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Persona 4 was my belated introduction to Atlus's Japanese high school RPG series, so it still has a special place in my heart.

The PlayStation 2 original was, however, also usurped by the greatly expanded and far superior Persona 4 Golden, which is where I racked up my New Game+ playthroughs. Even as I have become more time-poor over the years, I would still dip into its subsequent post-Vita ports.

That does, however, present a problem for Persona 4 Revival. When a perfect expanded version of the game already exists and is available on all current platforms, is a $70 modern remake really needed?

The elephant in the room is that this is also a way for Sega to plug the gap for the long-anticipated Persona 6, though given that it was only given the briefest announcement this year, fans will likely have a much longer wait ahead.

But after about an hour of hands-on time with Persona 4 Revival at Gamescom 2026, I can appreciate the different touches that have gone into making this JRPG classic more palatable to modern audiences, while still preserving key elements of the original.

One more remake

(Image credit: Sega)

Persona 4 Revival's hands-on demo was split into three parts: the first focused on story, the second on its dungeon-based battles, and the last let me choose how to spend several calendar days as a transfer high school student in the rural town of Inaba.

As a remake, it follows a similar approach to Persona 3 Reload. Character models aren't just a huge visual upgrade over their original lower-poly PS2 counterparts; they're even better than Persona 5's and look virtually on par with the character portraits that typically accompany dialogue boxes. Turn-based battles, meanwhile, have been updated to mirror Persona 5's control scheme, where commands are mapped to different buttons rather than scrolling up and down a menu.

Just like Persona 3 Reload, Persona 4 Revival has also updated its audio with a completely new voice cast and a re-recorded soundtrack, including at least one or two brand-new songs. I don't mind so much the decision to recast the roles, especially as several of the original voice actors have become much higher profile (including Troy Baker, Laura Bailey, and Yuri Lowenthal).

Still, the voice of Teddy takes time to get used to because while some may have found his original voice a tad annoying, now he just sounds a bit too much like another teenager rather than a mysterious being inside a mascot suit.

(Image credit: Sega)

From what I played, the story seems to unfold virtually beat-for-beat in line with the original. I think that's fine, and given how long the game already was, the script really doesn't need fleshing out in the same way as the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series, for example. But there are still some interesting changes within that.

The most notable is the more interesting camerawork going on, including close-ups, that make extensive cutscenes more engaging to sit through instead of just lengthy dialogue you might be inclined to skip if you can read faster than the characters speak.

The script itself has also undergone some subtle adjustments in the localization process. It might seem very minor, but I picked up on how Yosuke now addresses the other female students like Chie and Yukiko more formally by their family names, which is closer to how real-life Japanese classmates who aren't close friends behave.

I'm still intrigued by how and to what extent Yosuke's character is updated in Persona 4 Revival, as in the original, he behaves like a creep and is pretty insensitive at times. Given there's a moment in the story demo where he gets annoyed with Teddy and pushes him over, my guess is P Studio is still retaining at least some of the more abrasive side of his personality.

Holding on to the past

(Image credit: Sega)

Persona 4 Revival's visual upgrades apply to the environments too. With a completely free-looking 3D camera, you can appreciate more of the details in the Dojima household, while in the Twisted Shopping District, you can look up and see the strange red and black vortex instead of a sky that indicates you're in the Midnight Channel's parallel dimension.

Nonetheless, the places you go to are still very much as I remember them. Rooms are still separated by loading screens; Inaba's main commercial district has the same businesses, including the item shop that turns into a bar at night. That's also fine for me, as I don't think it would necessarily benefit the game to suddenly expand the real estate.

While seemingly still randomly generated rather than having the bespoke design of Persona 5's palaces, the dungeons you explore have nonetheless been adjusted to be a little less tedious, from having objects you can break to gather resources to a subtle wayfinder if you just want to get to the next floor ASAP. Ironically, I took this as a cue to go the other direction to explore more of the map.

(Image credit: Sega)

When encountering enemy shadows on the map, the game even clearly indicates whether you've got the drop on them to get a pre-emptive attack. Failing that, Persona 4 Revival also adds the ability to guard against a shadow's attack so that you're less likely to start a turn-based battle at a disadvantage.

During battle, the Baton Pass mechanic has also been passed down from Persona 5 and Persona 3 Reload, which allows you to attack again if you've hit an enemy with their weakness, but pass that turn onto another party member who may have the right attack to exploit a different enemy's weakness.

But whereas Persona 3 Reload was criticized for not being a truly definitive remake, given the lack of an option for a female protagonist like in Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Revival at least is confirmed specifically as a remake of Persona 4 Golden. That means it will include that expanded version's additional story content, such as Marie, the mysterious and temperamental guest in the Velvet Room.

(Image credit: Sega)

Despite those smart updates, I'm still curious why some other elements have been left untouched. For instance, character portraits were used prominently in JRPGs as they were more expressive than in-game models. But when Persona 4 Revival's character models are better animated and expressive, having these portraits seems arbitrary.

Similarly, when you knock down all enemies and trigger an all-out attack, Persona 4 would originally cover the enemies in a cartoon cloud for comical effect, yet the remake opts to keep this visual despite also having party members running in to perform a lot of flashier animations alongside it.

There might be some nostalgic charm to retaining these conventions, but it also feels unnecessary in the context of a modern remake. Similarly, once my hands-on time was up, I came away impressed with what I had played, yet still not convinced why I would drop $70 on it when Persona 4 Golden is right there for a fraction of the price.

Persona 4 Revival releases on February 18, 2027, on Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

• A Japanese laptop maker has come up with an innovative stand
• It folds out from underneath the notebook to give the device some clearance off the surface below
• This improves cooling the processor by up to 3C / 5.4F, the maker claims, and it could be a trick that other manufacturers adopt

A PC maker in Japan has produced a laptop with a clever twist under the hood — well, under the chassis to be precise.

VideoCardz spotted Iiyama PC's 15-inch gaming laptop on sale at PC Kobo, a Japanese retailer. It has a small stand that folds out from beneath the body of the device, effectively propping up the Level 15FX167 notebook and raising it slightly (by what looks like just under an inch at the highest point).

That clearance allows for better cooling, with more air free to circulate underneath, and Iiyama PC claims that the stand "can lower the CPU operating temperature by up to 3C" compared to when the device is flat on a surface.

The specs of the Level 15FX167 include an Intel Core Ultra 9 Processor 185H, 16GB of RAM, and an Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU with a 1TB SSD.

