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The use of AI across finance functions is soaring as it quickly becomes a key tool for getting the job done.

As such, businesses are investing heavily and spending continues to rise, meaning adoption has more than doubled since 2024.

But governance isn’t keeping pace, as almost half (49%) of UK finance leaders admit their organization has gaps in its AI governance strategy.

That’s a concern for two reasons. One, because governance is a compliance exercise, and two, because it underpins how confidently businesses can adopt AI at scale.

Without clear guardrails, employees will naturally start making their own decisions about which tools to use and how to use them – creating ripe conditions for Shadow AI to emerge and thrive.

The widening adoption-governance gap

I speak from experience when I say that AI is and will continue to be transformative for the finance function.

And for an industry that is largely accepting of the tried and tested status quo, it’s genuinely encouraging to see how positively leaders in the finance space view AI. Our research showed that 8 in 10 (83%) believe it will play an important role in helping them achieve their business goals.

What’s less encouraging, and somewhat worrying, is that almost a quarter (23%) say they have little to no AI governance measures in place. And that disconnect really matters.

Too often, governance is viewed as something to tackle only once adoption of new technology is well underway. But it has to be built alongside adoption. There’s often a fear, not always unfounded, that governance can slow innovation. But that’s not always a bad thing, because the point of governance is to make sure innovation happens safely and in a way that business can measure and trust.

Without it, AI adoption can quickly become fragmented, increasing a business’ exposure to compliance and security risks that will only intensify as AI becomes more deeply embedded.

When processes create friction, people will find another way

While governance gaps are directly linked to organizational risk, they also shape employee behavior. If approved tools are difficult to access, limited, or policies aren’t clear, people will look for another way to get the job done. Employees as a whole want to embrace the productivity benefits of AI and won’t let a lack of formal guidance stop them.

And that’s exactly what research tells us.

More than a quarter (27%) of UK employees admit to purchasing AI tools for work without approval in the last year. More broadly, 67% say they regularly bend rules or find loopholes to access company money, while 27% report missing business opportunities because of delays accessing spending.

These findings aren’t suggestive of employees deliberately trying to undermine company policy. More often, it’s a sign that existing processes aren’t keeping pace with the way people want to work.

That’s where shadow IT starts to emerge.

Shadow AI is a symptom of a wider governance problem

It’s easy to think of Shadow AI as the problem itself. But in reality, it’s usually a symptom of something bigger.

The concern is that this unchecked use of AI can lead to data leakage, compliance failures, poor record-keeping and inconsistent decision-making. So, it’s an important problem to nip it in the bud before it spirals out of control.

When employees feel they need to work around approved processes to stay productive, businesses quickly lose visibility over which AI tools are being used and how company data is being handled. Finance teams can quickly lose track of where money is being spent.

That creates a practical challenge for finance leaders, while businesses can find themselves managing duplicate tools, fragmented AI adoption, unmanaged spend and inconsistent governance. Exposure to scrutiny and compliance risks can also increase exponentially.

The longer those issues go unaddressed, the harder they become to unwind.

Good governance enables AI

The goal is never to slow AI adoption or place unnecessary barriers in front of employees. When governance is implemented well, it makes the approved route the easiest and best way to support employees in new, more productive ways of working.

It means making sure employees have access to tools that help them work effectively, putting clear policies in place for how to use them, and making it clear what’s expected.

When governance supports productivity and innovation, helping employees to address areas of friction in their roles instead of adding to it, they’re far less likely to look elsewhere for solutions.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

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• You can now sync your Fitbit data from Google Health to Apple Health
• Previously, data could only flow in the other direction
• The change makes it easier to manage your fitness info in one place

A quiet update from Google has the potential to make a big difference for fans of all the best Fitbits who also use an iPhone. Instead of spreading your health data across multiple apps — or having to rely on Google Health alone — you can now use Apple’s own solution for wearables that are spread across different platforms.

The change in question involves a new feature found in the latest Google Health update on iOS. Specifically, data stored in Google Health can now be synced to the Apple Health app, including data such as “exercise records, sleep, vitals, steps, and more,” according to Google.

That’s important news for a couple of reasons. The first is that it finally opens up Google Health data to a wider audience. Previously, you could sync Apple Health data to Google Health, but you couldn’t send it back the other way, meaning anything saved in Google Health was siloed off and isolated. Now, it’s much more accessible to iOS users, especially those who prefer the Apple Health app.

The second factor is that it now means Apple fans — or those who would rather use Apple Health instead of Google Health — no longer need to compromise if they have any Fitbit wearables. From now on, those users can happily manage their Apple and Fitbit devices from one place inside Apple Health, instead of having to either use multiple apps or Google’s offering alone.

Apple Health is all you need

(Image credit: Google)

To sync your data from Google Health to Apple Health, open the Google Health app, then tap your profile icon and select Partner Apps. Choose Apple Health, and follow the on-screen prompts to send your data across to Apple’s platform.

As mentioned previously, one group of people who will benefit from this change are those who use two or more wearables that operate on different platforms. Before, if these users wanted to get all their data into Apple Health, they had to use a third-party app or workaround. Now, things are much simpler.

The change seems to have gone down well with Fitbit users online. Posting on Reddit, for example, one user commended Google, saying: “Good job from Google, I didn't think they would actually add that feature anytime soon.”

Another happily noted that “Google did it quite fast. Nice to see when they care about customers.” A third, meanwhile, lamented that cross-platform functionality like this “Should have been there a long time ago.”

If you’re an iOS user with a Fitbit device, you no longer need to stick to Google Health to keep track of all your health and fitness information. With this change, Apple Health is all you need.

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Mini PCs under $600
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A mini PC is a physically small yet very powerful productivity booster. It’s like compressing the performance of a high-end desktop into a compact device that fits in your palm. You can carry the mini PC around easily and simply connect it to a monitor.

Personally, a mini PC has been one of my best purchases, but choosing the right one was an uphill battle. Between weighing performance, compactness, energy efficiency, and price, selecting the best options from numerous choices felt daunting, but I ultimately narrowed it down after extensive research and testing.

I tested many devices to curate this list, including some of the best mini PCs you can get, so each recommendation is backed up by data. Whether your main consideration is the price range, performance, speed, compactness, or energy consumption, get ready to strike the right balance and make an excellent choice.

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Best mini PC deals over $600

AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS | 32GB LPDDR5 | 1TB SSD

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AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS | 32GB DDR5 | 1TB SSD

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He's a legendary superhero, a pop culture icon, the star of comic books, movies, TV shows, video games and more, but how well do you really know Spider-Man?

Ever since we've seen the web-slinger's first outing in comic book form, we've seen various takes on the character: different human alter egos, different actors taking the role on, different powers and villains.

There's a lot about the character to get your head around, and you should be sure to brush up on how to watch the Spider-Man movies in order and our ranking of the best Spider-Man movies if you need to do some research.

But how well-read and well-watched a fan are you? To find out, we've designed this 30-question quiz, that'll ask you all about Spider-Man and his (and, sometimes, her) media outings.

The questions will test your knowledge on the breadth of the media empire, more than specific details from Spider-Man's world. You don't need to know what Doc Oc was a doctor of, or when Uncle Ben's bed-time is!

We'll start with 10 easy questions, and then move into 10 medium ones, and finish with 10 difficult ones for the experts. So, let's find out just how much you know:

If you need to brush up on your Spider-Man, let's find you some schoolwork:

If you've been considering Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Illustrator, or any of Adobe's other professional creative applications, and haven't signed up before, you can save 50% on the Creative Cloud Pro plan for your first year.

