TechRadar News

• S-RM outlines how a company was targeted by Akira ransomware gang
• It was protected by an EDR solution, but had an unprotected webcam
• The webcam allowed Akira to deploy a Linux-based encryptor

Criminals from the Akira ransomware group have been found using an unsecured webcam to launch their attack and encrypt their target’s entire network.

This is according to cybersecurity researchers S-RM, who found the threat actors first accessed their target’s remote access solution, either by brute-forcing the login credentials, or buying them off the black market. From there, they installed AnyDesk to pivot to other devices on the network, establish persistence, and steal sensitive data.

Then, they tried to deploy the encryptor for Windows, but were stopped by the company’s Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) mechanism. After hitting this roadblock, Akira looked for other devices, outside EDR’s watchful eye, and found a live webcam vulnerable to remote shell access.

Avoidable incident

The webcam ran on a different operating system based on Linux, allowing Akira to use its Linux encryptor. Speaking to BleepingComputer, S-RM said Akira used the webcam to mount Windows Server Message Block (SMB) network shares of the company's other devices. Then, they encrypted the network shares over SMB, successfully working around EDR.

"As the device was not being monitored, the victim organization's security team were unaware of the increase in malicious Server Message Block traffic from the webcam to the impacted server, which otherwise may have alerted them," S-RM said.

To make matters worse, S-RM confirmed that a fix for the webcam was available, meaning the entire attack could have been avoided with timely patching.

Other details were not disclosed, so we don’t know who the victims were, or what type of files Akira stole in this attack. We also don’t know if the company paid any ransom demands, or if the stolen files made it to the dark web.

Next to the infamous LockBit, Akira remains one of the bigger ransomware threats out there, so users should be on their guard.

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• Another leak predicts the thinness of the iPhone 17 Air
• However, the iPhone 17 Pro Max may get thicker
• The iPhone 17 Air could also feature a high-density battery

It sounds very much like we're going to get a brand new iPhone model this year in the form of the iPhone 17 Air – which is apparently replacing the iPhone 16 Plus – and a couple of fresh leaks give us a bit of a better idea about what to expect from it.

First up, in his post about Apple's plans for a foldable iPhone, well-respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo mentions that the folding iPhone will "use the same high-density battery cells as the ultra-thin iPhone 17".

The suggestion is that both the iPhone 17 Air and the foldable iPhone will make use of tweaked battery tech that packs more capacity into a smaller space – very handy when you're talking about super-slim handsets (one of which folds).

That should allay some concerns about the iPhone 17 Air having a relatively short battery life, due to its thinness. The new Apple C1 chip that made its debut in the iPhone 16e should also improve internal efficiency and help battery life on the iPhone 17 series.

Size matters

Exclusive revelation: The length, width, screen size, and bezel（same iPhone 16 Pro Max） of the iPhone 17 Air and iPhone 17 Pro Max are exactly the same.Only the thickness is different. The iPhone 17 Air is 5.5mm thick, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max is 8.725mm thick. pic.twitter.com/YjcMFva5IWMarch 7, 2025

So, how thin is the iPhone 17 Air going to be? Regular tipster @UniverseIce suggests it's going to be a mere 5.5 mm (0.22 inches) front to back, which fits in neatly with what we've previously heard from other sources.

The same tipster also hints at the dimensions of the iPhone 17 Air, which are apparently also the same as the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max: a height of 163 mm (6.42 inches) and a width of 77.6 mm (3.06 inches).

However, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is said to have a thickness of 8.725 mm (0.34 inches), compared to the 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) of the iPhone 16 Pro Max. This increased thickness could be down to improved cameras and a significant redesign.

So the iPhone 17 Pro Max is likely to be going thicker, while the iPhone 17 Air goes thinner – something for everyone, no matter what the size of your hands or pockets. If Apple sticks to its usual annual schedule, these phones will appear in September 2025.

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• The latest Xbox Insider Program Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead update seems to be causing problems
• Users are reporting that their profiles have been wiped from their consoles with others unable to install the update at all
• The issue has now reportedly been fixed, but you should still be careful

I've got some bad news if you're a member of the Xbox Insider Program, as it seems as though the latest update pushed to the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead channels could be wiping user profiles from Xbox consoles.

According to the comments on a recent post to the r/xboxinsiders subreddit, users were finding their Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles seemingly reset when turning them on over the last couple of days. If you're unlucky enough to be impacted, this means that you will have to go through most of the setup process again in order to sign in with your Xbox account. While your purchases and game installations are thankfully unlikely to be impacted, customization settings and quick resume data are going to be missing and it might take a bit of time to get back to your desired setup.

Some users also reported being unable to get the update working at all, with multiple failed installations. One unlucky Redditor even stated that the language setting of their Xbox console is now "randomly set in what appears to be Chinese" leaving them completely unable to use the system because they "can’t read anything".

The issues have now reportedly been resolved, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't tread carefully. This is a good reminder that you likely shouldn't have your main Xbox console signed up to the Xbox Insider Program as, while very rare, there is always a chance that early updates like this can go wrong.

This latest update was first released on March 5, becoming mandatory on March 6. It was intended to introduce a few small fixes to the profile system, TV options, and various small localization tweaks.

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• Official Google Pixel 9a images appear to have just leaked
• They show four colors including what appears to be a new purple version
• Google also appears to be ditching the iconic camera bar bump

If the rumors are to be believed, the Google Pixel 9a could make its official debut sometime later this month – but while we're waiting, a plethora of leaked images have found their way online, showing off the mid-range handset.

These pictures come from well-known tipster @evleaks, and look to be official marketing images from Google. We get a look at all four colors – Obsidian (black), Porcelain (white), Peony (pink), and Iris (purple) – though it's the purple that features the most.

Some key Android features are shown off in these images, such as access to the Google Gemini AI assistant, and built-in theft protection. There are also some lifestyle shots showing the phone in use in a variety of scenarios.

One of the pictures shows the Pixel 9a splashed with water, which makes us think it's going to retain the IP67 dust and water resistance of the Google Pixel 8a that launched last year, and which this handset will be replacing.

Ready for a close-up

The leaked images suggest the Pixel 9a will bring new color options compared to the Pixel 8a (above), including black, white, pink and purple (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

These leaked images also give us a close-up look of a controversial design choice Google has seemingly made with the Pixel 9a: the iconic Pixel camera bar bump is going away, with the rear camera sitting almost flush against the back of the device.

You can see from one of these pictures that there is what appears to be a very slight camera bump – and we do mean slight. That suggests the phone won't actually lie perfectly flat on its back when you put it down.

It's a bold move for Google to take away the one design choice that made the Pixel series distinctive, but it's a move that's been rumored for a while. It's possible that Google wants to get its mid-range phones and its flagship phones looking less similar to each other.

Whatever the thinking, this will all be official very soon. Most rumors are pointing to Wednesday, March 19 as the launch date for the Pixel 9a – and of course as soon as Google makes its announcement, we'll bring you the news here.

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• Philips Hue Impress outdoor lights are now available in the US
• The three weather-resistant lights were previously only on sale in Europe
• They're available from the Philips Hue online store, starting at $159.99

There's a new set of Philips Hue lights available in the US, specifically designed for use outdoors. The Impact series were previously only available in Europe, but they're now getting a wider launch, so you can use them to add a dash of light and color to your yard.