Analysis: every degree counts

(Image credit: PC Kobo / Iiyama PC)

A difference of 5.4F / 3C might not sound like a whole lot, but it's a useful bit of extra thermal headroom when it comes to a gaming laptop. Remember that portable devices require all sorts of head-scratching in terms of the design of the cooling system, fans, vents, heatsinks and so forth. Every fraction of a degree that can be eked here or there all adds up to better performance ultimately.

As Iiyama PC points out, the tilted angle that the built-in stand provides is also ergonomically sound for a better typing experience, too.

Of course, the idea of an integrated stand is nothing new in the world of laptops, but this implementation is a novel one, as opposed to the traditional kickstand that you see on the likes of Microsoft's Surface devices.

It's one of those ideas that, when I first set eyes on it, I thought to myself, how has this not been done before? Then I had to check that it hadn't been done before, and indeed it hasn't, as far as I can tell. (Although the Asus Ergolift design is in a similar vein, but it's built directly into the notebook's hinge).

The question is, will other laptop makers take notice, and might we see this on devices outside of Japan eventually? Perhaps, and I'll be interested to see a review of this Iiyama PC notebook. My only concern is whether the stand might be a weak point in terms of the possibility of it breaking, so a reviewer should be able to give us a good idea of any fragility therein.

And in case you were wondering, yes, Iiyama is the same brand that makes the famous monitors, sitting under the same parent company.

• Microsoft warns of Teams‑based campaign where attackers impersonate IT staff
• Victims tricked into granting remote access, leading to malware, lateral movement, and ransomware
• Defenses: verify support contacts, train staff, harden Teams, and use Defender Safe Links/ZAP

Microsoft is warning about an ongoing hacking campaign that starts with a Teams message and ends with a ransomware infection and data theft.

In a new in-depth report published on the Microsoft blog, it was said that unnamed threat actors were reaching out to their targets at various enterprises via a Teams chat, while impersonating IT staff.

They were coercing their victims into granting remote access via screen sharing or remote monitoring and management tools and once received, used their access to install malware loaders and various other implants.

How to defend against Teams-borne phishing

The malware was just the first stage of the attack. Subsequent stages include host reconnaissance, security-product and virtualization discovery, and “periodic desktop screen capture”. In other words - mapping out the landscape and conducting espionage.

The crooks would then enumerate domain accounts, servers, and users, through native tools and Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) queries and begin moving laterally.

The final step includes identifying and extracting valuable data, followed by a ransomware infection.

Microsoft does not name the perpetrators, and mostly refers to them as “threat actors”. It makes sense, since the “fake IT support via Teams” technique is being used by multiple groups at this moment. Russia’s Cozy Bear, FIN7, and Storm-1811 are probably the most obvious examples.

The world’s biggest extortionists - ShinyHunters - are also known to use Teams to trick victims into granting access, but this group rarely deploys an encryptor and instead just focuses on data exfiltration.

Whoever the attackers are, and whoever they’re after, one thing is for certain - the risk in the enterprise environment has never been greater.

That is why Microsoft advises reinforcing user education by establishing internal helpdesk authentication phrases, and by training employees to recognize external-tenant indicators.

The company also urges enterprises to verify unsolicited support contact, and to harden Microsoft Teams and email against social engineering. “Use Microsoft Defender for Office 365 with Safe Links and Zero-hour auto purge (ZAP) so malicious messages and URLs are neutralized at time of click and removed after delivery,” Microsoft urges.

Does every existing IP need a movie adaptation? The answer is no, of course, but I'm quietly confident in the upcoming live-action version of hit Hideo Kojima franchise, Death Stranding.

Why? Well, let's start with the concept. In the game, courier Sam must reconnect a broken America after an apocalyptic event merged the worlds of the living and the dead. Add in distributor A24 and the man who directed Pig and The Death of Robin Hood — which is now in UK cinemas after its June US release — and you've surely got gold.

However, there's one immediate snag. While we don't know much, we do know that the new movie won't follow the same premise as the existing Death Stranding games.

In fact, according to director Michael Sarnoski, not only is it a standalone movie, but will be made with a lot of creative freedom — and something about the way he explains this makes me nervous.

'I need the space to find authorship and find the things that I really believe in'

"I actually like to make things difficult for myself," Sarnoski tells me. "I like to do projects where the initial instinct is 'Oof, that could be a really bad idea.' Another Robin Hood movie? A prequel to a horror franchise? I like things where it could be easy to miss the mark."

This in itself is a concerning statement. I prefer it when my movie directors don't go into an adaptation thinking that things could potentially go horribly wrong. Whatever happened to positive mental attitude?

"I like the challenge," he continues. "I like finding the humanity in things that otherwise could not work. On Death Stranding, they're giving me a lot of freedom to tell the story that I want to tell separate from the core video game stories. It's its own standalone thing. I need the space to find authorship and find the things that I really believe in... I'm really excited about it."

Playing devil's advocate here, creative freedom could be a good thing. If fans expect a movie to replicate its original source material exactly, nobody ends up winning. But with so few details to go on, we've got to keep our fingers crossed that good decisions are made in the meantime.

But is Sarnoski concerned about appealing to existing fanbases, or is he happy to stick to his guns? "A little bit of both," he responds. "I feel the pressure, but I have to set that aside and focus on what creatively excites me. I can't make stuff as a reaction to what I think someone else wants — it has to come from a place of love and fascination."

Make of that what you will, folks... and watch this space.

We're a bunch of gadget obsessives here at TechRadar, so we appreciate that your phone's home screen is premium real estate. But if you're a TechRadar reader, you're going to want to find room on that home screen for our new app.

That's right, TechRadar now has an app! We've been working hard to bring you a new way to enjoy our content, with useful features that will enable you to enjoy a more personalized experience.

These new features have been designed to make it easy for you to stay up to date when you're on the go, from finding new ways to discover stories to letting you save articles to read later.

We'll be looking to add more features as we grow, so don't be shy about telling us what you think about the TechRadar app, which you can do by emailing the team, or by leaving us a comment below.

How to download the TechRadar app

You can find the TechRadar app in both iOS and Android (Image credit: Future)

You can find us in the App Store and Google Play simply by searching 'TechRadar'. Look for our distinctive pink radar logo and you'll know it's the right app.

The best part? It's completely FREE to download, though you'll need a free account to read unlimited articles — you can only read five articles without signing in. To unlock the full experience, you can create a free account directly in the app.

By creating an account, you'll also automatically unlock membership and become an official TechRadar Insider, giving you the ability to comment on articles, vote in polls, play quizzes and more.

Prefer a cleaner experience? You can subscribe to our ad-free version for $1.99 / £1.99 a month or $19.99 / £19.99 annually — it's a great way to support our work.