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Subscribers also gain unlimited access to standard AI tools like Generative Fill, Adobe Fonts, Adobe Stock assets, tutorials, collaboration tools through Frame.io, and integrated AI models from Adobe, Google, OpenAI, and others. The promotion for new subscribers ends August 10.

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Although there are many other creative tools available, Adobe continues to lead the way for professionals, and Creative Cloud Pro remains the easiest way to access its entire ecosystem.

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At 50% off, this is one of Adobe's best ever offers for new subscribers in the US and Canada.

AI spending is forecast to reach $40.74 billion by 2030.

While AI adoption is accelerating on both sides of the Atlantic, UK and US retailers are taking differing approaches. US organizations are using AI to unlock new revenue opportunities and reshape the customer experience. UK retailers have largely focused on what AI can do internally.

There are understandable reasons for the differing approaches. But UK retailers risk falling behind if they don't broaden their strategy to focus on embedding AI across the full customer journey.

The Transatlantic AI divide: Operational efficiency vs revenue growth

For UK retailers, early AI adoption has been cautious. The focus has been on internal operational efficiencies, such as creating marketing content, handling surface-level customer service and answering post-purchase queries.

US retailers, on the other hand, are embedding AI directly into the shopping journey itself. A third of US adults now use AI agents when shopping online, such as Amazon’s Rufus, to discover or research products. In-chat checkout experiences are becoming increasingly popular. US retailers are positioning AI more like a digital sales assistant than a back-office tool.

While both approaches have their merits, there is a risk UK retailers get left behind. The gap won’t happen overnight. It will emerge quietly, starting with share of attention and then showing up in revenue.

Global retailers using AI for discovery, conversion, and lifetime value will start owning key decision moments. UK brands focused on operational efficiency may find themselves absent from the journeys that matter most.

Compliance vs experimentation

UK retailers didn’t arrive at caution arbitrarily. Regulation and the consumer expectations shaped it. GDPR means shoppers expect clear consent, transparency on data use, and control before engaging with AI-driven experiences.

That’s why many UK retailers started with safer operational use cases, including automating support, enhancing content and streamlining fulfilment, before fully reinventing the ecommerce journey. Explainability and trust came before experimentation.

In the US, fewer regulatory guardrails made it easier for retailers to test AI tools publicly, iterate quickly and showcase value directly to consumers. The UK’s position isn’t a weakness. It’s a different starting point.

By ensuring customer-facing AI functions are both compliant and secure, UK retailers can both unlock new revenue and strengthen consumer confidence, rather than risking the need to roll back features due to compliance concerns.

Turning AI into a commercial growth engine

The faster US adoption has been less about technology and more about how the internal conversation is framed. The boardroom conversation isn’t “How do we save cost?” — it’s “How do we acquire smarter, convert faster and grow lifetime value?”.

US retailers treat AI as a growth lever across the full customer journey, from personalizing discovery and optimizing pricing, to guiding promotions, streamlining checkout and automating lifecycle communications. AI is framed as a revenue driver, not an operational nicety.

UK retailers have strong operational foundations. The shift is about pointing that discipline toward growth, opt-in recommendations and assisted checkouts. Controlled experiments that build insight and customer confidence at the same time.

For these experiments to work, the product data underneath them has to be ready: rich specifications, reviews, imagery and supporting content that gives AI something real to reference during conversational discovery and search.

Predictive personalization can prioritize high-value customers and surface relevant offers. Controlled agentic shopping experiences build familiarity and insight over time. Dynamic pricing and AI-driven lifecycle communications improve both conversion and retention. None of this requires abandoning the trust UK retailers have built.

The risk of falling behind may be gradual, but it is real

UK retail has the foundations. Now they need to be built upon.

Customer acquisition costs will rise if competitors are winning the discovery moment first. Conversions will happen earlier – and elsewhere – if the journey isn’t being shaped. Lifetime value will lag as AI-driven retention compounds faster for the brands that moved sooner.

Cumulative gaps are harder to close than visible ones. The retailers that combine strong governance and trusted data practices with genuine customer-facing AI innovation are the ones that will compete well in what comes next.

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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

Democratization may be the AI industry's favorite word, and one that, in fairness, it has earned the right to use.

At the beginning of the decade, building anything with machine learning meant a large research team and a significant budget, and that put it out of reach for many.

Today, however, the barrier to using advanced AI has fallen almost entirely, and what used to be a quiet technology in the background has been thrust to the forefront of everyday work and everyday conversation.

But access is just the surface layer. Underneath it sits another layer which, arguably, matters more than access to AI itself, and that layer is training.

Unlike access, model training has not been democratized at all. The industry has made it easy to consume a model and almost impossible to make one.

This needs to change.

A gatekeeper to innovation

If we look closely at what "democratization" has really delivered thus far, we see that what has opened up is only consumption. Anybody can now interact directly with an AI model, even without a technical background, and can build an app in an afternoon with minimal effort. Open-weight releases mean anyone can even run a model on their own hardware, free of an API. These are genuine advances that have helped define the AI-powered world we now live in.

What has not open up is the ability to train a model. Currently, producing a frontier model still requires capital measured in billions, scarce specialist talent that only a handful of labs can attract and retain, vast datasets, and retraining cycles that have to be repeated every six to 12 months just to stay current.

It is a cycle that is stifling progress, and a barrier that no startup, cash strapped healthcare organization, or mid-sized manufacturer can clear. It functions as a gatekeeper to innovation, and it is one that well-funded organizations have every commercial incentive to keep locked, because the scarcity of training capability is precisely what protects their market position.

There is a dichotomy. The cost of using a model has fallen toward zero. The cost of making one has climbed toward the limits of what private capital can sustain.

Can open source help?

Some might argue that the answer is to turn to open-weight models. Open weights, the argument goes, solve the ownership problem. You can download the model, run it, fine-tune it, and deploy it without asking anyone's permission. This is not democratized training though. It may be closer, but owning the weights is not the same as owning the model itself.

An open-weight model remains the frozen output of a training process run by the organization that produced it. What users receive is the result of that process. It is true that they can somewhat adjust the model. But doing that effectively demands expertise, compute, and clean data. And as the world moves on, the model ages and retraining is needed.

So despite their advantages on the surface, open weights do not offer users the ability to produce and continuously improve a model. That ability is still held by the labs that produced it.

The change that could revolutionize innovation

In my view, if democratization reaches the training layer and allows users the genuine ability to create, train, and own a model, several important structural changes follow that could meaningfully accelerate innovation across industries.

Ownership survives the vendor. If a model is trained by its user on the data they own, the weights are theirs without licensing restrictions, it will not evaporate if the company that gave them the tools to build it disappears. The relationship stops being a subscription. That single change alone removes the dependency the current market is built upon.

Models must learn continuously. If training is something that can be done continuously rather than a cyclical and centralized event, the model does not have to freeze at deployment. It can keep learning from new data in production without expensive retraining cycles and without a team of specialists being needed to run it. The workarounds become unnecessary because the underlying limitation is gone.

When control of what a model learns and how occurs at user level, the chain of responsibility is legible. That is the kind of traceability regulators are expecting and that black-box frontier models simply cannot provide.

These are the distributed benefits that make "democratization" the right word at last. If the ability to train a model is widely held, then the value, control, and responsibility are widely held too. General Learning Intelligence treats learning as part of the architecture rather than a cost only the largest labs can bear.

Access to models is already cheap and getting cheaper. However, access to training is not and that is where the next phase of competition will be decided.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the scale and complexity of data center infrastructure.

Traditional data center facilities were designed around relatively steady CPU workloads and predictable growth in power demand, allowing developers to secure energy supply alongside growing demand, cooling systems based on known and mature technology and infrastructure capacity with a reasonable degree of certainty.

