Technology

We're not one for overexaggerating here at TechRadar. But, if you'll humor me, this week's streaming list is packed full of top-tier releases that you won't want to miss.

Indeed, there are plenty of exciting new movies and returning TV favorites to enjoy on the world's best streaming services this weekend (June 4 to 6). So, whether you're ready for the next season of Ginny & Georgia, or can't wait to watch Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal team up in The Accountant 2, you won't want to miss one or more of the following seven projects before you head back to work. – Tom Power, senior entertainment reporter

Ginny & Georgia season 3 (Netflix)

Brianne Howey and Antonia Gentry are back as the titular Ginny and Georgia. Season 3 of the Netflix comedy-drama show is out now – and while its 64% Rotten Tomatoes score means Ginny & Georgia has fallen short of a spot on our best Netflix shows list, it has quite the dedicated fanbase who are eager to see more trials and tribulations this season.

In this series' latest entry, the mother and daughter duo are split up after Georgia was arrested for murder during her wedding. With her mother in prison, Ginny needs to see where she stands when push comes to shove. It certainly sounds like a rollercoaster. – Lucy Buglass, senior entertainment writer

• Watch Ginny & Georgia season 3 on Netflix

The Accountant 2 (Prime Video)

The Accountant wasn't exactly received with open arms upon its October 2016 release, but I remember enjoying what it offered when I streamed it at home years later. The arrival of its sequel on Prime Video yesterday (June 5), then, means my weekend movie viewing is covered.

In this action-thriller from Amazon and Warner Bros, Ben Affleck returns as Christian Wolff, an autistic number cruncher who also masquerades as a skilled marksman. This time around, Wolff enlists the aid of his estranged brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) to investigate the death of former FinCEN director Raymond King (J.K. Simmons) at the request of the company's deputy director (Cynthia Addai-Robinson).

The Accountant 2 has faired far better than its forebear with fans and critics alike, so you can expect to see it calculate a way onto our best Prime Video movies article in the near future. – TP

• Watch The Accountant 2 on Prime Video

Stick (Apple TV+)

While I've never been interested in golf, I'm very excited to watch Stick this weekend. The new Apple TV+ series has debuted with a healthy 77% Rotten Tomatoes score, too, so it sounds like I'm in for a treat and it's up for a spot on our best Apple TV+ shows list.

Here, Owen Wilson plays Pryce Cahill, a professional golfer-turned salesman whose career ended after an on-course meltdown derailed his once successful career. We follow him as he sets his sights on a rising star named Santi (Peter Dager) and aims to repair his reputation by coaching the talented up-and-comer.

With Happy Gilmore 2 set to arrive on Netflix in July, golf-themed comedies are back on the menu. Let's hope either or both won't be a swing and a miss. – LB

• Watch Stick on Apple TV+

Predator: Killer of Killers (Hulu/Disney+)

I was a huge fan of 2022 Predator prequel film Prey (you can read more about why in my Prey review). So, you can bet I was stoked to learn that Dan Trachtenburg, who directed that sci-fi horror flick, was making an animated anthology movie that would delve deeper into the Yautja mythos

Predator: Killer of Killers, which is out now on Hulu and Disney+, follows three human characters as they encounter various iterations of the titular alien warriors at different points in history. Spoilers notwithstanding, these individual tales are more connected than many people realize, too.

I mostly enjoyed my time with Predator: Killer of Killers. Its painterly visuals lend themselves well to the franchise's violent sensibilities, while its anthology format is an intriguing albeit uneven narrative approach to take. Despite that niggle, I'm of the view that it deserves a spot on our best Hulu movies and best Disney+ movies lists. – TP

• Watch Predator: Killer of Killers on Hulu (US) and Disney+ (internationally)

The Alto Knights (Max)

What comes to mind when I say Robert de Niro? To some millennials, it'll be his star turn in the Meet the Parents franchise. To many others, though, it'll be his back catalog of crime genre films.

Well, here's another to add to that collection. Now available on Max, The Alto Knights sees de Niro star in dual roles as Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, two legendary real-life Italian mob bosses whose friendship soured when petty jealousies and numerous betrayals turned them into warring crime lords.