New useful features to explore

• Save articles to your bookmarks to easily read later
• Personalize your feed to follow the topics you’re most interested in
• Find what you’re looking for fast with a search tool
• Turn on push notifications to stay updated with breaking tech news

Discover the latest news, features and reviews (Image credit: Future)

Now that you're all set up, you should have full access to the TechRadar app, which is essentially everything you love about our site available in app form, and with new features.

The home page works just as it does on our site, showing the latest news and features across across our main categories, including phones, computing, cameras, and streaming.

Want a tailored experience? You can simply toggle from 'All News' to 'My Feed' on the home page, and select your interests to start curating your own bespoke news feed.

You can also bookmark articles to read later by clicking the bookmark symbol at the top of an article, and you'll be able to find your articles in a new 'Saved List' in the app.

Personalize your home feed and save articles to read for later (Image credit: Future)

Expect to receive the same push notifications in the app as on our site if you enable them on your device, allowing you to stay updated on breaking tech news as it happens.

There's also a new search tool, and a discover feed that lets you filter articles by type and date range to find the coverage you're most interested in — handy, right?

Stay up to date and search for articles (Image credit: Future)

We're still working on new features, and have a few ideas for even more up our sleeves, so if you have any feedback or suggestions, let us know in the comments below.

• Beyedynamic has unveiled its Aventho Y wireless over-ears at IFA in Berlin
• They're packing 90-hour stamina, a folding design, and a battery storage compartment in one ear cup
• There's an optional 'upgrade bundle' with a low-latency USB-C dongle/detachable boom mic

Looking for all-new headphone releases at IFA 2026? You came to the right place. At the Berlin tech expo, Beyerdynamic has just taken the wraps off its new wireless cans in all four novel colorways.

With the tagline 'Four colors, four feelings, one WHY', you can probably guess that Beyerdynamic is going deep with these cans, and the firm is calling the model its "most personal headphone yet, designed to adapt to the way you listen".

As you'd expect in 2026, there's active noise cancellation on the menu, but one particular claim on the spec sheet — "more than 90 hours of battery life" — is what really got my attention.

Let's dig into the striking aesthetics first, shall we? It's not unusual for Beyer to go bold (who could forget the debut true wireless guitar-pick shaped Free Byrd or delightfully 8-bit Custom Game headset), and here, there's a nice stylized 'Y' on the reassuringly big ear cups.

What of those finishes? Beyer tells me that each of the four colorways represents a different emotional connection to sound, but make no mistake — every Aventho Y set of headphones delivers the same sonic tuning, features and performance.

Anyway, your finish options (as described by the audio specialist) are:

Liquid Black — Focus & Depth: grounded, confident and immersed
Blue Fusion — Calm & Escape: relaxed, open and free
Soft Jade — Clarity & Renewal: refreshed, balanced and inspired
Peach Blush — Warmth & Connection: comforting, soft and uplifting

I mean, I'm not not intrigued…

Find your Y

(Image credit: Beyerdynamic)

Beyerdynamic wants you to know that versatility is at the heart of the Aventho Y. And here, versatility comes in the shape of various optional accessories, including ultra-soft black or grey velour ear pads and an upgrade bundle featuring a low-latency USB-C dongle and detachable boom microphone.

Another plus is that they're genuinely designed for long-term ownership. The design folds and features a user-replaceable battery, magnetic ear pads, aluminum sliders and stainless-steel hinges that the company assures us are easy to replace. An integrated storage compartment inside the ear cup even keeps the optional USB-C dongle and spare battery protected and easily accessible.

Bluetooth 6.0 is here with multipoint connectivity, and while that 90-hour battery life claim is with ANC off, you should still get up to 60 hours with ANC on, and just five minutes of fast charging will apparently provide up to six hours of playback. To be clear: those claims are big.

Through the Beyerdynamic app, listeners can customize EQ profiles, explore genre-based sound presets, receive firmware updates, and manage smart settings such as auto power-off.

Take note though: your basic purchase includes a USB-C charging/audio cable and a soft carrying bag, so lovers of hard-shell cases may need to look elsewhere.

Pricing? Of course. The Beyerdynamic Aventho Y will be available for a refreshingly affordable $149.99 (so around £110 or AU$208) very soon, but anyone lucky enough to be visiting IFA 2026 in Berlin from tomorrow (September 4) can experience the Aventho Y firsthand at the Beyerdynamic booth, located in Hall 4.2, booth #147.

Something for our best noise-cancelling headphones buying guide perhaps? We're working on a full review, so when we know, so shall you.

(Image credit: Beyerdynamic)

• FBI warns of rising OAuth consent phishing attacks exploiting legitimate app permissions
• Victims tricked into granting malicious apps access, enabling email reading and sending
• Password changes don’t help; users must revoke tokens in app security settings

Hackers found a way to access your data, read your messages, and even send emails to your contacts, without ever needing your password or other login credentials. All they need from you is a single click on a completely legitimate, well-known platform.

The technique is called “OAuth consent phishing”. It’s been around for more than a year and it’s gotten popular to a point where even the FBI is taking note. Earlier this week, the law enforcement agency issued a new public service announcement, via its Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), warning Americans about the threat.

OAuth (Open Authorization) is an internet standard that allows users to give apps access to their account on another service, without giving the app their password for that service. For example, when users install a new app, they have the “Continue with Google” option. When they click it, they are asked if they allow the app to access their email. If they approve, Google gives that app a special access token, which allows the app to access the user’s Google account without ever seeing the password.

Pulling off an OAuth attack

So, to pull off an OAuth attack, the threat actor must first trick Google (or Microsoft, or any other company providing the service) and get their (malicious) app registered on the platform. Then they would reach out to their target via instant messaging, while impersonating government officials, media, and other publicly known personalities, and sharing a link to what appears to be a document.

The link redirects the victim to a legitimate service (for example, Google), where they are asked to grant permissions to the malicious app. If they approve, the attackers gain access to their email accounts with which they can do almost anything.

To make matters worse, simply changing the password does not fix the issue. The only way to eliminate the threat is to revoke the access token that was given, which can be done in the application security settings.

The FBI did not say who the threat actors were or who they were targeting, other than they were “prominent victims”. Their family members were being targeted, as well.

Via The Record

• Google Pics lets you generate and precisely edit images using simple text prompts
• It will be integrated directly into Google Docs, Slides and Drive
• Pics is rolling out to Google AI Pro, Ultra and eligible Workspace customers

Google has started rolling out Pics, a new AI-powered image creation and editing tool that looks like the company’s answer to Canva and even Adobe Express.