AI workloads, however, demand far more power with greater energy density.

Electricity consumption from data centers has grown at 12% per year over the last five years and expected demand growth, particularly in AI training data centers, is set to drive a substantial increase in power demand.

Meeting this demand, while maintaining efficiency, is pushing developers toward gigawatt-scale data centers and with the timeframe for delivering these facilities rapidly compressing, the ability to deliver new infrastructure efficiently is increasingly critical.

In addition, as the scale of these developments grows, so does the complexity of delivering them. Grid interconnections can delay timelines by years, equipment supply chains are stretched, and projects must meet stringent reliability targets while navigating regulatory, environmental and community requirements that vary by region and country.

For owners and developers, the challenge is no longer simply constructing another data center building. The next generation of AI data centers requires a fully integrated approach across power, cooling, transmission, water, digital systems and long-term operations. Success depends on designing these facilities as resilient, flexible and energy-optimized industrial campuses.

Balancing site trade-offs to unlock faster delivery

Site selection is one of the clearest expressions of this dynamic where teams are typically assessing a series of imperfect options, each with its own advantages and constraints. For example, one site may offer lower cost land but lack the existing infrastructure required to support large scale development, while another may provide access to grid power but at a significantly higher cost or with timelines that delay delivery.

In practice, few locations offer everything required, and selecting a site becomes an exercise in understanding what should be prioritized, what can be mitigated, and what must be accepted.

Factors like water availability, land constraints, fiber connectivity, permitting timelines and social license to operate are all deeply important to success. Developers must consider how to optimize within these constraints. Where grid power is unavailable or delayed, for example, off grid or hybrid energy solutions may be introduced.

While these approaches can accelerate delivery, they also bring different capital requirements, financing structures, and operational considerations that must be carefully weighed.

Combining power solutions can accelerate bringing capacity online more efficiently

As AI workloads drive unprecedented levels of demand, power strategies also require a reassessment against expected scale timelines. Grid supply does offer lower long-term energy costs, stability and resilience advantages eventually but hinges on capacity constraints, and extended interconnection timelines.

In contrast, behind the meter generation, such as gas turbines or reciprocating engines, can be deployed more quickly and provide greater operational control. This, however, comes with higher upfront capital requirements, higher operational costs, fuel dependencies and more complex permitting considerations.

As speed-to-market is a key competitive driver, many large-scale developments are willing to pay a premium for off-grid or hybrid architectures, including battery storage and integration of renewables where accessible.

These systems are coordinated through microgrid controls, allowing operators to manage load variability, maintain resilience through islanding, and optimize overall system performance. The final configuration is shaped by how factors such as time to market, grid availability, resilience, and overall cost evolve.

Rethinking cooling can support high-density AI and optimize when energy is used

With this increase in power demands comes a corresponding increase in heat generation. The physics and economics of air cooling are struggling to keep pace with the thermal loads generated by AI workloads, forcing a shift toward alternative solutions.

One solution is liquid cooling, which is gaining traction as a more effective way to manage higher heat loads. Transferring heat more efficiently, it enables facilities to operate at the densities required by AI infrastructure. However, it does also introduce new dependencies, particularly around liquid cooling solutions and the infrastructure required to support it.

At the same time, taking a broader view of cooling opens up new opportunities. Cooling systems can be integrated with wider power infrastructure, excess heat can be connected to industrial processes that can utilize it and waste heat from data centers can be repurposed for applications such as district heating, which is already quite common in the Nordics.

Approaching cooling in this way allows developers to design systems that make better use of energy and create additional value through heat reuse and integration with surrounding infrastructure.

Additionally, thermal energy storage gives AI data centers the ability to shift cooling demand away from peak periods by producing chilled water when electricity is cheaper or more available and using it later when loads are highest.

This creates valuable demand response capability, allowing the facility to reduce its grid draw during periods of system stress, lower demand charges and support utility programs without impacting data center operations. In combination with batteries and advanced controls, thermal storage can help stabilize both the data center and the surrounding grid.

Early efforts on permitting can identify the fastest development route and avoid delays

Permitting and regulatory considerations sit alongside these technical decisions, shaping what is possible and how quickly projects can move forward. Requirements vary by region, country and project type, but in all cases, they influence how projects must be designed from the outset.

For example, grid connected developments may be constrained by connection approvals and capacity limits, while sites incorporating on-site generation may require air quality or emissions permits that influence technology choices. Land use restrictions, environmental approvals and community considerations can further shape site layout, development timelines and even overall project viability.

Addressing these requirements early, and in parallel with technical and commercial decision making, is therefore as important as those other factors. When permitting is treated as part of the initial planning process, it allows projects to be structured in a way that is both deliverable and aligned with regulatory expectations from the beginning.

This, in turn, reinforces the need for a coordinated approach across the full range of stakeholders involved. Energy providers, technology companies, developers, regulators and local communities each play a role in shaping outcomes, and the interaction between them becomes a critical factor in how effectively projects can progress.

Having the right expertise in place to connect these elements enables developers to navigate this complexity more effectively, ensuring that decisions made early on are aligned across disciplines. This early alignment helps create a more integrated delivery pathway, reducing friction between project phases and supporting smoother progression from planning through to construction and execution.

Turning AI demand into operational capacity at the speed and scale the market requires

The importance of this becomes clearer when looking at how these challenges play out in practice. In Texas, for example, early engineering work on a gigawatt scale AI training data center helped define the infrastructure strategy for one of the largest behind the meter energy systems supporting AI workloads.

The project includes 5 GW of gas generation capacity, up to 1.25 GW of solar PV, utility scale battery storage and a microgrid supporting 20 buildings totaling 10 million square feet, each designed for around 250 MW of power demand.

Projects of this scale reflect the sheer pace and ambition of AI demand, but ultimately, success comes down to how effectively that demand is translated into deliverable infrastructure. That means making early decisions that can withstand real world constraints, from power availability and permitting through to long term operational performance.

Bringing these elements together into a coherent strategy, and aligning the stakeholders needed to deliver it, is what will enable projects to move at the speed and scale the market now requires.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

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• UK’s Police National Legal Database (PNLD) breach leaks data of 100k+ criminal justice professionals
• Threat group ExfilSquad claimed responsibility, posting 1.9 GB of stolen records on the dark web and demanding ransom
• PNLD notified NCA and ICO, hired specialists, and confirmed passwords weren’t compromised but contact details exposed

The UK’s Police National Legal Database (PNLD) suffered a cyberattack recently, in which it allegedly lost sensitive data on more than 100,000 criminal justice professionals.

In a short press release, PNLD confirmed the breach, saying it happened over a weekend. The threat actors, which were not named in the announcement, were said to have taken names, organizations, and work email addresses belonging to police officers, staff, government partners, and customers.

The announcement also said the stolen information was already published on the dark web, adding that there is “no evidence to suggest that passwords or other security credentials have been compromised.” How the attackers worked their way in was not disclosed in the announcement.

ExfilSquad takes the blame

Following the breach, PNLD hired cyber-security specialists, and notified the National Crime Agency, which started their investigation into the incident.

“All affected organizations were contacted in the days following the incident and provided with further information and guidance,” the announcement reads. “The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has also been notified.”

At the same time, threat actors calling themselves ExfilSquad claimed responsibility for the attack, BleepingComputer reported. The group alleges it stole 135,000 contact records, sharing samples to support their claims. They also said they demanded a ransom in exchange for keeping the data safe.

In the dark web post, ExfilSquad said it obtained 1.9 GB of data, which includes information belonging to 114,000 PNLD subscribers and 21,000 Ask the Police users.

‘Ask the Police’ is a public-facing website where users can find answers to hundreds of commonly asked policing or legal questions.