This Barry Levinson-directed period crime drama won't be joining our best Max movies guide due to its incredibly disappointing 39% Rotten Tomatoes critical score. Nonetheless, I'm sure de Niro devotees will get a kick out of it. – TP

• Watch The Alto Knights on Max

Tyler Perry's Straw (Netflix)

Tyler Perry has been busy lately. His previous movie Duplicity released on Prime Video earlier this year, and now he's got Straw on Netflix.

In it, we follow a single mother (played by Taraji P. Henson) whose world unravels in chaos as she struggles to care for her ill daughter. When she accidentally holds her local bank hostage as she struggles to cash a check, this thriller explores the lengths you'd go to in order to protect someone you love.

With a lead you'll feel sympathy for, Straw looks like it'll be posing a lot of questions about what can happen when someone's at breaking point. It remains to be seen if it'll earn a spot on our best Netflix movies guide, though. – LB

• Watch Tyler Perry's Straw on Netflix

Phineas & Ferb season 5 (Disney+)

Today is gonna be a great day, as the beloved theme song goes, because Phineas and Ferb are finally back for their long-awaited fifth season.

It's hard to believe the first aired in 2007, isn't it? Those of us who used to tune in to follow the silly adventures of Perry the Platypus and rock out to some great Bowling for Soup music get to do it all over again in 2025, with the series being revived after a 10-year break.

With 10 episodes to enjoy, I'm looking forward to reliving my childhood all over again. It's great to be back. – LB

• Watch Phineas and Ferb season 5 on Disney+

For more streaming recommendations, read our guides on the best Apple TV+ movies, best Prime Video shows, best Disney+ movies, and best Max shows.

• Infomaniak is the first provider to openly back up a controversial revision to the Swiss surveillance law
• The amendment would require VPNs and messaging apps to identify and retain user data
• Proton and NymVPN are ready to leave Switzerland instead of undermining their privacy and security

A Swiss cloud service, Infomaniak, is the first provider to openly back up a controversial revision to the country's surveillance law, slamming privacy firm Proton for promoting online anonymity.

The amendment would require all VPN services, messaging apps, and social networks to identify and retain user data – an obligation that is now limited to mobile networks and internet service providers.

So far, tech providers have been vocal in sharing their concerns against this revision that, they say, could pose a risk to secure encryption and online anonymity in Switzerland. The ordinance was reportedly met with a strong backlash across political benches, too.

The CEO of Proton, one of the best VPN and secure email providers on the market, even compared these new rules to those in place in Russia, vowing to quit Switzerland if the new ordinance passes. Another Swiss-based provider, NymVPN, also confirmed to TechRadar that it is ready to do the same.

Why does Infomaniak support new Swiss surveillance rules?

Infomaniak is a cloud computing company that claims to offer ethical and privacy-focused online tools like web hosting, cloud storage, and now encrypted email services.

Talking during a debate on RadioTeleSuisse (RTS), Infomaniak's Communication Manager, Thomas Jacobsen, has been especially critical of Proton's stance, accusing Proton and similar tech privacy firms advocating for online anonymity to "prevent justice from doing its work," as reported by Swiss publication Cublic.

Jacobsen also criticized Proton for offering free VPN and email services, arguing that this enables anyone to remain out of the reach of law enforcement. According to him, the criticism coming from Proton and similar firms is because the new rules could potentially end their business model.

New data retention obligations could, in fact, lead to the end of no-log VPN and other services in Switzerland, like Proton VPN, Proton Mail, NymVPN, and Threema.

TechRadar needs you! We want to know what you think about the world of VPNs. Whether you're a novice or a VPN pro, we want to hear your thoughts. Don't worry, though, your responses are completely anonymous, and it takes less than five minutes to complete!

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Jacobsen also pointed out that "the problem is not so much encryption, but anonymity."

Contrary to similar legislative efforts in Europe promoting the idea of a lawful encryption backdoor into citizens' communications, Switzerland has, in fact, taken a different approach and instead targets metadata tracking.