Canva became enormously popular by enabling ordinary people to produce good-looking graphics without needing professional design skills. Google Pics is attempting something similar, but rather than giving you a huge library of templates and asking you to assemble a design yourself, it puts AI at the center of the entire process.

Pics isn’t as fully featured as Canva, at least from what Google has shown so far. However, it’s included with Google AI Pro and Ultra subscriptions and selected Workspace business plans — and that could prove to be its biggest advantage.

All AI, no templates

Pics starts with a prompt. You describe what you want to create, perhaps a child’s birthday invitation, an event poster or a social media graphic, and the AI generates several versions for you to choose from.

You can then select individual objects or pieces of text and ask Pics to change them without regenerating the entire image. Text can be edited, reformatted or translated while preserving the surrounding design, and images can be cropped for different formats or upscaled to 2K or 4K. You can also request several changes at once and return to an earlier version if the results go wrong.

While some people will dislike how heavily Pics relies on generative AI, others may appreciate how much of the traditional design process it removes. Instead of learning how to use layers, masks and selection tools, you can simply describe the change you want.

Google Pics is powered by Nano Banana, Gemini’s image generation and editing model. You can see how it works in this video:

Why Workspace changes the equation

The biggest difference between Pics and Canva is that Pics isn’t being positioned only as a standalone design app. Google is also integrating its editing tools directly into Docs and Slides, with deeper Drive integration arriving over the coming weeks.

That means you’ll be able to select an image in a presentation or document and edit it using Pics without opening another app. If an image in a document is too dark, for example, you could ask Pics to lighten it while remaining inside Google Docs. Creations can also be shared and edited collaboratively in much the same way as other Workspace files.

That integration is what makes Pics potentially significant. Canva remains a much broader and more mature design platform, complete with templates and tools covering everything from presentations to websites and video. Pics doesn’t need to replace all of that, however. It only needs to make Google users wonder whether opening Canva is still necessary for the everyday graphic they’re trying to create.

Google Pics is rolling out over the coming weeks to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers, as well as eligible Workspace business and education customers. I’m still waiting for it to reach my account, but I’ll be putting it through its paces as soon as it does.

• The Magnetar Ultima is a new 4K Blu-ray player for reference-quality playback
• Blu-Ray, DVD, SACD, DVD-A, CD and digital support — but no DAC: all-digital output to your system
• Costs a cool $12,000 (about £8,895 / AU$16,687)

We've written many times about the benefits of Blu-ray over streaming, but many hardware firms have stopped making players as the format's popularity has declined. So it's nice to see the announcement of a new player for those who are still invested in the future of 4K Blu-ray… and it's one that's also an impressive audiophile music player.

The new player comes from Magnetar, and it's called the Ultima. And because it's being unveiled in the US at CEDIA 2026, the show where sound systems with supercar price tags are exhibited, it's clear that this reference system is aimed at the more affluent end of the market. (You might also get a hint from its price tag of $12,000.)

(Image credit: Magnetar)Magnetar Ultima: key features and pricing

The Ultima is built on Magnetar's MKII player platform, supporting 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray, SACD, DVD, CD, DVD-A (remember that?), DSD/DoP, USB and network playback. That means a huge range of premium formats are covered, including external digital files, in a single system.

The Ultima adapts the existing MKII platform by moving to an external DC power supply instead of a more traditional internal AC setup, which why it has two distinct units. It features dedicated lithium-based power stages designed to isolate the transport, clock and signal paths from any noise, fluctuating voltage and other potential issues that might interfere with pristine digital data transmission.

Interestingly, the power stages are made by Chinese firm BYD, whose electric cars are currently selling like hot cakes in Europe. BYD is at the forefront of battery, charging and electrical tech so seeing a car firm here is less surprising than it might appear at first glance.

The Ultima runs a synchronized master clock system based around a unified 10MHz reference clock for precise timing across the device, but there's no audio DAC: this is a reference device whose job is to deliver the most precise audio data to the rest of your system, so it's expected that you'll connect it to a setup that can handle its audio.

As you'd expect, there are extensive connectivity options including two HDMIs, one of which is audio-only, and there's also gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, AES/EBU and coax S/PDIF connections too.

It's a hugely impressive specification, which is why it comes with that impressive price tag. It's available now through Magnetar's dealer network, but if that price is a bit steep you might want to check out our guide to the best Blu-ray players for something slightly cheaper.

Still, we're just happy to see something new arrive onto the market — Blu-ray might be growing in popularity again, but the hardware hasn't had all that much love.

The spirit forms of The Warrior of Light, Terra, Zidane, and Cloud bob up and down behind each character in my party as I get into battle in an early dungeon in Final Fantasy Resonance.

When the trio of monsters is briefly staggered in front of me, I’m given a choice of which iconic character’s power to unleash to end the battle, and I promptly pick the spiky-haired and Buster Sword-wielding hero of Final Fantasy 7. My reward is a flashy CG cutscene of Cloud obliterating everything on screen in a visual display that seems strangely at odds with the rest of the game's HD-2D style.

But this clash is perhaps to be expected when you learn that Final Fantasy Resonance adapts parts of an old 2015 mobile game, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, to create a brand-new entry in the traditional turn-based style of Final Fantasy’s NES/SNES golden era.

(Image credit: Square Enix)

For players like me whose formative gaming years were spent playing those classics and who long for more old-school turn-based RPGs, it’s the kind of pairing that should shoot Resonance right to the top of the must-play list. And even in just the brief hour I spent with the game, I could feel myself getting sucked into its combat and presentation style almost immediately.

I can’t speak much on the story that frames this fan-service-heavy premise, given I got to experience so little of it, but it feels very much in the vein of a Final Fantasy of old. There are warring factions, a party of adventurers, and crystals to protect in temples dotted around the world.

However, it didn’t matter that I had very little exposition to set up my time with Resonance, given that I immediately saw so much to dig into with the characters and combat.

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Alongside the four that were already assigned to my party, there are signs that many more familiar faces from across the full history of the series will make an appearance as Visions that you can equip to your characters.

These provide a vast number of active and passive abilities that can be brought together to create particular builds or strengths that you want characters to focus on.

For example, The Warrior of Light has several physical attacks and defensive magic that work together to make the equipped character a strong frontline warrior or damage-mitigating tank. You can further build upon that with abilities learned and masteries gained from other Visions to perhaps buff your health or offer other worthwhile passives.

(Image credit: Square Enix)

I enjoyed tinkering with the makeup of my party to create the classic areas of expertise across all four members — the tank, the physical damage dealer, the mage, and the healer — and I’m sure you’ll be able to create more interesting hybrids as more Visions and their classes become available.