As Fabian of fan site Hueblog.com explains, the Philips Hue Impress series comprises three weather-resistant lights to brighten up your garden: the Impress Outdoor Wall Light, Impress Wide Outdoor Wall Light, and Impress Pedestal Light.

All three are fitted with Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance bulbs, meaning you can set them to white light at a color temperature of your choice, or take your pick from 16 million RGB colors. You can use them on their own, or as part of a larger Hue setup.

You can install the low-voltage Philips Hue Impress Pedestal Light anywhere in your yard using the spike on the bottom (Image credit: Philips Hue) Make a good impression

The standard Impress Outdoor Wall Light (priced at $159.99) is the only one of the set that's designed to be hard-wired into the wall so there are no visible exterior cables. It contains two Hue White & Color Ambiance bulbs, and its case measures 9.4 x 6.1 x 5 inches.

The Impress Wide Outdoor Wall Light ($179.99) is a low-voltage light that's designed to be easy to install and extend yourself without the help of an electrician. As the name suggests, it's the larger of the two wall-mounted fixtures, measuring 11.7 x 6.8 x 8 inches.

The Impress Pedestal Light ($189.99) is another low-voltage unit that you can safely install yourself, and is held in place with a spike so you can position it anywhere you like outdoors. Its dimensions are 15.7 x 3.9 x 3.9 inches.

All three require a Philips Hue Bridge, which creates a mesh network that connects all your Hue lights, switches, sensors and cameras to your home Wi-Fi network, and to each other.

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• ChatGPT can now automatically insert code directly into Xcode
• That means you no longer need to copy and paste code back and forth
• It could save developers a great amount of time in the long run

One of the main uses of ChatGPT is helping with coding and programming, and it’s one of the best AI tools for that purpose. Now, the latest version is able to generate code and add it directly into Apple’s Xcode development app in macOS without any longwinded steps. That could help make the whole process run much more smoothly than before.

In a post on X, ChatGPT developer OpenAI explained that the latest ChatGPT update features a new “Apply” button that automatically inserts the generated code into the correct location in your project. There’s also a toggle to “Auto-apply code,” which streamlines the workflow even further.

You’ve been able to spin up code in ChatGPT for a while now, which has helped make it more capable than even the best text editors for your coding needs. Yet ChatGPT has previously required you to manually copy and paste the generated output into Xcode yourself. Now, the two apps are much more tightly integrated.

ChatGPT can detect the code editing app that you’re using, whether that’s Xcode, VS Code, or something else. That allows it to automatically insert the code it creates in the right spot.

Coming to Windows soon

(Image credit: Shutterstock / Elle Aon)

ChatGPT’s developer OpenAI says that these changes are coming to all desktop ChatGPT users on Mac, including those on the app’s free plan. It also sounds like these capabilities will be coming to additional apps and integrated development environments in the future, although OpenAI didn’t specifically explain which ones.

Windows users don’t need to miss out either, as OpenAI staff member Alexander Embiricos confirmed on X that this functionality will be coming to Microsoft’s operating system “soon.”

The update brings ChatGPT in line with GitHub Copilot and Xcode’s own Swift Assist tool, which is already built into the app. Swift Assist runs on Apple’s private cloud servers, and the company says that your code is not stored or used for training. That might make it a more secure option than ChatGPT if you’re concerned about your code being swept up by a third-party artificial intelligence (AI) tool.

With Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) set to open its doors in June, we could see further updates to Swift Assist at that time, and it’s a good bet that ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot will receive plenty of new features in the meantime. That means if you’re looking for an AI coding assistant, you’ve got plenty of options.

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The global AI race is intensifying with new developments coming every week - take China’s launch of DeepSeek for example, which caught the industry by complete surprise. Despite a united approach being attempted with the publication of the International AI Safety Report, countries across the globe continue to strive for leadership.

The new US government had already been quick to announce 500 billion dollars of private sector investment in Project Stargate to build advanced AI infrastructure, with a landmark collaboration of backers including OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank. This came hot on the heels of the UK’s recent launch of the AI Opportunities Action Plan, supported by funding of £14 billion from leading tech firms.

The widening regulatory disconnect

However, while both the UK and US set out aggressive plans for growth, the gap between regulatory approaches is widening. The US government swiftly revoked its earlier Executive Order which was supposed to guard against the risks AI posed to consumers and national security, which had required important safety disclosures regarding development. The about turn underlines the new administration’s commitment to prioritize AI innovation above what it deems as barriers to progress, even those relating to security, privacy, and bias.

Following suit to some degree, the UK is maintaining a lighter touch to governance than the EU. Its AI Action Plan sets out a commendable vision for the future, but, arguably, with insufficient regulatory oversight. This is potentially leaving the UK exposed to cyber threats and undermining public trust in AI systems.

The proposal to create a new National Data Library to unlock the value of high impact public data to support AI development also raises more security questions than it answers. How will the data sets be assembled? Who is responsible for their protection? And how can their integrity be guaranteed several years down the line when they are part of many AI models integral to businesses, public sector services, and the supply chain?

In sharp contrast, the EU is moving forward with its AI Act, a comprehensive, legally binding framework that clearly prioritizes regulation of AI, transparency, and prevention of harm. It sets out unequivocal obligations for AI development and deployment, including mandatory risk assessments and significant fines for non-compliance.

Adapting security principles to AI

This regulatory divergence is creating a complex landscape for organizations building and implementing AI systems. The lack of cohesion makes for an uneven playing field and conceivably, a riskier AI-powered future.

Organizations will need to determine a way forward that balances innovation with risk mitigation, adopting robust cybersecurity measures and adapting them specifically for the emerging demands of AI. Areas already raising concerns include data poisoning and the data supply chain.

Poisoning data models

Data poisoning, where bad actors deliberately manipulate training data to alter the performance of models, will be a major risk for AI. This could be subtle changes that are difficult to identify, perhaps slight modifications that generate errors and incorrect outcomes. Or attackers could alter code so they can remain hidden inside a model and gain ongoing control over its behavior. Such imperceptible tampering could slowly compromise a business over time, leading to bad decision-making and financial ruin. Or even, if politically motivated, could promote biases and influence attitudes.

The stealthy nature of these attacks makes them hard to detect until the damage is too late to reverse, as bad data can blend seamlessly with legitimate data. Combatting data poisoning requires robust data validation, anomaly detection, and continuous monitoring of datasets to identify and remove malicious entries as poisoning can be perpetrated at any stage. It may occur initially during data collection, later injected into data repositories, or maybe introduced inadvertently from other infected sources.

Protecting the data supply chain

The government’s proposal to create a National Data Library highlights the risk of apparently reliable models becoming compromised and flowing rapidly through the supply chain. In a couple of years, it’s likely many organizations will be dependent on such models to run their business and daily operations. With criminals already taking advantage of AI’s capabilities to supercharge their attacks, the consequences of rogue AI entering the supplier ecosystem could be catastrophic and widespread.

Business leaders will need to have strong protection and defenses to ensure resilience throughout their supply chain and have tried and tested disaster recovery plans. Effectively this means prioritizing the applications that really matter, and defining what constitutes a minimum viable business and acceptable risk posture. Ony then can they be confident that critical backups can be restored quickly and completely in the event of compromise.