Metadata includes all the details that aren't the content, such as IP addresses, location data, timestamps, data packet size, phone numbers, who you have spoken with, and when. As Jacobsen put it during another interview with RTS, "the outside of the package is enough to bring justice."

However, technologists have long argued that metadata can pose significant privacy concerns due to its ability to reveal users' sensitive information. With advancements in AI-powered data analytics, protecting metadata privacy has become crucial across the industry, leading to the creation of tools like NymVPN and Mullvad's DAITA to protect against these threats.

We approached Infomaniak for further clarification, but we are still waiting for a reply at the time of publication.

How did the Swiss privacy industry react?

Nym's co-founder and COO, Alexis Roussel, was one of the online commentators challenging the company's take on the matter, especially regarding metadata collection.

Talking to TechRadar, Roussel said: "They claim that the definition of privacy is encrypting the message and the metadata is not important, but that's outdated. They upset all the community here."

Roussel also contested the idea of getting rid of online anonymity to facilitate the work of law enforcement, arguing that enforcing preemptive measures of surveillance could undermine democratic values in Switzerland.

He said: "Online anonymity is at the core of the balance of power in a democracy. When the government has access to all your metadata, that's completely reversed."

Under the current system, Roussel explains, the government needs to make a specific enquiry to force online services to record all their data. If the new ordinance passes, though, this data collection will become mandatory and preemptive to any potential illicit activities.

"An obligation to store the data in case, maybe, one day a judge will ask for it – that's not ok," said Roussel. "It's a war against anonymity, which is happening in Switzerland at the federal level."

In Switzerland, the new version of the surveillance law aims to make it impossible for Proton, Threema and@nymproject to operate from Switzerland. We are in the consultation phase. We will fight. https://t.co/BcMBxzIPFCMarch 25, 2025

As public consultations ended on May 6, 2025, we will now have to wait and see what the Swiss government decides.

Nonetheless, Roussel confirmed to TechRadar that there has been significant push-back from political parties and Swiss companies alike.

Some Cantons, including Geneva, have even called on the right to digital integrity as an argument against these rules. Roussel was the main originator of the initiative that introduced this new right to protect citizens' online privacy and data – in Geneva in 2023 and Neuchâtel in 2024 – with over 90% consensus.

"The chances that the ordinance gets overturned either in the parliament or even in the tribunals are pretty high, but they can still push for it, " Roussel told TechRadar.

Nonetheless, "that's already a big problem because it creates a bad precedent. No one is going to invest in privacy right now in Switzerland," he added.

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• Anthropic has developed several US national security-oriented models
• They can handle classified material and "refuse less"
• Many AI developers are seeking US government contracts

Anthropic has unveiled a series of AI models designed specifically for use by US government entities.

The models, named “Claude Gov”, are designed to assist the US government in strategic planning, operational support, and intelligence analysis.

The models are specifically trained to handle classified information and the context of intelligence and defense, and have also been modified to “refuse less” when handling classified data.

Automating and assisting US government

“[These] models are already deployed by agencies at the highest level of U.S. national security, and access to these models is limited to those who operate in such classified environments. [They] underwent the same rigorous safety testing as all of our Claude models,” Anthropic said in its announcement.

It’s not just Anthropic which has started pitching models to the US government. OpenAI and Meta have both recently revealed their willingness to provide AI models for US government use.

Anthropic and Cohere have also separately collaborated with Palantir to develop AI models for government use. Palantir itself is also seeking government contracts, and the development of “ImmigrationOS” for the US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE).

The new Claude Gov models have enhanced capabilities over other enterprise models developed by Anthropic, including “enhanced proficiency” in languages critical to US national security, and a better understanding of cybersecurity lingo.

The White House recently pushed two ‘America First’ AI directives which aim to trade safeguards in return for faster modernization and greater department efficiency.

Via TechCrunch

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I outsourced my internet bill negotiation to an app, and it totally won the fight.

