for more casual use it’s an excellent alternative.

Read our GoPro Hero 13 Black review

DJI Osmo Action 6
If you’re already part of the DJI ecosystem, want tools like wireless Hi-Res audio recording when using a DJI Mic 3, or are just after some frankly excellent battery life, decent waterproofing, and a generous 47GB of built-in storage, this DJI camera could be for you. Just note that its video is capped at 4K resolution.

Read our DJI Osmo Action 6 review

Insta360 Ace Pro 2
If 8K is a must, the best alternative for you is the Insta360 Ace Pro 2. Admittedly it isn’t as capable as the GoPro Mission 1 (the 8K quality doesn’t support the best image stabilization) and overheating is an issue, but the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is a superb all-rounder.

Read our Insta360 Ace Pro 2 review

How I tested the GoPro Mission 1 Pro

I spent just over a month with the Mission 1 Pro, taking it out on excursions to snap photos and videos to test its capabilities not just as an action camera, but as a point-and-shoot video capture tool — with that latter case aided by the point-and-shoot grip.

If you’re planning to use the GoPro Mission 1 Pro as your vacation camera — aided by its durable design and waterproofness — the grip is super helpful at helping to keep you hands out of frame, and as a pure action camera the GoPro fits the same mounts and accessories as previous models like the Hero 13 Black (save for the lens attachments).

Inspired by shows like Hunted and Jet Lag The Game, a lot of my testing focused on running and vlogging with the action camera to capture my fitness progress and to record personal cuts of games of hide-and-seek across London — passing the camera between my friends so they could record their stints too. They found the GoPro super easy to use, with the smoothing tech and subject tracking ensuring thaty vlogs and action shots look great without requiring constant focus on what the camera is doing — you just press go and it’ll come with you.

First reviewed: July 2026

If you're a small business looking to boost your storage, I've uncovered a top deal on the Ugreen NASync DXP4800 Plus for $657 (was $730) at Amazon. This four-bay NAS system

For a 4-bay NAS that can handle Docker, VMs, 10GbE, and serious creative workflows without approaching Synology or QNAP pricing, the Ugreen NASync DXP4800 Plus makes a compelling case.

In our hands-on tests, we found the hardware was "exceptionally well-considered and powerful." In the UK, Ugreen's NAS system is also discounted to £527 (was £620) at Amazon.

Today's top NAS deal

A 4-bay NAS built around an Intel Pentium Gold 8505 processor — five cores, with the Intel UHD graphics needed for hardware transcoding. 8GB of DDR5 RAM (expandable to 64GB), dual M.2 NVMe slots for caching, a 10GbE port alongside a 2.5GbE port, and a 128GB internal SSD for the OS. Docker and VM support built in. Front-facing SD card reader and USB-C port for direct data offload. 4K HDMI output. Quick-release drive bays, no screws needed for 3.5-inch drives. Supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10. Diskless — add your own drives.

In the UK: now £527 (was £620)View Deal

The Intel Pentium Gold 8505 is the spec that separates the DXP4800 Plus from ARM-based NAS alternatives like the DH2300. It’s an x86 processor, which means it runs Docker containers properly — Jellyfin, Home Assistant, qBittorrent, Nextcloud, and hundreds of other containerized apps all work without compatibility caveats. It also supports virtual machines, letting you run a full Windows or Linux instance inside the NAS if your workflow requires it.

For the broad category of buyers who want a NAS that can also serve as a self-hosted server for home automation, media, or development workloads, x86 matters in a way that ARM simply can’t match.

The 10GbE network port is the other hardware differentiator. Most NAS at this price max out at 2.5GbE; the DXP4800 Plus provides a 10GbE port alongside the 2.5GbE, giving you a genuine multi-gigabit network connection for fast file transfers and 4K network video editing. Camera Jabber’s review found transfer speeds “impressive and stable” even on a 5GbE network, calling it “a superb option for any photographer or videographer looking for a small office or studio NAS system.” For the right setup, 10GbE effectively removes the network as a bottleneck for large file workflows.