Staying mindful of the risks

While AI offers immense potential for innovation, it's crucial to consider its implementation with caution. The vast capabilities of AI bring equally substantial risks, particularly in terms of cybersecurity, privacy, and ethics. As AI models become more ingrained in organizational infrastructures, the scope for security breaches and abuse will escalate dramatically.

Maintaining reliable safeguards, transparent development processes, and ethical standards are vital to mitigate these risks. Only by balancing innovation with zero tolerance of misuse can businesses safely reap the benefits of AI and protect against its dangerous downsides. In tandem, although its looking unlikely, coordinated government-led regulation remains essential for establishing enforceable frameworks for AI safety and security worldwide.

We provide a comprehensive list of the best AI tools.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we 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/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

Disjointed cinematic universes, mediocre sequels, and recycled franchises. Formulaic straight-to-streaming flicks, AAA video games with the same tired mechanics, and the rise of the celebrity author. The death of the music genre, an influx of cancelled series, and a tentative approach to new IPs. The mainstream media is experiencing a creative crisis, and while AI has the power to rejuvenate the slump, I fear it will only perpetuate the problem.

There will always be creative outliers, but on the whole, mainstream media has become formulaic, because industry moguls are afraid. And with good reason. Habits have changed, short-form content is king, ‘forever games’ are challenging AAA dominance, and audiences are no longer flocking to see the next big Hollywood blockbuster. But beyond this backdrop of uninspired creativity and financial uncertainty, artificial intelligence is waiting to throw an AI-generated spanner in the works.

When the generative-AI floodgates opened in 2023, the creative industry was changed overnight. Suddenly, anyone could open a browser window and access powerful AI-image generators such as Midjourney and DALL-E. Digital imagery that would have previously required years of training, expensive industry-standard software, and peripherals such as lightboxes and drawing tablets, could be ‘generated’ in seconds, with a simple prompt.

A post shared by Photomedia & AI Artist (@boriseldagsen)

A photo posted by on

I’m a photography tech journalist and nothing made me understand the impact artificial intelligence was going to have on the creative industry than when an AI-generated image won the creative open category in the Sony World Photography Awards 2023. Its creator, or ‘prompter’, Boris Eldagsen, outed the image himself and refused the award. To this day, Pseudomnesia: The Electrician is one of the most convincing AI-generated photographs I’ve seen.

So, if AI has the power to fool a panel of prestigious photography judges, why has the Internet become a breeding ground for AI-generated humanoids, rammed so far up the uncanny valley that doom scrolling through Facebook is fraught with more jump scares than Five Nights at Freddy’s?

Because crap AI-generated content is cheap. And this is my cause for concern…

AI will be used, not for expanding creativity but because it's cheap...

I’m worried that artificial intelligence – which has the power to usher in a gilded age of creativity – will be used to spiral the mainstream media further into a creative depression. In his book The Coming Wave: AI, Power and Our Future, CEO of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman, states: “it [AI] now looks set to reach human-level performance across a very wide range of tasks within the next three years.” He continues to predict that in just a “few decades (...) AI systems would replace “intellectual manual labor””. And while I’m not suggesting we’re going to see purely AI-generated blockbusters or AAA video games anytime soon, artificial intelligence is already becoming increasingly prevalent.

Just recently, speculation was rife that Posters for Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps were AI generated – and poorly at that. And although The Wrap confirmed that Marvel has denied this, it’s clear that audiences are already on the lookout for poorly implemented AI. The root of this skepticism surely comes from past faux pas. And there is perhaps no better example than the film industry’s misuse of computer-generated imagery.

Jurassic Park is a movie that helped pioneer CGI and despite being over 30 years old, it still holds up remarkably well today (Image credit: Universal Pictures)

CGI has become a constant criticism of modern film, but there’s nothing inherently bad about it. Films such as Tron, Jurassic Park, The Matrix, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, and Avatar, all made the best of their respective CGI, but too many films have relied on the technology as a cheap alternative to practical effects, extras, locations, and even costumes (Green Lantern’s horrific CGI costumes anyone?) And I can’t help but wonder if a worse fate awaits AI. I say worse because, unlike CGI, AI has the potential to affect almost every facet of the filmmaking process. From casting to script writing, storyboarding to concept design, set dressing, and of course, computer-generated imagery.

My main cause for concern is that where other technological innovations require human input, AI will increasingly need very little. And we’re only at the beginning of what AI is capable of. Artificial intelligence may have been conceptualized in the 1950s, but AI as we know it today is very new and evolving rapidly. AI writers won’t strike. AI visual effects artists won’t complain that they’re underpaid and overworked. AI has no concept of an unrealistic deadline. It doesn’t require expensive recording studio time, and won't need a break between book sequels. AI isn’t there yet, but the temptation will be to use AI to cut costs as it evolves, and that’s the wrong way to use it.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m well aware AI is here to stay. Once ChatGPT became every high school student's best homework buddy, the AI cat was out of the bag. But the mainstream media has a choice. Use AI to bolster creativity and improve working conditions. Or use AI to churn out movies, video games, music, and books faster and more cost-effectively than ever before.

Choose the latter and Green Lantern will be the tip of the iceberg.

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• Google Chrome Enterprise will now support custom branding with logos
• The browser will become more visually distinct for work users
• More admin controls are also here for BYOD policies

Google Chrome Enterprise users will now see improved warning labels when logged into a work profile, hopefully helping them to keep personal and work browsing sessions separate.

The enhanced interface and branding changes are even more prominent to distinctly separate work and personal profiles.

The change was announced in an update to the business-oriented version of Google's popular web browser, along with upgrades to the sign-in experience and improved reporting for admins.

Chrome Enterprise warnings

“With the browser playing a more critical role in daily work, it’s more important than ever for IT teams to make it clear to employees that they are logged into a corporate browsing experience that is managed and monitored by their company,” wrote Product Manager Julia Lomakina and Group Product Manager Hakan Kilic in a blog post.

The managers explained how companies can use their own branding and logos to customize the Chrome experience. They also noted employees can use the browser to understand which additional controls may be in place, imposed by their workplaces.

Lomakina and Kilic noted that, even if companies decide not to customize their Chrome Enterprise, upcoming releases will add more features to make work browsers stand out from personal ones: “employees will receive an indication that they are in a managed ‘Work’ profile environment.”

In recognition of the continued popularity of hybrid working, the post also highlights new reporting features that let admins see signed-in managed users across platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android, which is great for companies with bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies.

Browser customization with logo support is available for Chrome Enterprise Core, which is available to all businesses at no additional cost. Advanced data protections and profile reporting come with the Chrome Enterprise Premium package.

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• The Rotel DX-3 is a headphones amp that can also act as desktop DAC
• Wireless aptX Adaptive and HD as well as wired headphones support
• It costs $1,499.00 // £1,399.00 (about AU$3,065)

Huge specification. Tiny footprint. That's the pitch for the new Rotel DX-3, a compact headphone amplifier and standalone DAC that promises audiophile-grade audio for the best wired headphones – but not only wired headphones.

Inspired by Rotel's home city of Tokyo, where space is at a premium, the DX-3 is very small: just 215mm x 76mm x 247mm (8½ x 3 x 9¾ inches). But it boasts lots of power and plenty of connectivity too.