As WWDC 2025 (Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference) comes into view (it takes place on Monday, June 9) there is a lot riding on Apple to get it right with Apple Intelligence this time after the fallout from last year’s WWDC when Apple promised a lot of new features, but failed to deliver the really important ones, like a new AI-powered Siri.

Last year, Apple made the classic mistake of demonstrating features that it hadn’t really got working as if they were real. When it became apparent that Apple wouldn’t be able to get the features ready in time, Tim Cook's technology giant had to pull them from release and was left with AI-flavored egg on their Genmoji-shaped faces.

To be fair, Apple did manage to release some of its Apple Intelligence features, like the writing tools, ChatGPT integration, notifications, and the aforementioned Genmojis, but these new AI features already seemed out of date when they launched because of the warp speed of AI innovation.

While Apple was trying to get us excited about emojis featuring our faces, the rest of the world was chatting with AI using their voice in Gemini Live and ChatGPT’s voice mode.

Apple’s development speed, with its traditional once-a-year operating system update, suddenly looked glacial compared to OpenAI and Google, which seem to have taken over the job of writing our future.

In some ways, WWDC 2025 is Apple’s chance to balance the books, reset its ambitions for AI, and show us how, by focusing on great hardware and software integration, it can still be relevant in the modern age of AI, because it can. After all, Google Gemini or ChatGPT runs just as well on an iPhone 16 as it does on a Pixel 9 or a Samsung Galaxy S25.

Thanks to the ever-reliable Marc Gurman and his Power On newsletter, there are some Apple Intelligence features that we think are definitely going to be announced at WWDC 2025, so let’s take a look at those first:

(Image credit: Apple)1. Opening up Apple Intelligence to third-party developers

Apple will be opening up its existing Apple Intelligence models to third-party developers. This will let iPhone app developers access the AI features on iPhone that we're already familiar with, like writing summaries, or even use Apple's models to create their own innovative AI features.

Apple’s existing AI models have about 3 billion parameters, which sounds like a lot, but that’s far less than the cloud-powered AI's from OpenAI and Google. However, Apple's models are perfect for lightweight tasks that can be done on the iPhone without needing to access the cloud.

2. A new AI battery management system

A new battery management system doesn’t sound like the most interesting thing in the world, but anything that helps us get more life out of an iPhone battery sounds like a good idea.

Details are sparse at the moment, but the idea would be that Apple Intelligence will analyze how you use your device and make clever adjustments to help you conserve energy.

3. Live language translation with AirPods

Now this one sounds genuinely exciting! It’s tied to an update to the AirPods software and iOS 19 (or iOS 26, its new name), but it is going to use AI to help in live language translation through your AirPods.

This may sound more like science fiction than reality, but if Apple can get this working flawlessly, it could be a feature that sets Apple apart from its competitors.

In addition to all these new AI features, we’re expecting Apple to quietly rebrand a lot of its existing features in apps like Safari and Photos as “AI-powered.”

Apple's Genmoji tools. (Image credit: Future / Apple)What I'd like to see

So, that’s what Marc Gurman thinks we’ll get for sure, but Apple will be bound to have a few surprises for us up its sleeve on the day. Here’s what I hope we’ll see as well:

1. AI background noise reduction

Surprisingly, one of the biggest cheers from the crowd at the last Samsung AI event was when it demonstrated how AI could effortlessly reduce the background noise, like wind or chatter, in videos using a tool called Audio Eraser.

I think people cheered because they could actually see an example of AI that they’d actually use! Apple has this feature already for the iPhone 16, but it's only available if you edit a video clip, and it's tucked away in various settings and not easily accessible.

If Apple can make it easier to use and work on any audio or video clips, then I think it would have a guaranteed hit on its hands.

2. Tighter AI integration

If we can’t have an AI-powered Siri quite yet, then at least make it easier to integrate existing AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini into iOS.

Yes, Siri currently calls on ChatGPT when a question becomes too complicated, but the process feels a bit awkward and slow.

How about integrating ChatGPT more directly into iOS so that you can use it for performing functions on the iPhone, like opening apps and finding options in Settings?