ExfilSquad is a relatively new threat actor that's not known for any major attacks so far. Prior to the PNLD incident, it claimed the attack against Analog Devices, a US semiconductor company.

• Advanced Full Fibre Broadband from EE offers download speeds of 2.3Gbps and 8Gbps
• Speeds are potentially 222 times faster than standard superfast fibre
• Initially available in Guildford and Woking, expanding as Openreach rolls out its XGS-PON glass fibre network

Following a successful trial in early 2026, EE has launched its new Advanced Full Fibre Broadband plans, advertising download speeds of 2.3Gbps and 8Gbps. This makes EE the first provider to sell access to the Openreach XGS-PON glass fibre network.

The plans are initially only available in the Guildford and Woking areas, two Surrey towns in the London commuter belt, where the glass fibre network is installed and active.

EE is targeting users who rely on video conferencing, remote working, and content upload, and with multiple Internet of Things devices, as well as online gamers and streaming consumers. Speeds are up to 222 times faster than the standard superfast fibre broadband plans.

Two plans for EE’s XGS-PON fibre

Customers can access two plans from EE. The 2.3Gbps Advanced Full Fibre Broadband plan starts at £54.99 per month, while the 8Gbps plan is available from £74.99 a month.

No upload speeds have been stated, nor are they listed on the sign-up page, but they can be expected to be similarly fast.

XGS-PON (10-Gigabit-capable Symmetric Passive Optical Network) is a high speed, high-bandwidth data network standard, currently available in various forms across Europe, North America, and other regions. In the UK, it is used in the nexfibre, CityFibre, and Openreach networks, with EE using the latter to provide these plans.

With streaming speeds supporting 4K and 8K video, these plans are likely to be popular where available, and support for up to 190 devices suggests the plans will include routers suited to IoT and smart home applications.

Will faster fibre improve British broadband?

“Today marks a major milestone for EE as we become the first major UK provider to offer broadband speeds of up to 8Gbps on next-generation XGS-PON technology," noted Luciano Oliveira, Director of Product, Home and TV at EE.

"As homes become more connected and customers place greater demands on their broadband, we're investing in the technologies that will power the next generation of digital experiences.”

EE regularly wins recognition as the UK’s most popular network, with its business built on mobile (where its 4G, 5G and 5GSA speeds cover more than 90% of the UK) and an advertising campaign featuring Hollywood actor Kevin Bacon.

Unlike Virgin Media which owns its own fibre network, EE’s domestic and business broadband plans rely on third party infrastructure, mostly provided by Openreach, and due to the differences in connections across the country (and the legacy copper lines that remain in place in some locations), struggles to offer the same speeds for all customers.

This is a problem faced by all providers who sell access to Openreach lines, so EE’s immediate competitors will no doubt be watching with interest.

Patagonia is one of the biggest names in outdoor clothing, and especially impressive when it comes to sustainability — great news if you want to protect those beautiful natural landscapes you're planning on hiking over or camping in this summer.

I'm a big fan of Patagonia's products, but they don't come especially cheap. So I was particularly pleased, when hunting for kit for my next adventure, to uncover a goldmine of Patagonia discounts at Cotswold Outdoor. There are deals on a wide range of kit for every weather eventuality — important if you're planning on spending any time in the UK, where you can never be quite sure if you'll be facing sweltering heat or a torrential downpour.

Below, I've rounded up my pick of the best discounts across the men's and women's ranges, including fleeces, waterproofs, base layers, tees and shorts, with a few accessories thrown in for good measure. Happy exploring!

Outdoor kit for summer adventures

Patagonia Men's Boulder Fork Rain Jacket

Patagonia Men's Nano-Air Light Hybrid Hoodie Jacket

Patagonia Women's Classic Retro-X Fleece Jacket

Patagonia Men's Baggies 5" Shorts

Patagonia Women's Torrentshell 3l Jacket

Patagonia Women's R1 Fleece Jacket

Patagonia Women's Classic Retro-X Vest

Patagonia Women's Retro Pile Marsupial Fleece

Patagonia Women's Triolet Jacket

Patagonia Unisex Terrebonne Cap

Patagonia Women's Capilene Cool Daily Long Sleeve T-Shirt - Boardshort Logo

Patagonia Women's Unity Fitz Easy Cut Responsibili T-Shirt

Patagonia Women's Lightweight Synchilla Snap-T Fleece

Patagonia Women's Granite Crest 3l Jacket

Patagonia Black Hole Duffel Bag - 40l

Patagonia Men's Retro Pile Fleece Jacket

Patagonia Men's R1 Air Zip Neck Fleece

Patagonia Men's Fun Hoggers Shorts

Patagonia Men's Corduroy Volley Shorts

Patagonia Women's Better Sweater Fleece Jacket

It’s hardly a surprise that Apple had to increase the prices of its iPads, Macs and other devices last month amid ongoing RAM and storage shortages, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the upcoming iPhones follow suit — but it’s not completely doom and gloom for Apple fans.

Apple’s wearables weren’t impacted by these price hikes, which is good news for anyone looking to upgrade to a watchOS 27-compatible device (as there will only be a select few left) or if you’re keen to get a swanky new watch to track your workouts.

The Apple Watch 11 was already going at a fantastic price of AU$429 during Prime Day last month, but surprise, surprise, it’s ever-so-slightly cheaper now, and it’s not even sale season! The Apple Watch Series 11 with the 42mm chassis and GPS-only option is now AU$2 cheaper, making this the lowest-ever price on Amazon Australia — that’s 37% off in case you were wondering.

This price beats the AU$429 we saw during Prime Day, officially making this 37% discount the best we’ve seen for the Apple Watch Series 11 in Australia. The 42mm is also the only size discounted for the GPS-only version, so you’ll have to get the LTE option if you want the larger 46mm model, which is also discounted to AU$677, or 25% off, but there’s very limited stock.View Deal

Our Apple Watch Series 11 review called it “the most capable and best-looking” mainline Apple Watch yet, thanks to its larger battery capacity and brighter, more power-efficient and more scratch-resistant Always-On Retina LTPO3 OLED display compared to its predecessor.

Apple rates both the 42mm and 46mm models’ battery life at 24 hours of typical use and up to 38 hours in Low Power Mode, with battery capacity up 9% and 11%, respectively. Our reviewer found the claim checks out, with tests getting a full day and a half of battery life with light use, but the Low Power Mode makes it go even longer.

Health tracking is more comprehensive with the Series 11, adding blood-pressure monitoring to the usual arrhythmic heart-rate alerts, ECG, wrist temperature, respiratory rate and cycle tracking. Hearing health and Sleep Score are other notable additions, but these are also available on the cheaper SE 3 and have been rolled out to older models too.

Admittedly, the Apple Watch Series 11 won’t be much of an upgrade over the Series 10 because of the very similar hardware (and watchOS 27 compatibility), but upgrading from the Series 8 or older models, or even the Watch SE and SE 2, will see a significant performance jump and a longer support period.

And at this price, you don’t even need to wait till Black Friday as we don’t see it getting much cheaper than this in a few months’ time.

Did you expect film and TV's Christine Baranski to be an AI overlord in an alternate universe in Stuart Fails to Save the Universe episode 2? No? Me neither.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if this week's episode 3 ups the ante even further. While details are largely being kept under wraps, we can expect Stuart (Kevin Sussman), Denise (Lauren Lapkus), Kripke (John Ross Bowie) and Bert (Brian Posehn) to a more magical realm, with a wizarding world of a comic book store to boot.

Consider me strapped in. So, when does Stuart Fails to Save the Universe episode 3 arrive on HBO Max?