The dual M.2 NVMe slots for SSD caching are worth understanding before buying. They don’t add to your storage total — they serve as a fast cache layer that accelerates frequently accessed files, making the mechanical HDD array feel significantly more responsive for mixed read/write workloads. If you’re serving files to a busy household or small office with multiple simultaneous users, adding even modest NVMe SSDs to the cache slots makes a noticeable difference.

UGOS, Ugreen's operating system, has matured considerably since the DXP series launched in 2024. Early criticism centered on missing features and instability; that criticism is now largely outdated. The App Center has grown substantially, Docker is well-integrated, and the web interface is clean and intuitive. The honest caveat is that UGOS is still newer and has a smaller ecosystem of native apps than Synology DSM or QNAP QTS — buyers who rely on specific Synology or QNAP apps that have no UGOS equivalent should verify compatibility before switching. For the most common use cases — file serving, media streaming, cloud sync, backups, Docker containers — UGOS covers everything needed.

For more high-capacity storage solutions, we've tested the best NAS devices and the best NAS hard drives.

Also consider: More Ugreen NASync deals

A compact 2-bay NAS with a quad-core ARM processor, 4GB of DDR4 RAM, and UGOS — Ugreen’s own operating system — pre-installed. Drives go in vertically and click into place with a magnetic lid. There’s a 4K HDMI port for hooking it directly to a display (uncommon at this price), USB-C 3.2 on the front, two USB-A ports on the rear, and a single gigabit Ethernet port. RAID 0, RAID 1, and JBOD support. Diskless — add your own drives. Quiet, efficient, and idle power draw of just 8W.

In the UK: now £177 (was £220)View Deal

The diskless Ugreen NAS DXP6800 Pro features a powerful 10-core Intel Core i5-1235U processor, 8GB of DDR5 RAM, a built-in 128GB system SSD, dual 10GbE networking, and dual M.2 NVMe slots. Designed for demanding creators and professionals, it delivers fast, centralized, and highly expandable storage.

In the UK: now £902View Deal

• Forrester analysts warn around four in five leaders and ITDMs envision having larger budgets in 2027
• Consumption-based AI pricing is making it harder to predict outlay
• Targeted investment to improve data quality is key

Forrester is predicting software budgets could be set to rise, with more than four in five leaders expecting to increase overall budgets over the next 12 months and 82% of tech decision-makers expecting larger budgets.

While some of the extra cash could come as a result of increased confidence and readiness to spend on tech, the company's analysts warn that a shift in pricing structures could also be forcing companies to fork out more.

This comes as software vendors shift from traditional per-seat licences to token or credit pricing, which introduces so many more variables including model selection, context size, output length and agent operating time, leading to far more unpredictable outgoings.

The real reason businesses are preparing to spend more on software

"Business leaders are no longer planning for a return to stability – they’re planning for a future where volatility is a constant,” Chief Research Officer Sharyn Leaver noted.

Recent shifts from major AI providers all point toward this emerging pricing model becoming the norm, with GitHub moving its Copilot plants to usage-based billing in June and OpenAI adding pay-as-you-go Codex seats in April. Anthropic also recently removed Fable 5 from its standard subscriptions and seat-based models over difficult-to-predict demand, but set out plans to reintroduce it where capacity permits.

Acknowledging these major shifts, Forrester's report reveals two areas where companies can increase their budgets for 2027 – building machine-readable context and enterprise knowledge, and increasing brand visibility in answer engines.

The report also hints at the major role AI can play in marketing and customer-facing experiences, and the potential use that synthetic data can provide subject to testing. All in all, it's more about targeting investments rather than throwing cash at the problem, as Leaver concludes:

"The organizations that outperform in 2027 won’t be those that spend the most on AI. They’ll be the ones that invest in the foundations that make AI effective."