3. Better AI image tools

I’m sorry Apple, but you are lagging behind Google and Samsung significantly in the area of AI image manipulation. When we compared Galaxy AI’s photo editing tool to Apple Intelligence’s Clean Up, the results weren’t even close.

People expect so much more from AI these days. We want to be able to produce photorealistic images from prompts, not cute AI graphics in Image Studio that don’t look realistic. And when we edit photos, we want the ability to be able to remove objects from an image and add new ones flawlessly using AI.

Apple needs to step up its game significantly here, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask that it does it at this year’s WWDC 2025.

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• OpenAI says it has disrupted numerous malicious campaigns using ChatGPT
• These include employment scams and influence campaigns
• Russia, China, and Iran are using ChatGPT to translate and generate content

OpenAI has revealed it has taken down a number of malicious campaigns using its AI offerings, including ChatGPT.

In a report titled, “Disrupting malicious uses of AI: June 2025,” OpenAI lays out how it dismantled or disrupted 10 employment scams, influence operations, and spam campaigns using ChatGPT in the first FEW months of 2025 alone.

Many of the campaigns were conducted by state-sponsored actors with links to China, Russia and Iran.

AI campaign disruption

Four of the campaigns disrupted by OpenAI appear to have originated in China, with their focus on social engineering, covert influence operations, and cyber threats.

One campaign, dubbed “Sneer Review” by OpenAI, saw the Taiwanese “Reversed Front” board game that includes resistance against the Chinese Communist Party spammed by highly critical Chinese comments.

The network behind the campaign then generated an article and posted it on a forum claiming that the game had received widespread backlash based on the critical comments in an effort to discredit both the game and Taiwanese independence.

Another campaign, named “Helgoland Bite”, saw Russian actors using ChatGPT to generate text in German that criticized the US and NATO, and generate content about the German 2025 election.

Most notably, the group also used ChatGPT to seek out opposition activists and bloggers, as well as generating messages that referenced coordinated social media posts and payments.

OpenAI has also banned numerous ChatGPT accounts linked to US targeted influence accounts in an operation known as “Uncle Spam”.

In many cases, Chinese actors would generate highly divisive content aimed at widening the political divide in the US, including creating social media accounts that posted arguments for and against tariffs, as well as generating accounts that mimicked US veteran support pages.

OpenAI’s report is a key reminder that not everything you see online is posted by an actual human being, and that the person you’ve picked an online fight with could be getting exactly what they want; engagement, outrage, and division.

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A hybrid watch and fitness tracker, the Fit 3 lacks some smartwatch basics. But it makes up for that in health and fitness features for a lot less.

The new Ultrahuman Home can explain how air quality, temperature, humidity, noise and light levels affect sleep, mood and more.

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• Spotify and United Airlines have announced a new partnership that enhances in-flight entertainment for passengers
• Now you can access over 450 hours of in-flight Spotify content, including curated playlists, audiobooks, and video podcasts – the first for any airline
• As of 2026, passengers will be able to log into their own Spotify account on seatback screens to pick up where they left off with their favorite music and podcasts

Spotify has announced a new partnership with United Airlines that aims to enhance your in-flight experience by giving you access to free content while onboard. Now, passengers will be able to stream over 450 hours of Spotify-curated playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks for free on over 130,000+ seatback screens.

Spotify is already available on the in-flight entertainment systems of several other airlines, including Emirates, Delta Airlines, and Virgin America – though they don’t offer video podcasts.

In Spotify’s blog post, the streaming platform said that this collaboration ‘marks the first time [we’ve] offered audiobooks and video podcasts onboard an airline’. Passengers will have access to a selection of titles including popular shows Good Hang with Amy Poehler, The Dave Chang Show, and The Comment Section with Drew Afualo.

Recently, Spotify has been improving the way users keep track of their favorite shows, adding a podcast recommendations in the Home page. (Image credit: Spotify)

But that’s not all. This new partnership will also let travelers on Starlink-equipped aircraft stream Spotify on their personal devices between gates – without interruptions, and free of charge.