(Image credit: Rotel) Rotel DX-3: key features and pricing

Rotel describes the DX-3 as "the ultimate desktop audio companion" with inputs including PC-USB (32-bit/384kHz) with DSD 4X support, coaxial and optical (24-bit/192kHz), and an RCA analog connection for inputs.

The headphone amp supports high, low and medium impedance models and comes with user-selectable amplifier gain; there are both 4.4mm balanced and 6.35mm connectors on the front panel, and there are XLR Balanced and RCA outputs on the back so you can use the DX-3 as a stand-alone DAC and pre-amp. But it also supports the best wireless headphones as well as wired options, thanks to support for wireless aptX Adaptive / HD and AAC Bluetooth.

I'm going to assume this is considered an optional extra for convenience's sake, since it seems a shame to have all this audio power and then squeeze it into compressed wireless tech – event aptX is pretty limited compared to the full quality of what's on offer here.

Inside, there's an ESS Sabre ES9028PRO eight-channel DAC and Rotel's own ultra-low noise toroidal transformer. That features high current-drivers and high-quality capacitors to deliver what Rotel says is "the ultimate resolution, rhythm and timing, and on an immersive sound stage".

The volume is controlled by an audiophile-grade NJW1195A fully differential analog controller delivering 0.5dB steps, and the analog and digital power supplies are fully isolated from each other to apparently ensure minimal interference. There are also custom-engineered low pass filters with a full balanced, fully differential signal path for even further nose and distortion reduction.

The Rotel DX-3 is available in the UK now and will launch globally "soon after". Its official price is $1,499 / €1,499 / £1,399 / about AU$3,065.

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• New Shark TurboBlade is a powerful, bladeless fan with an unusual design
• Arms can pivot and twist to send directional blasts of air
• Currently only available in the US, for $249.99

Released earlier this week, the new Shark TurboBlade reimagines what a fan should look like and how it should behave, and I think it could be absolutely amazing when the hot weather kicks in. The fan part is made up of two arms, each of which blasts out a blade of concentrated air. These arms can be angled up and down, to direct the airflow, and the bit they're attached to can also be rotated – so they can blast air horizontally ('Blanket mode') or vertically ('Tower mode'). The whole thing is height-adjustable too.

The two blades are independently articulated, which means you can position them so one is pointing in a completely different direction to the other – so one can go high and the other low, or one can go right while the other's going left.

(Image credit: Shark)

Like most of today's best fans, it can still be set to oscillate, too. For that, the blades are oriented into 'tower mode'. The whole pillar will then turn, widening the cooling field up to 180 degrees. On maximum power, the TurboBlade can blast out air up to an impressive 80 feet.

There are 10 different settings to explore. In Sleep mode, sounds are muted, lights dimmed and fan speed is optimized for minimal disturbance. For night-time use, you might also want to deploy 'AirBlanket' mode, where the fan will expel a wide, horizontal jet of air, and do so quietly (kudos to whoever came up with that name; I've never wanted a chilly night's sleep more).

Or if you're feeling experimental, you could try 'Natural Breeze' mode. Here, the fan will randomize its airflow so it feels like you're on, I guess, a windy mountainside or something, rather than stuck in a sweltering living room.

(Image credit: Shark)

This brand has form when it comes to innovative fans – last summer saw the release of the Shark FlexBreeze, which doesn't just blast air but can also mist you with water vapor, to intensify the cooling process. The TurboBlade doesn't do that, but it's innovative nonetheless. Bladeless fans are fairly common now, but I've never seen one designed quite like this. In fact, I could imagine someone mistaking the TurboBlade for a lamp (and getting a surprise when switching it on).

While it looks a little odd, I'm really coming round to this design. While overall it's on the larger side, the footprint is small and it can be adjusted into a space-saving upright orientation when not in use. Being bladeless, there are minimal nooks and crannies to trap dirt, so keeping it clean should be easy (the inlet grille has a removable, easy-clean filter to ensure the insides don't get clogged up, too).

It's currently only available in the US, at a list price of $249.99, in a charcoal colorway with a white option due soon. No news yet as to whether it'll also be coming to the UK, Australia or elsewhere.

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• 2,500 HPE workers will lose their jobs by redundancy, another 500 by attrition
• Next-quarter revenue could be as low as $7.2 billion, $0.7 billion down
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has revealed it is set to lay off an estimated 2,500 workers following disappointing economic performance.

CEO Antonio Neri confirmed an estimated 3,000 workers could leave the company, with the remaining 500 coming in the form of attrition (via Bloomberg).

The news followed a 19% dip in extended trading shares yesterday after the company issued weak guidance in its earnings call.

HPE set to axe up to 3,000 workers

Reducing its workforce is estimated to cost HPE about $350 million over the next two years, the company confirmed, but it hopes to see the benefits by 2027.

"We are pleased that we met our revenue guidance estimate as we navigated the quarter,” HPE CFO Marie Myers said, noting the company generated $7.9 billion in its most recent three-month period, ending January 31 2025.

“We took actions in the quarter to streamline costs, which helped us offset other impacts to profitability. We continue to align our strategy and execution with long-term growth trends that will fuel our performance,” Myers added.

HPE says it anticipates revenue of $7.2 billion to $7.6 billion in the next quarter – even the higher figure would mark a drop.

Although AI-driven demand has surged, costly AI components have led to lower-than-ideal margins. HPE also ended up with excess inventory when Nvidia transitions to Blackwell GPUs, adding unnecessarily to the cost with heavy discounts for both dated and less headline-grabbing traditional servers.

HPE isn’t the only business in the family struggling – parent company HP also laid off around 2,000 workers just a few weeks ago.

The company is also facing non-financial struggles – despite EU approval, both UK and US antitrust regulators have expressed concern over HPE’s planned $14 billion acquisition of Juniper. If it goes ahead, the Department of Justice alleges the two combined companies would account for “well over” 70% of the market.

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Full spoilers follow for Severance season 2 episode 8.

The layers of Severance season 2's biggest mysteries are really being peeled back now. After the Gemma-focused seventh episode that aired last week (February 28), the increasingly popular Apple show's latest entry is all about Harmony Cobel. And, while it's the series' shortest episode so far, it's no less revelatory than the others.

So, what does season 2 episode 8, titled 'Sweet Vitriol', tell us about Lumon's former Severed Floor manager? And what do we learn about the clandestine biotech company and its mysterious Cold Harbor project? I'll answer (or, at least, try to answer) those questions and more here.

This is your final warning: full spoilers immediately follow for Severance's latest installment. Turn back now if you haven't watched it yet.

1. Harmony Cobel has at least one living relative – and they don't get along

Sissy is Harmony's aunt – and an even more devoted Kier follower than her niece (Image credit: Apple TV+)

Reuniting us with Harmony Cobel for the first time since Severance season 2 episode 3, 'Sweet Vitriol' sees her return to Salt's Neck, aka the remote town she used to call home. Until this episode aired, we didn't know where she was going – indeed, our last dealings with Harmony came in Severance season 2 episode 2. Back then, she had walked away from a showdown meeting with Helena Eagan and Lumon's board, and the only time we'd seen her since was the aforementioned brief appearance in episode 3.