And like the best turn-based RPGs, it was even more fulfilling to see those builds succeed in combat. It led to a satisfying rhythm where you exploit the elemental or physical weaknesses of an enemy to stagger them, earn bonus turns for your characters to create an even bigger advantage in battle, and then unleash a Vision’s special attack once all opponents are in a staggered state.

(Image credit: Square Enix)

It’s nothing hugely revolutionary in the world of turn-based combat, but it does add some flair to a familiar formula.

Throw in summons, limit breaks, and more abilities that are exclusive to each Vision, and you have the makings of an exciting and dynamic battle system that still retains some old-school charm.

And that sums up how it felt to play Resonance. Anyone with a hankering for some classic Final Fantasy will find a lot to love here — even beyond the fan service with its large cast of well-known characters from across the series. If that sounds like you, a demo is available to try right now.

Final Fantasy Resonance launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and PC on October 22.

• Thomson Reuters confirmed March 2026 breach of its C‑Track court management system
• Incident affected courts in 11 US states, Ontario, and the US Virgin Islands
• No operational disruption; scope of exposed records still under investigation, no misuse reported yet

Thomson Reuters, the IT company behind the Reuters news agency, suffered a cyberattack a few months ago, exposing certain court documents to the attackers. In a brief announcement published earlier this week, it seems Thomson Reuters only noticed the intrusion now, months after it was already over.

Here is what happened: Thomson Reuters operates a court case-management system called C-Track. It is a tool used by different courts to manage things like cases, filings, hearings, and schedules. It is used by courts in several US states, the US Virgin Islands, as well as Ontario, Canada.

On June 30, 2026, Thomson Reuters detected unauthorized activity in one of its cloud environments, prompting an investigation which later determined that an unauthorized threat actor broke in and obtained some C-Track files. This happened in March 2026.

Investigation underway

So far, the incident is confirmed to have taken place across 11 US states (Alabama, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, New Hampshire, Wyoming), the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Ontario, Canada, exposing court records and personal information. Ontario's three Chief Justices confirmed it, as well, saying Thomson Reuters notified Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General on July 23.

A more detailed investigation is currently underway, and all relevant authorities have been notified, it was said. At press time, Thomson Reuters did not yet determine exactly what information was accessed, or how many people were affected. The good news, however, is that there is currently no evidence of identity theft resulting from the incident, and there is no indication that systems handling court-related financial transactions were affected.

C-Track itself remains operational, as well. No threat actors have yet claimed responsibility for the attack or threatened to leak the files to the dark web.

"There has been no operational disruption to C-Track as a result of this incident," a Thomson Reuters spokesperson said. "Our products and services remain fully operational and are safe ​to continue to use. Independent ​cybersecurity experts assisted in ⁠the investigation and validated the remediation measures implemented."

I've been looking through Labor Day laptop deals, and for the specs on offer, this is my favorite one for business professionals so far, with the Dell 15.6" 2K Touchscreen laptop now $650 (was $1100) at Best Buy.

With that massive $450 discount, you're getting a 13th-generation Intel Core i7-1355U processor, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 512GB PCIe SSD, which is good enough for everyday work, multitasking, browsing, and streaming.

The 15.6-inch 2K touchscreen adds even more value. And although there are some compromises, including integrated graphics, I haven't seen many Labor Day laptop deals that give you this much for under $650. For more laptop deals and WFH essentials, see our round-up of the best Labor Day home office deals.

15.6" 2K Touchscreen Laptop: was $1099.99 now $649.99
Dell's laptop has a 15.6-inch 2K IPS touchscreen, Intel Core i7-1355U processor, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics, Wi-Fi 6, USB-C, HDMI, SD card reader, and Windows 11 Home.View Deal

Why we recommend it

At $649.99, you're getting a lot of laptop for your money. The 13th-generation Intel Core i7-1355U has 10 cores, 12 threads, and a maximum boost speed of 5GHz, giving it plenty of power for everyday tasks.

16GB of DDR5 is a solid plus at this price, and the 512GB PCIe SSD provides a decent amount of fast storage. You also get a 15.6-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi 6, USB-C, two USB-A ports, HDMI, an SD card reader, and a full numeric keypad.

For more top performers, see our guide to the best business laptops we've tested.

Price context & historical value

Best Buy normally lists this Dell laptop at $1,099.99, but its Labor Day deal brings the price down to $649.99, putting it firmly into mid-range laptop territory.

Of the Labor Day laptop deals I've seen so far, this is one of the best for anyone who wants plenty of everyday performance without spending anywhere near to $1,000. It isn't the cheapest it's ever been though. It was priced at $599.99 at Best Buy in August this year.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Dell 15.6" laptop if...

If you want a powerful everyday Windows 11 laptop for most tasks, $649.99 is an excellent price. The Core i7 processor and 16GB of DDR5 RAM gives it considerably more staying power than a cheaper laptop with 8GB of memory.

❌ Skip the Dell 15.6" laptop if...

If you want a laptop for gaming, creative work, or anything else that depends heavily on graphics performance, I'd look elsewhere. The integrated Intel UHD Graphics are the biggest limitation here, and there's no dedicated GPU.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

The display is one area where Dell has clearly kept costs down. It's rated at only 220 nits of brightness with 45% NTSC color coverage, so it's better suited to indoor everyday use than working outside or doing color-sensitive work.

There are a few other omissions to be aware of, including the lack of a backlit keyboard and Ethernet port, plus the webcam is limited to 720p.

• Shop all laptops at Best Buy

Western Digital's WD Red Pro NAS drive line is designed for businesses small and large looking to max out their storage. Having benchmarked several, it remains one of our favorite internal drive brands - and right now, the WD Red Pro 16TB NAS drive is now $690 (was $705) at Amazon, so long as you tick the coupon box.

Designed for demanding environments, Western Digital rates this model for workloads of up to 550TB per year and continuous 24/7 operation. I've also spotted the NAS drive for the same price here at Newegg when you use code LDSF324.

16TB Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive: was $704.99 now $689.99
This 16TB hard drive offers 7,200 RPM performance, SATA connectivity, CMR recording, 512MB cache, 550TB-per-year workload rating, 24/7 operation, NASware technology and a five-year limited warranty. For the full discount, tick the coupon box. View Deal

• The WD Red Pro 16TB is also $690 (was $705) at Newegg with code LDSF324

Why we recommend it

The WD Red Pro is specifically designed for demanding NAS environments, with a 7,200 RPM spindle speed, 512MB cache and CMR recording. It's rated for continuous 24/7 operation, with workloads up to 550TB per year.