The only requirement is that you log into your MileagePlus account, United’s frequent-flyer program, and accept the terms and conditions. From there, you’ll be able to stream content in Spotify as normal on the Starlink network.

Following these announcements, CEO of MileagePlus, Richard Nunn, provided a comment on the collaboration: “Spotify has a huge audience and people love their content. And now our customers can enjoy it all in a simple and easy way, at 35,000 feet”.

There’s more to come…

When it comes to United’s new collaboration with one of the best music streaming services, this is just the beginning of their growing relationship and as of 2026, users will be able to have more freedom with the in-flight Spotify content they choose to stream.

Next year, passengers will be able to use their personal devices to log into the Spotify app in United’s in-flight entertainment system to display their account on the seatback screen. The aim of this is to allow United passengers with a Spotify Premium to access and enjoy their own personal content beyond what’s already available for free on United’s system.

Having this freedom will allow you to pick up where you left off with your favorite albums, audiobooks, and podcasts, and give you wider access to Spotify content as you fly. Though we don’t know if United’s in-flight Spotify content is ad-supported, we’ll bring you updates as soon as more details are announced.

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It's almost that time of year again: WWDC time. Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference is an annual event, where it reveals to developers and the rest of us what's coming in terms of software updates. That covers iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS, so it's always a packed show.

When it comes to official WWDC 2025 news, all we really know is when it's happening. Unofficially, there have been a ton of leaks and rumors hinting at what's to come – and we've collected them all here so you can prepare yourself for the big day.

If Apple sticks to its usual schedule, we'll get beta versions of some of these updates shortly after WWDC 2025 has ended, followed by full launches later in the year. When it comes to iOS 19 (or iOS 26) for example, the software should start rolling out to iPhones in September to coincide with the launch of the iPhone 17.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Apple's big annual software show
• When is it? Monday, June 9, 2025

WWDC 2025: when is it?

This year's WWDC is happening on Monday, June 9, as announced by Apple.

There are meetings and presentations all week, but most of the main announcements will be made by Tim Cook and his colleagues in a keynote speech that kicks off the event: that's scheduled to get underway at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm UK (that's 3am AEST on June 10, for those of you in Australia).

As usual, the keynote will be livestreamed over the web, and here's how to watch it.

WWDC 2025: what can we expect?

It looks as though WWDC 2025 is going to be particularly busy, based on the rumors and speculation we've come across in the run up to the event. Bear in mind that none of this is official yet, but here's what we're expecting.

A major software rebrand

We were expecting iOS 19 to follow iOS 18, as you would, but a reliable source says Apple plans to name the next iPhone operating system update iOS 26 – to match the year 2026, even though it's launching in the third quarter of 2025.

Not only that, but the rumor is that every Apple software platform will be renamed to match. This would fix the rather confusing situation we have now, where macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS are all on different version numbers.

That would be quite a jump in some cases – from visionOS 2 to visionOS 26 – but it would make everything more consistent. It's also going to be interesting to see which devices will be eligible for the upcoming updates.

Revamped interfaces

(Image credit: Apple)

Another leak that's emerged ahead of time suggests most of Apple's software platforms are going to get a modern visual refresh – one that actually matches the least widely used of those platforms, visionOS.

From what we've heard, it sounds like the new look will be more consistent, more straightforward, and with more use of translucent, glass-like elements. We've actually seen hints of this in the official invite to WWDC 2025.

What's more, the tagline of the event is "sleek peek" – pointing towards something that involves a visual overhaul. It could be the biggest update to the aesthetics of Apple's software and apps since iOS 7, all the way back in 2014.

Big app upgrades

As well as refreshing the underlying operating systems, Apple tends to save all its individual app update announcements for WWDC 2025 too. This year it's been rumored that Messages will get automatic translation and support for polls, for example.

The same leak predicts animated album art on the lock screen when you're listening to your tunes in Apple Music, as well as the ability to export Notes in markdown format. An overhaul to the CarPlay interface has also been predicted.

Apparently, a dedicated gaming app is on the way for Apple devices too, a central hub where all your games, chats, leaderboards, and other game-related information can live and sync across your various gadgets.