Anyway, Harmony tracks down Hampton, a childhood friend who worked alongside Harmony at Salt's Neck's Lumon Ether factory when they were kids. Long story short: she persuades a hesitant Hampton to drive her to visit someone called Sissy. Harmony thinks Lumon is following her and, if she turns up at Sissy's home in her company car, Lumon will recognize it, track Harmony down, and force her to return to Lumon to beg forgiveness for her indiscretions.

Sissy was a Lumon Youth Apprentice Matron and Quarterly Striver: 4th Quarter Year of Vision placard recipient (Image credit: Apple TV+)

As it turns out, Sissy isn't just a random individual – she's Harmony's aunt. It's implied that Sissy – full name Celestine 'Sissy' Cobel – used to work for Lumon, too, as evidenced by the plaque that's hung on one of the Cobel family home's walls (see above).

But this is no happy family reunion. Based on the arguments they have throughout 'Sweet Vitriol', there's clear animosity between the pair. They know how to push each other's buttons as well, with Harmony goading Sissy over the death of Harmony's mom (more on this later), and even insinuating that Sissy was responsible for her sister's demise. Indeed, Harmony suggests that Sissy was the one who ended her mother's suffering by removing the medical apparatus she needed in order to breathe.

2. The breathing tube in Harmony's possession belonged to her mom

We finally know why Harmony Cobel has a breathing tube and who it originally belonged to (Image credit: Apple TV+)

As I said above, 'Sweet Vitriol' reveals that the breathing tube in Harmony's possession belonged to her mother. That's a mystery that's lingered since the Apple TV+ show's first season aired, so it's about time we learned its true origins.

Given what we learn in this episode, it seems the Cobel family's matriarch had some form of lung disease or breathing difficulties (was she an Ether addict like everyone else in Salt's Neck? Possibly). Eventually, Harmony's mom needed a ventilator to help her breathe, which left her bedridden and in need of constant care from Sissy. Harmony wasn't able to help due to her school studies – even worse, she didn't even get to say goodbye to her mom before Sissy supposedly ended her suffering.

Did anybody else's heart break during the scene? (Image credit: Apple TV+)

Clearly, Harmony has held onto her mom's breathing tube as a keepsake to remind her of the fact that she couldn't see her mother before she passed.

It's a moment made all the more tear-jerking when Harmony finds the key to unlock the door to her mom's room, attaches the breathing tube to the ventilator, lies on her mother's bed, and uses the breathing apparatus to mask her sobbing as her repressed childhood trauma finally rises to the surface.

3. Harmony is a Wintertide Fellowship graduate

Ms Huang isn't the only Wintertide Fellowship student we've met in Severance (Image credit: Apple TV+)

As part of Harmony's homecoming, we also learn that she's a Wintertide Fellowship graduate. Sissy reveals as much during in episode 7's second act, and it's later reconfirmed when Harmony finds her Annual Reminiscences book from her time at Myrtle Eagen School for Girls.

For those who may have forgotten: the Wintertide Fellowship program is the same one that Ms Huang is currently 'studying' for as the Severed Floor's deputy manager. We know this to be true since it was first mentioned by current Severed Floor manager Seth Milchick in Severance season 2 episode 5.

I predicted that Ms Huang was being prepped to become a future Severed Floor manager in my Severance season 2 episode 6 theories piece and, on this Cobel-based evidence, it seems I could be right. It's unclear, though, how much more studying a Wintertide Fellow has to do once they graduate before they're offered a job at Lumon.

4. Harmony Cobel invented the severance procedure, not Jame Eagan

Hold on, Harmony Cobel is the brainchild behind the severance procedure?! (Image credit: Apple TV+)

Well, if this isn't a turn-up for the books. It was Harmony, not current Lumon CEO Jame Eagan, who invented the severance procedure.

Until now, we'd been led to believe that Jame devised the revolutionary medical technique. However, 'Sweet Vitriol' confirms that this isn't the case.

After getting high on Ether with Hampton, Harmony realizes that her mother wouldn't have discarded the item that Harmony has desperately tried to find throughout this episode. In a moment of enlightenment, she heads to an outdoor store that's dug into the fields around her family home.

Comment from r/SeveranceAppleTVPlus

There, she finds her Wintertide Fellowship award, which contains a secret compartment. Unlocking it, Harmony rediscovers an old notepad that – shock horror – is full of her original designs for the severance procedure. That includes many of its supporting concepts and mechanisms, too, including the base code for the severance chip, and the Overtime Contingency and Glasgow Block programs.

All of Harmony's hard work is almost for nought, however. After she confronts Sissy and shows her that it was she who invented the severance technique, Sissy attempts to burn the evidence in her wood fire, but Harmony stops her. Now that she's armed with this proof of concept, it'll be fascinating to see how Harmony uses it to potentially overthrow the Eagan family and/or destroy Lumon once and for all (NB: For what it's worth, I think the former is more likely than the latter – why would Harmony burn down the company that her genius ideas helped to build?).

5. Cold Harbor's origins are tied to Harmony Cobel's home town

Hmm, I wonder what Harmony Cobel's icy and coastal hometown could be a reference to... (Image credit: Apple TV+)

Project Cold Harbor was first mentioned in Severance season 2 episode 1. Since then, the show's fanbase has fallen over itself trying to work out what it is. I gave my opinion in my Severance season 2 episode 1 theories piece and, while I was right that it has something to do with Gemma/Ms Casey, its true purpose is still an unknown quantity after last week's chapter.

That said, I don't think it's a coincidence that Harmony not only dreamt up the severance procedure, but also hails from a icy, coastal region of the world. Cold Harbor could simply be the codename attached to one of the test rooms we first saw in episode 7, but I think there's more to it than that. After all, if Harmony created the severance operation, she probably had a hand in the development of the test rooms that Gemma is used as a guinea pig for.

Harmony, then, may hold the key to helping Mark rescue Gemma – and, with Harmony on her way to meet Mark and Devon after that phone call in episode 8's final scene, maybe Harmony has officially turned her back on Lumon and will look to punish them for *ahem* freezing her out of the company.

6. The Nine are the core pillars or values that Lumon's cult-like followers worship

So, there are Four Tempers and Nine... what, exactly? (Image credit: Apple TV+)

There are plenty of mysteries that need to be solved before one of the best Apple TV+ shows ends, but 'Sweet Vitriol' just gave use another one to unravel: who or what is The Nine?

Initially, it appears that The Nine is just a passing reference to the location of the Cobel household. Indeed, Hampton suggests as much when chatting to Harmony outside of Salt's Neck's decaying Lumon factory. However, Sissy later tells Harmony that their mom might have found solace in The Nine if she'd been a Kier devotee. So, it seems The Nine are another aspect of the Kier doctrine that his acolytes follow.

That appears to be the case, too. As Harmony searches for the key to her mom's bedroom, we see some cards laid out in an orderly fashion on a table (see the image above). Each one bears an unusual word, too, such as Probity, Wiles, Verve, Benevolence, and Vision (alright, the last one isn't weird, but work with me here!).

Where have we seen and/or heard uncommon, 'Ye Olde' words before? Okay, yes, whenever Milchick speaks – but, no, I'm talking about the Four Tempers (Woe, Malice, Frolic, and Dread) that Kier tamed and which are part of the Kier philosophy. I predict, then, that The Nine are the opposite of the Tempers – i.e., they're core pillars or values that Kier's followers, erm, follow in order to live a happy life.