It can be used in RAID-optimized NAS systems regardless of the number of drive bays, and NASware technology is designed to improve performance and compatibility. There's also a five-year limited warranty.

In his 4-star review of the smaller 14TB model, our expert Mark said it was "difficult to argue with the resilience of this drive," adding that "lots of resilience tricks and low power consumption are the hallmarks of this design."

Similarly, the 24TB model received 4 stars in his review, where he praised Western Digital's Red Pro line as offering "good performance and massive capacity. And, if the business can afford them, these are a good choice."

For more options, take a look at our roundups of the best NAS hard drives, and the best 167 hard disk drives worth buying.

Also consider

IronWolf Pro 16TB: was $614.99 now $539.99
Designed for 24/7 operation, Seagate's IronWolf Pro NAS drive delivers 7200 RPM spin speeds with 256MB Cache for high-speed file transfer.View Deal

Price context & historical value

At $689.99 after the Amazon coupon, you're saving $15 against the current $704.99 price. That's only a little over 2%, so this is only really worth snapping up if you desperately need to upgrade early.

The WD Red Pro 16TB has been considerably cheaper over the past year, dropping to around $270 in late 2025 before prices began climbing sharply in 2026.

You can also get the drive for the same $689.99 price at Newegg. It's currently $704.99 but you get $15 off when you apply promo code LDSF324.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the 16TB WD Red Pro HDD if...

You have a heavily used NAS and want to add a substantial amount of storage without occupying several additional bays. Its high workload rating also makes more sense for an always-on NAS than using a standard desktop hard drive.

❌ Skip the 16TB WD Red Pro HDD if...

Your storage requirements are relatively small. or you have several empty drive bays available. Smaller-capacity NAS drives could give you the space you actually need for less.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

The obvious problem is the size of the discount. Saving $15 on a $704.99 hard drive isn't massive and this model has been considerably cheaper before. Unless you need another 16TB of NAS storage now, there's a strong argument for waiting to see if a better discount arrives shortly.

• Shop all internal hard drives at Amazon

If you're looking to score a fitness tracker or one of the best smartwatches for comparatively little cash, the Labor Day deals are an excellent time to do so. It's always worth searching for big names such as Garmin, Apple, Samsung, and Google Pixel in this space, but it's worth being open to up-and-coming challenger brands too.

Amazfit is one such brand, offering great fitness tech products while undercutting the big brands. Amazfit is the official timekeeper of Hyrox, and its Active 3 Premium smartwatch earned five stars in our official review.

With features that are usually only available in more expensive watches, the Amazfit Active 3 Premium looks good at full price, but is looking like an even better value for Labor Day. Right now on Amazon, you can get the Amazfit Active 3 Premium discounted from $169.99 down to $125.99, saving you 26%. Check out the deal in full below:

Today's best Amazfit Active 3 Premium deal

Active 3 Premium: was $169.99 now $125.99
Save 26% on the price of the already-excellent value Active 3. It's rare (read: almost unbelievable) to see full-color maps on a watch at this price, allowing you to follow a trail or guided run, but you also get loads of sports modes, up to 12 days of battery life (around a week in practice with regular use), a bright AMOLED screen, and GPS tracking. View Deal

The best thing about this is the Active 3 Premium's feature set, which is genuinely astounding for the price.

It offers full offline maps, a feature usually reserved for much more expensive watches. In Garmin's current range, for example, you don't get full-color maps until you hit the $749.99 price point of the Garmin Forerunner 970, with its cheaper 570 sibling missing out. Similarly, the metal bezels and case elements that make it feel and look premium, accurate workout tracking with multiple GPS network connectivity, and up to 12 days of battery life.

We said in our Amazfit Active 3 Premium review that it's a "good-looking, fully-featured fitness tracker" with performance that is "excellent across the board".

Shop more of today's best Labor Day sales

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $99
• Appliances: up to $1,200 at Samsung
• Best Buy: 60% off appliances, TVs, laptops & more
• Casper: up to 30% off mattresses
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• DreamCloud: up to 60% off mattresses, 66% off bundles
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lowe's: $1,000 off appliances, patio & tools
• Nectar: up to 50% off mattresses, deals from $349
• Saatva: up to $625 off luxury mattresses
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off 4K, QLED & OLED TVs
• Target: 45% off clothing, tech & furniture
• Walmart: 58% off back-to-school, furniture, & clothing

• Google has fixed a setup issue with the first-gen Chromecast device
• Owners have been complaining for months about their devices going missing from the Google Home app
• The update also fixes functionality issues

Have you been running into setup issues with your older Chromecast and Google Home devices? You’ll be happy to hear you’re not alone on this one — and even happier to know that Google has finally rolled out a fix.

These issues first arose when Google announced it would be ending support for its oldest Chromecast dongles back in May. From there, owners started reporting problems with setting up their devices after they started disappearing from the Google Home app on Android.

A Google Home app update made setting up Chromecast even more difficult which, understandably, sparked a lot of worry for those who are still using the first-gen Chromecast from over 10 years ago, convincing them that Google was officially pulling the plug on its OG streaming device. Similar issues then started cropping up for owners of the 2015 Chromecast model and Google Home Mini speaker, affecting functionality as well as the setup process.

At first, users were left to find their own workarounds and solutions, with many having to factory reset their devices, revert to older versions of the Google Home app, or even wipe their entire Home ecosystem to start afresh. Thankfully, Google has solved this, implying that these setup and functionality crashes were part of a software glitch.

The Google Nest Community account on Reddit replied to a series of frustrated posts with the following statement: ‘We've resolved an issue that was impacting the ability to set up some older Chromecast and Google Home devices. If you haven't already, factory reset your speaker or update your Google Home app to version 4.26 and try again’.

It hasn’t been the best time to be a first-gen Chromecast owner to say the least, but at least Google’s latest fix offers some reassurance that the company isn’t writing off its oldest streaming device yet — despite pulling the first Chromecast from shelves in early 2025. That said, Google isn’t the first tech giant to be accused of intentionally bricking older streaming devices to get users to upgrade.

Amazon received similar backlash when a user filed a lawsuit against the company, after reporting that two Fire TV sticks ran into severe performance issues just a few years after purchasing them. The user claimed that Amazon had been software tethering, while not disclosing the truth about the lifespan of its Fire TV stick streamers.

Now that Google has found a solution, hopefully it does the job at reviving your older Chromecast model. If the issues still persist, Google recommends reaching back out to the Nest community to let them know.