Not much Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence hasn't had the best of starts (Image credit: Apple)

Apple has gone big on AI recently, like just about every other tech company in business – but after several delays to the rollout of Apple Intelligence, it seems we won't get much in the way of new AI announcements at WWDC 2025.

That's according to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, who is usually reliable when it comes to Apple predictions. Apparently it's going to be pretty quiet on the Siri front, while Apple engineers regroup and make sure the next update is a polished one.

We may still see a few Apple Intelligence tweaks, such as battery optimizations, but don't expect too much in terms of AI – even if there's a possibility that Apple could open up its platforms to more third-party AI voice assistants.

More leaks and rumors

That's not quite the end of the leaks and rumors when it comes to WWDC 2025. Software updates for the Apple AirPods are rumored to be adding features such as camera control, support for more gestures, and a new mic mode.

Then there's the Apple Watch: we won't see new hardware at WWDC 2025, but we suspect Apple may well introduce some new tracking features in watchOS, as well as perhaps a smattering of Apple Intelligence features.

No doubt Apple will have some surprises in store, so join us on June 9 for the full story: we'll be running a live blog alongside speedy updates from Apple, as we hear all about its software plans for the rest of the year.

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• Google has made a number of under-the-hood tweaks to Chrome
• It claims the browser is now 10% faster than it was a year ago
• That’s based on benchmarking with Speedometer 3.0, but we're not shown comparative results with other popular web browsers

Google has boasted that Chrome is now faster than ever, outlining the improvements it's made to its popular web browser to achieve this speed boost.

Neown flagged up the latest blog post from Google in a series entitled the ‘Fast and the Curious’ for those who are intrigued to see what tinkering Google has been doing.

We’re told that Chrome has recorded its highest score ever on Speedometer 3.0, a browser benchmarking tool, and that it’s now 10% faster than in August 2024 with the release of the latest version 139 (still in testing, in the Dev channel).

Google says these improvements have been possible due to the Chrome team working across all the main ‘rendering paths’ of the browser, referring to the fundamental mechanisms that convert the nuts-and-bolts of code for a website into a visible web page in Chrome.

With that work happening more swiftly across multiple fronts, you see web pages rendered in the browser a bit faster, and it should act more responsively overall.

Clearly, though, performance mileage depends not just on the browser, but on a lot of factors (including any given website itself, and how it’s implemented, alongside the spec of the PC and its current overall workload).

(Image credit: Pixabay)Analysis: faster than ever – but some RAM concerns remain

There’s a fair bit of techie detail provided in terms of the exact tweaks Google has applied here, but to summarize, they include memory-related optimizations, better use of caches, and work on refining data structures.

Fortunately, us mere non-programmer mortals don’t need to know those ins and outs. The simple takeaway is that, as mentioned, Chrome is now 10% faster – at least based on this run of benchmarking.

This is the latest in a series of boosts for Chrome, as Google showed us how much faster its browser was at around the same time last year, as Neowin pointed out.

The benchmarking tool employed, Speedometer, is a respected suite of tests for web browsers, generally acknowledged to reflect a real-world browsing experience with a commendable degree of accuracy. What we don’t see here, though, are any comparative results that show how fast Edge, or Firefox, or some of the other best web browsers are in relation to Chrome.

That said, a quick scan of recent independent testing with Speedometer does suggest that Chrome is no slouch, and it seems like it currently has the edge (no pun intended) over other browsers.

Google appears to be doing good work on the performance front, then, despite Chrome’s reputation as a RAM hog, an issue it has sought to address. There have been improvements in terms of streamlining memory usage with Chrome in the more recent past, though – and overall, Google’s browser seems nippy enough these days.

That said, concerns around RAM-related performance headwinds remain. How much of this is down to tainted perceptions is debatable, but complaints certainly persist on various online forums that Chrome doesn’t fare so well here, and overreaches with its demands on the system, particularly with lower-end PCs that aren’t well-equipped in the RAM department.