What time can I watch Stuart Fails to Save the Universe episode 3 on HBO Max?

For US viewers, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe episode 3 will drop on Thursday, August 6 at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET.

Internationally, you're looking out for these timings:

• US – 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• Canada – 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• UK – Friday, August 7 at 2am BST
• India – Friday, August 7 at 6:30am IST
• Singapore – Friday, August 7 at 9am SGT
• Australia – Friday, August 7 at 11am AEDT
• New Zealand – Friday, August 7 at 12pm NZDT

When do new episodes of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe come out?

(Image credit: HBO Max)

New episodes of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe will make landfall every Thursday in the US and on Fridays everywhere else. Here are the all-important dates you need to know about:

• Episode 1: out now
• Episode 2: out now
• Episode 3: August 6
• Episode 4: August 13
• Episode 5: August 20
• Episode 6: August 27
• Episode 7: September 3
• Episode 8: September 10
• Episode 9: September 17
• Episode 10: September 24

• LinkedIn will hold GPU investment and its compute and storage footprint flat rather than expanding its AI data centers
• The company says it roughly doubled the efficiency of its existing GPUs in six months through accumulated improvements to utilization, model distillation, and workload allocation, not a single breakthrough
• This makes it an exception to the rule under owner Microsoft's umbrella

LinkedIn has revealed it does not plan to spend aggressively on expanding its AI data centers over its next fiscal year - instead keeping GPU investment flat and holding its compute and storage footprint roughly where it is.

The stated reason is not restraint for its own sake: the company says it has found ways to get about twice as much out of its existing GPUs over the past six months and intends to spend that headroom on new features rather than new hardware.

Speaking to Wired, Erran Berger, LinkedIn's engineering CTO, framed the goal as keeping the compute footprint flat or close to it while still shipping more compute-hungry things into production - all while acknowledging this is an unusual position to take publicly right now.

Skipping the norm, both at the industry-level and the parent company

LinkedIn has been wholly owned by Microsoft since its December 2016 acquisition of the company for $26.2 billion.

Despite being part of the software giant, LinkedIn's approach seems vastly different from that of a company that recently saw its shares rally hard as it showcased AI spending finally resulting in measurable returns.

Microsoft also recently closed its own fiscal year, reporting $41 billion in capital expenditure in the most recent quarter alone. It added 31 data centers in that quarter and 88 across the year, and expects to spend more than $50 billion in the current quarter.

This draws an interesting parallel: while one part of Microsoft is deploying capital at a rate few companies in history have matched, a subsidiary with more than a billion users has decided to sit out the year, citing efficiency gains. This makes it a considerably more interesting approach than what would otherwise be a "company shows AI discipline" affair.

While parallels exist, it is prudent to point out that Microsoft's spending is overwhelmingly driven by Azure customer demand, and specifically by capacity it has contracted to supply to OpenAI, rather than by internal product workloads, while LinkedIn's compute is a rounding error against that.

Despite that, it offers an interesting alternative perspective when a large consumer platform can add generative AI features for a year without adding hardware; still, it runs counter to the prevailing assumption that AI features and capacity growth are inseparable.

What makes this possible for LinkedIn?

The answer runs back to a decision most coverage treated as an embarrassment at the time.

LinkedIn announced in 2019 that it would migrate its infrastructure onto Azure under a project codenamed Blueshift. In 2022, it quietly shelved that plan. An internal memo at the time cited Azure's own demand pressures and said LinkedIn would focus on scaling its on-premises infrastructure instead; subsequent reporting established that the migration had also run into difficulties because LinkedIn's in-house tooling did not transfer cleanly to Azure.

LinkedIn instead committed to its own data centers in Oregon, Texas, and Virginia.

LinkedIn's CTO for infrastructure, Raghu Hiremagalur, now argues that owning the full stack is precisely what makes this year's plan feasible, because the company can instrument every layer and treat efficiency as a standing investment rather than a one-off cost-cutting exercise.

“I really want to double underscore that for a company of our scale, to say a full year we're going to do this with no incremental storage and compute is no small feat, but it's taken a ton of work to get there," Hiremagalur said.

Reading what, in 2022, was a retreat as a 2026 advantage is self-serving, but it is not obviously wrong. The efficiency work itself is described as an accumulation rather than a breakthrough: better GPU utilization and workload allocation, distilling larger models into smaller ones, and rethinking how work is divided across training, inference, storage, and systems design.

Hiremagalur has also said the cost of serving each query had been climbing steadily while stored data was doubling annually, which he characterized as unsustainable. That is the more revealing framing. The efficiency push reads less like a strategic choice about the AI market and more like a company that looked at its own cost curve and decided it had to bend.

It makes it worth pointing out that LinkedIn has not really solved anything; It is that a platform of this size has publicly said out loud that its compute constraint is deliberate, at a moment when the four largest US hyperscalers have committed to something in the region of $600 billion to $700 billion of capital expenditure for the calendar year between them.

Almost every incentive in the industry currently runs toward announcing capacity rather than efficiency, making it an interesting outlier in a field dominated by daily capex announcements.

The more useful question is whether the approach holds. If it does, the argument that AI product ambition requires proportional growth in hardware gets meaningfully weaker. If it does not, this will read as an efficiency drive that met the hardware demands of a real product roadmap but failed to do so at a time when AI spending is increasingly scrutinized, even as LinkedIn itself recently allowed users to mark what they feel is 'AI slop'.

Beast of Reincarnation is a fantastic and immersive action-adventure role-playing game (RPG) with an emotional narrative that keeps you guessing at the end of every chapter. Game Freak, the developer responsible for the beloved Pokémon games, has taken a step into a completely new direction and done so in fine fashion.

Review info

Platform reviewed: PC
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Release date: August 4, 2026

Throughout the journey, you'll encounter formidable foes, from basic enemies to mini and major bosses, in combat encounters with an excellent feel of ebb and flow. Game Freak has nailed the concept of traversing a rundown yet beautiful post-apocalyptic Japan, with abilities that let players explore multiple regions and uncover a plethora of secrets.

I didn't expect Beast of Reincarnation to deliver an immersive and engaging experience to this degree; certainly not within the story, combat, and atmospheric aspects of the experience.

While it's far from perfect, due to some quality-of-life issues, a slightly overstayed welcome, and effectively little to no cosmetic customization, it's still a game I expect to keep playing long after rolling the credits.

What it means to be human

(Image credit: Game Freak)

In Beast of Reincarnation, a post-apocalyptic Japan set in the year 4026 is center stage. The parasitic entity or force known as the blight has taken over the world, corrupting animals, humans, and just about every living creature there is.

You play as Emma, a blight-stained young girl alongside her blighted wolf-dog companion, Koo. As a purifier, Emma is humanity's last hope to defeat the beast of reincarnation and restore the world from blight. She will need to absorb Nushi, the corrupt (or blight-stained) monsters that come in all different shapes, species, and sizes.

During the journey, Emma will discover what it's like to be human and consider a very specific aspect of her nature — avoiding spoilers, you'll slowly unravel what that means for Emma, those closest to her, and, frankly, humanity's fate.

While Beast of Reincarnation is focused on the restoration of the world, one of its central themes is love and what one will do to embrace it. It's very much an emotional rollercoaster, full of surprises that I genuinely couldn't see coming, and by the time the credits rolled, I was clapping and tearing up just a little.

Beast of Reincarnation also features a rapport system, specifically with Koo and other supporting characters like Kagura. Essentially, the more interactions you have with these characters, such as feeding Koo when hungry, can increase the rapport, resulting in benefits such as extra skill or equipment slots.