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• The Nacon Revolution X Unlimited controller is releasing next month
• It's compatible with Xbox Series X|S as well as PC and Android devices
• Expect Hall effect sticks, swappable components and a nifty LCD screen

Nacon's latest Xbox controller, the Revolution X Unlimited, is now available to pre-order.

In what looks to be an upgrade over the original Revolution X and the PS5 model Revolution 5 Pro, the Revolution X Unlimited features drift-resistant Hall effect sticks, swappable components (including stick caps, D-pads, and grip weights), and an LCD display for instant on-board customization.

You can pre-order the controller now at Nacon's store page for $199.90 / £179.90, which is overall cheaper than the Revolution 5 Pro's $199.99 / £199.99. It's due to be available from April 30, 2025. UK folks can also pre-order at Argos should they desire.

Image 1 of 4

(Image credit: Nacon)Image 2 of 4

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(Image credit: Nacon)

I got some brief hands-on time with the Revolution X Unlimited at a recent Nacon event in Paris, and while my session was short I came away quite impressed.

The biggest surprise for me was the in-built LCD screen. I'm usually not a fan of these on controllers as I find they can be overly complicated and an unnecessary battery drain. On the Revolution X Unlimited, the screen was accessible at the press of a button, its menu was very clean and all options (such as button mapping and stick sensitivity) were simple and to the point.

Made with competitive players in mind, the Revolution X Unlimited will also feature dedicated PC and 'Shooter Pro' profiles. The former aims to reduce latency to around a millisecond on PC via a wired connection and even enables keyboard shortcuts for those remappable buttons (this time found on both the top and rear of the pad. The latter removes stick deadzone entirely, which in theory should offer enhanced precision for the best FPS games.

If there's one concern I have, it would be in battery life. Nacon estimates you'll get "a minimum" of 10 hours of battery on a single charge which is the same as the Revolution 5 Pro. That's not a whole lot compared to some of the other best Xbox controllers. But, the Revolution X Unlimited does ship with a dedicated charging dock, providing an easy way to top up while you're away from your PC or console.

We've got another month and a half until the Revolution X Unlimited releases, but you can expect a full written review here at TechRadar Gaming in the near future.

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• Google Meet looks to help create better custom backgrounds
• New image generational model coming to users
• Multiple new presets to help bring out your creativity

Looking your best on a work call could soon be easier than ever thanks to a new upgrade from Google Meet.

The video conferencing service has introduced two major improvements to help users craft better custom background images for their meetings and calls.

This includes a new image generation model which offers major improvements on the previous offering, as well as several new preset styles, both of which Google hopes will give users the chance to inject a bit more personalization.

Google Meet AI backgrounds

(Image credit: Google Meet)

In a Google Workspace Updates blog post announcing the news, the company says its "upgraded" image generation model, "will significantly improve the visual appeal and quality of generated backgrounds, while also better representing user requests."

This goes alongside a range of new preset styles for those looking for a bit more inspiration when creating a custom background. The new styles are; Professional office, Bookshelf, Stylish living room, Cozy living room, Tropical beach, Fantasy castle, and Sci-fi spaceship.

The feature is rolling out now, and will need to be enabled by admins before users can begin.

The upgrades will be available on Google Workspace Business, Standard and Plus tiers, as well as Enterprise Standard and Plus tiers, and with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on.

Google says anyone who previously purchased the Gemini Business, Gemini Enterprise, and AI Meetings and Messages add-ons will also receive this feature.

The news is the latest upgrade for Google Meet users, coming not long after the company revealed its automatic framing tool will be coming to all Google Workspace platform tiers, giving more users a better depiction of themselves whilst on a call.

The tool helps automatically center users in the middle of the screen when joining a video call or meeting, meaning they are properly framed and as visible as possible.

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• 1Password app gains new geolocation-based controls
• New ‘Nearby’ card on the homepage shows relevant data
• After successful labs testing, it’s available to all users now

1Password has added new geolocation-based features to help users get access to passwords, PINs and codes, allowing password manager users to assign specific physical location to stored credentials so that they can interact with them more easily.

Senior Product Manager Danny Grenzowski explained how the app is no longer an exclusive tool for logins – many users now use it to store things like hotel safe PINs, Wi-Fi passwords, gym locker codes and alarm codes.

“Wouldn’t it make life so much easier if you had a simple, quick way to find those items exactly when and where you need them?” – he wrote in a blog post.

1Password geolocation features

(Image credit: 1Password)

Grenzowski revealed that the idea came to light during the company’s Hackathon – a week for pausing normal day-to-day tasks and focusing on exploration and learning. After successfully trying the functionality within the 1Password labs area (where customers can get early access to new tools), the company became the first in its industry to offer geolocation-based features.

The post confirms that users can add just one location to any saved credential or code. A new ‘Nearby’ card in the app’s homescreen brings up relevant details according to location.

A full set of instructions on how to set up location functionality within 1Password is available on a separate page.

The company confirmed that “current location coordinates never leave your device,” and that location data is never stored, shared or tracked. Users can also choose to disable the feature or restrict map data loading for added privacy.

“In an increasingly mobile world, you need to rely on quick and seamless access to your digital tools and data – not just when you need it, but where you need it,” added Grenzowski.

The feature is now available for existing users and new members, with prices for the platform starting at $2.99 per month with an annual commitment.

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From cloud computing adoption to automation, outsourcing, and infrastructure optimization, IT teams in 2025 must navigate a landscape shaped by emerging technologies, economic pressures, and evolving cybersecurity threats.

According to Gartner, 81% of boards have yet to make significant progress in their digital transformation efforts, highlighting the ongoing challenge of balancing technology investment with broader business needs.

With budgets under scrutiny, CIOs must be more strategic than ever. Assessing your organization’s tech infrastructure is a crucial step in setting up for the year ahead, ensuring time and money are used efficiently. Here’s how to stay ahead.

1. Adopt cloud-based functions

Moving IT management to the cloud is a strategic way to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and enhance scalability. The financial case is clear—global spending on public cloud services is projected to hit $805 billion in 2024, with expectations to double by 2028. Rather than investing in costly on-premises hardware and maintenance, businesses can benefit from a subscription-based model that offers flexibility and operational agility.

Cloud adoption enables companies to deploy services quickly without the upfront costs and logistical challenges of in-house IT infrastructure management. It also provides elasticity, allowing organizations to scale resources up or down based on demand—an advantage for businesses with fluctuating workloads. Additionally, cloud platforms streamline IT management by offloading tasks such as backups, disaster recovery, and security monitoring to cloud providers.

However, moving to the cloud requires careful planning. Businesses must consider vendor lock-in risks, data sovereignty laws, and compliance requirements, especially in regulated industries. Hybrid and multi-cloud strategies can help mitigate these risks by providing greater flexibility and control. To ensure a smooth migration, proper documentation is essential—clear records of server roles, dependencies, and access controls help teams transition efficiently while maintaining operational integrity.

2. Automate administrative tasks

The adoption of IT automation has become a central focus for organizations aiming to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. IDC reports that in 2024, a significant 91% of organizations have established centralized IT automation teams, reflecting its growing importance.