• Not a single agent scored the full 20 out of 20
• Claude for Chrome performed better than the ChatGPT Chrome Extension
• With performance varying by testing category, Decodo advises selecting an agent based on planned usage

New Decodo research has criticized AI agents for still not being able to conduct real-world browsing tasks autonomously, including tasks like form filling, completing transactions, having cross-tab awareness and handling third-party integrations.

In fact, the study analyzed 45 AI agents across 10 different capabilities and found that not a single one could achieve the maximum score of 20.

The testing is also said to have exposed discrepancies between what vendors and AI developers say their agents are capable of, and what they can actually deliver on.

Agentic AI isn't at the level of autonomous browsing, yet

Claude for Chrome was the highest-scoring agent, reaching 18 points – two below the theoretical maximum. Its OpenAI counterpart, the ChatGPT Chrome Extension, fell short with a 14-point score.

Decodo argues that agents most commonly fall behind on transactions – the lowest-scoring category with an average of 0.43 out of 2. The study found that, while they can often reach the checkout stage, they can't actually complete a purchase on behalf of the user.

Even if an agent is technically capable of making a purchase, the paper warns that it still might not have the best safeguards in place to keep sensitive information like credit card numbers safe.

Safeguards is a major theme in Decodo's work, with the research also calling out multi-step workflows for lacking sufficient safeguards. More than half of the agents capable of multi-step workflows lacked any documented safeguards before conducting irreversible actions.

While current agentic technology still doesn't deliver on its promises, one type may emerge as the winner. Decodo found several browser-native agents to score full marks for cross-tab awareness.

"Match the tool to the job, not to the longest feature list," Product Marketing Team Lead Gabriele Vitke explained, urging AI agent users to consider their own needs instead of buying into marketing.

• Belkin has launched two semi-solid-state power banks
• These have 5,000mAh and 10,000mAh capacities and are slimmer than standard power banks with those same capacities
• They should also last longer before wearing out

Semi-solid-state batteries are one of the biggest advancements we’ve seen in consumer battery tech in years — they’re denser than lithium-ion batteries, so they can sport a higher capacity without increasing the thickness, and they also degrade more slowly. In other words: they’re a major upgrade, and Belkin has just launched two power banks with this semi-solid-state tech, which we’ve already had an early look at during IFA 2026.

First, there's the Belkin UltraCharge Pro Slim Magnetic Power Bank with BoostSolid Cell, a power bank with a 5,000mAh capacity that’s just 8.8mm thick and is around the same length and width as a standard credit card. That thickness makes it up to 40% slimmer than comparable 5,000mAh power banks.

The UltraCharge Pro Slim sports Qi2-certified 15W magnetic wireless charging, 22.5W USB-C wired charging, pass-through charging so you can charge a phone and the power bank at the same time, and — thanks to its semi-solid-state construction — the ability to retain most of its capacity across 1,000 charging cycles.

There’s also the Belkin 10,000mAh UltraCharge Pro, which can deliver up to 60W of power, is able to charge multiple devices at once via dual USB-C ports and a USB-A port, and has a display that can show battery, temperature, and charging information.

This power bank also supports pass-through charging, and while it’s understandably thicker than the 5,000mAh power bank above, Belkin claims it’s still 27% smaller than standard 45W 10,000mAh power banks.

Incredibly slim with excellent build qualityTechRadarTechRadarTechRadar

Harry Padoan (Senior Writer, Reviews) went hands-on with both of these new power banks and said, “Belkin's new UltraCharge power banks look pretty impressive — largely due to their incredibly slim build, which makes them highly practical for juicing up your devices on the go. That's especially true for the Slim Magnetic Power Bank 5K, which boasts solid Qi2-certified wireless charging as well as 22.5W wired charging.”

Padoan added that “the larger Power Bank 10K is a bit thicker, but it packs in a handy display and a solid 60W maximum power output, which will be more than enough power to fast-charge many modern handsets. The build quality across both models also seems excellent, and there are Black and Sand options, depending on what you prefer.”

While these are among the first Belkin products to feature semi-solid-state technology, we have already seen it in some power banks from other brands, such as the Kuxia S3. But it’s nice to see a big brand like Belkin embracing this innovation.

If you like the sound of Belkin’s new offerings, you’ll be able to grab the 5,000mAh power bank for £59.99 (around $80 / AU$110) and the 10,000mAh one for £69.99 (roughly $95 / AU$130) from Belkin’s own site, Amazon, and other selected retailers worldwide, starting this month.

• California lawmakers have approved a plug-in solar bill
• All that's required now is the Governor's signature
• These kits could save you up to $450 a year on electricity

Adding plug-in solar power to your home's energy mix is about to become legal in California: lawmakers in the state have now passed a bill approving the use of plug-in (or balcony) panels, so it's now ready to be signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom.

Senate Bill 868 (the Plug and Play Solar Act) was first proposed at the start of the year, and permits plug-in solar kits up to 1,200 watts to be connected to a standard outlet. A simple online registration form is all that's required in terms of paperwork.

If you're new to the tech, it enables residents to benefit from solar energy without the expensive installation costs or planning permission processes associated with rooftop solar. You just put these kits on a balcony, on a wall, or in a backyard, and plug them in.

Any electricity generated by the sunshine and your new plug-in kit gets offset against what your home is currently demanding in terms of electricity. Official figures suggest savings could be up to $450 per year.

More to come

Plug-in solar is particular beneficial for renters (Image credit: Getty Images / Astrid860)

Utah was the first US state to legalize plug-in solar, in 2025, and since then eight other states have followed. New York State, like California, is waiting for a Governor signature, while proposals are pending in another seven states.

The change in law is particularly helpful for those renting a property, as it means solar is an option without any permanent changes to the place of residence. When you move, you can just pack up the solar panel kit and take it with you.

Retailers are still playing catch up though. There's a scarcity of kits being sold at big stores, but dedicated start-ups are filling the gap: for example, Bright Saver is selling plug-in solar panels starting at under $300, though a $29 yearly subscription is also required.

Plug-in solar has already proved a huge success in Europe, especially in Germany, and the technology just became legal in the UK as well. Expect more states to follow Utah and California in the coming months and years.

• Microsoft is rolling out a new security feature for Windows 11
• Memory integrity provides stronger defenses for a crucial part of the operating system, and it's being automatically enabled
• Some gamers say the feature hampers gaming frame rates considerably, and they're not happy

Windows 11 is getting its security bolstered with a feature that's being automatically enabled, but which comes at a cost that some PC gamers don't want to pay — and this is proving quite the controversy on social media.

The Verge reports that Microsoft has announced that it's rolling out the enablement of memory integrity protection across eligible Windows 11 PCs, and that this is because "security works best when protection is built in, not bolted on".