The rapport with these characters directly ties into the story, specifically with how they respond to Emma or help. Fortunately, it doesn't take too much effort to increase rapport, and with the emotional weight of Emma's story arc, you'll want to interact with other characters as much as possible.

Aside from being incredibly adorable, Koo is easily one of the best companions in gaming, providing support in and out of intense combat sequences. (Video Credit: Game Freak)

Game Freak's inspirations for Beast of Reincarnation are clear as day. It almost certainly draws from PlatinumGames' Nier: Automata and Shift Up's Stellar Blade, and Square Enix's Final Fantasy 16.

Again, without spoiling story details, Emma will often encounter human non-player characters (NPCs) or even Golems (who were once human) that will label her 'stained' and act disgusted. It's very reminiscent of how Final Fantasy 16's Clive Rosfield was treated early on in the story, often labelled 'branded'.

That alone creates an interesting predicament; Emma is humanity's only hope, yet humans essentially despise her due to her blight-stained nature. It dives into some of the story's darker and more lonely aspects, especially when acknowledging Emma's emotional vulnerability.

While the narrative kept me invested, wanting to find out what happens next, I feel the game's runtime could've been shorter. There are constant cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, where answers to questions about Emma, the post-apocalyptic world, and the beast of reincarnation itself are unnecessarily withheld.

Ultimately, many of the cliffhangers and small-scale cutscenes feel like padding, rather than ones to help progress the story. I appreciated some of those 'padded' dialogue moments, giving Emma and other characters a little more depth — so it's not all bad, but it's worth noting if you hate long-winded cutscenes.

(Image credit: Game Freak)

Outside of the story, Beast of Reincarnation's soundtrack is undoubtedly one of its strongest assets, and I couldn't stop thinking about Nier Automata's orchestral, melancholic, yet magnificent soundtrack. While traversing many of Game Freak's incredible in-game regions, I was accompanied by amazing vocals, which manage to fit each scenario perfectly.

The only frustration I had with Beast of Reincarnation's original soundtrack is that it can get repetitive as you progress. Sometimes, the same soundtrack from a previous chapter would play again in a new environment, and unless you're in combat or watching a cutscene, the music never stops — and it's one of the only complaints I had for Stellar Blade too.

Nonetheless, it's still a fantastic listen, especially in the final chapters, where I was particularly blown away by the soundtrack playing during the final boss battle — and I'm already itching to start my second playthrough just to experience it again.

Spectacular Sekiro-like combat

Just imagine those satisfying sword-clashing sounds from Sekiro, but then dial it up to 11. That's exactly what you get in Beast of Reincarnation during combat. (Video Credit: Game Freak)

Simply put, Game Freak absolutely nailed the combat. Much like traditional Final Fantasy games (i.e., Final Fantasy 7 Remake), Beast of Reincarnation features a blend of real-time action and turn-based combat, where players control Emma engaging in fierce sword battles while also turning to Koo for blight attacks.

The more you pull off successful parries, the more Florescence Points (FP) you gain for Koo to select and pull off special attacks. At the same time, the more you parry, the more an enemy's stun gauge increases, causing a stagger and an opening for a finishing blow.

In this manner, Beast of Reincarnation's combat is what I would describe as Sekiro-like, with From Software's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice featuring some of the best sword combat in games.

Parrying is key for Emma in almost all combat encounters. Players do have the option to dodge attacks, and need to for unbloackables. However, parrying will allow you to overcome all foes once they're stunned, and will also help you maximize the efficacy of Koo.

Also, if you thought Sekiro's sword clashing sound effects were great, Beast of Reincarnation gives it a run for its money. Game Freak's sound design for combat encounters single-handedly elevates enemy and boss encounters to another level; one duo boss encounter in particular left me hyped on the edge of my seat, in what was a challenging but extremely immersive back-and-forth clash.

One annoying issue, though, is one supporting character with Emma, who constantly says, "Remember to use Koo's skills too." This happens in every single combat encounter whenever Koo's FP meter is full, and it drove me wild on more than a few occasions.

Emma herself does the same when finding a new campsite or spotting an enemy, and it's one of those minor quality-of-life aspects that can very quickly become a major one, since it's bothersome after playing for hours.

There were many times I could choose to be stealthy, but decided against it. Why? The back-and-forth sword clashes are incredible! (Video Credit: Game Freak)

Throughout the game, you'll find different armor and swords to use, each with unique properties like elemental effects for the latter that will come in handy against enemies with different weaknesses.

There are two skill trees, one dedicated to Emma and another for Koo, and there are plenty of abilities to unlock. I finished the game at the 20-hour mark, and I only had around half the skills in both trees unlocked, which should give you an idea of just how much there is to add to Emma and Koo's skill set.

Fortunately, that will aid a second playthrough perfectly; and yes, Beast of Reincarnation has a New Game Plus run ready to go as soon as you finish the game, with a new difficulty (which I won't name... it's a potential spoiler). There's a fair amount of replay value, since almost all regions are explorable, with side content like mini bosses waiting to be found.

The latter makes traversal very important, and fortunately, it's a very strong highlight. Emma's hair allows her to reach high terrain and find loot that is pivotal to weapon progression, and finding new ingredients for Kagura to use for cooking.

I was quite disappointed to see that the new armor found for Emma has absolutely no cosmetic changes. It feels like a massive missed opportunity for Game Freak to give players a deeper layer of customization, besides equipping gear simply for better stat boosts.

But how does it perform?

4026 post-apocalyptic Japan is really a beautiful place to explore, but does Game Freak's ambitious action-adventure RPG run well enough to enjoy the landscape? (Video Credit: Game Freak)

I played Beast of Reincarnation on my main rig, using an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super, at 4K and 1440p. Instead of the 3440x1440 ultrawide display resolution, I was limited to 2560x1440, as the game doesn't have any 21:9 aspect ratio support — in 2026, this is unacceptable and, frankly, a massive disappointment for PC players.

At 4K, using DLSS (unclear which model it's using) quality, I was able to stay above 60 frames per second (fps), often between the 75 to 90fps range. I did have occasional frame rate dips, typically when there were numerous enemies on screen, but for Unreal Engine standards, it's not horrible performance.

At 1440p, it consistently stayed above the 90fps mark, and again, aside from odd moments of frame rate dips, performance wasn't a major concern for me.

Performance on the Lenovo Legion Go S Z1 Extreme was a little rougher than I expected. I could barely reach a stable 60fps even with the lowest graphics preset and FSR 3 performance enabled. What's worse is that the upscaler is constantly reset every time you restart the game.

Hopefully, Game Freak will include ultrawide support and FSR 4 in a future update, as only FSR 3.1 games can use FSR 4 via AMD's Adrenalin software.

Should you play Beast of Reincarnation?Play it if...

You're looking for a less punishing Sekiro-style game
Beast of Reincarnation scratches the itch of parry-based combat without the unforgiving difficulty of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and there are multiple difficulties, including one unlocked for New Game Plus for a far more challenging experience.

You're a fan of gripping stories set in post-apocalyptic worlds
Much like Nier: Automata and Stellar Blade, Beast of Reincarnation features a post-apocalyptic world to explore, with regions overgrown with nature and monstrous enemies to battle.

Don't play it if...

You want an action-adventure RPG with cosmetic options
If you're expecting to find any cosmetic options in Beast of Reincarnation, you'll be severely disappointed. While there is new gear and weapons to find, Emma's look remains the same throughout the game's runtime.

You hate a narrative with info-dumping
While Beast of Reincarnation's narrative is an interesting and immersive one, plot twists and surprises can be slightly underwhelming, as some are told via character explanations instead of shown.

Accessibility features

Beast of Reincarnation allows players to adjust controller button configurations and key bindings. Only English and Japanese are available as voice-over languages — I tested both throughout my playthrough.