IT automation not only streamlines routine tasks like software deployment, system monitoring, and user account management but also helps businesses overcome skill shortages by maximizing the efficiency of existing teams. Automated patch management, monitoring, and identity and access management (IAM) systems reduce manual workload, allowing IT teams to focus on high-value projects rather than repetitive tasks. Automating help desk functions with chatbots and ticket triaging speeds up issue resolution while scheduled backups and disaster recovery processes ensure business continuity with minimal intervention.

Security and compliance tasks also benefit from automation, with tools handling network configuration, log analysis, and threat detection in real time. Auto-scaling in cloud environments adjusts resources based on demand, optimizing costs and performance. Device provisioning can also be automated, allowing new employees to receive fully configured systems instantly. By reducing manual work, IT teams can focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine maintenance.

3. Use asset management tools

The IT Asset Management software (ITAM) market is projected to reach USD 2.9 billion by 2032, highlighting its growing role in optimizing IT resources and reducing costs. With increasingly complex IT infrastructures, businesses rely on asset management tools to track and manage hardware and software efficiently, leading to significant savings.

Integrating ITAM solutions with Active Directory (AD) enhances visibility and control over IT assets, making it easier to monitor user access, software usage, and device status across an organization. This allows IT teams to identify underutilized hardware, reassign software licenses, and cancel redundant subscriptions, ensuring optimal resource allocation. Additionally, AD integration streamlines the decommissioning of outdated hardware and automates compliance reporting.

By reducing manual asset tracking, businesses save both time and money while strengthening security and operational efficiency.

4. Evaluate IT infrastructure

Beyond managing IT assets, assessing the infrastructure that supports them is essential for cost savings and operational efficiency. A well-documented and optimized IT environment helps organizations track performance, identify inefficiencies, and ensure resources are used effectively.

For businesses hosting their own hardware, virtualization technologies like VMware or Hyper-V maximize resource utilization by running multiple virtual machines on a single physical server, reducing hardware sprawl and energy costs. Cloud and hybrid IT models also provide opportunities to offload non-critical workloads to lower-cost environments.

Infrastructure mapping tools, such as network topology diagrams and hardware architecture maps, enhance visibility and troubleshooting. A centralized IT documentation platform provides real-time visibility into server usage, data flows, and dependencies, helping IT teams evaluate workloads, streamline resource allocation, and prevent unnecessary expenditures.

5. Outsource your service management

Outsourcing IT management to an MSP allows businesses to reduce costs, access specialized expertise, and ensure round-the-clock support. MSPs provide predictable IT expenses, eliminating the need for large capital investments in infrastructure and personnel. They also offer cybersecurity, compliance management, and disaster recovery solutions, making them ideal for regulated industries like healthcare, finance, and legal. Companies with remote teams or global operations benefit from 24/7 monitoring and rapid issue resolution, while growing businesses can scale IT services without the delays of hiring and training in-house staff.

The businesses that benefit most from MSPs are small and mid-sized companies, startups, and organizations where IT is not a core function, such as retail, hospitality, and manufacturing. Highly regulated industries gain compliance assurance, while businesses with fluctuating workloads can quickly adjust IT resources. MSPs also improve business continuity by managing backup solutions and disaster recovery plans. For companies seeking cost efficiency, security, and scalability, outsourcing IT management can free up internal teams to focus on business growth and innovation.

A proactive IT strategy to embrace change

As IT teams navigate the challenges of 2025, the key to efficiency and cost savings lies in strategic decision-making. Cloud adoption, automation, IT asset management, infrastructure optimization, and outsourcing each offer unique advantages in reducing operational overhead while improving scalability and security. By leveraging cloud-based solutions, businesses can cut hardware costs and gain flexibility.

Automating routine tasks enhances productivity and helps IT teams manage growing workloads without additional hiring. Asset management tools ensure resources are fully utilized, while infrastructure evaluations optimize system performance. Meanwhile, outsourcing IT services to an MSP can provide expert support and financial predictability for businesses looking to streamline operations.

In a time of tightening budgets and increasing digital demands, a proactive IT strategy is essential. Organizations that embrace these approaches will be better positioned to reduce inefficiencies, enhance security, and support business growth without unnecessary expenditure. Whether by refining internal processes or outsourcing critical functions, investing in smarter IT management will allow businesses to stay competitive, agile, and future-ready in an evolving digital landscape.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we 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/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

Lost among the hype of the AI tools and the cloud revolution, one critical question is being overlooked: how many dimensions can your storage system scale?

Most enterprise storage systems are designed to scale in at most two key dimensions — capacity (how much data can be stored) and performance (how quickly data can be accessed). Driven by the complex, dynamic and unpredictable nature of AI workloads and cloud-native applications, there’s been a dramatic shift in the demands placed on storage infrastructure. Storage systems built for an earlier era are now being stretched and strained in ways their designers could never have anticipated. These unprecedented demands can’t be met by simply adding sheer capacity or raw performance.

What does this mean for your organization? To keep pace with emerging workloads and unknown future requirements, your storage infrastructure must scale — without tradeoffs — in any dimension that might be conceivably required.

What is “multidimensional scaling” in data storage?

We’ve observed an uptick in customers who’ve come to us after running into one or more limitations in their outdated, inflexible storage infrastructure. This experience has helped us identify ten distinct dimensions that a storage system must be able to seamlessly scale in order to adapt to whatever the future might throw at it:

• Capacity
• Storage compute
• Applications
• Metadata
• S3 objects
• S3 buckets
• S3 authentications per second
• Throughput
• Objects per second
• Systems management

The ability to scale across these ten dimensions can be referred to as multidimensional scaling.

Future-ready storage: three ways multidimensional scaling powers business growth Technical explanations of each of the ten dimensions can be found in our whitepaper. Instead, let’s explore a few concrete examples of how multidimensional scaling can save your organization time, money, and headaches.

1. Have the flexibility to handle any future demand

The pace of technological change makes it nearly impossible to predict future storage requirements. Workloads that barely existed five years ago — like generative AI and real-time analytics — now dominate IT management discussions. Businesses that commit to rigid storage architectures risk being unprepared for what comes next.

Multidimensional scaling equips organizations with the flexibility to adapt to evolving requirements. Need to onboard a new AI data pipeline with microsecond latencies? Scaling access speeds ensures the infrastructure is ready. Launching a cloud-native application that spans geographies? Scaling authentication requests allows for secure, seamless global access.

This adaptability not only prevents expensive data migration but also empowers businesses to innovate without being constrained by their storage infrastructure.

2. Eliminate storage silos for seamless operations

Data silos have long been the bane of IT teams. They fragment workflows, increase costs, and make it nearly impossible to gain a unified view of your data. With multidimensional scaling, businesses can consolidate their cloud storage into a single, unified platform that handles diverse workloads — from massive AI datasets to high-frequency transactional data.

For example, scalable throughput ensures high-definition video streaming platforms can deliver seamless content playback to millions of users without requiring separate systems for ingesting and delivering media. Meanwhile, scaling the number of supported applications means businesses can run multiple workloads — from data analytics to machine learning — on a single storage solution without bottlenecks. The result? A unified system that reduces complexity and operational overhead.