Microsoft explains: "More devices will soon receive stronger protection by default, with no additional setup required. Windows quality updates will begin enabling memory integrity protection on eligible devices.

"If not already enabled, these updates will also enable VBS [Virtualization Based Security], helping make additional security capabilities available and reflecting our commitment to making Windows secure by design and secure by default."

The idea is to tighten security for Windows 11's kernel-mode drivers, a core aspect of the OS with direct access to the system's hardware, and there can be no argument that this additional protection gives host PCs tougher defenses and makes them more difficult to exploit. So why the controversy? Let's dive into the pros and cons of what's going on here.

Analysis: a divisive move — but we can't ignore that the threat landscape is changing

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In Microsoft's view, this is a no-brainer: stronger security is being rolled out to Windows 11 devices, or at least those which are eligible (older PCs may not be). However, PCs configured via group policy not to use memory integrity, or machines where it's been disabled before, won't have the feature forced on them.

Other supported PCs will get memory integrity (and VBS, because it's required for memory integrity) turned on automatically by Windows 11, and this is where some gamers are up in arms. VBS has a long history of being a thorn in the side for gamers, with the feature being linked to frame rate losses.

How much of a headwind does this cause for PC games? Well, therein lies a big part of the issue, because it's difficult to pin that down exactly, and as ever, it's bound to vary depending on your PC's exact hardware and system configuration.

Some gamers observe frame rate hits of approaching 10%, while others say the impact isn't noticeable at all. There's a lot of back-and-forth on Reddit arguing about the extent of any slowdown, and here's a typical exchange:

One Redditor notes: "HVCI [memory integrity] is a great security feature, and the performance impact on newer platforms (to which this automatic switch will apply) is negligible."

Another replies: "It ain't negligible. 9800x3d, 5080, ddr5 6000 cl28 and my 1% lows get wrecked with this feature on. Way smoother disabled."

This isn't just about frames per second performance for some gamers, then, as there are also accusations of it affecting the lowest troughs (bottom 1%) that the frame rate hits (meaning the game suffers more stuttering at times and generally feels jerkier).

As the first comment points out, though, the likelihood should be that a more modern PC won't feel much of a hit (if anything). The gaming rigs that might see more of a spanner in the frame rate works are those which are older, but still modern enough to get the auto-enablement of memory integrity. In other words, a collection of PCs which are on the outer fringes of that compatibility limit (older machines, but not too old to avoid the feature rollout).

Of course, even those PC owners can always turn off memory integrity. The major beef for some is that they remember that Microsoft got into trouble for automatically switching on VBS in the past in a quiet, under-the-radar manner — and the question now will be whether gamers realize that this feature has been enabled alongside memory integrity.

In all honesty, when I saw what Microsoft was doing here and fired up Reddit to test the temperature of the reactions, I was expecting nothing short of a flamethrower being turned on the software giant. However, the feedback is split quite evenly between the haters — or those who disapprove at least — and users who are applauding Microsoft for this deployment.

(Image credit: Getty Images/Focus Pixel Art)

Here are a couple of further examples from either side of the fence: "Apparently a controversial opinion, but systems that are for everyone should be failsafe, and that includes the most secure option being the default. There should be an option to disable security to get higher performance, but most secure should be the default."

Juxtaposed with this: "Already have memory integrity turned off as this 'feature' already hits gaming, I've used Windows without memory integrity for decades I think I'll be ok."

I must admit I'm inclined to agree with Microsoft's decision here — providing that when it happens, Windows 11 is clear on informing the user, so they can reverse the change if they aren't happy with it.

I think part of what Microsoft is doing here is keeping one eye on the future in terms of the difference AI might make to the security of Windows 11 PCs.

I keep hearing about how AI is already driving new threats and exploits, and so the kernel defenses that are being brought into play here may not have been quite as necessary in the past — as the last Reddit post I highlighted indicates — but they may be very much needed before too long. AI is accelerating the development of new threats considerably, and making it easier for anyone to becoming a peddler of malware, so Microsoft likely feels the pressure to act.

Visiting Hisense's booth at IFA is always good for some future-gazing technology — the company often shows off product concepts that it's aiming to actually launch, but often only in China. So obviously, I like to go, find the best ones, and then write articles like this to persuade the company to release them more widely.

And here we are, in one of these articles, because I just saw the world's first micro-LED 3D TV (according to Hisense), and I thought it looked incredible.

The reason why is super-simple: micro-LED's giant brightness levels. Hisense's system uses active-shutter glasses, meaning that the TV shows alternating frames that should be seen by your left and right eyes, and you wear glasses that literally close off the vision of each eye, so that only the correct eye sees the correct frame on the TV.

But these lenses reduce the brightness even when the lens is 'open', and having only half the time to see each frame per eye also reduces perceived brightness, since less light reaches you.

(Image credit: Future)

This is the same technique used in the better examples of the old 3D TVs, but it meant that 3D always looked a bit dull.

But that doesn't matter if the TV is ridiculously bright to start with. Hisense's micro-LED model is capable of 10,000 nits of peak brightness, which means that when you're watching through the glasses, the 'dimmed' version of the video still looks like just a normal TV among the best TVs available today.

Colors look super-rich in 3D, and the 3D is super-sharp and detailed because you're getting native 4K resolution because of the active-shutter tech, and the crispness of the 3D effect is super-impressive. In the video I watched, there was no ghosting or stuttering of the image.

The motion looked really smooth and true to what you want from a TV, especially when combined with colors that actually feel rich and like you're getting HDR.

The amount of depth was really impressive, as well — the foreground truly looked like it was jutting out of the screen towards me, and the background felt like there was some real distance to it.

Hisense says that the TV will be able to convert from 2D to 3D in real-time with anything you watch, using a powerful AI-based system, with all the processing handled on the TV itself.

(Image credit: Future)

Of course, I'm more interested in breaking out my still-saved 3D Blu-rays of the movies I genuinely loved watching in the format, which were truly filmed with it in mind: Hugo, Pacific Rim, Gravity. I have never watched Avatar at home, because I know it would be a way weaker experience — but I'd watch it on this TV.

And while the dimming problem is the main issue with 3D glasses, I know that for many people the glasses themselves are the problem, and this TV won't solve that.

But man, if I were speccing out a high-end home theater setup (Hisense said the TV would cost over $200,00), I'd absolutely want this in it.

Thinking of buying a new TV?

Try our TV size and model finder! You tell it how far you sit from your TV, we'll tell you what size to buy based on viewing angle advice from image quality experts, and we'll recommend our three top TVs at that size for different prices.