There are no field-of-view options, which it desperately needs. The camera angle during some boss fights can easily be the cause of defeat, as sometimes enemies are too big, and you can't see Emma while they're still attacking you.

There are options to show speaker names via subtitles, but there isn't an option to make subtitles bigger. It's a little problematic as subtitles are small, and sometimes bright scenery in games can make it difficult to read.

Menu navigation with a mouse also isn't very good, as it requires the right mouse button to exit each section, instead of simply selecting another on the fly.

How I reviewed Beast of Reincarnation

(Image credit: Game Freak)

I tested Beast of Reincarnation on my main RTX 4080 Super rig, my second SteamOS AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB powered PC, and the Lenovo Legion Go S Z1 Extreme. With the RX 9060 XT 16GB, it was a struggle to hit 60fps at 4K without using FSR 3 and lowering some graphics settings.

I used my TCL QM8 55-inch mini-LED 4K TV and my LG UltraGear 45GS95QE ultrawide OLED, despite the lack of ultrawide support from Game Freak.

Game Freak notes that while Beast of Reincarnation is on Steam, it's working on optimizing the game for the Steam Deck, so expect potential performance improvements at launch or in the future.

First reviewed July 2026.

Shrinking kitchens in modern homes mean appliances are working harder than ever to earn a place on your counter. It's not unreasonable to expect your blender to double as a food processor, or your microwaves that moonlight as air fryers are now commonplace. Panasonic, however, has combined two gadgets I never thought I’d see wed: a bread machine and an ice cream maker.

I traveled to Sauce, a cooking school at the Langham Hotel in London, to get hands-on with the new Panasonic Mini Bread and Ice Cream Maker, plus a selection of other multi-talented appliances. I tied on my apron alongside a mix of journalists, influencers, and (unusually for this sort of event) their family members — including several young kids.

All the dishes on the menu combined to make a meal for a family to enjoy together without having to adapt elements, or cook separate things for children — and the recipes were so straightforward even the little ones could help out (with the assistance of a step stool).

First, we saw a demonstration of the intriguing bread and ice cream machine, then got to grips with it ourselves. When I first received details of the event, I assumed these were separate appliances and that the invitation contained a typo, but no, this compact device can indeed do both. It makes some sense when you think about it — bread requires kneading, and ice cream needs churning, which are very similar mechanically — so why not?

Making ice cream is simple — just freeze the bowl and insert it into the machine, pour in your mixed ingredients, and let it get to work (Image credit: Future)

As with most bread makers, preparing a loaf is a simple matter of pouring your ingredients into the machine, selecting a program, and then leaving it to handle the requisite kneading, proving, and baking.

The particular loaf we made was enriched with butter (thereby increasing the proof time), and studded with mixed seeds. Since we only had a few hours, we didn’t get to see our own loaves through to completion, but there were several finished examples available to try, and they were delicious spread with a little butter — crusts crisp and centers springy.

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(Image credit: Future)

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We then saw a demo of the ice cream making process, which starts with chilling the two-in-one machine’s churning bowl in the freezer for at least eight hours. When the bowl is frozen, remove the bread tin from the machine, slot in an adapter, and then simply place the ice cream bowl on top. Pour in your prepared ingredients, hit the button on the control panel, then close the lid and let the machine handle the rest.

The result was light and flavorful (and we were advised that if you’re not vegetarian, adding a little gelatin to your ice cream mix will give an even creamier texture). The frozen yogurt was a particular winner, and a welcome treat on a hot summer day, and one you can prepare in a couple of minutes provided the bowl is frozen ahead of time. Want something fruity? You can make your own compote to swirl into the mix, or just add a spoonful of jam.

Pour the blended ingredients into a mold, add berries, pop in the combi microwave, and a few minutes later you'll have a delicious baked mini cheesecake (Image credit: Future)

Next, we got stuck into some hands-on cooking with a Panasonic 4-in-1 Air Fryer Combi Microwave Oven. Despite looking no larger than a standard microwave, this appliance also serves as a convection oven and air fryer, and is packed with preset programs that combine these different cooking methods.

It’s a bit of a cliché to say that a multi-purpose appliance could replace your conventional oven, but with its tiered trays and large capacity, I think this one genuinely might for smaller families.

Of the two recipes we tried in the Combi Microwave, my personal favorite was a miniature baked cheesecake — just the right size for a snack or small dessert. You could even devour it during your morning commute if you didn’t have time for breakfast, and make yourself the envy of your fellow travelers.

The basic ingredients had already been blended together before we arrived (using a Panasonic blender, naturally), but I was very pleased to realize that they included banana. If you’re anything like me, you have a frankly ridiculous stash of overripe bananas in your freezer, and cheesecake is a very welcome change from banana bread.

Cornflake baked chicken is a quick and easy meal for kids and adults (Image credit: Future)

All we had to do was pour the mix into the molds, add a scattering of fresh berries, and pop them in the combi microwave for a few minutes. The finished cheesecakes were delicious — perfectly set, finished much faster than you could manage in a regular fan oven, and with a lightly caramelized top that you couldn’t achieve in a standard microwave.

I will definitely try them again — I don’t have bar-shaped molds, but I do have a set of silicone muffin cases that could serve the same purpose.

Katsu-style cornflake baked fried chicken was next on the menu, made using fresh chicken breast coated in well-seasoned buttermilk and egg, then covered in a mixture of crushed cornflakes and flour (again, with plenty of seasoning). We arranged the coated chicken pieces on the microwave’s crisper plate, and within a few minutes they were cooked through without being dry in the center, and deliciously crisp outside, all with no added fat.

They were perfect alongside a freshly-cut salad, and rice prepared using Panasonic’s new multi-cooker. Rice cookers have been quietly finding their way into more and more kitchens over the last couple of years (and we’ve started reviewing more of them here on TechRadar), so it makes sense that Panasonic is launching a new model in the UK soon as well — with Fuzzy Logic Technology that adjusts cooking on the fly.

(Image credit: Future)

It’s hard to choose a favorite, but ultimately I think the bread and ice cream machine was my top pick of the appliances we tested. It’s just such an unusual combination — and better yet, I learned it includes a mochi paddle so you can make your own chewy and delicious treats filled with ice cream or red bean paste. All that, plus freshly made, crusty bread? I’m sure I can find a little extra space on my kitchen counter…

• GMKTec combines AMD's fastest mobile processor with desktop RTX 5070 graphics hardware
• Compact 14.6L desktop packs liquid cooling and sustained 160W processor performance capability
• GMKTec Neo-X1 Pro pairs Ryzen 9 9955HX3D with GeForce RTX 5070 graphics

GMKTec has introduced the NEO-X1 series, a compact MoDT gaming desktop that squeezes serious desktop-class hardware into a 14.6-liter chassis.

The company pairs an AMD Ryzen 9000HX series mobile processor with a full desktop-class NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 series graphics card.

With this configuration, this device is somewhere between a traditional laptop and a full-sized desktop tower system.

Chassis and power delivery for sustained performance

The chassis integrates a built-in liquid cooling loop alongside an 850-watt fully modular power supply with an 80 Plus Gold rating.

Built-in liquid cooling becomes especially relevant given the processor's ability to sustain such elevated power draw continuously inside a relatively compact 14.6-liter enclosure.

Its motherboard uses a 13-phase power design and allows the processor to draw up to 160 watts under sustained load.

The HX3D designation typically refers to AMD's 3D V-Cache technology, which stacks extra cache to boost gaming performance in demanding, cache-sensitive workloads.

For storage, this device is equipped with two PCIe Gen5 SSD slots, while networking covers 2.5GbE wired LAN plus Wi-Fi 7 wireless connectivity.