There’s more to web browsers than speed, too, and one of the thornier remaining issues for Chrome is one of trust – or rather a lack of it, regarding Google ‘spying’ on its users, which is a common theme in terms of accusations leveled online. Not that Google is alone in terms of tech giants in this respect – far from it.

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• The Garmin Index Sleep Monitor is rapidly becoming an open secret
• A regional arm of Garmin reportedly released a one-minute video featuring the device
• The video was quickly taken down, but Gadgets & Wearables managed to grab a few screenshots

The fact that Garmin is entering the best sleep tracker race with a new product, said to be called the Garmin Index Sleep Monitor, isn't news anymore. Several leaks over the last two weeks have all but confirmed the product's existence. However, this time the leak has apparently come from Garmin itself, as it published – then quickly took down – a video featuring the product. The call is coming from inside the house!

First reported by Gadgets & Wearables, a regional arm of Garmin first posted the video. The report doesn't mention which region, and as the video has been taken down, we're unable to work our way back to the YouTube channel that originally posted it.

Nevertheless, Gadgets & Wearables apparently grabbed some screenshots of the video before it was removed, showing the device in action. The shots show a wearable heart rate monitor attached to the user's upper arm via a Velcro strap, designed to be worn during sleep only. It's not a Whoop-style screenless fitness tracker as previously thought. You can view those images in the link above.

Gadgets & Wearables confirms the device will pack a vibrating smart alarm as well as a seven-day battery life and Garmin's usual suite of data collected by its optical heart rate monitor and sensor arrays.

These include heart rate, heart rate variability and skin temperature, as well as a new metric called breathing variation. This is likely a move towards recording instances of sleep apnea.

Garmin's big bet on sleep

We reported on previous leaks stating the device was likely to cost 170 euros, around $200 / £150 / AU$300. That's quite a lot of money for an add-on device that does something your Garmin watch can already do, that isn't a fitness tracker too.

It's said to interface with Garmin Connect in the same way as your watch, so the intention is likely to wear your watch during the day and the more accurate Index Sleep Monitor at night.

As a sleep-only tracker, the upper arm positioning will allow for more accurate heart rate readings, but we're particularly interested in the sleep apnoea feature. Apple debuted its Sleep Apnoea Notifications feature on the best Apple Watches last year, and Samsung's gone hard into sleep with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Ring.

Your bed is rapidly becoming the next big wearables frontier. We'll know more for sure about the Garmin Index Sleep Monitor when it launches – and if promotional materials have already been leaked, that can't be far away.

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• Alphabet CEO says AI won't lead to job cuts
• Sundar Pichai believes Alphabet could even hire more workers
• Many major tech firms have announced job cuts in recent years

The CEO of Google's parent company Alphabet has hit back at fears growing AI adoption will lead to job cuts.

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Sundar Pichai said AI could actually help Alphabet grow its workforce, rather than lead to redundancies and losses.

“I expect we will grow from our current engineering phase even into next year, because it allows us to do more,” Pichai said, noting AI could be "an accelerator" driving new product development, which in turn needs more human workers.

AI job concerns

Alphabet has made several large-scale layoffs in recent years, with 12,000 workers cut in January 2023, and around a thousand let go over the course of 2024, with Google also announcing several hundred more cuts in 2025.

However, many of the largest technology firms in the world have also been forced to make similar cuts, such as Microsoft, which recently announced 7,000 roles would go.

Pichai was hopeful about the impact AI will have on Alphabet's workers, noting the technology could free them from repetitive or dull admin work to tackle more creative tasks.

He did acknowledge concerns about AI taking human jobs, and addressed recent comments by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei suggesting AI could remove half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years by saying, “I respect that … I think it’s important to voice those concerns and debate them.”

"There’s a lot of forward progress ahead with the paths we are on, not only the set of ideas we are working on today, [but] some of the newer ideas we are experimenting with,” Pichai added.

“I’m very optimistic on seeing a lot of progress - but you’ve always had these technology curves where you may hit a temporary plateau. So are we currently on an absolute path to AGI? I don’t think anyone can say for sure.”

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