3. Minimize downtime through predictable scaling

Unplanned downtime is the enemy of productivity and customer satisfaction. Traditional storage systems, which often require manual intervention to expand capacity or support increased traffic, introduce risk every time they hit a limit. Multidimensional scaling sidesteps this issue by ensuring storage systems can grow seamlessly in all directions — whether it’s handling higher transaction rates, supporting more simultaneous users, or accommodating ever-growing datasets.

For example, consider an ecommerce platform during a peak shopping event like Black Friday. With the ability to scale in transactions per second, the platform avoids crippling bottlenecks, ensuring smooth and responsive experiences for millions of shoppers. Likewise, metadata scaling supports the explosion of individual product entries and customer profiles without degrading performance. By adopting a solution designed for such scenarios, businesses can keep operations running smoothly even under extreme demand.

The future of storage is multidimensional: Is your system ready to scale?

Storage may not always be in the spotlight, but it’s the foundation of a winning IT strategy. The ability to scale across all critical dimensions turns storage from a reactive, operational necessity into a powerful driver of growth. By eliminating silos, minimizing downtime, and future-proofing against uncertainty, businesses can unlock new opportunities and avoid the pitfalls of a rigid infrastructure.

The demands of AI, cloud computing, and media-rich workloads are accelerating — your storage must keep up. The organizations that adopt multidimensional scaling today will be the ones best equipped to thrive tomorrow and benefit from long-term sustainability.

So, how many dimensions can your storage system scale?

If you don’t know the answer, it’s time to find out.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we 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/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

Getting an interview for a job can be exhilarating if you've spent a lot of time sending resumes and cover letters out, but that excitement is often matched by trepidation as you now have to convey why you're the one for a role to an actual human, whether in person or over a video call. But the days of manually hunting for the most common interview questions, awkwardly practicing in front of mirrors, and guilting friends and family into practicing may be over, thanks to ChatGPT.

I've used ChatGPT for everything from dinner ideas and children's entertainment to New Year's Resolutions and many other tasks. So, why not see what it can do for your job interview preparation?

Here are some of the best ways to use ChatGPT to help you nail that interview for a job.

Research

One of the first things you'll want to do is research the company you're interviewing for. Yes, you know enough about them to apply for the job, but more information is always a good idea. While that usually has meant filling tabs with articles and interviews bout a company, ChatGPT can streamline the whole thing by summarizing data in as much detail as you want. You can pull together the company's key values, recent news, and the competitive landscape for their industry into digestible nuggets.

For instance, you might prompt ChatGPT with "Give me a concise overview of Patagonia's mission and recent sustainability initiatives," or "Summarize recent developments at Airbnb relevant to a content strategist role."

Come up with questions

Next, consider what questions you might face. Think about your industry and role. Sure, you can resort to internet searches and write down questions in the same ballpark, but the more specific you are, the better you'll prepare. ChatGPT is great at zeroing in on hyper-specific questions if you let it.

For example, you could ask: "Give me interview questions commonly asked for UX design roles in tech startups," or "What kinds of strategic questions might come up during an interview for a product manager at Amazon?"

Instead of generic advice, ChatGPT provides nuanced, detailed lists of questions and can even ask you for more details as it puts together lists to practice with that are relevant to real-world scenarios you might face.

Mock Interviews

With all of this in place, you can start a major aspect of job interview prep with ChatGPT running mock interviews. Usually, you'd beg a friend or mentor to take pity on you and spend a half-hour pretending to be your future boss. The problem? Friends might go too easy on you (unhelpful) or overdo the tough-love approach (also unhelpful but emotionally scarring).

ChatGPT struck a comfortable middle ground, providing realistic questions without making me feel like I'd botched my entire career before it even started. If you want to try it, use a specific prompt for a company, like "Pretend you're interviewing me for a senior programming role at Spotify," or angle it for the kind of questions you might expect, like, "Give me a mock behavioral interview focusing on managing difficult colleagues."

Refine and improve

The mock interview doesn't mean your work is done. Answering questions confidently is one thing; answering them concisely and persuasively is another. Traditionally, refining your responses means scribbling notes and potentially becoming a flat-toned robot in what you say. ChatGPT offers a new way to improve your answers without losing your voice. Think about where your answers need aid and ask ChatGPT for help.

For example, you could prompt the AI with a lame answer like: "My biggest weakness is perfectionism," and then ask, "How can I answer this in a way that sounds genuine and less cliché?" Or you might request, "Make my answer about resolving a team conflict sound less defensive and more collaborative."

Interview AI

ChatGPT can be great for aiding in job interview preparation, but there are a few caveats worth mentioning. While impressive, it can't quite replicate human intuition or emotional intelligence. Sometimes, its suggestions may veer into overly robotic territory, so it might be better to think of its advice as a starting point rather than absolute truth.

Still, when so much is riding on a conversation, the more research, prep, and practice you can do, the better. ChatGPT might not guarantee your dream job, but it can at least help you feel confident and ready to convince the interviewer that you're the one they've been hunting for all this time.

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• Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Air with M4 starts at $999 or $1,199 for the 15-inch
• The previous-generation MacBook Air with M3 is discontinued
• The even earlier M2 MacBook Air, which previously started at $999, will live on via other retailers

New Apple devices typically mean the previous generation drops to a lower price point or is discontinued altogether. However, with the Mac lineup – especially the MacBook – since Apple Silicon hit the scene, some of the older models have a way of sticking around.

With the launch of the new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air with M4, Apple is discontinuing the 13-inch and 15-inch M3 MacBook Air. Before the launch, there was some talk of the 13-inch version of that laptop sticking around, but Apple’s overall price decrease is causing waves as that model is discontinued.

Further, since the starting price of the 13-inch MacBook Air with M4 is $999 in the United States, Apple is taking the 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 off its virtual and physical store shelves.

But here’s where things get interesting. Like the M1 MacBook Air – which is still an incredible deal from retailers like Walmart – the M2 MacBook Air will be available at select authorized retailers – aka other purchasing channels – in select countries, including the United States.

Furthermore, it will be cheaper than the starting cost of the M4 MacBook Air.

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

This means you can get a modern MacBook Air design with M2 speeds and other tricks for an excellent price. You’ll just need to be okay with no Sky Blue, but hey, you can still get it in Space Gray.

In fact, as of this story publishing, Amazon in the United States has the 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of solid-state storage in Midnight for just $699 – a sweet 30% off the previous MSRP of $999. Plus, you’ll get free fast shipping if you're a Prime member.

If you need Starlight or Space Gray that same configuration is $799, which is still a deal but not as big of a discount. Similarly, the Silver version is a lot more expensive at $924, only an 8% discount.

While Apple hasn’t announced or confirmed the price of what the M2 MacBook Air will normally be at through these channels, the M1 MacBook Air can give us a good idea. Since its Walmart exclusivity, it’s regularly had a list price of $699 but is nearly always discounted additionally. Right now, in Silver, Space Gray, or Gold, it’s just $629 for the M1 chip, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of solid-state storage.

So if you don't need the latest chip from Apple, that fancy new shade of Sky Blue (though it is lovely), or a CenterStage capable camera, the M2 should definitely at least be considered. Especially since it comes standard with 16GB of RAM, which is a lot better than the previous 8GB.

You can see our review of the 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 here, and check out our first look at the new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air with M4 here.

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