Standard and Pro models

According to GMKTec, the NEO-X1 is available in two separate configurations, each built around a distinct balance of performance, cooling, and overall cost.

The standard model combines a Ryzen 9 9955HX processor with an 8GB GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, starting at 11,999 yuan (about $1,773).

The Pro variant steps up to a Ryzen 9 9955HX3D chip and a 12GB GeForce RTX 5070, priced from 16,499 yuan (about $2,438).

AMD's Ryzen 9000HX series, codenamed "Fire Range," underpins the claim that this is the fastest laptop-class CPU so far.

The workstation clears the PassMark CPU Mark laptop and portable CPU performance benchmark, with 62,616 points.

Pairing a top-tier mobile processor with a genuine desktop GPU suggests GMKtec is chasing enthusiasts who want console-sized workstation power.

Reports suggest the device will officially launch in China via JD.com, although no official confirmation exists as of press time.

No matching listings currently appear on the platform, leaving its actual availability status entirely unconfirmed at this point.

Memory capacity for either configuration also remains unconfirmed, leaving buyers without full specifications ahead of any rollout date.

GMKTec has not disclosed international release plans or additional regional pricing details.

Therefore, buyers weighing the NEO-X1 may want to wait for confirmed memory specifications and verified global pricing (if any) before committing outright

Via ITHome (originally in Chinese)

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Monday, August 3 (game #1652).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

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

Quordle today (game #1653) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

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

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1653) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1653) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1653) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1653) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• G

• T

• H

• C

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

Quordle today (game #1653) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1653, are…

• GOOEY
• TARDY
• HUMAN
• CHALK

Two words here took me a long time and a lot of head scratching to get — GOOEY and CHALK.

For GOOEY I also spent ages testing out all the letters I had left, before my eureka moment; when the letters bounced, it felt good.

Daily Sequence today (game #1653) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1653, are…

• PLANE
• BULKY
• NOTCH
• SUGAR

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1652, Monday, 3 August: FUNGI, MUDDY, DEBUT, MANIA
• Quordle #1651, Sunday, 2 August: BOOTH, EASEL, REACH, MAKER
• Quordle #1650, Saturday, 1 August: OMEGA, BIRCH, SMOCK, EERIE
• Quordle #1649, Friday, 31 July: MANIA, SINGE, STOOL, LOFTY
• Quordle #1648, Thursday, 30 July: MODAL, IDLER, CHUMP, LUMPY
• Quordle #1647, Wednesday, 29 July: GAWKY, ALLOY, AUDIT, LATCH
• Quordle #1646, Tuesday, 28 July: SMITE, ROACH, RUDDY, GLOBE
• Quordle #1645, Monday, 27 July: TAFFY, FIGHT, GUILD, WAGER
• Quordle #1644, Sunday, 26 July: STOMP, LIMIT, FUNKY, STEAD
• Quordle #1643, Saturday, 25 July: SALON, SHEEN, BURST, GOURD
• Quordle #1642, Friday, 24 July: DOLLY, EDIFY, LAGER, PRANK
• Quordle #1641, Thursday, 23 July: LADEN, EVICT, WOVEN, SHIRE
• Quordle #1640, Wednesday, 22 July: COYLY, SINGE, AWASH, AWOKE
• Quordle #1639, Tuesday, 21 July: TRUSS, AXIAL, SWINE, THING
• Quordle #1638, Monday, 20 July: ICING, SLICK, GAILY, RISEN
• Quordle #1637, Sunday, 19 July: SPURT, ACRID, THRUM, BLEEP
• Quordle #1636, Saturday, 18 July: KNAVE, TIGHT, BLEAT, CHAOS
• Quordle #1635, Friday, 17 July: CUMIN, PALER, GRASS, INBOX
• Quordle #1634, Thursday, 16 July: IGLOO, PLAIT, YEAST, AROMA
• Quordle #1633, Wednesday, 15 July: PROXY, BRICK, BROTH, SURGE

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, August 3 (game #1149).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

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

NYT Connections today (game #1150) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• CIGARETTE
• PEACE SIGN
• PIANO
• TAXI CAB
• CHEVRON
• UNICYCLE
• PIGEON
• POOL NOODLE
• SEWING MACHINE
• ANGLE BRACKET
• PRETZEL ROD
• BODEGA
• SUBWAY STATION
• FOAM ROLLER
• SWAN BOAT
• GOOSE
• FORMATION

NYT Connections today (game #1150) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Tubular
• GREEN: As seen in the Big Apple
• BLUE: They go round and round
• PURPLE: A letter between U and W

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1150) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: LONG CYLINDRICAL THINGS
• GREEN: ICONIC NYC SIGHTS
• BLUE: THINGS WITH PEDALS
• PURPLE: V-SHAPED THINGS

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

NYT Connections today (game #1150) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1150, are…

• YELLOW: LONG CYLINDRICAL THINGS: CIGARETTE, FOAM ROLLER, POOL NOODLE, PRETZEL ROD
• GREEN: ICONIC NYC SIGHTS: BODEGA, PIGEON, SUBWAY STATION, TAXI CAB
• BLUE: THINGS WITH PEDALS: PIANO, SEWING MACHINE, SWAN BOAT, UNICYCLE
• PURPLE: V-SHAPED THINGS: ANGLE BRACKET, CHEVRON, GOOSE FORMATION, PEACE SIGN

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

With a bit more patience I could have got three Purple Firsts in a row. Instead, I rushed in and connected the first four tiles that made sense.

Having said that, I still made a mistake before successfully putting together LONG CYLINDRICAL THINGS: I own a FOAM ROLLER, have used a POOL NOODLE, and once partook in the occasional CIGARETTE, so I was pretty sure shape was the link. However, having never owned a PRETZEL ROD I assumed they were shaped like a pretzel, so in a panic selected BODEGA thinking this might be slang for something long and foamy. Of course it isn’t.

This foolishness put aside I was able to see V-SHAPED THINGS, which duly triggered the annoying realization that I had rushed in when the glory of a purple hat-trick was within grasp.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, August 3, 2026, game #1149)

• YELLOW: ROAD LESS TRAVELED: ALLEY, BACKSTREET, BYWAY, LANE
• GREEN: SHADES OF GREEN: FOREST, HUNTER, MINT, SAGE
• BLUE: "Y" IS THE ONLY VOWEL: FLY BY, MYRRH, NSYNC, RHYTHM
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH SYNONYMS FOR "PESTER": BUG FIX, NAG CHAMPA, NEEDLESS, TEA SET

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, August 3 (game #883).

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

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

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

NYT Strands today (game #884) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Staying healthy

NYT Strands today (game #884) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• THIN
• LINE
• ZINC
• CORE
• FORMAT
• CRAM
• FILLER

NYT Strands today (game #884) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 8 letters

NYT Strands today (game #884) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: top, 3rd column

• Last side: bottom, 4th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #884) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #884, are…

• REFILL
• CONSULT
• IMMUNIZATION
• MEDICINE
• COUNTER
• SPANGRAM: PHARMACY

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 hints

Struggling to find anything but non-game words, I took a hint and was given REFILL — a word that, rather than help me understand the theme of “staying healthy”, confused me.

Looking for clarity, I took another hint with CONSULT — and that just sent me deeper into bafflement.

Taking a completely different approach I focused on the letter Z and was able to unfurl IMMUNIZATION, which finally got me to today’s medical theme and the spangram of PHARMACY.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, August 3, game #883)

• ONLY
• UNIQUE
• SPECIAL
• EXCLUSIVE
• SINGULAR
• SOLE
• SPANGRAM: ONEOFAKIND

What is NYT Strands?

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

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